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Schopenhauer and Prozac
John Fischer
02
Apr 2005
I admit it: I've been reading a lot of Schopenhauer, especially his Essays on Pessimism. They are fascinating, and extremely beautifully (and of course provocatively) written. Here's a cheery and lovely passage: "Could we foresee it, there are times when children might seem like innocent prisoners, condemned, not to death, but to life, and as yet all unconscious of what their sentence means. Nevertheless, every man desires to reach old age; in other words, a state of life of which it may be siad; 'It is bad to-day, and it will be worse to0morrow; and so on till the worst of all." Hmm. ...
Read moreThe Philosophical Dimensions of Reparations
Neil Van Leeuwen
22
Feb 2017
At the end of our recent episode on reparations, John expressed bewilderment about what should be done. That’s understandable. The historical injustices perpetrated against blacks on American soil span four centuries and would be impossible to quantify. It seems impossible to settle who should pay reparations, given that slaveholders are all dead, and who should receive them, given that descent is a complicated affair. And the political sentiment is mostly contrary, even among liberals. One’s feeling of bewilderment is apt to increase, at least temporarily, upon reading relevant historical...
Read moreSelf Knowledge on Trial
06
Aug 2019
Who hasn’t heard the philosophical slogan “Know thyself”? The phrase has a long, long pedigree. It’s said to go back to that most ancient of ancient Greek philosophers, Thales of Miletus, who lived in sixth century BC, and Plato tells us that it was inscribed at the entrance to the famous temple of Apollo at Delphi. It’s still popular today, over 2500 years later. Most people seem think that knowing themselves is a good idea, or at least say that that’s what they think. “Know thyself,” is uttered reverently—as though it’s self-evidently a wonderful goal. Didn’t Socrates say that...
Read moreOn Ethicists and Jerks
27
Jul 2020
Can studying moral philosophy make you more moral? Could it make you less moral? How do we become more virtuous? Or should we all just settle for moral mediocrity? These are some of the questions we’re thinking about on this week’s show, “The Ethical Jerk.” You might think calling someone an “ethical jerk” is like calling something a round square—it’s a contradiction in terms. If someone is a jerk, then, by definition, aren’t they not exactly the most ethical person there is? That's true, and the term is meant a little tonge-in-cheek. But it is also describing a very particular kind...
Read morePolitical vs. Economic Inequality
12
Aug 2022
This week we're asking what Political Inequality is. Sounds easy to define, right? That’s when some people don’t get an equal voice in society, because they’re not represented in government, or they’re not allowed to vote, or their ballots are just ignored. But that’s not all that matters—in fact it may not even be the main issue. Some would say political inequality is mostly about rich people abusing the power that money gives them; so if you took the money out of politics, you’d solve a big part of the problem. One response to that would be that politics isn’t just economics. Suppose, for...
Read moreBaldwin and Racial Justice
Laura Maguire
12
Feb 2018
James Baldwin, essayist, novelist, playwright, and searing social critic, has been enjoying a resurgence of interest recently due, at least in part, to the Baldwin documentary, I Am Not Your Negro (USA, 2017). There is no doubt that Baldwin’s thinking is just as relevant today, in the age of Black Lives Matters, as it was in the mid twentieth century. Sadly, there is so much that has not yet changed. And Baldwin has an uncanny ability to diagnose precisely what it is that ails America and the American people. His prescription to ameliorate “the Negro problem,” however, I find...
Read moreDoes Science Over-reach?
Ken Taylor
24
Jul 2018
This week, we examine the question whether science overreaches. It our sixth and final episode on our series on Intellectual Humility. Science is typically not construed as a form of intellectual arrogance. Indeed, like faith, which we examined in an earlier episode, an argument can be made that science is a form of intellectual humility. After all, the scientific method is about making sure your beliefs are regulated by observations and experiments rather than by personal biases, subjective preferences, or mere stubborn pride. If science is understood in this way, it may sound...
Read moreThe Ethics of Torture
John Perry
09
Apr 2010
Is water-boarding torture? If it is, does that make it wrong? Always? Usually? What is torture, and why is it always, usually, or sometimes wrong? Almost every dictionary gives two definitions of torture: a narrow one… inflicting great pain. And a broad one… severe mental anxiety and suffering. Water-boarding clearly counts as torture by the second definition, perhaps the issue isn't clear given the first definition. But sure if our topic is the ethics, or morality, of torture, we need the more inclusive definition – severe mental anxiety and...
