In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with Walter Veit about the science and philosophy of consciousness. Walter is an interdisciplinary scientist and philosopher who is currently completing his PhD dissertation at the University of Sydney, Australia. He has published on a wide range of topics, including the topic of animal consciousness and animal welfare, cognitive and genetic enhancement, nihilism, model pluralism, and other issues in evolutionary biology, the philosophy of science, and applied ethics. Here I speak with Walter about his PhD thesis which explores the evolutionary origins of consciousness and how different dimensions of consciousness are distributed throughout the animal kingdom. Some things that come up in the conversation include the hard problem of consciousness, different metaphysical approaches to consciousness, the question of whether consciousness has an adaptive function or is just an evolutionary byproduct, the integrated information theory of consciousness, and different dimensions of consciousness like self-awareness, sensory experience, evaluative experience, and the unity and temporality of experience. To learn more about Walter’s work, visit his website at the following link: https://walterveit.com
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with Dr. Heather Browning about animal ethics. Dr. Browning received her PhD from the Australian National University in 2020 and is currently a postdoctoral research officer at the London School of Economics working as a part of the Foundations of animal Sentience Project. Dr. Browning and I discuss a variety of general topics in animal ethics as well as some specific papers that she has published on the subject. Some topics that we discuss include the distinction between the rights view and the utilitarian welfare view of animal ethics, vegetarianism and the horrors of factory farming, the question of where to draw the line on animal consciousness, the natural behavior criteria for animal welfare and why it is flawed, the question of whether management euthanasia promotes animal welfare within the context of zoos, and the question of whether de-extinction projects promote animal welfare. To learn more about Dr. Browning’s work, visit her website at the following link: https://www.heatherbrowning.net
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with the philosopher Quassim Cassam on the topic of extremism. Dr. Cassam is a professor of philosophy at the University of Warwick and has made contributions to many different areas of the field. A lot of his earlier work focuses more on traditional topics in epistemology, like the concept of knowledge, self-knowledge, and transcendental epistemology. Recently, however, Professor Cassam has been doing work in what has been called vice epistemology and has been applying this work to real world issues. He’s written on the topic of terrorism and radicalization, conspiracy thinking, medicine, and most recently, extremism. To learn more about Professor Cassam’s work, visit his website at the following link: https://www.quassimcassam.com/ You can pre-order Professor Cassam’s forthcoming book on extremism at the following link: https://www.routledge.com/Extremism-A-Philosophical-Analysis/Cassam/p/book/9780367343873
In this episode I discuss virtual reality technology. Here are a few links to relevant articles: ‘The Gamer’s Dilemma’ by Morgan LuckDownload ‘The Experience Machine’ by Ben BrambleDownload
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with my brother Brad Turner about Buddhism, the purpose of life, the possibility of the afterlife, the existence (or nonexistence) of God, the concept of rebirth and nirvana, and the nature of consciousness and the self.
In this episode I discuss the idea that we are currently living in an age of heightened existential risk. Here are links to articles/books that I reference in the episode: The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity (Toby Ord 2020): https://www.amazon.com/Precipice-Existential-Risk-Future-Humanity/dp/0316484911 ‘The Vulnerable World Hypothesis’ (Nick Bostrom 2019):Download ‘Some Information Is Too Dangerous to be on the Internet’ (Vincent Muller 2006)Download
In this episode I discuss the topic of artificial intelligence and automation. Here are links to articles that I reference in the episode: GPT–3 Guardian Article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/08/robot-wrote-this-article-gpt-3 MIT Task Force Article: https://news.mit.edu/2019/work-future-report-technology-jobs-society-0904 ‘What is AI?’ Article: https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-ai-everything-you-need-to-know-about-artificial-intelligence/
In this episode I discuss how social media is deranging society and democracy by turning all of human communication into a public performance.
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with Professor Susanna Siegel. Dr. Siegel is the Edgar Pierce Professor of philosophy at Harvard University. She has made significant contributions in many different fields of philosophy, and is especially well known for the work that she’s done in the philosophy of perception. In this episode I speak with Professor Siegel about work that she’s currently doing in political philosophy. Specifically, I ask her questions about her analysis of the emotion known as ‘schadenfreude’ and its relation to political polarization, and her analysis of the relationship between authoritarianism and science. Two op-eds that she has written on these topics, as well as another article referenced in the conversation, can be found here: https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2020/07/31/why-we-revel-in-opponents-adversity-column/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_content=OpinionFeedOpinionTwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2020/05/29/does-relying-on-science-science-strengthen-authoritarianism-or-weaken-it-column/ https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/p/pod/dod-idx/deepfakes-and-the-epistemic-backstop.pdf?c=phimp;idno=3521354.0020.024;format=pdf
In this episode of Tent Talks, I have a wide ranging conversation with my friend Darian Spearman about many different topics, including healthcare, 2020 politics and culture, capitalism, social media, and the state of contemporary journalism.
