Episode 45 - Anna Alexandrova

On Episode 45, Nick chats with Anna Alexandrova, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Science at Cambridge, about coming of age in Russia during the collapse of the USSR, succeeding in philosophy when she had “no other options,” and her book, “A Philosophy for the Science of Well-being.”

Timestamps:

0:15 Hello and welcome / 1:50 Anna fills us in on her summer aka the Cambridge “research term” / 4:22 Anna’s early life and the challenges she faced growing up in Russia during the collapse of the USSR / 13:15 Anna’s first encounter with philosophy as a 16-year-old exchange student in France / 17:51 Anna’s introduction to the philosophy of social science / 20:46 The intellectual life of London, and sexual objectification in Russia / 25:00 How Anna succeeded in philosophy when she had “no other options” / 35:05 The rise of the sciences of well-being / 38:26 What is the science of well-being? / 44:07 The top three philosophy of science issues in the science of well-being / 52:34 Is there a single concept or theory of well-being? / 58:35 What future contributions can (and should) philosophers of the science of well-being make? / 01:04:58 Constructive criticism of Anna’s book “A Philosophy for the Science of Well-being” / 01:07:30 Is well-being a number? / 01:11:30 Anna’s upcoming projects / 01:15:24 The greatest challenge facing philosophy of science today