Crunch time for Pringles' sense of self

"The first rule of philosophy is that if you can't provide an answer, then at least make a distinction."

Blog on the essence of potatoness at Comment is Free.

What would Robin Hood do?

"There is no moral complexity here, only a simple truth of human nature: that something that seems very wrong can quickly and easily seem very right, if it suits us."

On the couple who ran off with £4million in today's Guardian.

Nightwaves - BBC Radio 3

"Following the use of Aristotle’s theory of essences by a judge in a case concerning potato crisps, philosopher Julian Baggini joins us down the line to examine how philosophers can help us understand what it actually means to be a potato."

Listen again to last night's programme here (available for one week).

Prize ideas

"Absent from the short list is the "high concept" blockbuster such as Nudge, Kluge and Blink, with one big idea that is defined on the jacket flap and then filled (and often padded) out inside the book. None made the cut, in part because their ideas lead most of their lives outside the books themselves: 'Nudge' is a more important concept than Nudge is an important book."

Short article in the Guardian Review (Third item)

Should we care about animals?

"I would be the first to agree that my own rules are very messy and not consistent. But I would also argue that having a blurry moral map is in this case better than following one which draws clear lines in all the wrong places. The issue is always going to be messy because the moral basis of concern for other animals is complicated."

Blog at Comment is Free (posted 5 May)

May podcast now out

In the second edition of Baggini’s Philosophy Monthly, I’m debating whether Christianity is a force for good with Richard Harries, former bishop of Oxford, and talking to folk singer and novelist Charlotte Greig about European philosophy and Sussex in the seventies. Plus there’s a round-up of some recent philosophy news.

Listen here or at

BPM is produced in association with The Philosophers’ Magazine.