Philosophy For Our Times

We all want to live the good life. But how many of us can claim to be truly content? Join philosopher and evolutionary biologist Massimo Pigliucci as he argues that pleasure, character, and a healthy dose of doubt, form the basis of the good life, and that purpose in life is crucial to realising our potential.

Massimo Pigliucci is a renowned philosopher and professor at the City College of New York. He is the author of several books, including, 'How to be a Stoic' and 'Beyond Stoicism'. A former co-host of the Rationally Speaking Podcast and a self-proclaimed sceptic, Pigliucci is a champion of Enlightenment notions of reason and rationality.

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Truth, delusion and psychedelic reality

Do psychedelics reveal hidden layers of reality, or are we simply tripping?

Psychedelics are back in the cultural zeitgeist, this time as a treatment for mental health issues. However, critics argue that psychedelics only work by replacing mental illness with a distorted view of reality - but, is this an accurate assessment? A study from Imperial College London suggests that after taking psychedelics people get better at future life events. Visual acuity is also known to increase, suggesting people become less delusional, not more, when taking psychedelics. Should we see the psychedelic experience as showing us something true about the nature of reality? Or is it merely a distortion?

James Rucker is a Consultant Psychiatrist and a Senior Clinical Lecturer in mood disorders and psychopharmacology at the Centre for Affective Disorders at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London.

Julian Baggini is a philosopher, journalist and author of over 20 books about philosophy for the general reader. He is the co-founder and editor of "The Philosophers’ Magazine", and also writes and broadcasts for The Guardian and the BBC.

Eileen is an Ecuadorean-Scottish creative director, artist, and explorer based in London. She is the founder of Tayos, an organisation supporting the protection of endangered habitats in Ecuador as well as exploring their relationship to nature and its role in wellbeing through art, music, and science.

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The unconscious has become a well-known feature of our human lived experience since Freud. We often refer to unwanted impulses, suppressed thoughts, unconscious desires, and the like.

But what IS the unconscious? Is it just an easy excuse for our behaviour? Or is it a necessary piece of what it means to be human?

Join our diverse and rich panel as they discuss, and disagree, over this question: Josh Cohen is a literature professor and psychoanalyst, Barbara Tversky is a professor of psychology, and Edward Harcourt is a philosopher.

What do you think? Can the unconscious explain things? Email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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Will we ever reach a conclusive, agreed-upon theory of consciousness?

Over the millennia of recorded history, countless stories, theories, and arguments have emerged to explain the origins of consciousness. And yet, here we are in 2025 - post-Plato, post-Descartes, post-scientific revolution - and still we don't understand the phenomenon of conscious, subjective experience. Which begs the question: will we ever truly know what consciousness is, and how it functions?

Robert Lawrence Kuhn is the co-creator, executive producer, writer, and host of 'Closer To Truth', the PBS/public television series on cosmos, life, mind, and meaning that presents leading scientists, philosophers, and creative thinkers discussing the fundamental questions of existence. Join him in conversation with post-realist philosopher Hilary Lawson as they cast their eyes over the hundreds of different theories of consciousness.

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The psychedelic revolution

Will LSD, Psilocybin, MDMA, and Ketamine treatments live up to the hype?

For decades, psychedelics were derided as dangerous recreational drugs; now many claim they have the potential to revolutionise the treatment of mental health. With hundreds of clinical trials now taking place, the psychedelic therapeutic market is predicted to be over ten billion within the decade. It has been widely thought that psychedelics are effective at treating mental health because of the way they change brain chemistry. But studies from King's College London and Johns Hopkins suggest this is an error, arguing that it's the psychedelic experience that aids mental wellbeing, not the physical brain changes.

Should we stop focussing on brain chemistry as the solution to mental health? What is it about psychedelic experience that can aid mental well being and will psychedelics live up to their promise and usher in a mental health renaissance? Or is the hype bubble about to burst and should we look elsewhere for the silver bullet to the mental health crisis of our age?

Matthew Johnson is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. Shayla Love is a freelance reporter and former senior science writer at Vice News, focusing on psychedelics. Kevin Sabet is the founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, and he has been described as the "quarterback of the new anti-drug movement".

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