Mysteries Beyond Human Understanding

Island Universes

Here is the Problem of Other Minds, plus fascinating trousers, pretend headaches and a vivid dream about a monkey. Are the inner depths of other people unknowable? Huxley says that we are isolated from each other; the lovers try in vain to "fuse their insulated ecstasies". I summarise John McDowell's view that this 'Problem of Other Minds' results from a mistaken view of how we experience each other. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The Philosophy of Forgetting

I'm pretty sure water expands when it freezes, but I can't recall how I know that. Most of our beliefs are like this: we can't remember their justification. But surely it is irrational have a head full of beliefs you cannot justify? I summarise a radical reply from Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650) and a conservative one from Gilbert Harman (b. 1938). Both are weird. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Irrational Animals

Overcome with anger, you take the photo of your enemy and scratch out their eyes. According to Rosalind Hursthouse, this reveals two important ways in which our conduct is not ruled by reason. Here is a short summary of her important ideas, to accompany the Mobile Philosopher book series ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The Trouble with True Friends

Which of your friends would clean up your sick? Your true friends, surely. But what is a true friend? And is Aristotle correct that there is a sad contradiction at the heart of true friendship? ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Mysteries Beyond Human Understanding

"I'm not religious or anything, but I believe there's something out there". I summarise an argument from Kai Nielsen (1926-2021) for the conclusion that this sort of mild, vague belief in the divine doesn't make any sense. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.