Episode 6: Michael Boylan

Guest: Michael Boylan
Location: Department of Philosophy, University of Twente
Duration: 70 min.

Keywords: Literature, Philosophy of biology, Ancient Greek science, Poetry, Human rights, Narrative, Worldviews, Well-being, Philosophy of Science.

Michael Boylan is the John J. McDonnell jr chair in Ethics, and professor and chair of the philosophy department at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. In addition to being a poet and novelist, he has written more than 100 published articles and 25 books primarily in ethics, social and political philosophy, philosophy of science, and the intersection of philosophy and literature. He was a fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Washington DC policy think tank from 2007-2009 and is the general editor of a series of trade books on public philosophy with Basil Blackwell Publishers and another series of books with Prentice Hall as well as being the ethics editor for the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Boylan was actually the first guest that I had never met before, so I had no idea how the interview would go – nor what kind of person Boylan was. There was no need for worry, though, as Boylan turned out to be engaged, enthusiastic and inspiring – on top of being a very nice guy. We had a great conversation, mostly centred around the relationship between philosophy and literature, (ancient) philosophy of biology, the good life and several other topics covered in Boylan’s impressive oeuvre.

Background Information and links related to this episode:

As usual, you will get most out of this episode if you at least know a little bit about Michael Boylan. For starters, have a look at Boylan’s Philpapers site, for links to several of his books and papers.
Michael Boylan in conversation with long-time friend and co-author Charles Johnson (check PhilosophyTV for other appearances by Boyland and others):
Michael Boylan & Charles Johnson (fixed) from Philosophy TV on Vimeo.
Boylan on “Does War have a meaning“, from the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict podcast series.

Cite this podcast?

Søraker, J.H. (Producer). (2012, November 29). Episode 6: Michael Boylan (audio podcast). SuchThatCast. Podcast retrieved from https://suchthatcast.com/Boylan

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