Brain in a Vat

Elisa Galgut, art expert and critic, discusses the nature and value of art, explores the debate on offensive art and its potential ban, and raises questions about judging art based on the artist's identity. The speakers also debate the censorship of art, the controversy surrounding offensive statues, and the ethical evaluation of offensive artworks.

Peter Boghossian, an expert in having impossible conversations, discusses strategies for engaging with individuals who hold opposing and extreme views. They also delve into topics such as the breakdown of civil conversation in America, the controversial grieving studies hoax, the contrasting dynamics between conversations among philosophers and non-philosophers, a personal change of mind on gun ownership, the importance of predictions and falsifiable theories, and the use of the Socratic method in prisons for enhancing critical thinking.

In this podcast, Kenny Pearce, author of 'Language and the Structure of Berkeley's World' and 'Idealism', discusses various philosophical topics including the simulation argument, deception in reality, constructing language and meaning, moral obligations towards simulated beings, and the possibility of living in a simulation. They also explore the concept of God as the perceiver and generator of reality.

Guest Shaun Stanley, expert on race and social constructs, discusses the concept of race as a social construct rather than a biological reality. They explore the limitations of racial categories and propose racial eliminism as a solution. The hosts also examine the fallacy of race, highlighting its failure to accurately describe ethnic groups and cultural attitudes. They delve into structural racism and inequality, questioning the distinction between an unjust system and differential outputs.

A debate on whether Captain Janeway should kill Tuvix, a merged individual formed from Tuvok and Neelix, or let him continue to exist. The podcast explores the ethical dilemma of killing Tuvix to save two others and discusses philosophical perspectives on identity and continuity in relation to teleportation. It also touches on the relevance of embracing authenticity in a world consumed by the digital experience machine and questions the authenticity of our existence in a simulated reality. The speakers engage in a philosophical debate about the moral implications of killing Tuvix as an independent being and discuss the concept of authorship and ownership in creative works.

Are lockdown regulations lawful? Do we have a duty to obey the law? What if the law is immoral, contradictory or unknowable?  The famous philosopher Lon Fuller wrote a thought experiment about King Rex  who failed to make law in eight different ways.  1) A failure to achieve rules at, all so that every issue must be decided on an ad hoc basis. 2)A failure to publicize, or at least make available to the affected party, the rules he is expected to observe. 3)The abuse of retrospective legislation, which not only cannot itself guide action, but undercuts the integrity of rules prospective in effect, since it puts them under the threat of retrospective change. 4)A failure to make rules understandable. 5)The enactment of contradictory rules. 6)Rules that require conduct beyond the powers of the affected party. 7) Introducing such frequent changes in the rules that the subject cannot orient his action by them. 8) A failure of congruence between the rules as announced and their actual administration.

Expert on time travel and the grandfather paradox, Helen Robertson, discusses the possibility of changing the past and creating parallel universes. They explore the differences between causal loops and paradoxes in time travel, using examples from popular movies. The podcast also touches upon the logical limitations of time travel and debates the possibility of achieving it through reversion.

Your brother has been missing for months and there is mounting evidence that he is dead. Is it rational to hope that he is alive and keep searching for him?   Is it rational to have faith in the existence of God because, if he turns out to exist, your faith may let you into heaven while a lack of faith could condemn you to hell?   Liz Jackson's public interviews: http://liz-jackson.com/public-philosophy/  Her paper on Belief, Faith and Hope: https://philpapers.org/archive/JACBFA.pdf   Thumbnail image by Jeff Lemire from Issue #1 of Royal City

Language is ambiguous at the best of times, think about how much gets lost in translation. Imagine hearing a tribesman in a remote land utter the word "gavagai" upon seeing a rabbit. A speaker of English could do what seems natural and translate this as "Lo, a rabbit."   But other translations would be compatible with all the evidence she has: "Lo, food"; "Let's go hunting"; "There will be a storm tonight" (he may be superstitious).

What can eating Marilyn Monroe's thigh and the pain of teenage heartbreak tell us about the value of human life? We discuss what makes life worth living and ending.