Invitation from South Africa

We run the Brain in Vat podcast. We have aired over 200 episodes with prominent thinkers on philosophical topics. We interviewed Peter Singer on animal welfare, Stephen Cave on immortality and David Edmonds on Derek Parfit.

We have also published a series of six books based on our favourite conversations.

In terms of content, we ask all our guests to start with a thought experiment or real life case. We use that as a launching pad to discuss the topic in more detail. We don’t script our show, but we do a short chat just before recording to chart a path for topics to be covered.

Each show is roughly an hour, so if you are able to set aside an hour and half for us that should be enough time.

If you could send me a few available days and times I will send through an invite.

Hi Colin,

I recently read your blog post on a sexual enticement  and I very much liked the thought experiment. It also got me thinking about a broader issue: the taboos surrounding relationships between university staff, and between staff and students, particularly at American universities.

My own view is that these taboos are often blown out of proportion, and that a number of academics have had their careers unfairly damaged as a result. Having looked into your case in particular, you strike me as someone who was also treated unfairly. That said, if you were to come on the show, there would be no obligation at all to discuss your own case, though you would of course be welcome to do so if you wished.

Over the years, we have done a number of episodes on sexual ethics, but nothing specifically on sexual ethics within universities. Two things recently made me think this would be a worthwhile topic.

The first was a paper proposing that any philosopher accused of sexual harassment should be cited as such in academic papers. I found that suggestion egregious, and told the authors as much. One of the people they treated as obviously guilty was Thomas Pogge, which prompted me to look more closely into his case. It seemed to me that he, too, had been badly treated.

The second was an anonymous article in the Daily Nous about how philosophers should have sex at conferences. It struck me as a particularly American obsession. Being based in South Africa, where we do not have quite the same level of taboo around sex, I found it strange that people would be so anxious about sex between adults who live in different parts of the country and merely happen to work in the same academic field. Much of the language around power and privilege in these discussions seems, to me, massively overblown.

In light of all this, I thought you might be a very interesting guest to discuss these topics: sexual ethics in universities, academic norms, professional taboos, and the ways in which moral panic can shape institutional responses.

Would you be open to coming on the show?