Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Mhairi Tait, my friend and fellow DPhil student at Oxford, sits down with me to discuss whether Ted Bundy's mother was right to stand by her son, whether you could ever love the same person forever, whether you should "trade up" if you find someone with better qualities than your current beloved, and whether one still ought to be loved even if one were a worm.
To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal (paypal.com/paypalme/mileskdonahue) or Buy Me a Coffee (buymeacoffee.com/mileskdonahue).
Twitter: twitter.com/PhilosopherMKD
EPISODE CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:52 Is the best kind of love unconditional?
00:14:10 Is it okay to not love everyone?
00:20:00 Should we "trade up" if we find a better romantic partner?
00:21:21 Is love ever unjustified?
00:24:07 Is love for an abuser real love?
00:30:14 The possibility of love at first sight
00:40:30 What IS love, exactly?
00:45:04 Do you, Miles, think love has created value in you?
00:55:11 Ted Bundy's mother loved him to the very end
00:59:28 Ethical non-monogamy?
01:01:15 Does love require free will?
01:04:20 Is there a single concept the unifies all our uses of the word "love"?
01:06:39 Does analytic philosophy do damage to love?
01:11:50 Realist vs. anti-realist accounts of love
01:14:17 Could you love the same person forever?
Mhairi Tait, my friend and fellow DPhil student at Oxford, sits down with me to discuss whether Ted Bundy's mother was right to stand by her son, whether you could ever love the same person forever, whether you should "trade up" if you find someone with better qualities than your current beloved, and whether one still ought to be loved even if one were a worm.
To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal (paypal.com/paypalme/mileskdonahue) or Buy Me a Coffee (buymeacoffee.com/mileskdonahue).
Twitter: twitter.com/PhilosopherMKD
EPISODE CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:52 Is the best kind of love unconditional?
00:14:10 Is it okay to not love everyone?
00:20:00 Should we "trade up" if we find a better romantic partner?
00:21:21 Is love ever unjustified?
00:24:07 Is love for an abuser real love?
00:30:14 The possibility of love at first sight
00:40:30 What IS love, exactly?
00:45:04 Do you, Miles, think love has created value in you?
00:55:11 Ted Bundy's mother loved him to the very end
00:59:28 Ethical non-monogamy?
01:01:15 Does love require free will?
01:04:20 Is there a single concept the unifies all our uses of the word "love"?
01:06:39 Does analytic philosophy do damage to love?
01:11:50 Realist vs. anti-realist accounts of love
01:14:17 Could you love the same person forever?
