The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 82, 'The Nature of Consciousness' with Susan Blackmore (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion) Jul 11, 2020

Show notes

The smell of coffee, the taste of asparagus, the warmth of a hug, and the agony of death: conscious experience makes up the fabric of our world, yet many consider it to be the most intractable mystery in philosophy and science. What is it like to undergo experience? What is the function of consciousness? Where does consciousness occur? What are the contents of this experience? Is our stream of consciousness unified?

The hardest problem of all, might be the origin of consciousness itself: how, why, or are we, subjects of experience? In one sense, it shouldn't come as a surprise - after all, in the words of physicist Michio Kaku, 'Sitting on your shoulders is the most complicated object in the known universe; 100 billion neurons, each connected to 10,000 others'. However, for many, the brain doesn't seem like the right type of thing to give rise to consciousness. How can soggy grey matter feel like anything? As McGinn put it, you might as well believe that numbers emerge from biscuits or ethics from rhubarb!

Challenging our understanding of consciousness and reframing the mystery is psychologist and author, Visiting Professor at Plymouth University, Dr Susan Blackmore. Best known for her books The Meme Machine, Zen and the Art of Consciousness, Consciousness: An Introduction, and Seeing Myself, Susan's work spans across hundreds of publications in over 20 different languages, making huge contributions in the fields of psychology, memetics, religion, philosophy of mind, supernatural experience, and many other areas. It is no surprise to find her ranked amongst 2013's 30 Most Influential Psychologists Working Today and 2015's Top 100 Global Minds.

It's time to smell the coffee, and reflect on your experience, to see the dark with the light on: what is the nature of consciousness?

Contents

Part I. Mystery and Illusion

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Susan Blackmore, Website.

Books by Susan Blackmore. Amazon.

Susan Blackmore, A Very Short Introduction to Consciousness. Amazon.

Susan Blackmore, A Very Short Introduction to Consciousness. IndieBound.

Episode 82, 'The Nature of Consciousness' with Susan Blackmore (Part I - Mystery and Illusion) Jul 05, 2020

Show notes

It's time to smell the coffee, and reflect on your experience, to see the dark with the light on: what is the nature of consciousness?

Contents

Part I. Mystery and Illusion

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Susan Blackmore, Website.

Books by Susan Blackmore. Amazon.

Susan Blackmore, A Very Short Introduction to Consciousness. Amazon.

Susan Blackmore, A Very Short Introduction to Consciousness. IndieBound.

Episode 81, 'The End of Everything: Astrophysically Speaking' with Katie Mack (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion) Jun 28, 2020

Show notes

Approximately 13.8 billion years ago, an infinitely dense state of an infinitely large universe lay dormant upon the backdrop of existence. Then, the expansion of everything. The potential for trillions of galaxies sprung out from this same point, and today, they shine like fairy lights in the darkness of the vast cosmos. From our own little planet, bursting with life, art, culture, and science, we can observe the effects of the big bang and the universes' continuing expansion. We can see the beginning, but we can also see the end. In about five billion years, the sun will swell to around 250 times its current size, leaving our once blue and white planet a lifeless, magma-covered rock. That's settled, the apocalypse is coming: the land will fry and the seas will boil - but there is more at stake than the Earth. What matters now is the bigger question: how will the universe end?

In this episode, we'll be discussing the impending doom of the cosmos with theoretical astrophysicist Katherine Mack. Katie is Assistant Professor of Physics at North Carolina State University. As well as making huge contributions to the field of astrophysics, Katie is one of the most active public-facing scientists in the world today. From publications in Slate, Scientific America, and Time Magazine, to featuring on the BBC and being quoted in the song lyrics of Hozier, Katie's work is expanding into the furthest corners of our planet. Grab the cosmic popcorn, it's a question as old as time itself: how will the universe end?

Contents

Part I. The Death of the Universe

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Katie Mack, Twitter.

Katie Mack, Website.

