Cofnas Podcast

Questioning Taboos with Stephen Kershnar

Stephen Kershnar is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Fredonia. He has done important work on a number of controversial topics in philosophy. Due to ongoing litigation, we weren’t able to talk about the most recent controversy he was involved in. I will simply note what is public information, namely, SUNY Fredonia is shutting down its philosophy department, which will have the effect of terminating its only member (Steve). Timestamps 00:00 – How Steve got in trouble 2:05 – Do we really need to attack every taboo? 36.49 – The contradictions of institutionalized philosophy 1:18:15 – What is racism? 1:29:44 – Do people differ in value? 1:40:48 – Closing Nathan Cofnas’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Nathan Cofnas’s Newsletter at ncofnas.com/subscribe [https://ncofnas.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

With Amy Wax: For and against TDS

Amy Wax is Professor of Law at Penn. Get full access to Nathan Cofnas’s Newsletter at ncofnas.com/subscribe [https://ncofnas.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Why No One Wants to Read Peer-Reviewed Philosophy and Other Mysteries with Michael Huemer

Michael Huemer is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado Boulder. He’s written several books, most recently Progressive Myths [https://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Myths-Michael-Huemer-ebook/dp/B0DR3J77CF/ref=sr_1_1], and he writes the Fake Nous [https://fakenous.substack.com/] Substack. Nathan Cofnas’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Timestamps and sources 0:27 – Why no one wants to read peer-reviewed philosophy MH: “Publishing in Philosophy” [https://spot.colorado.edu/~huemer/publishing.htm] 50:40 – What is wokism? MH: Progressive Myths [https://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Myths-Michael-Huemer-ebook/dp/B0DR3J77CF/ref=sr_1_1] NC: “Was I Wrong about Woke?” [https://ncofnas.com/p/was-i-wrong-about-woke] 1:05:05 – Vegetarianism: For and against MH: Dialogues on Ethical Vegetarianism [https://www.amazon.com/Dialogues-Ethical-Vegetarianism-Michael-Huemer/dp/1138328294/ref=sr_1_1] NC: “Is Vegetarianism Healthy for Children?” [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2018.1437024] F. Leroy & NC: “Should Dietary Guidelines Recommend Low Red Meat Intake?” [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2019.1657063] 1:26:00 – Is ethics real? MH: Ethical Intuitionism [https://www.amazon.com/Ethical-Intuitionism-M-Huemer/dp/0230573746/ref=sr_1_1] MH: “A Liberal Realist Answer to Debunking Skepticism” [https://philpapers.org/archive/HUEALR-2] NC: “A Debunking Explanation for Moral Progress” [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11098-019-01365-2] NC: “How Gene–Culture Coevolution Can—but Probably Did Not—Track Mind-Independent Moral Truth” [https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqac047] 2:17:27 - Closing Get full access to Nathan Cofnas’s Newsletter at ncofnas.com/subscribe [https://ncofnas.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Talking with Nicholas Wade

Nicholas Wade worked as an editor and science journalist at the New York Times from 1982 to 2012. He is the author of several books including A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History [https://www.amazon.com/Troublesome-Inheritance-Genes-Human-History/dp/0143127160]. His megaviral 2021 article, “The Origin of COVID: Did People or Nature Open Pandora’s Box at Wuhan?,” [https://thebulletin.org/2021/05/the-origin-of-covid-did-people-or-nature-open-pandoras-box-at-wuhan/] played a major role in making the lab-leak theory mainstream. Wade initially self-published “The Origin of COVID” on Medium after it was rejected from “every outlet [he] could think of, left, right, and center.” Nathan Cofnas’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:51 Social behavior vs. IQ 8:51 Rice vs. wheat farmers 16:14 Persistent race differences 19:30 Environmental explanations 28:55 Response to A Troublesome Inheritance 36:43 Academic censorship 39:53 Reforming academia 49:59 Origins of race denial 58:11 Making race realism mainstream 1:01:15 A racial hierarchy? 1:11:04 Academia after race realism 1:13:50 Groupthink and resistance to the lab-leak theory 1:20:43 Conclusion Get full access to Nathan Cofnas’s Newsletter at ncofnas.com/subscribe [https://ncofnas.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Will a Hereditarian Revolution Defeat Wokism? With Noah Carl

Noah Carl is a sociologist, writer, and editor at Aporia. In this episode we discuss whether hereditarianism is the cure for wokism, and the relationship between intelligence and human worth. Subscribe to the newsletter and podcast at ncofnas.com Get full access to Nathan Cofnas’s Newsletter at ncofnas.com/subscribe [https://ncofnas.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]