The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 129, Talking about Existence (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion) May 05, 2024

Show notes

'The clouds are grey, the sun obscured and you are walking through the countryside in the overcast of winter. Passing from field to woodland, the trees shed coats of frosty bark to celebrate the passing of another icy season. It feels too early for spring, but echoes of swallows in the canopies sing songs of new beginnings. You pause to catch a glimpse of your woodland companions. With effortless precision, your eyes track the birds as they zip between empty branches and, combining countless neurons, you forecast the birds' trajectory each time they fall out of view.

You walk on, emerging from the trees, and return to the open fields. You look back, appreciate the woods and see a river flowing into the trees from the east. Where does the river begin? Escaping the clouds, the sun will soon be free of the sky altogether; if you want to discover the river's source, you had better get walking.'

Contents

Part I. Out of Nothing

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Philosophers on God: Talking about Existence (book)

Episode 129, Talking about Existence (Part I - Out of Nothing) Apr 21, 2024

Show notes

Contents

Part I. Out of Nothing

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Philosophers on God: Talking about Existence (book)

Episode 128, 'Domestic Labour' with Paulina Sliwa & Tom McClelland (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion) Apr 07, 2024

Show notes

'The kitchen needs cleaning, but only one of us seems to notice. I mean, he looked straight at the dishes in the sink…and just stacked his dish on top of them. How high does this precarious tower of crockery have to be until he decides to wash the dishes or, more likely, they collapse into an unrepairable heap? I suppose I'll have to wash them. They won't get washed otherwise, and I'd rather get them off my mind.'

The unequal distribution of household labour is a familiar concern amongst feminists. Despite the progress in women's rights and freedoms, women across the world continue to bear the responsibility of domestic chores and childcare. This raises an important question: why do women in monogamous, opposite-sex relationships continue to shoulder a disproportionate amount of housework work despite their political gains?

In this episode, we'll be exploring this question with two outstanding philosophers of morality and mind: Paulina Sliwa (Professor of Philosophy at the University of Vienna) and Thomas McClelland (Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge).

According to Paulina and Tom, our disparities and perception of domestic labour are determined by our feelings, beliefs, and social norms. In other words, the way we perceive the world is radically different. The dishes don't call out to some – in need of cleaning – in a moment of perception, as they do to others. So what can we do to change this disparity…that is, if it's in need of changing at all.

Contents

Part I. Affordance Perception

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Thomas McClelland and Paulina Sliwa, Gendered Affordance Perception and Unequal Domestic Labour (paper)

Coverage of Gendered Addordance Perception in the media (website)

Thomas McClelland (website)

Paulina Sliwa (website)

Episode 128, 'Domestic Labour' with Paulina Sliwa & Tom McClelland (Part I - Affordance Perception) Mar 24, 2024

Show notes

Contents

Part I. Affordance Perception

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Thomas McClelland and Paulina Sliwa, Gendered Affordance Perception and Unequal Domestic Labour (paper)

Coverage of Gendered Addordance Perception in the media (website)

Thomas McClelland (website)

Paulina Sliwa (website)

Episode 127, 'The Pursuit of Happiness' with Jeffrey Rosen (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion) Mar 10, 2024

Show notes

Alongside life and liberty, the Declaration of Independence marked the pursuit of happiness as the foundation of American democracy. Yet, as the history of philosophy has taught us, understanding happiness is no easy task. Pursuing happiness as the cessation of desire, a feeling of perpetual pleasure, or as a state of human flourishing are very different projects…so, which conception of happiness did America's Founding Fathers take to be an 'inalienable right'?

In this episode, we'll be exploring the nature of happiness with Professor Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center. According to Rosen, in tracing the Founding Fathers' intellectual development – inspired by Greek and Roman philosophy – we see that the Founders understood happiness as a pursuit of moral excellence rather than immediate gratification.

No doubt, Western understandings of happiness have shifted…today, happiness means something closer to feeling good than being good. Our question is whether this cultural shift was a mistake. In carving out our futures, ought we look to the past? In defining the purpose of our lives and the destination of our states, should we turn to America's Founding Fathers and their ancient teachers?

