The Rest is Uncertain

Balancing commonality and diversity in determining the merits of the communities to which we belong. In this episode, host Dr. Laurance Splitter traces the tensions between individualism and various forms of collectivism, from the end of the Cold War (which heralded “The End of History”, except that it didn’t!), to the present day. The ideal of democratic liberalism became distorted as the result of globalization and growing disparities between the “haves” and “have nots”, resulting in a present-day scenario in which a very few possess most of the world’s wealth. Growing dissatisfaction in many Western countries has led to a destructive level of “tribalism”, with those on both sides of the political spectrum aligning themselves with those who are “like themselves” and distancing themselves from those who are, in various respects, “different”. This situation has been exacerbated by opportunistic and unscrupulous political leaders who encourage a strong sense of nationalism and cast a distorted glance to a past when we all lived among those who were just like us. Laurance then focuses on Australia and its claims to be a “multicultural” society, suggesting that “multi-ghettoised” might be a better descriptor. After hinting at the problematic nature of the concept of culture, he looks more closely at a disturbing trend: the growth, in economic and numerical terms, of private schooling in relation to public schooling. He notes that private schools do not provide the kinds of diversity that exist – or could exist – in public schools and, as a result, young people are not encouraged to expand their thinking and mindsets beyond that which is already familiar to them. He is particularly critical of the implications of students attending gender-specific schools. He challenges governments to become more involved in or, at least, more aware of, the teaching styles and curricula of all schools. Connect with Dr. Laurance Splitter: LinkedIn

How do communities of inquiry work across subjects like philosophy, mathematics, and science?In this episode, Dr. Laurance Splitter shares practical examples of collaborative inquiry with students of different ages, sparked by stories, games, and classroom activities. Discussions range from loyalty and friendship to reasoning, mathematical abstraction, scientific concepts, and ethical questions about animals and human responsibility.These examples show how effective teachers foster genuine inquiry without fixed outcomes.The episode concludes with Laurance reflecting on student podcast discussions about social media, trust, and justice and the resistance he encountered when schools deemed related topics “too sensitive.” Echoing psychologist Jonathan Haidt, he highlights the tension between protecting young people and limiting their opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue about the issues shaping their lives.Connect with Dr. Laurance Splitter: LinkedIn

In this episode, host Dr. Laurance Splitter reflects on the evolution of the podcast’s title from “Puzzlement and Passion without Certainty” to “The Rest is Uncertain: At the Intersection of Philosophy and Public Life.” He explores the challenge of navigating between extreme individualism and unhealthy tribalism, asking what kind of community truly fosters meaningful dialogue. Drawing on his work in Philosophy for Children, Laurance introduces the concept of a community of inquiry — a relational network where individuals see themselves as “one among others.” Such communities aim to seek truth without prematurely claiming it — “aiming but not proclaiming.” Grounded in self-awareness, mutual awareness, and shared engagement with the world, this model rejects passive, transmission-style teaching in favor of collaborative knowledge-building through dialogue and language.Connect with Dr. Laurance Splitter: LinkedIn

Is there a gap between educational goals and ideals, on the one hand, and the reality experienced by teachers and students in schools and classrooms, on the other? In the first of several episodes on education, host Dr. Laurance Splitter distinguishes between schooling, training and education. He then takes a brief journey into past theories of education, citing key ideas of Aristotle, Confucius, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, John Dewey and Paulo Freire. Several common themes emerge, including the goals of educating the “whole person” in intellectual, moral and physical terms, and teaching young people to be critical or powerful thinkers. But is today’s society serious when it comes to striving toward these goals?Connect with Dr. Laurance Splitter: LinkedIn

There are reasons for thinking that all is not well in our schools. In this episode, host Laurance Splitter explores some of the difficulties experienced by teachers and students in our schools and classrooms. Many teachers are quitting because they are compelled to focus on administrative and assessment tasks, to the detriment of teaching excellence. They are experiencing greater levels of stress and anxiety, in a cycle which also embraces students and parents. One factor behind this growing sense of crisis is society’s failure to treat teachers as professionals who are empowered to make sensible decisions and exercise good judgement.Another factor is the tension between meeting the educational needs of all students, and the social reality of unprecedented forms of intellectual, cultural, physical, and economic diversity – a tension most clearly seen in public schools. Shifting the focus to students, attrition rates are increasing, meaning that more students leave school before they reach year twelve. Familiar issues of choosing between a traditional academic curriculum and one that serves future vocational needs remain unresolved. Responding to these challenges, Laurance goes back to such venerable educational ideals of teaching the whole person and cultivating powerful thinking in students. He advocates for a renewed emphasis on speaking and listening in the form of dialogue. Dialogue is not merely a way of thinking out loud, it produces good thinking. It invites students to think and talk about issues of importance to them, and offers a much-needed alternative to the echo chambers of casual conversation and social media. Connect with Dr. Laurance Splitter: LinkedIn

When it comes to youth crime, simple answers often miss the deeper questions.In this episode, host Dr. Laurance Splitter explores the moral and social complexities surrounding youth crime, punishment, and responsibility in contemporary society.He examines polarized responses from “lock them up” to broader social explanations and asks why societies punish in the first place. By considering agency, accountability, disadvantage, and the search for identity which can lead to such unhealthy associations as gang membership, this episode challenges listeners to rethink justice, victimhood, and the kind of society we are collectively shaping.Connect with Dr. Laurance Splitter: LinkedIn

The challenge of balancing our intuitive “elephants” and our reasoning “riders”.In this episode, host Dr. Laurance Splitter expands on the role of dialogue and introduces philosophy’s “three Cs” — concepts that are common, contestable, and central. He cites the absurdist humor behind Monty Python to illustrate what happens when concepts are pushed to their extremes. Enlarging on his central theme, Laurance cites the tensions between individualism and collectivism, the private and the public, and looking inward versus looking beyond ourselves. He then discusses the housing crisis in our society, as a practical example of these tensions. Connect with Dr. Laurance Splitter: LinkedIn

Certainty feels reassuring but it can also shut down reasonable thinking, dialogue, and better judgment.In this episode, host Dr. Laurance Splitter introduces the central ideas behind The Rest Is Uncertain and explains why certainty can be more limiting than helpful when navigating complex questions and challenges through what he calls a philosophical lens. He emphasizes the importance of  dialogue, and of questioning our assumptions, and introduces a recurring theme of the series: whether we see ourselves as isolated individuals or as members of something larger and why that distinction matters.Connect with Dr. Laurance Splitter: LinkedIn