Read moreAfterlife
John Perry
16
Mar 2007
David Hume died in August, 1776, at the age of 65 --- rather young, by my standards (I'm 64) but not unusually so for that age, I guess. The death is well-documented in literature. Realizing that he was dying, Hume wrote his short, charming Autobiography. His student and friend Adam Smith wrote a moving account of Hume's last days. And, most interesting for our purposes, his fellow Scot James Boswell, most famous for his biography of Dr. Johnson, at Johnson's urging, visited Hume to see if the old infidel's skepticism about an afterlife was shaken as death...
Read more#FrancisOnFilm: Cezanne et Moi
27
Apr 2017
What makes a friend? Cézanne et Moi is the story of the friendship between Émile Zola and Paul Cézanne. It is also a complex commentary on friendship itself: what friends owe each other, what friends should do for each other, and what breaks the bonds of friendship. The film may be difficult to find; it’s in limited release now and reportedly will be out on DVD by the end of the summer. But it’s very much worth looking for, both for what it says about friendship and for its beauty as a film. Guillaume Gallienne (as Cézanne) and Guillaume Canet (as Zola) give terrific...
Read moreIs Neoliberalism Destroying the Earth?
Eliane Mitchell
08
Sep 2017
Thousands of posters, books, videos, and social media exhort us to take four minute showers, eat vegan, carpool, and recycle in order to slow global warming and save Planet Earth, and yet, we have to ask, do these individual efforts really amount to much? Not really, according to this article from The Guardian. In fact, it is neoliberalism, with its emphasis on the free market and government deregulation of corporations, which cons the populace into thinking that an individual's "green efforts" might bear consequence on the environment. That is, by exalting the...
Read moreTainted by the Sins of Our Fathers?
Ken Taylor
21
Jul 2014
This week, we’re discussing moral taint and collective responsibility. We’re asking the question, “Can we be tainted by the sins of our Fathers?” You might think that the answer is that we certainly can. Adam and Eve ate that darned apple and tainted all humankind with Original Sin. Now I know that that’s the biblical theory… but, frankly, I don’t get it. I have never gotten it. They ate the apple. Not us. Why would a loving God hold us – their descendants – responsible for what they did? What kind of...
Read moreFreedom, rights and technology (Why Free Software is Important)
25
Mar 2016
Free and open source software is provided at zero cost but the word "free" does not refer to the cost of the software. "Free" refers to the fact that everyone has freedom to use the software for their benefit. The freedom to use, study, copy, modify, distribute are granted to everyone and is protected through an enforceable legal license. When I first heard the free software concept I thought the idea was ridiculous. In a society where competition is fierce and virtually everything is for sale, I wondered why anyone would give away the intellectual ownership for their software. This is why...
Read moreThinking Inside the Box
Ken Taylor
22
Oct 2011
This week, we are “Thinking Inside the Box!” The box we have in mind? Television -- of all things. We’re looking at TV through the lens of philosophy. Now we admit that television is often descried as a “vast wasteland” of mind-numbing entertainment. That’s how Newton N. Minnow, former chair of the FCC, described the medium, in a very famous speech, way back described in the 60’s. And for his efforts, he got a shipped named after him – the S. S. Minnow of Gilligan Island fame. Certainly there was...
Read moreThe Art of Non-Violence
Ken Taylor
13
Jan 2018
This week we're asking about the Art of Non-violence. And it is an art -- the trick is knowing when and where it will actually work. After all, it looks like it’s worked just about everywhere it’s been seriously tried: non-violence brought down apartheid in South Africa, Jim Crow in America, and British Colonialism in India. But of course it took violence to defeat the Nazis, to end slavery and to free the colonies from British tyranny. Does that mean non-violence has its limits? Not if you believe that violence just begets more violence. Only non-violence can break the cycle...
Read moreThe Language of Politics
Ken Taylor
19
Sep 2005
We had a fun show last week with Geoff Nunburg about the language of politics. In a little bit, I'll ruminate a bit more about the language of politics. Since we're in the middle of the pledge drive, though, I want a put in a brief good word for KALW -- the innovative little station that could. I really meant it when I said on air that without the risk-taking and innovation that KALW brings to public radio, Philosophy Talk simply would not be happening. I hate...
Read moreTa-Nehisi Coates Reflects on Obama
Mohit Mookim
20
Jan 2017
Caption: President Barack Obama and Ta-Nehisi Coates at the White House What role did race play in his presidency and his path to it? Was Obama a black president, or a president who happened to be black? You might hear people complain that Obama wasn’t really black — or that his experience wasn't representative of the black experience. Is there something to this comment, or are there insidious racial stereotypes couched in it? And perhaps the timeliest question of all: What did Obama and his race have to do with the rise of Trump? Could it be that part of what white...
