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Season 2011

  • S2011E01 Why do people like Harry Potter?

    • July 13, 2011
    • YouTube

    Philosophy expert Greg Currie - whose interests include literature - muses over the success of the Harry Potter series. Professor Currie works in the University of Nottingham's Department of Philosophy.

  • S2011E02 The Philosophy of Sports Fans

    • July 28, 2011
    • YouTube

    Why do people watch sports? What do they get from it? This is the first of a few videos with Professor Stephen Mumford at the University of Nottingham.

  • S2011E03 Football Fan Perception

    • August 2, 2011
    • YouTube

    Do all football fans see things the same way... or are they influenced by their loyalties? We continue our look at the philosophy of sports fans.

  • S2011E04 The Neutral Soccer Fan

    • August 8, 2011
    • YouTube

    Is it better to "support your team" - or just watch the pure sport. Professor Stephen Mumford - an expert on the philosophy of sport - thinks it is better to be a pure fan. He travels to games around the country, just enjoying the contest.

  • S2011E05 Why's The Godfather such a good movie?

    • August 15, 2011
    • YouTube

    The Godfather movies rely heavy on deception and in many ways mirror the Shakespearean stories of King Henry !V and King Henry V. This is the view of philosophy expert Greg Currie, from the University of Nottingham.

  • S2011E06 Moral Theories - Right and Wrong

    • August 18, 2011
    • YouTube

    Do moral theories require golden rules - so-called exceptionless principles? This is the area of interest for Uri Leibowitz, from the University of Nottingham's Department of Philosophy.

  • S2011E07 The Philosophy of Time

    • August 23, 2011
    • YouTube

    What are the A and B theories of time? Time philosophy expert Jonathan Tallant, from the University of Nottingham, tries to explain.

  • S2011E08 Gilgamesh and Metacognition

    • August 30, 2011
    • YouTube

    Gilgamesh is a truly ancient story, and it has our philosopher musing on the use of "thinking about thinking" in fiction. Prof Gregory Currie is speaking.

Season 2012

  • S2012E01 Brad Pitt, Homer and Imaginative Resistance

    • May 4, 2012
    • YouTube

    The film Troy is based on the famous poem The Iliad - so why didn't film-makers stick to Homer's famous tale? Professor Greg Currie offers a philosophical perspective. PhilosophyFile is a series of interviews by video journalist Brady Haran with researchers at the University of Nottingham.

  • S2012E02 Beauty and Future Philosophers

    • June 21, 2012
    • YouTube

    Attempting to "rank" beautiful images - from the Mona Lisa to sports cars - is a clever way to teach philosophy to younger minds, as the University of Nottingham's Jonathan Tallant explains. These PhilosophyFile videos are created by Brady Haran working with philosophers at the University of Nottingham.

  • S2012E03 A Negative Hippopotamus

    • October 10, 2012
    • YouTube

    This is Part I of an interview about the "Philosophy of Nothing" with Stephen Mumford, a Professor of Metaphysics at the University of Nottingham. These PhilosophyFile videos are created by Brady Haran working with philosophers at the University of Nottingham.