Episode 13 - "What's it like to be a dog?"

Episode 13 - "What's it like to be a dog?"

This week, Steve and Christabel respond to Max, who asks ‘What is it like to be a dog?’ Christabel tells us of Thomas Nagel’s seminal paper ‘What is it like to be a bat?’ and his sceptical answer. This leads discussion to David Hume’s observations as to the limitations of imagination, and to Frank Jackson’s ‘Mary the super scientist’ thought experiment. Steve learns about the nature of qualia (which we learn isn’t just the name of the hamster Christabel kept as an undergraduate) and informs us how to control for mentos variability under experimental conditions. For reasons best known to herself, Christabel explains how toasters work.   The duo then tackle Gregory Berns’ rebuttal of Nagel’s claim that we can’t know what it’s like to be a bat, which he bases on his extensive collection of MRI scans of dog brains. Steve points out that Berns is making a rookie mistake; he’s scanned the wrong mammal. Our hosts settle on the strategy of abduction: perhaps it’s impossible to know EXACTLY what it’s like to be anyone other than yourself, but we can use inference to the best explanation to guide us towards a best-guess approximation of how the subjective experiences of others feel to them. They end with a discussion of the work of Ali Boyle and Johnathan Birch on animal sentience, noting some chilling experimental data gathered about the empathetic capacities of rats.   Email us the impossible questions children ask you at philosophyplaydate@gmail.com [philosophyplaydate@gmail.com]   Find Steve at https://drstevecross.squarespace.com [https://drstevecross.squarespace.com/]   Philosophy Playdate theme by Piers Cane

Episode 12 - "Who looks after Outer Space?"

Steve and Christabel set off to bravely go where no one has gone before to answer this week’s question: ‘Who looks after outer space?’ but due to the Kessler effect, they spend most of the episode bumping around in low-Earth orbit. However, this portion of (barely) outer space proves to be more philosophically provocative than the duo might have bargained for. Discussion begins with space ethicist Nikki Coleman, who compares being trapped onEarth by an atmospheric layer of Elon Musk’s space debris to the existential threat of climate change. This turns conversation to space law, and specifically Setsuko Aoki’s interpretation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which designates space as ‘the common heritage of humanity’. With heritage on their minds, Steve and Christabel turn to the brave new world of space archaeology, and three of its leading lights; Alice Gorman, Beth Laura O’Leary and Lisa Westwood.    Gorman’s advocacy for lunar conservation launches our hosts out of Earth’s atmosphere andplants them right onto the dusty and flag-strewn surface of our nearest celestial body. Christabel gets disproportionately angry at the thought of losing her view of the Moon due toindustrial mineral extraction, possibly forgetting about the existence of clouds.   However, it isn’t long before they both plummet back to Earth, landing first in the Wild West (where Steve introduces us to Sheriff Bentham, protector of the innocent) before returning back to London to consider the real-life trolley problem of diverting the Nazi V-weapons. They apply what they’ve learned to the problem of deflecting asteroids, taking particular noteof the ethical analysis provided by Mazlan Othman, Malaysia’s first astrophysicist anddirector of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. Christabel ends on a plea for listeners to write in with all and any space-related questions that they’ve ever been asked by a child.   Email us the impossible (and extra-terrestrial) questions children ask you at philosophyplaydate@gmail.com [philosophyplaydate@gmail.com]   Find Steve at https://drstevecross.squarespace.com [https://drstevecross.squarespace.com/]   Philosophy Playdate theme by Piers Cane

Episode 11 - "How can we talk to kids about time travel?"

In this episode, Steve and Christabel sit down with author, podcaster and capricious god Iszi Lawrence to discover how to impart big ideas to small humans. She lets us in on the intoxicating power (and crushing burden) of deciding the fates of her characters, and admits that she quite enjoys informing her child fanbase that free will probably doesn’t exist, anyway.    Christabel relishes the opportunity to talk time travel as Izsi lays out the literary universe of her The Time Machine Next Door series. The trio get to grips with using the power of boredom to temporarily stray from your timeline, and come to understand the ethical distinction between stealing from the past versus ‘borrowing’ from the British Museum.    They touch on a range of philosophico-literary influences, from Goosebumps and The Never Ending Story to Olga of Kyiv (the woman John Wick WISHES he was). However, the gang stop short of fully deconstructing the moral ramifications of Goodnight Sweetheart, resolving to allow themselves just one problematic fave.    But in typical fashion, the episode raises more questions than it answers. These include ‘Do deer often have stomach aches?’, ‘Was Tracy Emin’s Unmade Bed the result of a sentient time machine’s tantrum?’ and ‘Will Steve convert Christabel to vegetarianism?’   Huge thanks to Iszi for sharing her wit, wisdom and elite footnote-writing ability with us.   You can find Iszi at https://iszi.com/ [https://iszi.com/]   And Steve at https://drstevecross.squarespace.com [https://drstevecross.squarespace.com/]   Email us the impossible questions children ask you at philosophyplaydate@gmail.com [philosophyplaydate@gmail.com]   Philosophy Playdate theme by Piers Cane