Read moreFinding Yourself in a Virtual Fiction
Antonia Peacocke
14
Feb 2019
Last week I went to the Night of Philosophy and Ideas at the Brooklyn Public Library in New York. One of the experiences on offer was a short CGI virtual-reality film called BattleScar. I haven’t had many virtual reality (VR) experiences before. I’m new to this. But I know at least that there is a real difference between those VR experiences you are meant to interact with extensively—like a video game—and those you are not. This was one of the latter. “This is mostly a standing experience,” the person helping me with my headset explained. “You can take a couple of steps, but you won’t...
Read moreWhat Is Good Philosophy?
06
Feb 2020
Not too long ago, I had a Twitter exchange with Philosophy Talk’s Joshua Landy about whether Sigmund Freud was a good philosopher. I took the position that Freud was a good philosopher (in fact, an excellent one) while Joshua expressed the opposite view. I left the conversation feeling perplexed. How could we have such wildly different assessments of the same guy? At first, I thought that one of us must be wrong, and started to worry that it was me. Then, reflecting further, it struck me that I’ve never given much thought to the question of what good philosophy is—and that maybe my dispute...
Read moreWhat Tech Says
29
Jan 2021
Are tech companies really “making the world a better place”? Isn’t “disruption” just code for circumventing legal regulations and ignoring labor laws? Does Silicon Valley really believe its own hype? This week we’re thinking about “The Rhetoric of Big Tech.” Silicon Valley may be full of so-called “techies,” but they also have a lot of storytellers in their ranks. Not that I’ve got anything against storytelling exactly, but there’s a big difference between, say, a good novel and the kind of narratives that are frequently pushed by Silicon Valley. We know that novels are fiction...
Read moreThe Possibility of Impossibility
15
Dec 2023
Philosophers talk a lot about possible worlds. Out there in the multiverse, maybe there’s a world where Josh teaches logic and Ray teaches Proust; that’s entirely imaginable. But could there somehow be an impossible world? One where Ray both does and does not teach Proust? That seems, well, impossible! Possible worlds can, of course, violate the laws of physics and biology. We can easily imagine a world where Ray and Josh each have three heads. (I guess they’d need six microphones between them, but that could be arranged.) Maybe we can even imagine one where time travel exists. But a...
Read more#FrancisOnFilm: Thor Ragnarok
Leslie Francis
22
Nov 2017
Thor: Ragnarok is funny, exciting, and visually nifty. The third in a series (the first two were Thor in 2011 and Thor: the Dark World in 2013), it's a great two-plus hours of entertainment. But it's not just entertainment; there's more in Thor philosophically than you might think of when you are caught up in the action. Some of what's philosophically interesting about Thor comes from Norse mythology. Ragnarok is the Doom of the Gods. It may be cyclical rather than apocalyptic. And it may be spiritual rather than physical. Norse mythology, at least...
Read moreCan Technologies Be Monstrous?
Josh Landy
08
Apr 2018
This year marks the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s brilliant novel, Frankenstein. So it’s a good time to ask: can technologies be monstrous? Can human beings create devices and platforms that run beyond our intentions and out of our control? What dangerous technologies may be lurking on the horizon? And what, if anything, can we do to prevent them doing damage? These are difficult questions, and I feel we need to do some really careful thinking about them. I can’t agree with those who say that there’s nothing to worry about, and that any concerns one might raise are just “techno...
Read moreReading, Narrative, and the Self
Ken Taylor
26
Nov 2010
This week’s topic is Reading, Narrative, and the Self. I suppose everybody has a pretty good idea of what each of those things, taken individually, means. Reading is something that most people do. A good narrative -- or story, to use a less fancy term -- is something most people enjoy. And a self is something everybody has. But I think I need to explain what reading, narrative, and the self have to do with each other. I’ll take them in reverse order, starting with the self. Everybody has a self...
Read moreWelcome Valley Public Radio Listeners
Ken Taylor
09
Dec 2008
We at Philosophy Talk are really pleased to begin airing on Valley Public Radio, covering Fresno, Bakersfield, and California's Central Valley, beginning Thursday December 11th at 7pm. We're really excited about the opportunity to engage with you all about life, love, culture, science, religion and the whole range of topics we cover on our show. Before we before we actually began to air on Valley Public Radio, we had an opportunity to appear live in front of audience from the Central Valley. Just over a year ago we took the show on the road to...
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