Philosophy for Us
The shared work of thinking for ourselves.
44 questions, from a loss no argument resolves to the limit of argument itself — 363 episodes, designed end to end. Start with whichever question matters most to you.
The show is being produced one theme at a time. Every series below is mapped; the ones marked forthcoming are still to come.
Part One
The assumptions you didn't know you had
the easiest place to start
The Inner Life
- 01 What You Owe a Stranger (Singer)opener I scrolled past the dying kid and bought the shoes. Listen now
- 02 The Self Across Time Am I even the same person I was — and who am I saving for? Listen now
- 03 Loneliness, Friendship & Solitude Four hundred friends and I've never felt more alone. Listen now
- 04 Grief & the Good Deathcloser They've stopped asking, and I don't want to be done. Listen now
First Questions
- 05 Mind & Machineopener There's nobody home in there — and I can't say how I know. Forthcoming
- 06 Taste & Beauty Why do I keep arguing about a song if it's just taste? Forthcoming
- 07 How to Be Good We argue, both of us right, and never get one inch closer. Forthcoming
- 08 Choice & Blame (Free Will) He swears he couldn't help it. I'm furious anyway. Forthcoming
Part Two
Working out what you think
harder questions
The Demands of Life
- 09 Weakness of Will & the Engineered Selfopener I knew better, and my thumb kept going anyway. Forthcoming
- 10 Desert, Luck & What We Owe Each Other I did everything right and I'm still drowning — whose fault is that? Forthcoming
- 11 Money & What It Can't Measure Some things being for sale just feels wrong, and I can't say why. Forthcoming
- 12 The Trust Recession It could be her voice — or it could be a fake. Forthcoming
- 13 The Stoicism Questioncloser I keep telling myself to let it go — and I'm not sure I should. Forthcoming
The Moral Emotions
How Should I Live?
- 17 Loyalty & Betrayalopener They did the unforgivable thing, and they're still mine. Forthcoming
- 18 Honesty, Tact & Self-Deception Did I spare her, or did I just spare myself? Forthcoming
- 19 Should I Have Kids? Should I have a child — and who exactly is it for? Forthcoming
- 20 Do You Owe Your Family Anything? After everything they did for me — what do I actually owe? Forthcoming
- 21 Reasons to Love My friend's in love with an app, and I can't say why that's wrong. Forthcoming
- 22 What's a Life For?closer I chose the smaller life, and I can't tell if it was brave or a quiet giving-up. Forthcoming
Across Time, Death & Meaning
- 23 Climate & Future Generationsopener I'm sacrificing for people who don't exist yet and can't be harmed. Forthcoming
- 24 Should You Want to Live Forever?closer Of course I'd take the pill — and then what? And then again? Forthcoming
- 25 Hope, Despair & the Future My kid asked if it'll be okay, and I couldn't answer. Forthcoming
- 26 Is There Anyone There? (the God arguments) Show me something — and I'll believe there's anyone there. Forthcoming
- 27 Meaning Without Godcloser There's no one keeping score — so what was any of it for? Forthcoming
The Shared World & Technology
- 28 Knowledge & Power I'm deciding how much of you to believe before you finish. Forthcoming
- 29 Are You Responsible for What You Believe? He says he did his own research, and I can't find the line between us. Forthcoming
- 30 Language, LLMs & Machine Understanding It explained my own problem back to me — but does it mean a word of it? Forthcoming
- 31 AI Governance The computer said no, and there's no one to ask why. Forthcoming
- 32 Disability & Personhood She's looking right at me, and she doesn't know who I am. Forthcoming
- 33 Is Something Wrong With Me? (therapy culture) Am I broken, or is this just what being a person feels like? Forthcoming
- 34 Race & the Contract I don't see race, just the person — isn't that the fair answer? Forthcoming
- 35 Roles, Roots & the Unchosen Tie I made myself — so why did that old street do that to my chest? Forthcoming
- 36 Who Should Rule (Confucian democracy) The voters are hopeless — but no one rules me without my say. Forthcoming
- 37 Work, Meaning & Automationcloser A machine does my job now — what were the eleven years for? Forthcoming
Part Three
Questions about the questions
the hardest of all
- 38 Is Morality Even Real?opener I know some things are just wrong — but where is the wrongness? Forthcoming
- 39 Moral Inheritance (MacIntyre) I keep seeing the same trick, and I think I've been doing it too. Forthcoming
- 40 Conceptual Engineering We're not fighting about the thing — we're fighting about the word. Forthcoming
- 41 Standpoint-Genealogy I question everyone's angle — why never my own? Forthcoming
- 42 Buddhist Philosophy of Mind What's the last thing left that's really me? Forthcoming
- 43 What Is Wisdom?closer I can look up anything, and I still don't know what to do. Forthcoming
- 44 Acknowledgement & the Limits of Method (Cavell)closer I argued it perfectly and we're still on opposite sides. Forthcoming