#604 George Sher - A Wild West of the Mind; The Morality of Nasty Thoughts
RECORDED ON DECEMBER 13th 2021.
Dr. George Sher is Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Humanities and Professor of Philosophy at Rice University. In recent years, his research has centered on two main topics: responsibility and distributive justice. He is the author of several books, the most recent one being A Wild West of the Mind.
In this episode, we focus on A Wild West of the Mind. We start with the premise of the book, and then go through topics like the psychological effects of “bad” thoughts, and linking thoughts to actions; character flaws; the problem with sharing nasty thoughts with other people; a thought experiment on having direct access to other people’s minds; how much control we really have over our thoughts; and the benefits of having mental freedom.
Time Links:
Intro
The premise of the book
The psychological effects of “bad” thoughts
Character flaws
Sharing thoughts with other people
What if we had access to other people’s thoughts?
How much control do we have over our thoughts?
Mental freedom – would it be problematic to condemn “bad” thoughts?
Mental freedom and morality
Follow Dr. Sher’s work!
Follow Dr. Sher’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3FPKKy2
PhilPeople page: https://bit.ly/3yIDctM
Amazon page: https://amzn.to/3g2ojLJ
A Wild West of the Mind: https://amzn.to/3xSvpIQ