Brain in a Vat

Latest Episodes:

Is it wrong to eat meat? With Dustin Crummet Jul 19, 2020

Show notes

Were you outraged when Cecil the lion was killed by a hunter? Are you against rhino poaching? Do you order extra bacon with your cheese burger? Are some animals more equal than others?

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/braininavat

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12490350/

Thumbnail Art: Jeff Lemire from Sweet Tooth

Graham Oppy: Does God Exist? Jul 12, 2020

Show notes

Can God exist if the world is filled with suffering? And are there compelling arguments for or against God's existence? Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/braininavat IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12490350/ Thumbnail Art: Terry Gilliam from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Should Offensive Art be Banned? With Elisa Galgut Jul 05, 2020

Show notes

What is art? Why is art valuable? If enough people feel hurt by a piece of art or public monument, should we hide or destroy the work?

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/braininavat

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12490350/

Thumbnail Art: Octavia Roodt http://www.octaviaroodt.com/

Peter Boghossian: How to Have Impossible Conversations Jun 28, 2020

Show notes

"Defund the police. Violent protests are justified. Anyone against Black Lives Matter is a Nazi." How would you engage with these views? We ask Peter Boghossian how to have impossible conversations.

Peter's Book: http://bit.ly/ConversationsBook

New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/translations-from-the-wokish/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/braininavat

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12490350/ Animation by Laurynne Gouws: https://www.lightbulbmedia.co.za/

Thumbnail Art: Luke Batha

Do You Live in a Simulation? With Kenny Pearce Jun 21, 2020

Show notes

Do you live in a simulation? And if you do, could you live a valuable life? We talk with Kenny Pearce this week to find out.

Read Kenny's Berkeley book here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/language-and-the-structure-of-berkeleys-world-9780198790334

And his book about Idealism here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/idealism-9780198746973

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/braininavat

Facebook Discussion Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/braininavat

Animation by Laurynne Gouws: https://www.lightbulbmedia.co.za/

Thumbnail art: By Juane Ivy The Nature of Reality https://greaterthanmyopia.com/

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12490350/

Does Race Exist? With Shaun Stanley Jun 14, 2020

Show notes

Does the colour of your skin, the texture of your hair, or the shape of your nose make you part of a racial group? Is race a social construct based on collective perception? Do the members of a race share beliefs, cultures and attitudes?

Facebook Discussion Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/braininavat

Thumbnail art: By Amazing Ameziane from Muhammad Ali Graphic Novel

Does Tuvix Deserve to Die? Jun 07, 2020

Show notes

When Tuvok and Neelix accidentally merge into a single man in a transporter accident, Captain Janeway has to make a tough decision: Should she kill Tuvix to restore Tuvok and Neelix? We discuss the philosophy of Star Trek, transporters, and personal identity.

Is the Lockdown Lawful? With Martin van Staden May 31, 2020

Show notes

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.

Time Travel and The Grandfather Paradox with Helen Robertson May 24, 2020

Show notes

Imagine you build a time machine. Is it possible for you to travel back in time, meet your grandfather before he produces any children, and kill him? Time travel is a sci-fi staple. Is Back to the Future philosophically accurate? Did J.K Rowling crack the secret of time travel in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban? As a bonus we explain why Rick and Morty's The Vat of Acid Episode isn't about time travel.

Belief, Faith, and Hope with Liz Jackson May 17, 2020

Show notes

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

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