Mary Midgley, ‘Rings and Books’

1.1 Aspects Of Isolation

To start off this series, I talk about the pros and cons of isolation with Mary Midgley’s essay ‘Rings and Books’ in mind. Although being alone can be helpful for focusing, being alone too much makes it easier to think about the world only in terms of your own self and ignore the needs and experiences of others.

1.2 Open to Disruption

Continuing on the theme from the last episode, here I expand on how isolation and one-sided thinking shows up in philosophical thought.

1.3 What is Missing in Philosophy? (a conversation)

In this episode, I chat with Ellie Robson about the role of philosophy in everyday life and the topics that are not getting enough attention in the discipline.

1.4 How Do We See Ourselves?: Midgley and Gaia (a conversation)

I’m back with Ellie Robson again, this time to talk about topics she thinks are missing from philosophical discourse. Following Mary Midgley, we take a look at common conceptions of ‘human’ and how we might think of our place in this world a little differently. Instead of imagining ourselves as independent beings, what if we saw ourselves as dependent and embedded in the world?

1.5 How Do We See Ourselves?: Philosopher Edition (a conversation)

I talk with Amber Donovan about the picture we often have for the philosopher – as a thinker, alone – and other ways of doing philosophy that might be more productive.

1.6 Working in a Man’s World (a conversation)

In a discussion with Rebekah Howlett, we chat about a concrete example of why isolated thinking can be harmful towards other groups of people. In particular, we talk about societal expectations of men and women in the workplace and how the system favours particular people over others.