Katie Mack, The End of Everything (Amazon).

Katie Mack, The End of Everything (IndieBound).

Episode 81, 'The End of Everything: Astrophysically Speaking' with Katie Mack (Part I - The Death of the Universe) Jun 21, 2020

Show notes

Contents

Part I. The Death of the Universe

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Katie Mack, Twitter.

Katie Mack, Website.

Katie Mack, The End of Everything (Amazon).

Katie Mack, The End of Everything (IndieBound).

Episode 80, 'Human Nature' with Steven Pinker and Rutger Bregman (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion) Jun 13, 2020

Show notes

What was life like before we emerged from hunter-gatherer tribes and pulled ourselves into the civilised world? Notoriously, this same question was asked by the great philosopher Thomas Hobbes in the seventeenth century. His answer? The state of nature is a 'time of war, where every man is enemy to every man'; where all live in 'continual fear', and in 'danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.' This is human nature. Left to our own devices, we are led to fight by diffidence, competition, and glory. Here our inner demons come out to play: predatory, revengeful, dominant, and sadistic. We are survival machines, but ultimately, the best way for us all to survive is to create a new machine, a great Leviathan - viz, the dawn of the state.

Thirty years after Hobbes' death saw the birth of his rival, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. It is here, at the origin of the state, says Rousseau, where human nature is corrupted: society is the curse of humankind. In his own words, 'many writers have hastily concluded that man is naturally cruel, and requires civil institutions to make him more mild; whereas nothing is more gentle than man in his primitive state… according to the axiom of the wise Locke: There can be no injury, where there is no property.' Be sure not to listen to Hobbes the imposter. We are lost, but we can find ourselves again.

In this episode, we'll be discussing the views of Hobbes and Rousseau with returning guests Steven Pinker and Rutger Bregman. Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, is one of the leading thinkers in the field. Steven has an extraordinary list of accomplishments and awards, considered by many, including Foreign Policy and Time magazine, to be amongst the 100 Most Influential People in the World Today. Historian and author, Rutger Bregman, is acclaimed for his bestselling book, Utopia for Realists: and how we can get there. Described by The Guardian as 'the Dutch wunderkind of new ideas' and by TED as 'one of Europe's most prominent young thinkers', Bregman's vision of (and for) humankind is a call to rethink our understanding of the past, and our vision for the future.

Coinciding with the rise of the homo sapien, this might be the oldest and most important philosophical question: what is human nature?

Episode 80, 'Human Nature' with Steven Pinker and Rutger Bregman (Part I - Humankind) Jun 06, 2020

Show notes

Coinciding with the rise of the homo sapien, this might be the oldest and most important philosophical question: what is human nature?

Contents

Part I. Humankind

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Rutger Bregman, Humankind: A Hopeful History.

Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: A History of Violence and Humanity.

Episode 79, The Absurd (Part III - Further Analysis and Discussion) May 31, 2020

Show notes

Meet Jack. Jack, like most individuals, takes great care of his health, appearance, the fulfilment of his projects, and the quality of his relationships with friends and family.

Today Jack is preparing for another episode of his iconic philosophy podcast. He has been reading diligently, noting fastidiously, and practicing his jokes in the mirror. Fully invested in his work, he goes to great lengths to ensure that the podcast is well received. But today is no ordinary day for Jack, something is about to happen that he could never prepare for.

Sat at his desk with his nose in Thomas Nagel's Mortal Questions, Jack reaches for his cafetière to refill his Nietzsche coffee mug - when he hears the sound of a heavy creak above him. The room begins to shake, the coffee mug spills, and Jack jumps out of his chair as dust begins to fall around him. Fearing that the roof will cave, he runs out of the house, but finds that the streets are shaking too.

