Neighbours before strangers Alain de Botton, Seyla Benhabib and Tommy Curry

Should everyone be treated equally? Many see populism with its focus on immigration and nationalism as not only politically dangerous but morally wrong. This reflects the universalist morality of the main Western moral frameworks. But critics argue moral universalism generates a case for favouring strangers over the interests of those close to us and that it is profoundly mistaken. In contrast, Chinese Confucian morality accepts partiality towards our nearest. Recent studies have shown that we do in practice favour those close to us, and moreover that we think we are morally right to do so. Alain de Botton is the best-selling philosopher and founder of The School of Life, an organisation dedicated to developing emotional intelligence through philosophy, psychotherapy, and culture. Seyla Benhabib is one of the most influential political philosophers of her generation and is the author of At the Margins of the Modern State. Tommy Curry is the Personal Chair of Africana Philosophy and Black Male Studies at the University of Edinburgh, renowned for his critical scholarship on the intersection of race, gender, and power. Alex O'Connor hosts. Don't hesitate to email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode! To witness such debates live buy tickets for our upcoming festival: And visit our website for many more articles, videos, and podcasts like this one: You can find everything we referenced here: See Privacy Policy at and California Privacy Notice at .

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Neighbours before strangers Alain de Botton, Seyla Benhabib and Tommy Curry is an episode from Philosophy for our times by The Institute of Art and Ideas.

This episode is 00:50:22 long.

This episode was published on Mar 10, 2026.

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