Episode 10 - "Why don't people just say what they mean the first time?"

This week, Steve and Christabel take irony, malapropisms and poetry to task in their quest to find the meaning of meaning. To begin, they survey a couple of naïve theories; the reference theory, and John Locke’s idea theory of meaning. Steve takes this opportunity to remind us of the first rules of philosophy; do NOT die, and don’t let young upstarts relabel your theory as naïve. Christabel draws on Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell and William Lycan (though she doesn’t get much further than the first sentence of the first chapter of Lycan’s contemporary introduction to the philosophy of language – it’s admittedly a very good sentence).    The discussion settles upon Paul Grice and his conversational maxims. Christabel explains that for Grice, the purposes of conversation are very important. She then fulfils what she deems to be the purpose of every conversation, and launches into a tangent about David Lewis’ theory of possible worlds. Steve flouts Saul Kripke’s law of the necessity of identity, and considers a parallel world in which David Lewis and Lois Lane switch places. He then pursues his own conversational purpose, reopening an old argument he’d had with his English teacher over Phillip Larkin’s ‘This Be The Verse’.    Steve and Christabel establish two things: the first being that the official podcast position is strongly pro-multiverse, and the second being a conversational maxim of their own. Steve decrees that we are allowed to be linguistic pedants if (and only if) it serves comedic purposes. Christabel grudgingly agrees, on the condition that she is still allowed to point outthe kind of semantic ambiguity that typifies corporate pharmaceutical messaging.   But will the duo accomplish the pragmatic ambitions of this week’s conversation, or will they fade away into Bolivian? Listen to find out!   Email us the impossible questions children ask you at philosophyplaydate@gmail.com [philosophyplaydate@gmail.com]   Find Steve at https://drstevecross.squarespace.com [https://drstevecross.squarespace.com/]   Philosophy Playdate theme by Piers Cane

Episode 9 - "Can we be in the same family again next time?"

Can we be in the same family again? This week’s question was posed by Ralph, who – after losing a beloved family dog – asked if he, his pet and his parents could ever be born into the same family again. Casting around for answers, Christabel returns to the wheel of reincarnation known in Indian philosophy as saṃsāra. Caraka, an ayervedic physician and the author of the Caraka-Saṃhitā is consulted, after which Christabel lowers the tone, diverting conversation to the significance of past-life recognition in popular culture. The two gossip over Madeline Miller’s portrayal of the relationship between famous ‘good pals and roommates’ Achilles and Patroclus in her novel The Song of Achilles, and Christabel extolls the philosophical merits of asking your partner whether they would love you if you were a worm. Steve gives some terrible romantic advice but redeems himself by offering the listener a set of comprehensive directions for earthwormhusbandry. Discussion then turns to Friedrich Nietzsche. Christabel takes us on a whistlestop tour of his theory of infinite return, and how the Nietzsche scholars Kathleen Higgins, Neil Sinhababu, Ivan Soll and Phillip Kain (no relation) have interpreted him. Steve, like a true übermensch, demands justice on behalf of albatrosses, and treats us to a stunningly accurate portrayal of how Nietzsche would have featured as a guest star on an episode of The Golden Girls. However, try as they might, neither host seems ready to embrace Nietzschean amor fati, even according to Béatrice Han-Pile’s agapic prescription for loving one’s fate.  Special thanks to Jack Moar for exquisite performance in his new role as the podcast’s official Nietzsche consultant.   Email us the impossible questions children ask you at philosophyplaydate@gmail.com [philosophyplaydate@gmail.com]   Find Steve at https://drstevecross.squarespace.com [https://drstevecross.squarespace.com/]   Philosophy Playdate theme by Piers Cane