All Episodes

#830 Émile Torres: The Philosophy of Effective Altruism and Longtermism

Sep 4, 2023

Dr. Émile Torres is a researcher at Leibniz Universität Hannover, in Germany. Their work over the past decade has centered around a single theme: eschatology, whether religious, secular, or scientific. Recently, their work has been focused on the nature and causes of human extinction, its ethical implications, and the history of the idea. They are the author of Morality, Foresight, and Human Flourishing: An Introduction to Existential Risks, and their latest book is Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation. More»
#829 Susanna Schellenberg - The Unity of Perception: Content, Consciousness, Evidence

Sep 1, 2023

Dr. Susanna Schellenberg is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at Rutgers University, where she holds a secondary appointment at the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science. She specializes in epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of language and is best known for her work on perceptual experience, evidence, capacities, mental content, and imagination. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Award, a Humboldt Prize, and a Mellon New Directions Fellowship for a project on the Neuroscience of Perception. She is the author of The Unity of Perception: Content, Consciousness, Evidence. More»
#828 Greger Larson: Animal Domestication and Human Evolution

Aug 31, 2023

Dr. Greger Larson is a Professor in the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford and Director of the Wellcome Trust Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network (PaleoBARN). His research interests include evolutionary genomics, ancient DNA, domestication, human and animal dispersal, and phylogenetics. His work on the domestication of canines and the origin of the domestic dog has provided insights into the prehistoric bond between humans and early dogs. More»
#827 Joseph Henrich: Cross-Cultural Research, Intelligence, Mating Systems, and Religion

Aug 28, 2023

Podcast: http://bit.ly/3FeSNqb More»
#826 Eric Funkhouser: The Signaling Functions of Beliefs, and Self-Deception

Aug 25, 2023

Dr. Eric Funkhouser is Professor and Departmental Chair of Philosophy at the University of Arkansas. His main areas of research are in the philosophy of psychology/mind and metaphysics. He is currently working on a series of papers concerning how social forces shape the functions of belief and other mental states. This work should culminate in a book, The Signaling Mind: Belief as Social Manipulation. In this manuscript, he argues that many beliefs serve a signaling function—much like animal signals used to manipulate other animals—that explains various irrational and dangerous beliefs, cognitive biases, as well as pro-social beliefs. More»
#825 Mark Coeckelbergh - Self-Improvement, Technology, and Altruism

Aug 24, 2023

Dr. Mark Coeckelbergh is Professor of Philosophy of Media and Technology at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Vienna. He is former President of the Society for Philosophy and Technology (SPT) and a member of the steering committee of ETHICOMP. Dr. Coeckelbergh is member of the High Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence for the European Commission, the Rat für Robotik, as well as member of the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) for the Foundation for Responsible Robotics. His work is focused on the area of philosophy of technology. He is the author of several books, including his most recent one, Self-Improvement: Technologies of the Soul in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. More»
#824 Valerie Fridland - Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English

Aug 21, 2023

Dr. Valerie Fridland is Professor and former Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of English at the University of Nevada in Reno. She is an expert on the relationship between language and society. Dr. Fridland also speaks and writes widely for a popular audience. Her language blog, Language in the Wild, appears in Psychology Today and her lecture series, Language and Society, is featured with The Great Courses. She is the author of several books, including Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English. More»
#823 Owen Flanagan: Against Happiness

Aug 18, 2023

Dr. Owen Flanagan is James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Duke University. His work is in philosophy of mind and psychiatry, ethics, moral psychology, and cross-cultural philosophy. He is co-author of Against Happiness. More»
#822 Christian Miller: The Virtues of Generosity and Patience

Aug 17, 2023

Dr. Christian B. Miller is the A. C. Reid Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest University. His research is primarily in contemporary ethics and philosophy of religion. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, Dallas Morning News, Slate, Prospect Magazine, Relevant Magazine, Michael Hyatt Magazine, The Conversation, Newsweek, Aeon, Greater Good Magazine, Nautilus Magazine, Fathom Magazine, Institute of Art and Ideas, and Christianity Today. He’s the author of several books, the most recent one being Honesty: The Philosophy and Psychology of a Neglected Virtue. More»
#821 Rebecka Hahnel-Peeters: Who Accepts Rape Myths, and Why?

Aug 14, 2023

Rebecka Hahnel-Peeters is a PhD student studying human behavior from an adaptationist perspective in the Evolutionary Psychology Lab at the University of Texas at Austin with Dr. David Buss. She joined the Buss Lab after finishing her MA Degree at California State University, Fullerton in Spring 2021. In her Master's thesis, she sought to understand individual differences in rape myth acceptance. She is currently interested in sexual conflict and women's psychological adaptations against sexual exploitation. More»