Overview
Submissions
Comments

Ma3Ke4Li3

Bernardo Kastrup argues that the world is fundamentally mental. A person’s mind is a dissociated part of one cosmic mind. “Matter” is what regularities in the cosmic mind look like. This dissolves the problem of consciousness and explains odd findings in neuroscience.

on-humans.podcastpage.io

Submitted by Ma3Ke4Li3 t3_11pdufn on March 12, 2023 at 12:52 PM in philosophy

No comments

Vivek Venkataraman argues that political equality and proto-democracy were the most common form of political organisation in the "state of nature". These ideals preceded modern liberalism & statehood, and are arguably how humans have lived the majority of our evolution.

on-humans.podcastpage.io

Submitted by Ma3Ke4Li3 t3_12303in on March 26, 2023 at 9:21 PM in philosophy

65 comments

676

Neuroscientist Gregory Berns argues that Thomas Nagel was wrong: neuroscience can give us knowledge about what it is like to be an animal. For example, his own fMRI studies on dogs have shown that they can feel genuine affection for their owners.

on-humans.podcastpage.io

Submitted by Ma3Ke4Li3 t3_11cp3bu on February 26, 2023 at 6:44 PM in philosophy

38 comments

571

Patricia Churchland argues that brain science does not undermine free will or moral responsibility. A decision without any causal antecedents would not be a responsible decision. A responsible decision requires deliberation. The brain is capable of such deliberation.

on-humans.podcastpage.io

Submitted by Ma3Ke4Li3 t3_100qq63 on January 1, 2023 at 7:09 PM in philosophy

No comments

Anna Alexandrova, a philosopher of science at Cambridge, argues that a “science of happiness” is possible but requires a new approach. Measures such as “life satisfaction” or “positive emotions” can be studied rigorously. An underlying variable of “happiness” cannot.

on-humans.podcastpage.io

Submitted by Ma3Ke4Li3 t3_106k3wb on January 8, 2023 at 2:09 PM in philosophy

56 comments

1,364

Philip Kitcher argues that secular humanism should distance itself from New Atheism. Religion is a source of community and inspiration to many. Religion is harmful - and incompatible with humanism - only when it is used as a conversation-stopper in moral debates.

on-humans.podcastpage.io

Submitted by Ma3Ke4Li3 t3_zwfizu on December 27, 2022 at 1:21 PM in philosophy

No comments

Thomas Hobbes was wrong about life in a state of nature being “nasty, brutish, and short”. An anthropologist of war explains why — and shows how neo-Hobbesian thinkers, e.g. Steven Pinker, have abused the evidence to support this false claim.

on-humans.podcastpage.io

Submitted by Ma3Ke4Li3 t3_z5b1hv on November 26, 2022 at 4:08 PM in philosophy

No comments

Michael Shermer argues that science can determine many of our moral values. Morality is aimed at protecting certain human desires, like avoidance of harm (e.g. torture, slavery). Science helps us determine what these desires are and how to best achieve them.

on-humans.podcastpage.io

Submitted by Ma3Ke4Li3 t3_ynt30e on November 6, 2022 at 3:30 PM in philosophy

201 comments

1,032

Neuroscientist Gregory Berns argues that David Hume was right: personal identity is an illusion created by the brain. Psychological and psychiatric data suggest that all minds dissociate from themselves creating various ‘selves’.

on-humans.podcastpage.io

Submitted by Ma3Ke4Li3 t3_ybm2jp on October 23, 2022 at 4:28 PM in philosophy

No comments

Philip Kitcher argues that morality is a social technology designed to solve problems emerging from the fragility of human altruism. Morality can be evaluated objectively, but without assuming moral truths. The view makes sense against a Darwinian view of life, but it is not social Darwinism.

on-humans.podcastpage.io

Submitted by Ma3Ke4Li3 t3_y5iu41 on October 16, 2022 at 2:56 PM in philosophy

156 comments

1,250

Patricia Churchland argues that morality is rooted in our Darwinian biology. She links morality to warm-bloodedness, which required an adaptation to care for others (originally, infants). This is the biological basis for unselfish concern, and later, moral intuitions.

on-humans.podcastpage.io

Submitted by Ma3Ke4Li3 t3_y0hchd on October 10, 2022 at 3:16 PM in philosophy

54 comments

108