So, You're A Philosopher

Reality: It is what it is. (And also isn’t.)

What is real, and what do we invent that we think is real? How might we tell, and with all the complex ways to approach the subject, how might we be clear when we talk about reality? Hear a story of Immanuel Kant and how he resolved a sticky wicket in a way that helped save the reliability of science itself.  What comes up in this episode: ~  David Hume’s challenge to science  ~ ~  The difficulty in talking about Reality ~ ~  Thales as El Mariachi  ~ ~  Snot rockets ~ ~  Intellectual Hygiene ~ Referenced or mentioned: ~  David Hume ~ ~  Immanuel Kant  ~ ~  Issac Newton  ~ ~  The Milesian School  ~ ~  Arche / First Principles ~ ~  Heraclitus ~ Dope quotes in this episode:  ~  Immanuel Kant: I freely confess that it was the remembrance of David Hume that first interrupted my dogmatic slumber and gave my investigations in the field of speculative philosophy a quite new direction. Credits / Links: ~  So, You’re A Philosopher’s homepage: ponderpus.com [http://ponderpus.com]  ~ ~  Text or leave a voicemail for Chris : 469.626.7355 ~

Meaning: We are meaning-making machines with agency.

What is the four-fold meaning of meaning? A primer, and an exploration of meaning IN life. Hear a story of Viktor Frankl, the contemporary of Freud and Adler who bucked the trend, and explore meaning through his lens. What comes up in this episode: ~  Logotherapy ~ ~  Objective vs Interpretive Meaning ~ ~  Bicycles ~ ~  Meaning OF life vs meaning IN life ~ ~  Challenge in the Korean BBQ ~ Referenced or mentioned: ~  Irving Yalom ~ ~  Marcus Aurelius ~ ~  Jean-Paul Sartre  ~ ~  William James ~ ~  Laura A. King ~ ~  Joshua A. Hicks ~ ~  Samwise Gamgee’s thoughts on potatoes ~ Dope quotes in this episode:  ~  Irving Yalom: advice on finding meaning in life is “simply to live fully, to retain one's astonishment at the miracle of life, to plunge oneself into the natural rhythm of life, to search for pleasure at the deepest possible sense.”  ~  Marcus Aurelius: "The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." ~  Jean-Paul Sartre: “Life has no meaning, life is an opportunity to create meaning.”  ~  Viktor Frankl:  “What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal.”   ~  William James: “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.”  Credits / Links: ~  So, You’re A Philosopher’s homepage: ponderpus.com [http://ponderpus.com/]  ~ ~  The Science of Meaning in Life [https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-psych-072420-122921] ~ ~  Text or leave a voicemail for Chris : 469.626.7355 ~

The Scientific Method: How philosophers nursed natural philosophy into a method that safeguards our world.

Before science was SCIENCE, it was Natural Philosophy. Hear a story of Alhazen, the world’s first scientist, and dig into the real value of the scientific method.  What comes up in this episode: ~  Alhazen ~ ~  Francis Bacon ~ ~  How the scientific method safeguards against bias ~ ~  Parallels in the development of the scientific method and academic philosophy ~ Referenced or mentioned: ~  Euclid ~ ~  Ptolemy ~ ~  Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica   ~ ~  Buster Harper ~ ~  Breakfast burritos ~ A thought to carry with you:    “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.” - Richard Feynman Credits / Links: ~  The So, You’re A Philosopher homepage: ponderpus.com [http://ponderpus.com]  ~ ~  Text or leave a voicemail for Chris : 469.626.7355 ~

Let us begin: You Are A Philosopher

You were born to be a philosopher. The unique evolutionary output of the human mind is that it is designed to wonder…and philosophy begins in wonder. What comes up in this episode: * What is philosophy, anyway? * There are PHILOSOPHERS and there are philosophers. * The roles philosophers play. * Pythagoras gave us more than a theorem… * Philosophy is inescapable (even if you try really hard). Referenced or mentioned: * Pythagorean Harmonics * Aristotle’s Metaphysics * Natural Philosophy (kinda)  A thought to carry with you:  The self-help industry is essentially “popularized philosophy.” Credits / Links: * So, You’re A Philosopher’s homepage: ponderpus.com [http://ponderpus.com]  * Leave Chris a voicemail: 469.626.7355

Overthinking: Think, think...and think again!

Overthinking. Oy! It plagues us all. But…should it? Could we, perhaps, tame this cognitive beast and use it for good? What comes up in this episode: * When is thinking overthinking? * Adaptive vs maladaptive cognition. * Two juicy Delphic Maxims. * Mason’s killswitch. * Crickets. Referenced or mentioned: * Socrates * Seneca * Kierkegaard (briefly) * Mason * Sean A thought to carry with you:  Your ability to control your thinking is as much in your power as the power to think. Credits / Links: * How To Be A Stoic, by Massimo Pigliuccii  [https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Stoic-Ancient-Philosophy/dp/1541644530] * So, You’re A Philosopher’s homepage: ponderpus.com [http://ponderpus.com]  * Leave Chris a voicemail: 469.626.7355