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About Robert Talisse

Robert Talisse is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University.

NBN Episodes hosted by Robert:

Philosophy May 3, 2022

Public Reason and Political Autonomy

Realizing the Ideal of a Civic People

Blain Neufeld

Hosted by Robert Talisse
According to a familiar picture, a democracy is a free society of self-governing equals. This means that democratic citizens have a duty to participate in the processes of democratic governance …
Philosophy April 1, 2022

Learning from Our Mistakes

Epistemology for the Real World

William J. Talbott

Hosted by Robert Talisse
The enterprise of Western epistemology has largely been devoted to a collection of issues concerning the definition and analysis of knowledge. What makes knowledge different from true belief? When is …
Philosophy March 1, 2022

The Case for Rage

Why Anger Is Essential to Anti-Racist Struggle

Myisha Cherry

Hosted by Robert Talisse
According to a broad consensus among philosophers across the ages, anger is regrettable, counterproductive, and bad. It is something to be overcome or suppressed, something that involves an immoral drive …
Philosophy February 1, 2022

Conceiving People

Genetic Knowledge and the Ethics of Sperm and Egg Donation

Daniel Groll

Hosted by Robert Talisse
In the United States, tens of thousands of children are conceived every year with donated gametes. When people decide to create a child with donated gametes, they’ll typically have to …
Philosophy December 31, 2021

Grief

A Philosophical Guide

Michael Cholbi

Hosted by Robert Talisse
We think of grief as a normal response to the death of a loved one. We’re familiar with the so-called “five stages” of grief. Grief seems as an emotional episode …
Philosophy December 1, 2021

Responsible Citizens, Irresponsible States

Should Citizens Pay for Their States' Wrongdoings?

Avia Pasternak

Hosted by Robert Talisse
We tend to think that states can act wrongfully, even criminally. Thus, we also tend to think that states can be held responsible for their acts. They can be made …
Philosophy November 1, 2021

Reasons First

Mark Schroeder

Hosted by Robert Talisse
A leading approach in ethics takes the reason as in some sense primary or basic. This approach claims that a range of moral concepts – goodness, rightness, obligation, and so …
Philosophy October 1, 2021

The Dialogical Roots of Deduction

Historical, Cognitive, and Philosophical Perspectives on Reasoning

Catarina Dutilh Novaes

Hosted by Robert Talisse
If all men are mortal, and Socrates is a man, then it must be that Socrates is mortal. What could be more obvious? Well, sometimes obviousness serves to conceal philosophical …
Philosophy September 1, 2021

The Mismeasure of the Self

A Study in Vice Epistemology

Alessandra Tanesini

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Epistemology traditionally focuses on the analysis of central epistemological concepts, such as knowledge, justification, evidence, truth, and belief. But having knowledge is also a matter of acquiring knowledge. And this …
Philosophy August 2, 2021

The Right to Know

Epistemic Rights and Why We Need Them

Lani Watson

Hosted by Robert Talisse
We often talk as if individuals have entitlements to certain kinds of information: medical test results, political representatives’ voting records, crime statistics, and the like. We also talk as if …
Philosophy July 1, 2021

Immigration and Freedom

Chandran Kukathas

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Discussions of the ethics and politics of immigration tend to focus on those seeking entry into a new society. We ask whether a country has the “right to exclude” those …
Philosophy June 1, 2021

Rejecting Retributivism

Free Will, Punishment, and Criminal Justice

Gregg D. Caruso

Hosted by Robert Talisse
According to an intuitive view, those who commit crimes are justifiably subject to punishment. Depending on the severity of the wrongdoing constitutive of the crime, punishment can be severe: incarceration …
Why We Argue June 1, 2021

Democracy and Social Critique with Cornel West

Cornel West

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Cornel West is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor at Union Theological Seminary. Professor West is among the nation’s most distinguished philosophers. For several decades running, Cornel West has infused into public …
Why We Argue May 24, 2021

Democratic Repair and Public Things with Bonnie Honig

Bonnie Honig

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Bonnie Honig the Nancy Duke Lewis Professor of Modern Culture and Media, and Political Science at Brown University. Bonnie works at the intersections of political theory, democratic theory, and culture …
Why We Argue May 18, 2021

Climate Denialism and Propaganda with Catriona McKinnon

Catriona McKinnon

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Catriona McKinnon is Professor of Political Theory at the University of Exeter. Her research focuses on climate ethics and environmental justice. Much of her recent work aims at addressing denialism …
Why We Argue May 4, 2021

Social Trust in a Free Society with Kevin Vallier

Kevin Vallier

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Kevin Vallier is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University. His most recent book is titled Trust in a Polarized Age. You can follow him …
Philosophy May 3, 2021

The Epistemology of Groups

Jennifer Lackey

Hosted by Robert Talisse
We commonly ascribe beliefs and similar attitudes to groups. For instance, we say that a foreign government believes that members of the press are spies, or that a corporation denies …
Why We Argue April 13, 2021

Political Rhetoric and Demagoguery with Jennifer Mercieca

Jennifer Mercieca

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Jennifer Mercieca is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University. She is the author of Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump. You can …
Why We Argue April 6, 2021

Anger, Rage, and Forgiveness with Myisha Cherry

Myisha Cherry

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Myisha Cherry is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. Myisha’s research focuses on the intersection of moral psychology and social and political philosophy. More specifically she …
Philosophy April 1, 2021

Being Evil

A Philosophical Perspective

Luke Russell

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Evil is among our everyday moral concepts. It is common to hear politicians and others condemn certain acts, purposes, people, or even populations as evil. But what does it mean …
Why We Argue March 23, 2021

Conspiracy Theories and Democracy with Quassim Cassam

Quassim Cassam

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Quassim Cassam is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. You can follow him on Twitter at .@QCassam. Quassim’s research focus is epistemology, the area of …
Why We Argue March 16, 2021

Democracy and Truth with Sophia Rosenfeld

Sophia Rosenfeld

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Sophia Rosenfeld is Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Democracy and Truth: A Short History.The "Why We Argue" podcast is …
Why We Argue March 9, 2021

Transitional Justice with Colleen Murphy

Colleen Murphy

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Colleen Murphy is the Roger and Stephany Joslin Professor of Law at the College of Law and a professor in the Departments of Philosophy and Political Science at the University …
Why We Argue March 2, 2021

Democracy, Protest, and Progress with Melvin Rogers

Melvin Rogers

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Melvin Rogers is Associate Professor of Political Science at Brown University. You can follow Melvin on Twitter at @MRogers097. Professor Rogers specializes in democratic theory, with special focus on the …