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with professor Michael Morrell about the nature of democracy. Dr. Morrell is currently a political science professor at the University of Connecticut. He received his PhD in political science from Arizona State University in 1998. Here I speak with Dr. Morrell about a range a different topics related to democracy, including the question of whether democracy has epistemic value, the distinction between deliberative democracy and agonistic democracy, the effect that social media is having on democratic discourse, the connection between empathy and democracy, the recent rise of populist politics in the United States, and the nature of contemporary political polarization in America. Find Professor Morrell’s book (entitled Empathy and Democracy: Feeling, Thinking, and Deliberation) at the following link: https://www.amazon.com/Empathy-Democracy-Feeling-Thinking-Deliberation/dp/0271036605
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with Hunter Gentry about the so-called extended mind thesis in philosophy. Hunter received his master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Houston, and is currently a PhD student in philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work primarily focuses on perception, memory, and control. Our discussion here focuses on a forthcoming paper of Hunter’s entitled ‘Extended Control Systems: A Theory and Its Implications’, which can be found at the following link: https://philpapers.org/rec/GENECS?fbclid=IwAR0EhHHcarDzLCqc0-cUQ3NFimsiS3eACU-qnqXxod5Zie_pjZ0QgpxZ5FQ
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with my brother Brad (aka B-rad 3) about Buddhism, the idea of karma, and the metaphysics of consciousness.
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with my colleague Eric Berg about anarchism. Eric is a self-described anarchist and is currently a PhD student in philosophy at the University of Connecticut. Here we talk about many different things related to anarchism, such as the distinction between anarchism and chaos, the distinction between anarcho-communism, anarcho-capitalism, and anarcho-primitivism, what voting and public safety look like in an anarchist society, the defund the police movement, and the capitol hill autonomous zone in Seattle.
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with my friend Benji Buchanan. Benji is an entrepreneur and currently a computer science student at the University of Connecticut. We talk about a range topics, including Benji’s experience in the military and what it was like for him to undergo buds navy seal training, mindfulness, the educational app that Benji recently developed, the ethics of augmented reality systems, the question as to whether internet access is a human right, the question as to whether there is a right to be forgotten online, and the problem of algorithmic filtering.
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with Dr. Philip Goff, who is a professor of philosophy at Durham University. Professor Goff’s research focuses on the philosophy of consciousness and the question of how to integrate consciousness into our scientific worldview. In recent years, Professor Goff has become one of the leading proponents of a position called panpsychism, which holds that consciousness is fundamental and a ubiquitous feature of the physical world. Here, I speak with Professor Goff about panpsychism and his preferred version of the view, which holds that the universe itself is conscious. Check out Professor Goff’s website here: https://www.philipgoffphilosophy.com. Buy his most recent book here: https://www.amazon.com/Galileos-Error-Foundations-Science-Consciousness-ebook/dp/B07KNVQ6H5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3MUTKEVE6FAS8&keywords=galileo%27s+error&qid=1582922559&sprefix=galileo%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-1
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with Zori Lane and Gino De Angelis, who are the leaders of the University of Connecticut chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America. We discuss many topics, including socialism versus capitalism, the concept of ‘fully automated luxury communism’, healthcare, the 2020 presidential election, and cancel culture.
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with Professor Evan Perkoski. Dr. Perkoski is a professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut whose research focuses on terrorism and insurgency. Topics discussed include: terrorist technological innovations (e.g. suicide bombings, sarin gas attacks, aerial hijackings, cyberattacks), domestic terrorism, the logic of strategic nonviolence, the fragmentation of armed groups, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and US foreign policy in the Middle East. Check out more of Professor Perkoski’s work at the following link: https://www.evanperkoski.com/.
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with Professor Charles Lansing about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Dr. Lansing is an associate professor of history at the University of Connecticut. His research focuses on Germany in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, especially the Third Reich and the postwar German states, the Holocaust, European intellectual and social history, European imperialism and colonialism, and education in modern Europe. Check out Professor Lansing’s website here: https://history.uconn.edu/faculty-by-name/charles-b-lansing/. Buy his last book here (entitled From Nazism to Communism: German Schoolteachers under Two Dictatorships): https://www.amazon.com/Nazism-Communism-Schoolteachers-Dictatorships-Historical/dp/0674050533/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=charles+lansing&qid=1581460452&s=books&sr=1-1
In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with Dr. C Thi Nguyen, who is an associate Professor of Philosophy at Utah Valley University. Dr. Nguyen and I discuss work that he has conducted in social epistemology. Topics covered include the hyper specialization problem, the concept of a cognitive island, the distinction between filter bubbles and echo chambers, the nature of trust, and moral outrage porn. Read Professor Nguyen’s work at the following link: https://objectionable.net/philosophy/ Follow him on twitter here: https://twitter.com/add_hawk?lang=en