Researching Peace - en podd från Uppsala universitet

Philosophy Tea - George Orwell

“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
The Nightmarish World of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four (1949).

The legacy of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four is well established. Phrases such as “Big Brother is watching you”, and terms such as “doublethink” and “thoughtcrime” and “1984” itself have entered our political vocabulary. In this philosophy tea we will be looking at the story behind the novel and the reasons for its continued relevance. We will also be discussing how Orwell constructs this nightmarish world and whether the novel leaves any room for hope.

This episode was recorded and edited at Reginateatern, which also served as the host venue for the event on 24 September 2019.

Producer: Paul Kessel

The Philosophy Tea talks were held regularly at the Regina Theatre in Uppsala from 2014 to 2021. During these well attended events – where tea, scones and jam were served – Professor Peter Wallensteen and Guest Lecturer Daniel Ogden, both of Uppsala University, discussed thinkers who have contributed to our understanding of peace and justice. In all, 40 sessions were held, of which 31 are recorded. The session were also supported by Uppsala University as part of its outreach activities.

Philosophy Tea - W.E.B. Du Bois and Pan-Africanism

“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line”, The Souls of Black Folks (1903).

What unites the African Union in Addis Ababa and former president, Barack Obama, in the White House? The threads go back to W. E. B. Dubois (1868-1963), the first African-American to get a Ph. D. from Harvard University; a sociologist and a proponent of Black liberation. His work inspired independence for Africa through Pan Africanism, as well as civil rights in the United States. Since he is largely unknown in Europe, our Philosophy Tea will highlight this important proponent of human equality.

This episode of the Philosophy Tea was recorded and edited at Reginateatern, which also served as the host venue for the event on 12 December 2017.

Producer: Paul Kessel

The Philosophy Tea talks were held regularly at the Regina Theatre in Uppsala from 2014 to 2021. During these well attended events – where tea, scones and jam were served – Professor Peter Wallensteen and Guest Lecturer Daniel Ogden, both of Uppsala University, discussed thinkers who have contributed to our understanding of peace and justice. In all, 40 sessions were held, of which 31 are recorded. The session were also supported by Uppsala University as part of its outreach activities.

Philosophy Tea - Rachel Carson

When Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring was published in 1962 it was an instant bestseller and a resounding alarm-bell: human activities were about to destroy the very conditions that made human existence possible. Being a marine biologist Carson (1907-1964) had observed the impact, for instance, chemicals like DDT on wild-life. Her documentation of these effects helped to galvanize public action, led to a questioning of human domination of the planet’s resources and resulted in debates on appropriate policies that still are ongoing. In this session we will discuss Carson’s arguments, their precedents and continued importance.

This episode was recorded and edited at Reginateatern, which also served as the host venue for the event on 12 February 2019.

Producer: Paul Kessel

The Philosophy Tea talks were held regularly at the Regina Theatre in Uppsala from 2014 to 2021. During these well attended events – where tea, scones and jam were served – Professor Peter Wallensteen and Guest Lecturer Daniel Ogden, both of Uppsala University, discussed thinkers who have contributed to our understanding of peace and justice. In all, 40 sessions were held, of which 31 are recorded. The session were also supported by Uppsala University as part of its outreach activities.

Philosophy Tea - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau: A misunderstood philosopher?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was, and still is, a controversial thinker. He has been blamed for the excesses of the French Revolution and preparing the way for twentieth-century totalitarianism. But is this a fair assessment of Rousseau? In order to try to answer this question, our philosophy tea will focus on Rousseau’s first important philosophical work, Discourse on the Arts and Sciences (1750), in which he first set forth his ideas on the natural goodness of humankind and how it has been corrupted by civilization. These ideas would play an important role in the development of his later, more mature political philosophy, and give rise to much of the controversy surrounding his name. By re-examining Rousseau’s ideas on nature and society, we hope to shed light not only on the impact he had on Enlightenment and Romantic thinking, but also what relevance he might have for us today

This episode of was recorded and edited at Reginateatern, which also served as the host venue for the event on 21 January 2019.

Producer: Paul Kessel

The Philosophy Tea talks were held regularly at the Regina Theatre in Uppsala from 2014 to 2021. During these well attended events – where tea, scones and jam were served – Professor Peter Wallensteen and Guest Lecturer Daniel Ogden, both of Uppsala University, discussed thinkers who have contributed to our understanding of peace and justice. In all, 40 sessions were held, of which 31 are recorded. The session were also supported by Uppsala University as part of its outreach activities.

Philosophy Tea - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Nigeria in a Globalized World - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s, Americanah (2013)

This Philosophy Tea discusses the portrayal of post-colonial Nigeria in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah (2013). Driven by political instability and economic difficulties, the main characters – and lovers – Ifemelu and Obinze, seek a better life in the United States and England respectively. Returning to Nigeria they find that not only have they changed but so has Nigeria. Americanah, together with Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) and Purple Hibiscus (2003) form a loose trilogy of Nigeria after independence.

Daniel Ogden is a researcher and teacher of utopian ideas, for many years at Uppsala University and now at Mälardalen University.
Peter Wallensteen was the first holder of the Dag Hammarskjöld Chair in Peace and Conflict Research (1985-2012) and is now Senior Professor at Uppsala University.

Philosophy Teas are produced in cooperation with Uppsala University and the discussions are disseminated as podcasts by the theatre and the University.

This episode was recorded and edited at Reginateatern, which also served as the host venue for the event on 11 December 2018.

