Brain in a Vat

Latest Episodes:

Brian Leiter: The Supreme Court Nov 29, 2020

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Is the Supreme Court merely a political body made up of warring liberals and conservatives? Should Judges apply laws that are unjust? Will the Supreme Court declare Trump the winner of the election?

Leiter Report: https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/

Thad Metz: Meaning in Life Nov 22, 2020

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What makes life worth living? How valuable are truth, beauty and morality? If life is ultimately meaningless from the perspective of the universe is none the less better to have been born? Thad on the Meaning of Life :https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/life-meaning/

Do You Have Free Will? With Mark Leon Nov 15, 2020

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Is it possible for your actions to be free, even if they are determined? And would an indeterministic universe make us any freer? If we don't have free will, should we be held accountable for our actions?

Does Your Vote Count? With Jacob Bauer Nov 05, 2020

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If your vote has only a tiny chance of influencing the outcome of an election, is it irrational to vote? Does voting grant legitimacy to repugnant candidates? Is voting always an obligation, or are there situations that require you not to vote?

Philosopher Games on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PhilosopherGames/

Philosopher Games on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PhilosopherGames

Black Mirror, Virtual Sex and Trans with Rebecca Tuvel Nov 01, 2020

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Is virtual sex outside of a relationship cheating? How should we determine a person's gender? Should the same rules apply to race? Rebecca's article: In Defense of Transracialism https://cryptome.org/2017/05/in-defense-of-transracialism.pdf Hypatia transracialism controversy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypatia_transracialism_controversy

#2000andlate in 2020 Hindsight Oct 25, 2020

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We have a philosophical conversation with an artist about her latest exhibition. Dom's paintings explore the social and sexual mores of the last twenty years through the lens of our current values.

Do You Have a Soul? With Tyron Goldschmidt Oct 18, 2020

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Are you just a physical body? If you have a brain transplant do you stay with your original body or move with your brain? Could the existence of an immaterial soul solve the mind body problem?

Tyron's Books: The Puzzle of Existence: Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing? Idealism: New Essays in Metaphysics

Thumbnail Art: Lateralus Album Cover by Alex Grey

Should Robots Have Rights? With Rob Sparrow Oct 11, 2020

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Is it wrong to destroy an AI if it can have a conversation with a human being? If a robot expresses suffering is it wrong to torture it? Should we mourn the death of a robot lover?

Sparrow, R. 2004. The Turing triage test. Ethics and Information Technology 6(4): 203-213.

Sparrow, R. 2007. Killer robots. Journal of Applied Philosophy 24(1): 62-77, March.

Sparrow, R. 2020. Virtue and vice in our relationships with robots: Is there an asymmetry and how might it be explained? International Journal of Social Robotics

Should We Save The Polar Bears? With Yolandi Coetzee Oct 04, 2020

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Are some animals more equal than others? Are game reserves a part of nature if they are man made? Is global warming universally bad or does it benefit some species?

Brain in a Vat Store: smarturl.it/Lockdownbook

Thumbnail Art: Peace by Lynn Bywaters

[Bonus] Mark Oppenheimer² Sep 27, 2020

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Atom bombs, diamond billionaires, and hate mail have a special role to play in this bonus episode. Brain in a Vat Store: smarturl.it/Lockdownbook