Professor Colin Blakemore, Ph.D, FRS, FMedSci, HonFSB, HonFRCP, is a British neurobiologist who is Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Oxford and University of Warwick specializing in vision and the development of the brain.

Episodes

Cover image for Does Philosophy Help Science?

What constitutes good science? Are there limits to science? If so, what are the boundaries? How deep can science dig into the foundations of the world?

video

Does Philosophy Help Science?

Episode 12

Season 16

26:48

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Cover image for How do Language and Consciousness Relate?

Why the tension between consciousness, my inner experience, and language, enabling thought and culture? Does consciousness cause language? Or language cause consciousness?

video

How do Language and Consciousness Relate?

Episode, Topic Series

Episode 04

Season 16

26:52

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Cover image for What Causes Religious Belief?

Why are religions so pervasive, across diverse human cultures? If God exists, would God have made it so? But there are entirely natural reasons to expect the widespread...

video

What Causes Religious Belief?

Episode 07

Season 13

26:47

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Cover image for How do Humans Differ from Other Animals?

Physically, humans and animals seem similar. Mentally, humans seem so superior. What’s so special about human nature?

video

How do Humans Differ from Other Animals?

Episode 02

Season 12

26:45

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Topic Series

Cover image for How are Humans Unique? (Part 1)

Humans are obviously far more capable than other animals. There’s no comparison in personal capacities and social achievement. But what physically distinguishes humans?...

playlist

How are Humans Unique? (Part 1)

Topic Series

5 videos

41:24

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Cover image for What Causes Religious Belief? (Part 1)

Religious belief is everywhere. Why so pervasive, ubiquitous across diverse human cultures? What motivates the universal belief in things we cannot see? Some say the reason...

playlist

What Causes Religious Belief? (Part 1)

Topic Series

7 videos

1:04:45

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Cover image for What is Ultimate Reality? (Part 1)

What is the deepest nature of things? Our world is complex, filled with so much stuff. But down below, what’s most fundamental, what is ultimate reality? Is there...

playlist

What is Ultimate Reality? (Part 1)

Topic Series

9 videos

1:13:30

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Cover image for Does Consciousness Defeat Materialism? (Part 1)

What would it take for consciousness to defeat materialism or physicalism? This is the worldview that only the physical is real, which is the dominant view of scientists and...

playlist

Does Consciousness Defeat Materialism? (Part 1)

Topic Series

6 videos

57:13

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Cover image for How do Human Brains Function? (Part 1)

What is it about human brains that enable both the regulation of bodily activities and the generation of mental thoughts? What are the mechanisms of human brain function? How...

playlist

How do Human Brains Function? (Part 1)

Topic Series

9 videos

1:15:35

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Cover image for How do Human Brains Function? (Part 2)

What is it about human brains that enable both the regulation of bodily activities and the generation of mental thoughts? What are the mechanisms of human brain function? How...

playlist

How do Human Brains Function? (Part 2)

Topic Series

9 videos

1:21:42

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Cover image for Are Brain and Mind the Same Thing?

For the brain and mind to be the same thing, mind must be entirely the output of brain. This means the mind must be the brain—literally, identically. If so, then the...

playlist

Are Brain and Mind the Same Thing?

Topic Series

8 videos

1:12:10

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Cover image for Why Philosophy of Science? (Part 2)

Science is humankind’s magnificent achievement, the way of thinking to discern facts and truths and to reject errors and myths. But how to understand the scientific...

playlist

Why Philosophy of Science? (Part 2)

Topic Series

6 videos

42:45

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Cover image for Language and Consciousness

What’s the relationship between language and consciousness? Which comes first? Does consciousness enable language? Or does language give rise to consciousness? What...

playlist

Language and Consciousness

Topic Series

9 videos

1:09:42

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Cover image for Why did Consciousness Emerge?

There was a time when there was no consciousness in our universe. Now there is. What caused consciousness to emerge? Did consciousness develop in the same way that, say, the...

playlist

Why did Consciousness Emerge?

Topic Series

9 videos

1:10:23

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Curated Playlists

Cover image for Philosophical Questions II

Explore more philosophical questions that seek insights into the fundamental features of existence including the limits of science, the existence of God, discerning the deep...

playlist

Philosophical Questions II

Curated

13 videos

5:48:10

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Cover image for Exploring Human Nature: Free Will, Personal Identity, Life after Death

What are the fundamental dispositions and traits of all humans? What sets us apart from animals? Do we really have free will or is it all an illusion? What happens when we...

playlist

Exploring Human Nature: Free Will, Personal Identity, Life after Death

Curated

13 videos

5:54:03

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Books

Colin Blakemore

Director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses, Institute of Philosphy, University of London

Episodes

Does Philosophy Help Science?

How do Language and Consciousness Relate?

What Causes Religious Belief?

How do Humans Differ from Other Animals?

Topic Series

How are Humans Unique? (Part 1)

What Causes Religious Belief? (Part 1)

What is Ultimate Reality? (Part 1)

Does Consciousness Defeat Materialism? (Part 1)

How do Human Brains Function? (Part 1)

How do Human Brains Function? (Part 2)

Are Brain and Mind the Same Thing?

Why Philosophy of Science? (Part 2)

Language and Consciousness

Why did Consciousness Emerge?

Curated Playlists

Philosophical Questions II

Exploring Human Nature: Free Will, Personal Identity, Life after Death

Books

The Mind Machine (BBC Classics)

Mindwaves: Thoughts on Intelligence, Identity, and Consciousness

The Oxford Companion to the Body