The Philosophists

8 Episodes

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Ep 8 - The Challenges Women Researchers Face - Part 1 (with Mohammad Hosseini and Shiva Sharifzad)

2023-02-2801:00:09

Research in academia is a wonderful intellectual pursuit, but are the fruits of that pursuit equally available to all? What if you are a woman? Do you have the same opportunities and outcomes as your other colleagues? In this episode, we talk to Mohammad Hosseini and Shiva Sharifzad, authors of Gender disparity in publication records: a qualitative study of women researchers in computing and engineering (linked below), a highly illuminating paper interested in the answers to these questions. ...

Ep 7 - Nested Utilitension (an Ethics to Rule Them All?)

2022-08-1629:37

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."In this one famous line from Star Trek, the ever-logical Spock seemingly nailed his flag to the mast of Utilitarianism. But what if Kant had been a member of the team aboard the USS Enterprise? He may have thrown a glass of cold water over Spock and exclaimed, "You're wrong! The needs of the few may triumph!" So, who should we side with here? What do we do when different philosophical systems disagree and guide us towards conflicting solut...

Ep 6 -- LP -- Wisdom - A Very Valuable Virtue with Jason Merchey

2022-06-1401:39:59

Wisdom... an old and dusty concept that has fallen down the pecking order in today's world. As a result, it's no surprise that many feel our civilisation is slipping ever deeper into an idiocracy. Well, this episode aims to single-handedly arrest that slide... and bring wisdom back into fashion! To this end, we have enlisted the talents of Jason Merchey, who literally wrote the book on wisdom. In fact, he's written four, including his latest work - Wisdom: A Very Valuable Virtue That Cannot B...

Ep 5 -- LP -- Towards Biohappiness with David Pearce (The End of Suffering)

2022-02-0201:13:28

Suffering is unavoidable. Or is that really the case? David Pearce, renowned transhumanist, author of the Hedonistic Imperative and cofounder of the World Transhumanist Association / Humanity+, has a vision that sees suffering abolished in all sentient life and replaced with "information-sensitive gradients of bliss". In this feature length episode, David gives an introduction to his abolitionist project and how we can achieve this remarkable goal using biotechnology, especially genetic engin...

Ep 4 - Beyond Cockroach Ethics - Part 2 (Virtue Ethics, Trolley Problems and Inaction)

2021-11-0828:00

Back in episode two, we covered Utilitarianism and Deontology and promised to return with an episode covering Virtue Ethics. Well, wanting to do the moral thing, we fulfil that promise here. The episode opens up with Simon invoking the famous philosophical conundrum of the Trolley Problem. We also discuss the distinction between action and inaction, if any, before diving into the ethical system that has been with us for over two thousand years - Virtue Ethics. Hopefully, you have enough of th...

Ep 3 -- LP -- Corrupting The Youth (Philosophy For Children with Daniel McCrea)

2021-08-1201:28:59

Well... Let's not quite call it corrupting. Let's call it teaching. And, in this episode, we are delighted to welcome Daniel McCrea as our special guest, who takes us on an exciting journey through the world of teaching philosophy to children.Main Talking PointsWhy children should care about philosophyHow philosophy helps children developGetting philosophy into the education cycle in Ireland and bringing it to a younger audienceHow philosophy can transform how teachers engage with their stude...

Ep 2 - Beyond Cockroach Ethics - Part 1 (Utilitarianism vs Deontology)

2021-07-1927:37

What can a cockroach teach us about ethics? Well, in this episode we attempt to find out as we talk our way through two of the most widely accepted ethical systems - Utilitarianism and Deontology. While scuttling around, we'll meet the great Immanuel Kant (well, not literally) and see how his ethical ideas can get you out of a sticky situation.Is morality a numbers game or just a bunch of rules? Decide for yourself after hearing us out. Just one thing to note - this is the first part of a min...

Ep 1 - Feeling Bad About Doing Good

2021-04-0532:04

In this episode, Declan and Simon ask - should you feel bad about doing "good"?"What?!" you may ask. But have you ever asked yourself if you should give almost all your money to charity? And, if you don't then how you should approach the question of whether you should do more? Is every one of your pleasures condemned to be a guilty pleasure? Cosmic Skeptic's video asking if Should You Sell All Your Possessions? kickstarted our discussion. And we think you'll enjoy where our discussion took th...

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