The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast

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Episode 78, Moral Luck (Part II - Thomas Nagel) May 03, 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

Episode 78, Moral Luck (Part I - Bernard Williams) Apr 26, 2020

Show notes

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

Episode 77, 'Time Travel: The Grandfather Paradox and Abilities' with Olivia Coombes (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion) Apr 18, 2020

Show notes

Olivia Coombes is a philosopher and teacher at the University of Edinburgh whose research focuses on issues about the possibility of time travel, the paradoxes involved in time travel, and how these topics relate to the question of free-will. In addition to this, Liv is also the co-host of the Edinburgh-based podcast Two Philosophers: One Podcast, No Problems.

Since the philosopher David Lewis, and before, philosophers, scientists, movie fans (pretty much everybody), have deliberated the possibility of time travel. People have asked questions like: What is the order of time? If we could build a powerful enough machine, would we be able to travel through time? Causation goes forwards in time, but is there anything stopping it going backwards? And, if it could, can we have causal loops in time?

In this episode we're going to be focusing on the grandfather paradox, which is one instance of the question: can time travellers change the past? This paradox asks us whether or not we could go back in time and kill our own grandfathers. Many people say no: it is logically impossible, like squaring circles, or making something from nothing. However, Olivia Coombes thinks differently. She thinks that we can kill our grandfathers, and that we are able to change the past.

Contents

Part I. Time Traveller Abilities

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Olivia Coombes, University Profile.

Olivia Coombes, Twitter.

Two Philosophers: One Podcast, No Problems.

David Lewis, The Paradoxes of Time Travel (1976).

Episode 77, 'Time Travel: The Grandfather Paradox and Abilities' with Olivia Coombes (Part I - Time Traveller Abilities) Apr 12, 2020

Show notes

Contents

Part I. Time Traveller Abilities

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Olivia Coombes, University Profile.

Olivia Coombes, Twitter.

Two Philosophers: One Podcast, No Problems.

David Lewis, The Paradoxes of Time Travel (1976).

Episode 76, René Descartes (Part V - Further Analysis and Discussion) Apr 04, 2020

Show notes

All my life, I have been fed apples from that tree. I was told it was the only tree worth eating from. Every day, whether it was in school or in the church, someone would arrive with a basket, and I would take what they offered. Today a similar basket lays in front of me, full of apples I've been saving so to take a closer inspection.

Check those apples for me would you? Why so worried? Surely if they are good, there is nothing to worry about. You've heard of the Italian who was punished for checking, you say? I understand. I will do it myself.

There are too many in there to check one by one. I shall take them all out and only place back in the basket the ones that are certifiably good! I think the Italian might have been onto something, they all look rotten! I must check closer. I refuse to accept that they are all bad!

Ah, there is one. That will do. Perhaps the seeds can be used to grow more good apples...

Contents

Part I. The Life of René Descartes.

Part II. Meditations on First Philosophy, 1-2.

Part III. Meditations on First Philosophy, 3-4.

Part IV. Meditations on First Philosophy, 5-6.

Part V. Further Analysis and Discussion.

Links

René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy: in which are demonstrated the existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and body (Early Modern Texts).

Episode 76, René Descartes (Part IV - Meditations on First Philosophy, 5-6) Mar 29, 2020

Show notes

Ah, there is one. That will do. Perhaps the seeds can be used to grow more good apples...

Contents

Part I. The Life of René Descartes.

Part II. Meditations on First Philosophy, 1-2.

Part III. Meditations on First Philosophy, 3-4.

Part IV. Meditations on First Philosophy, 5-6.

Part V. Further Analysis and Discussion.

Links

René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy: in which are demonstrated the existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and body (Early Modern Texts).

Episode 76, René Descartes (Part III - Meditations on First Philosophy, 3-4) Mar 22, 2020

Show notes

Ah, there is one. That will do. Perhaps the seeds can be used to grow more good apples...

Contents

Part I. The Life of René Descartes.

Part II. Meditations on First Philosophy, 1-2.

Part III. Meditations on First Philosophy, 3-4.

Part IV. Meditations on First Philosophy, 5-6.

Part V. Further Analysis and Discussion.

Links

René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy: in which are demonstrated the existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and body (Early Modern Texts).

Episode 76, René Descartes (Part II - Meditations on First Philosophy, 1-2) Mar 15, 2020

Show notes

Ah, there is one. That will do. Perhaps the seeds can be used to grow more good apples...

Contents

Part I. The Life of René Descartes.

Part II. Meditations on First Philosophy, 1-2.

Part III. Meditations on First Philosophy, 3-4.

Part IV. Meditations on First Philosophy, 5-6.

Part V. Further Analysis and Discussion.

Links

René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy: in which are demonstrated the existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and body (Early Modern Texts).

Episode 76, René Descartes (Part I - The Life of René Descartes) Mar 08, 2020

Show notes

Ah, there is one. That will do. Perhaps the seeds can be used to grow more good apples...

Contents

Part I. The Life of René Descartes.

Part II. Meditations on First Philosophy, 1-2.

Part III. Meditations on First Philosophy, 3-4.

Part IV. Meditations on First Philosophy, 5-6.

Part V. Further Analysis and Discussion.

Links

René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy: in which are demonstrated the existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and body (Early Modern Texts).

Episode 75, 'Christian Animal Ethics' with David Clough (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion) Mar 01, 2020

Show notes

With the dominance of humankind has come a new age, an age of global warming, ecological collapse, and sixth mass extinction. In 2018, it was reported that of all the Earth's mammals, 96% are humans and livestock. Ouroverpopulation, overconsumption, and exploitation have caused a climate catastrophe, but we are not our only victims. Each year, over 70 billion land creatures and 7 trillion sea animals are killed for food, and despite growth in public awareness, the overwhelming majority of these animals continue to endure unimaginable suffering throughout their lives.

The religions of ancient India - Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism - are no strangers to practicing ahimsa and vegetarianism. Their Abrahamic cousins have a very different past. For the advocate of animal rights, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have a long and dark history in their treatment of our fellow creatures. A history, many theologians, want to condemn to the history books.

One such theologian is David Clough, professor of theological ethics at the University of Chester. Through his systematic theology On Animals, Professor Clough has inspired a new wave of scholarship on Christian attitudes towards our fellow creatures, and the Earth as a whole, calling Christians to unshackle themselves from Aristotelian ways of thinking and embrace Darwinian theories of the natural world.

Contents

Part I. The Rise of the Vegangelicals.

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion.

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