Conversations About Philosophy, Volume 2

This compendium includes the following 5 complete books featuring renowned philosophers Brian Epstein, Onora O'Neill, Susan James, Hasana Sharp and Susan Wolf providing fully accessible insights into cutting-edge academic research while revealing the inspirations and personal journeys behind the research. The books are explicitly designed to provide a unique window into frontline research and scholarship that wouldn't otherwise be experienced through standard lectures and textbooks. A detailed preface highlights the connections between the different books and all five books are broken into chapters with a detailed introduction and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter: I. The Social World, Reexamined - A conversation with Brian Epstein, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Tufts University. Brian Epstein's earlier career as a management consultant piqued his interest, and his later research, into the reasons why our current models of economics, politics and other areas of social science so often go terribly wrong. This conversation explores how we can dramatically improve our current economic and political models by reexamining our assumptions about the nature of the social world. II. Kant, Applied - A conversation with Onora O'Neill, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and a crossbench member of the House of Lords. After intriguing insights into Onora O'Neill's intellectual journey to becoming a leading Kant scholar, this conversation explores how Kant's philosophy is relevant for many thorny issues in our contemporary social world, from human rights to autonomy, from informed consent to bioethics, from corporate transparency to questions of trust. III. Exploring Spinoza - A conversation with Susan James, Professor of Philosophy, Birkbeck, University of London. After an inspiring story about her academic journey, Susan James provides detailed insights into Spinoza's ideas and their current relevance; the political environment and the theological struggle about who has control of religion and how much freedom of religion there was during Spinoza's time. IV. Flourishing Through Spinoza - A conversation with Hasana Sharp, Associate Professor of Philosophy, McGill University. This conversation provides detailed insights into Hasana Sharp's extensive research on Spinoza and her sophisticated new interpretation of Spinoza's iconoclastic philosophy. Further topics include the implications of Spinoza's naturalism for today's world, from issues of social inequality, feminism, treatment of the elderly and the environment to animal rights, and more. V. Meaningfulness - A conversation with Susan Wolf, the Edna J. Koury Professor of Philosophy, UNC Chapel Hill. This conversation explores what it is to live an ethical, meaningful life in keeping with her book, Meaning in Life and Why It Matters, the role that love, fulfillment, self-interest and happiness play in giving meaning to one's life, and how meaningful activities occur when "subjective attraction meets objective attractiveness".