Like the set of a stage, the neighbourhood before his eyes begins to fall backwards. As the walls hit the ground, Jack sees countless figures in black uniforms running frantically in all directions. He looks up to the sky and sees several tall figures on ladders: a blue figure holds a large, blinding torch, a white figure holds a watering can, and a black figure holds what seems to be a large block of cheese. Jack is overwhelmed with disbelief - he is standing in the middle of a stage. Suddenly, one of the figures shouts instructions to another, who frantically pulls on a rope - the stage rising back to its original position, the figures disappearing.

It dawns on him: Jack is the actor in a play. What of his life? His childhood? His family and friends? What of his projects? Will he ever be able to return, to his old life?

Jack ponders the thought for a moment and walks back into his home. He cleans up the coffee, brushes up the dust, sits back down in his chair… and continues, with his reading.

Contents

Part I. Thomas Nagel

Part II. Camus, Criticisms, and Comparison

Part III. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Thomas Nagel, The Absurd (1971).

Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus (1942).

Episode 79, The Absurd (Part II - Camus, Criticisms, and Comparison) May 24, 2020

Show notes

Meet Jack. Jack, like most individuals, takes great care of his health, appearance, the fulfilment of his projects, and the quality of his relationships with friends and family.

It dawns on him: Jack is the actor in a play. What of his life? His childhood? His family and friends? What of his projects? Will he ever be able to return, to his old life?

Jack ponders the thought for a moment and walks back into his home. He cleans up the coffee, brushes up the dust, sits back down in his chair… and continues, with his reading.

Contents

Part I. Thomas Nagel

Part II. Camus, Criticisms, and Comparison

Part III. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Thomas Nagel, The Absurd (1971).

Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus (1942).

Episode 79, The Absurd (Part I - Thomas Nagel) May 17, 2020

Show notes

Meet Jack. Jack, like most individuals, takes great care of his health, appearance, the fulfilment of his projects, and the quality of his relationships with friends and family.

It dawns on him: Jack is the actor in a play. What of his life? His childhood? His family and friends? What of his projects? Will he ever be able to return, to his old life?

Jack ponders the thought for a moment and walks back into his home. He cleans up the coffee, brushes up the dust, sits back down in his chair… and continues, with his reading.

Contents

Part I. Thomas Nagel

Part II. Camus, Criticisms, and Comparison

Part III. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Thomas Nagel, The Absurd (1971).

Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus (1942).

Episode 78, Moral Luck (Part III - Further Analysis and Discussion) May 10, 2020

Show notes

Imagine two possible worlds. In the first world, Andrew is driving home from an intimate dinner party with Olly and Jack. He has been enjoying a range of delicious cheeses and wines, despite being the designated driver. With the exception of Andrew's singing, the drive is uneventful, and the party arrives home, safe and sound. In the second world, the same initial conditions apply. Andrew has enjoyed a plethora of gastronomic delights, and finds himself behind the wheel, singing without reservation. Driving through the familiar country roads, where sadly it has been known for deer to meet the paths of oncoming traffic, Andrew sees an unknown shape ahead. Too slow to react, the car strikes the figure, and Andrew feels the crunch of the object beneath his wheels. The following morning, Andrew switches on Radio 4: 'Police are requesting any information the public might have relating to a hit and run on Country Road yesterday evening, where a 6-year-old boy unfortunately lost his life. Anybody with information relating to the event, believed to have occurred in the hours in which one could be expected to be travelling home from an intimate dinner party, should contact their local police station immediately'. Andrew realises that it was not a deer he hit with his car, and turns himself in to the police station.

For Bernard Williams and Thomas Nagel, this is a classic case of moral luck. In both possible worlds, Andrew's actions and intentions were the same. In the first, Andrew wakes up and continues with his life. In the second, we expect him to face up to fourteen years in prison. Our question: should we judge Andrew's moral character any more harshly in the second case than the first - do they not deserve the same punishment?

Contents

Part I. Bernard Williams

Part II. Thomas Nagel

Part III. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Thomas Nagel, Moral Luck

Bernard Williams, Moral Luck

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Moral Luck

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Moral Luck