Open Problems

Back in 2012, Dr Francesca Minerva co-published an academic paper in the Journal of Medical Ethics on the issue of ‘after-birth abortion’. She wasn’t prepared for the media firestorm that followed. In this episode of the podcast, we discuss the interesting ethical issues she explored in that paper, as well as the harassment and even death threats she received for daring to talk openly about them. We then discuss the Journal of Controversial Ideas, which Dr Minerva is launching with fellow philosophers Peter Singer and Jeff McMahan. It aims to provide a rigorous peer-review process while maintaining the anonymity of the academics it publishes.We also talk more generally about the recent spate of academics being hounded out of their institutions for asking the wrong kinds of research questions, and what this means for academic freedom.Dr Minerva is a bioethicist at the University of Ghent in Belgium, where she thinks about lots of interesting and contentious problems. You can find more of her work at her w

Erik Hoel is a research assistant professor at Tufts University in the US. In the podcast we discuss the really interesting work he's doing on 'causal emergence,' and how it might help us better understand how the mind works. We go on to talk about theories of consciousness, as well as the speculation and hype around artificial intelligence. You can read more about Erik's work at his website: https://www.erikphoel.com/Also check out his Twitter here: https://twitter.com/erikphoel