Philosophy Everyday
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© Masud Gaziyev
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Independent content on philosophy, science, and technology.
33 Episodes
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What do you believe to be true? Are you absolutely certain? Can you really know? Does reason exist for its own sake, or is every thought simply an illusion created by your brain? This week, I look at Descartes' revolutionary experiment of doubting everything - everything about the world, how we sense things, even our own reasoning - and attempting to build knowledge back up again. He bases his conclusions on what he finds: the idea of "perfection" leads him to conclude that there must be a god. Is the argument valid? Where do your thoughts come from? How could you feel so sure about something and yet be entirely wrong? Is it possible to use logic to prove anything at all? And at the heart of these questions is one fundamental question that remains unanswered: Are you a person, or are you just using a body?
I recently talked with Dr. Gordon Pennycook who is a cognitive psychologist and has researched, among other things, why people accept false information, why some statements sound profound but have no real meaning and if using Artificial Intelligence (AI) could help decrease conspiracy thinking. Dr. Pennycook is one of the top researchers studying misinformation, cognitive reflection and what he terms "Pseudo-Profound Bullshit", statements that may seem profound but fall apart when scrutinized. We talked about the psychological mechanisms behind pseudo-profoundness and others related to human reasoning. We also discuss his recent research showing that conversations with large language models can reduce belief in conspiracy theories by presenting clear evidence and counterarguments. Could AI become a tool for improving public reasoning? Or does it introduce new risks for misinformation?This conversation explores how intuition, reflection, and cognitive laziness shape the way we think and what that means in an age of algorithms and AI. If you enjoy the episode, please consider leaving a like, subscribing, and leaving a review on Youtube, Spotify and Apple!
Steven C. Hayes is a prominent American clinical psychologist and researcher known for his foundational work in behavioral science and psychotherapy with a focus on human language, cognition, and alleviating suffering. He developed Relational Frame Theory (RFT), which explains human higher cognition, and originated Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), an evidence-based psychotherapy. We explore why our evolution as social primates has left us with a mind that we can’t forget. Dr. Hayes explains how to transition from a life of emotional struggle to one of true psychological flexibility. We also explore the relationship of pursuing happiness and how this may ultimately lead to the opposite, the differences between being in pain and suffering, the concept of experiential avoidance, the concept of cognitive attachment, the evolutionary development of language and human cognition, and the science of developing psychological flexibility.
The idea that love is a feeling rather than an appetite for something may be part of the marketing surrounding Valentine's Day; in other words, love is viewed as satisfaction, completion, or a secure sense of emotions. However, Plato has an entirely different view. In this episode, I take a look at Plato's "Symposium," which is arguably one of the most upsetting, and authentic descriptions of love ever put on paper. It is through Socrates' and Diotima's explanations that Plato describes love as absence, longing, and as a movement toward something we don't yet possess.
John Vervaeke is a cognitive scientist and philosopher best known for his work on the modern meaning crisis, wisdom, and the nature of human understanding. He is a professor at the University of Toronto and the creator of Awakening from the Meaning Crisis, a widely influential lecture series exploring why modern life feels increasingly disconnected, fragmented, and nihilistic. In this episode, we explore what happens to love, truth, and meaning in a nihilistic world. We discuss Socrates and Plato on eros and the examined life, the role of love in orienting us toward reality, and why truth cannot be reduced to method or calculation alone. We examine the consequences of modernity, Nietzsche’s warning about nihilism, the loss of wisdom as a way of life, and why rationality without care leads to a crisis of meaning. We also consider whether love is a condition for truth rather than its rival, and how recovering wisdom may be essential for confronting the challenges of modern life.
John Cottingham is one of the world’s leading scholars of René Descartes and early modern philosophy. He is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Reading and the author of several influential books on Descartes, ethics, and philosophy of religion. Cottingham is also widely known for his work on the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Descartes, where he served as editor and translator, helping shape how Descartes is read and understood today. In this episode, we explore Descartes’ philosophy from its foundations to its modern consequences. We discuss the method of radical doubt, the meaning of “I think, therefore I am,” the mind–body problem, and why consciousness still resists purely scientific explanation. We also examine the central role God plays in Descartes’ system, whether reason alone can justify belief, and how these ideas continue to shape debates in philosophy, science, and artificial intelligence today.
Nothing can be trusted to be real, or at least, that’s the starting point. In this episode, I break down René Descartes’ method of radical doubt by walking through the First and Second Meditations, step by step. What happens if you treat everything that can be doubted as false? That includes; your senses, your body, the external world, and even mathematics. Source of Discussion: Meditations on First Philosophy, René Descartes, 1641.
Dr. Avi Loeb is a prominent theoretical physicist specializing in astrophysics and cosmology. He serves as the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University, where he previously chaired the Astronomy Department and founded the Black Hole Initiative. He has authored over 800 papers and popular books like Extraterrestrial on potential signs of alien technology. Follow the podcast for more conversations on cosmology, science, and philosophy.
As we enter 2026, I wanted to take a step back and reflect on some of the books I read this year, and what they made me rethink about life, meaning, power, consciousness, and society. Check out the chapter names to see books discussed in this video. Let me know in the comments what you’re planning to read in 2026, and whether you have read any of these before.