Contents

Part I. The Founding Fathers

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Jeffrey Rosen, Twitter

The National Constitution Center, Website

Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America (Amazon)

Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America (Simon & Schuster)

Episode 127, 'The Pursuit of Happiness' with Jeffrey Rosen (Part I - The Founding Fathers) Feb 25, 2024

Show notes

Contents

Part I. The Founding Fathers

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Jeffrey Rosen, Twitter

The National Constitution Center, Website

Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America (Amazon)

Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America (Simon & Schuster)

Episode 126, 'Playfulness Versus Epistemic Traps' with C. Thi Nguyen (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion) Feb 11, 2024

Show notes

There's great pleasure to be found in make-believe. Instantly shifting our perspectives and belief systems gives rise to new possibilities – possibilities that are unavailable to the serious and sober-minded. Yet, as time passes, so does our desire to play. Adults – and, perhaps more so, philosophers – are instructed to 'grow up', to build their lives and views on sensible grounds, and leave their disposition for laughter, disruption, and mischief in the playground. For C. T Nguyen – Professor of Philosophy at the University of Utah – this is a foolish mistake.

C. T Nguyen is one of the most innovative aestheticians of our time. As well as being published across philosophy's leading journals, Nguyen's work – which focuses on art, games, and agency – has earned him several notable prizes, including the American Philosophical Association 2021 Award, for his book Games: Agency as Art.

In this episode, we'll be speaking to Nguyen about intellectual playfulness. For Nguyen, playfulness should be understood as a virtue and not a vice. When we explore philosophical ideas through our usual perspectives, we close ourselves off from a rich set of alternative possibilities, and risk re-directing good-faith inquiry into bad-faith results. Playfulness, however, allows us to escape these traps in our thinking, and open ourselves up to the possibility of creativity.

This episode is produced in partnership with the Aesthetics and Political Epistemology Project at the University of Liverpool, led by Katherine Furman, Robin McKenna, and Vid Simoniti and funded by the British Society of Aesthetics.

Contents

Part I. The Ideal Thinker

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

C. Thi Nguyen, 'Playfulness Versus Epistemic Traps' (paper)

C. Thi Nguyen, Games: Agency As Art (book)

C. Thi Nguyen, website

C. Thi Nguyen, X (Twitter)

John Gierach, Fly Fishing Small Streams (book)

Natasha Dow Schüll, Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas (book)

Monster Train (game)

Episode 126, 'Playfulness Versus Epistemic Traps' with C. Thi Nguyen (Part I - The Ideal Thinker) Jan 28, 2024

Show notes

Contents

Part I. The Ideal Thinker

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

C. Thi Nguyen, 'Playfulness Versus Epistemic Traps' (paper)

C. Thi Nguyen, Games: Agency As Art (book)

C. Thi Nguyen, website

C. Thi Nguyen, X (Twitter)

Natasha Dow Schüll, Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas (book)

Monster Train (game)

Episode 125, The Christmas Special (Part III - Further Analysis and Discussion) Jan 14, 2024

Show notes

Days grow shorter, rain turns to sleet, and nature's creatures are forced into hibernation. Winter is here; when the world wages war on us, through darkness, danger, and impending depression. But from the clouds of winter's despair, therein shines a light: gatherings among families and friends, spirits of fellowship and forgiveness, and scenes of feasts and festivities.

It is Christmas, who shepherds us together – when we would otherwise be apart – and spares us from the cold, and into loving arms. As we shall see, the festival of Christmas has snowballed with the passing of many winters – from the early celebrations of the Romans and Vikings to the Christian nativity and commercialisation – but what has held this snowball together?

Let us burn candles, logs, and line our homes with dancing lights; let us bring in trees and celebrate the hope of new life; and let us give generously and extend goodwill to our neighbours here, and around the world.

Contents

Part I. The Nativity

Part II. The Nativity Continued

Part III. Further Analysis and Discussion

Links

Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives (book)

Raymond E. Brown, The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (book)

Judith Flanders, Christmas: A History (book)

Bruce Forbes, Christmas: A Candid History (book)

Brent Landau, Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men's Journey to Bethlehem (book)

Robert J. Miller, Born Divine: The Births of Jesus and Other Sons of God (book)

Richard C. Trexler, The Journey of the Magi: Meanings in History of a Christian Story (book)