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Can morality be entirely relative to an individual or a cultural standard? Does the diversity of moral beliefs across cultures undermine the existence of objective moral principles? Does the fact that human sacrifice once existed in one culture but looked down upon but another disprove the fact that there are objective morals? Or if we accept that moral subjectivism exists, is there a way to justify or make moral claims? Join us for this episode on moral relativism. Sign up for our newsl...

Last weekend, as I was driving down the interstate in Houston, I noticed, not for the first time, a billboard that claims, “Signs, Miracles, and Wonders! Every Sunday at 11:00 AM.” I turned towards my wife and quipped, “I didn’t realize you could schedule them.” But in all seriousness, how should one express such things to others, something like a miracle or a sign? If language is how we report the world, how does one speak of their public or private experience of God? Is someone who has a re...

In the book of Exodus, God appears to the biblical patriarch Moses in the form of a burning bush, and tells him he is to lead the Isrealites, enslaved by the Egyptians, to freedom. In the Bhagavad Gita, the source of all things, lord Krisha, appears to prince Arjuna as his charioteer and helps him understand his identity and potential on the eve of a major battle. These appearances by gods, however, are not reserved just for the spiritual heroes of old. Millions of people around the world rep...

What’s the most important question in philosophy? Our guest Jack Symes believes it to be the question of God’s existence, no matter where you fall on the belief spectrum. In this episode, Jack discusses with us his latest book, Philosophers on God: Talking about Existence which directly address this question. What is the origin of the universe? What are the most powerful arguments for and against the existence of God? What do thinkers outside of the Abrahamic faiths have to say about su...

Included in this episode are feminist icons Mary Wollstonecraft and Simone de Beauvoir, champions of new ethics Mary Midgley, Iris Murdoch, Philippa Foot, and Elizabeth Anscombe, and contemporary powerhouse on love and other moral stances Susan Wolf. It's a lot packed into one hour! Join us for this final installment of the series: Women Who Shaped Philosophy!Sign up for our newsletter here! Open Door Philosophy NewsletterContact us via email at contact@opendoorphilosophy.com Open Door Philos...

Throughout the history of philosophy, women have been active, yet markedly absent from much of the scholarship. If you go into a book store or do a google search for the greatest philosophers, you would most likely see one or two women, at most on any given list. How can those two things coexist together? In Han Dynasty China, a female scholar was employed by the Emporer to write on the role of women. Plagued by the looming accusations of withcery and devil worship, a woman in the Medieval Fr...