Was education ever meant to make you employable or fix your career? In the final book of Politics, Aristotle argues that this assumption misunderstands education from the beginning. According to Aristotle, education primarily exists for the sake of leisure, here understood as freedom from necessity and the condition for contemplation. This understanding proposes that a life organized entirely around usefulness and efficiency may function, but it cannot flourish. In this episode, I unpack Aristotle’s most demanding claims about education, virtue, habituation, music, physical training, and the role of the city in shaping character. Aristotle draws sharp distinctions between usefulness and nobility, cleverness and virtue, play and leisure, work and the activities that are worth pursuing for their own sake. There might be some FPS drops in the beginning of the video, which gets better later. This was due to unidentified technical issue during the recording. I apologize for this. However, the audio and the pacing is consistent throughout the episode, so it should not diminish the quality of experience.
Did Aristotle sketch the foundations of something like Universal Basic Income in ancient times? In Book VII of Politics, he argues that no citizen should live in a state of constant labor and necessity, because leisure is the precondition for virtue, philosophy, and judgment. In this episode, I walk through his surprising claims about basic sustenance, land distribution, civic roles, military power, and why a well-designed city must give its citizens the freedom to think, reflect, and flourish. Aristotle connects everything: virtue, happiness, citizenship, leisure, even city walls and cold plunges into one vision of how a society creates excellent human beings. Source for this discussion: Aristotle, Politics, Book VII (Chapters 9–14).
Aristotle never treated philosophy as a luxury or something that you do when you are bored. In Book Seven of Politics, he forces a difficult question: can the philosophical life become a retreat from real action? And if so, what does that say about the lives we choose? What is worth pursuing at the end of the day? And what is ultimately meaning of life? In this episode, I break down Aristotle’s argument that happiness is found in living life according to virtue, and both philosophical / scientific life and active civic life are virtuous. Virtue comes from action and from the choices you make, the habits you build, and the character you sharpen. Thought without action becomes passivity. Action without thought becomes chaos. The good life lies in the tension between them. Aristotle also explores the oldest divide in human life: the active citizen versus the pure thinker.
In this episode, I walk through Book 6 of Aristotle’s Politics, a section where he becomes unusually practical. Here he stops talking about ideal systems and starts asking a simpler question: what actually keeps a community functioning? Why do some forms of shared rule remain stable while others constantly shift? Aristotle looks at freedom, equality, participation, and the habits of everyday life. He studies how farmers, merchants, and workers naturally shape different patterns of governance often without intending to. He examines why different groups see justice differently, how equality gets defined, and why the character of a population matters as much as its laws.Source of discussion in the video: Aristotle’s Politics, Book VI, Chapters 1–8.
I talked to Dr. Anil Seth, neuroscientist, author of "Being You", and one of the world’s leading thinkers on consciousness, to explore one of the deepest questions in philosophy and science: What does it mean to be aware, and why does it feel like something to be you? Dr. Seth’s work is amazing as it bridges neuroscience, philosophy, and artificial intelligence. Just to be clear, the theory of controlled hallucination that Anil advocates doesn't suggest the external world doesn't exist. It simply means our access to it is always filtered through the interpretive and predictive mechanisms of our own brains. Portrait credit: Ramon Haindl / Die Ziet
What did Aristotle really think about monarchy? In this episode, I finish Book V of Aristotle’s Politics, exploring how monarchies rise, fall, and sometimes turn into their opposite. Along the way, we look at Aristotle’s comparisons with democracy, and his practical reflections on power, virtue, and moderation. This discussion is entirely historical and philosophical in nature, focusing on Aristotle’s ideas in their original context. Source of discussion in the video: Aristotle’s Politics, Book V, Chapters 10-12.
I sat down with Dr. Spencer Greenberg, mathematician, entrepreneur, and host of the Clearer Thinking podcast, to explore one of the most fascinating puzzles of human nature: why even the most intelligent minds can fall for irrational beliefs. In this conversation, we discuss: (1) Is intelligence alone to protect us from bias and self-deception? (2) How emotions, heuristics, and evolution shape our irrational choices (3) Is there any cost of being perfectly “rational”? (4) Whether truth-seeking can conflict with happiness or fulfillment (5) How to recognize when you’re playing status games instead of searching for truth (6) Why positive thinking and self-help can sometimes backfire (7) How to train your mind to think more clearly in a world full of noise.
What makes a society lose its moral strength?Did Aristotle already warn us about how virtue slowly fades not through sudden corruption, but through small unnoticed habits that change who we become?In Book V of Aristotle’s Politics, he explores why even the best systems weaken over time, and why preserving balance depends less on power and more on character.
I sat down with Dr. Stephen Hicks, philosopher and author of Explaining Postmodernism, to explore some of the biggest questions in modern thought: what the Enlightenment really changed, how confidence in reason began to crack over time, and why modern philosophy still struggles with truth, meaning, and progress.
What is the source of all conflicts? Aristotle thought that the answer had something to do with human nature itself. In this episode, I talk about Book V of Aristotle's Politics, where Aristotle finally stops describing systems and now also starts dissecting their psychology. He explores how ambition, resentment, and pride drive people toward conflict, and why the rich and poor never agree on what “justice” means.Source of discussion in the video: Aristotle’s Politics, Book V, Chapters 1–6.
I sat down with Dr. Massimo Pigliucci, philosopher, evolutionary biologist, and one of the most influential voices bringing Stoicism into the modern age. In this episode, we explore timeless ideas that matter more than ever today: Why Stoicism keeps returning in times of crisis? What you actually control, and what you don’t? The biggest misconceptions about Stoicism. How Stoicism compares with Nietzsche, Aristotle, and Christianity? What Stoicism can teach us about living well in chaotic times?
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