Producer: Paul Kessel

The Philosophy Tea talks were held regularly at the Regina Theatre in Uppsala from 2014 to 2021. During these well attended events – where tea, scones and jam were served – Professor Peter Wallensteen and Guest Lecturer Daniel Ogden, both of Uppsala University, discussed thinkers who have contributed to our understanding of peace and justice. In all, 40 sessions were held, of which 31 are recorded. The session were also supported by Uppsala University as part of its outreach activities.

Philosophy Tea - Amartya Sen

Amartya Sen - Development and Freedom

Amartya Sen (born 1933) is a respected economist and philosopher from India with a broad perspective on development, inequality, freedom, democracy and social progress. In his widely read Development as Freedom (1999) he connects to the pioneering economic thinkers such as Adam Smith to argue for the enhancement of socially responsible freedom as the basis for economic development. One of his earlier works demonstrated that famines rarely happen in democracies, thus pointing to the importance of political institutions for economic development that benefits society as a whole. Similarly he demonstrated the impact of gender inequality by calculating the number of 'missing women' in the use of India's demographic statistics.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 and the Skytte Prize in Political Science in 2017.This autumn Professor Peter Wallensteen and Lecturer Daniel Ogden will continue their popular Philosophy Tea talks. Each Philosophy Tea is a discussion about a particular philosopher or practitioner in the field of peace and justice and lasts for an hour. The discussion can span the whole career of the philosopher or focus on a particularly significant work. The final twenty minutes is reserved for an open discussion with the audience. The events are run in English.

This episode of the Philosophy Tea, focusing on Amartya Sen, was recorded and edited at Reginateatern, which also served as the host venue for the event on 9 October 2018.

Producer: Paul Kessel

The Philosophy Tea talks were held regularly at the Regina Theatre in Uppsala from 2014 to 2021. During these well attended events – where tea, scones and jam were served – Professor Peter Wallensteen and Guest Lecturer Daniel Ogden, both of Uppsala University, discussed thinkers who have contributed to our understanding of peace and justice. In all, 40 sessions were held, of which 31 are recorded. The session were also supported by Uppsala University as part of its outreach activities.

Philosophy Tea - Jonathan Swift

Philosophy Tea, september 25th 2018
Leaving Europe Behind – Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726)

In our first Philosophy Tea for autumn 2018, we follow the sea adventurer, Lemuel Gulliver, on a voyage of self-discovery away from his native England. Through his encounters with Little People, Big People, Flying Islands and Talking Horses, Gulliver is forced to rethink his views on European superiority. But when he starts to question his own humanity, perhaps Gulliver has gone too far.

This autumn Professor Peter Wallensteen and Lecturer Daniel Ogden will continue their popular Philosophy Tea talks. Each Philosophy Tea is a discussion about a particular philosopher or practitioner in the field of peace and justice and lasts for an hour. The discussion can span the whole career of the philosopher or focus on a particularly significant work. The final twenty minutes is reserved for an open discussion with the audience. The events are run in English.

Producer: Paul Kessel

The Philosophy Tea talks were held regularly at the Regina Theatre in Uppsala from 2014 to 2021. During these well attended events – where tea, scones and jam were served – Professor Peter Wallensteen and Guest Lecturer Daniel Ogden, both of Uppsala University, discussed thinkers who have contributed to our understanding of peace and justice. In all, 40 sessions were held, of which 31 are recorded. The session were also supported by Uppsala University as part of its outreach activities.

Philosophy Tea - Bertrand Russell

"A World Built on Rationality".
In his Power: A New Social Analysis from 1938 the empirically acute philosopher and activist Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), reacting to the way the world was developing in the 1930s, provided a book that offered hope for peace through independence of mind. His monumental The History of Western Philosophy (1945) established him as a renowned scholar and brought him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950. His activism included protests against nuclear weapons, war in general and the Vietnam War in particular.

This episode of the Philosophy Tea, focusing on Bertrand Russell, was recorded and edited at Reginateatern, which also served as the host venue for the event on 27 February 2018.

Producer: Paul Kessel

The Philosophy Tea talks were held regularly at the Regina Theatre in Uppsala from 2014 to 2021. During these well attended events – where tea, scones and jam were served – Professor Peter Wallensteen and Guest Lecturer Daniel Ogden, both of Uppsala University, discussed thinkers who have contributed to our understanding of peace and justice. In all, 40 sessions were held, of which 31 are recorded. The session were also supported by Uppsala University as part of its outreach activities.

Philosophy Tea - Karin Boye

”A World Without Feeling".
A discussion of Karin Boye’s dystopian novel Kallocain (1940)”.

This episode was recorded and edited at Reginateatern, which also served as the host venue for the event on 6 February 2018.

Producer: Paul Kessel

The Philosophy Tea talks were held regularly at the Regina Theatre in Uppsala from 2014 to 2021. During these well attended events – where tea, scones and jam were served – Professor Peter Wallensteen and Guest Lecturer Daniel Ogden, both of Uppsala University, discussed thinkers who have contributed to our understanding of peace and justice. In all, 40 sessions were held, of which 31 are recorded. The session were also supported by Uppsala University as part of its outreach activities.

Philosophy Tea - William Wilberforce

This episode of the Philosophy Tea, focusing on William Wilberforce, was recorded and edited at Reginateatern, which also served as the host venue for the event on 22 February 2016.

Recorded and produced by Per Torsner

 

The Philosophy Tea talks were held regularly at the Regina Theatre in Uppsala from 2014 to 2021. During these well attended events – where tea, scones and jam were served – Professor Peter Wallensteen and Guest Lecturer Daniel Ogden, both of Uppsala University, discussed thinkers who have contributed to our understanding of peace and justice. In all, 40 sessions were held, of which 31 are recorded. The session were also supported by Uppsala University as part of its outreach activities.