The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 35, Sexual Ethics (Part II - Extramarital Sex) Mar 25, 2018

Show notes

Our Patreon page: www.patreon.com/panpsycast. Email RecoverMe: michelle@recoverme.org.uk

Everything else you could need is on www.thepanpsycast.com! Please tweet us your thoughts at www.twitter.com/thepanpsycast.

Sexual ethics is the study of human sexuality and sexual behaviour. In a word, it seeks to understand and evaluate the moral conduct of relationships and sexual activities from a philosophical perspective.

Sex is hugely important to us all. Sex is an expression of love. It forms the foundation of our family lives, our social lives and even our self-identities. For many, we should celebrate sex, for we owe it our very existence! On the other hand, sex can be the cause of great pain and suffering. While sex brings life, no doubt, it ruins the lives of many. Cases of exploitation, harassment, assault and rape, show the darkest side of humanity.

Sex can both make and corrupt humans. For Christians, different sexual acts and preferences can lead them closer to, and further away from God. For many moral philosophers, sexual acts can lead them closer to and further away from what is right. Moral philosophers and theologians have long pondered questions surrounding this sensitive topic, and there is a lot more to be said that goes beyond the scope of this episode. In this episode, we will exclusively be tackling issues surrounding marriage and sexuality.

Episode 35, Sexual Ethics (Part I - Premarital Sex) Mar 18, 2018

Show notes

Our Patreon page: www.patreon.com/panpsycast. Email RecoverMe: michelle@recoverme.org.uk

Everything else you could need is on www.thepanpsycast.com! Please tweet us your thoughts at www.twitter.com/thepanpsycast.

Episode 34, The Peter Singer Interview (Part II) Mar 11, 2018

Show notes

Please visit our Patreon page and show your support! That's www.patreon.com/panpsycast. Everything you could need is on www.thepanpsycast.com! Please tweet us your thoughts at www.twitter.com/thepanpsycast.

Peter Singer is often described as the world's most influential philosopher. Professor Singer is currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne. His work has helped to launch the animal rights and effective altruism movements, as well as making significant contributions in bioethics. Peter Singer is most famous for his developments to the normative ethical theory utilitarianism. Loosely stated, utilitarianism is the view that we should maximise happiness and pleasure, and reduce pain, suffering and unhappiness, for the greatest number of humans and/or non-human animals. He is known in particular for his book Animal Liberation, in which he argues in favour of vegetarianism, and his essay Famine, Affluence, and Morality, in which he argues in favour of donating to help the global poor. Practical Ethics, The Life You Can Save, The Most Good You Can Do, One World: The Ethics of Globalisation, Ethics in the Real World - Peter Singer's list of bestselling publications is extensive - but his work goes beyond the written page. Peter Singer is also the founder of the charity The Life You Can Save and co-founder of Animals Australia.

Episode 34, The Peter Singer Interview (Part I) Mar 04, 2018

Show notes

Episode 33, Yujin Nagasawa and 'The Problem of Evil for Atheists' (Part II) Feb 25, 2018

Show notes

Please visit our Patreon page and show your support - www.patreon.com/panpsycast! Everything you could need is on www.thepanpsycast.com! Please tweet us your thoughts at www.twitter.com/thepanpsycast.

For more Information on Yujin Nagasawa, please visit: www.yujinnagasawa.co.uk. Yujin's latest book: Yujin Nagasawa, Miracles: A Very Short Introduction - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Miracles-Very-Short-Introduction-Introductions-ebook/dp/B07663TS81. The paper we are discussing this episode: Yujin Nagasawa, The Problem of Evil for Atheists - https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/6d4b8e_e2fede5338c949e29637ccd5b79b6609.pdf.

Yujin Nagasawa is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, as well as President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion and Co-Director of the John Hick Centre for Philosophy of Religion. Obtaining his PhD from the Australian National University in 2004, Nagasawa's work in philosophy is extensive, focusing on a range of topics from the problems surrounding consciousness to the nature and existence of God. Our focus for Episode 33, is Nagasawa's 'The Problem of Evil for Atheists'. The argument can be stated as follows; atheists believe that the world is generally good and they are happy and grateful to exist, i.e. they are existential optimists. However, our entire evolutionary biological system is based upon the painful, miserable suffering of the weak. So, why should we think that the world is overall good and that we should be grateful to exist, if our existence depends on a violent, cruel and unfair biological system which guarantees pain and suffering for unaccountably many sentient animals? Nagasawa argues that the theist is in a better position to answer this question than the atheist, suggesting that the problem of evil provides a good reason to abandon atheism and adopt theism. Part I. 'The Problem of Evil for Atheists'. Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion.

Episode 33, Yujin Nagasawa and 'The Problem of Evil for Atheists' (Part I) Feb 18, 2018

Show notes

Episode 32, Meta-Ethics (Part IV - Further Analysis and Discussion) Feb 11, 2018

Show notes

Please visit our Patreon page and show your support! (www.patreon.com/panpsycast) This episode is proudly sponsored by The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast. For information, please visit www.partiallyexaminedlife.com. Everything you could need is on www.thepanpsycast.com! Please tweet us your thoughts at www.twitter.com/thepanpsycast. Meta-ethics is the attempt to understand the metaphysical, semantic, epistemological and psychological presuppositions of moral thought. It investigates our ethical language, in search of the meaning that lies behind it. Meta-ethics is concerned with are a broad range of puzzles, for example: What do we mean we make moral claims? Do our preferences or feelings motivate moral assertions? Or are we stating facts when we make moral claims? Is morality more a matter of taste than truth - and if it is a matter of truth, how do we learn about the moral facts? This episode we'll be introducing you to three meta-ethical views. In Part I, we'll be discussing naturalism, in Part II, we'll be looking at intuitionism, in Part III, we're going to dive into emotivism, and finally, in Part IV, we'll be engaging in some further analysis and discussion.

Episode 32, Meta-Ethics (Part III - Emotivism) Feb 04, 2018

Show notes

Episode 32, Meta-Ethics (Part II - Intuitionism) Jan 28, 2018

Show notes

Episode 32, Meta-Ethics (Part I - Naturalism) Jan 21, 2018

Show notes