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Baggini interviews “new atheist” AC Grayling

July 23, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 7 Comments

We’ve gotten into a little discussion of the new atheist movement, an area well covered by other podcasts (meaning we likely won’t devote substantial time to it on our podcast, though we’ll certainly discuss religious philosophy). To get clear on one of its key arguments, that it’s religious moderates that create a climate where extremism can exist, I’ll point to Continue Reading …

Historical note about the Pragmatist Revival

July 23, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

This was news to me, that pragmatism was eclipsed by the 1940s until Richard Rorty and Hilary Putnam, though note that the video says they were eclipsed by positivism, i.e. the idea that philosophical statements need to be cashed out in terms of sense verifications, which is a species of a view we attributed on the podcast to William James, Continue Reading …

Later Pragmatists: Rorty on truth

July 22, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Maybe the most famous current pragmatist is Richard Rorty. He doesn’t like William James’s redefinition of the word “truth,” but he thinks that virtually everything James said about it could be better applied to the word “justification.” Plus, you get to see subtitles in (I think) Dutch!

Later Pragmatists: Quine on mind

July 20, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

In our discussions on William James, we alluded to later pragmatists and the relationship of pragmatism to verificationism (logical positivism). Does being a pragmatist, who tries to reduce philosophical problems to problems of how we should most intelligently act in the face of world, mean that you have to discount claims that can’t be verified by empirical science? Here’s W.V.O. Continue Reading …

Episode Pitch: Karen Armstrong on how the Bible was produced

July 19, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 17 Comments

Typically, we decide what to talk about on the podcast by saying “we should do some Spinoza,” and then ask “what’s his most famous work?” or “which work did we already have to read in some class?” which is typically the same work. When dealing with newer, non-canonical writers, though, and sometimes even with other episodes, one of us will Continue Reading …

Episode 22: More James’s Pragmatism: Is Faith Justified? What is Truth? (Citizens Only)

July 18, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Episode 22: More James’s Pragmatism: Is Faith Justified? What is Truth? (Citizens Only)

On William James’s “The Will to Believe,” and continuing our discussion on James’s conception of truth as described in his books Pragmatism and The Meaning of Truth. Does pragmatism give ground for religious belief, like if it feels good for me to believe in God, can that justify belief? Is belief in science or rationality itself a form of faith?

End song: “Who Cares What You Believe?” by Madison Lint (2001).

PREVIEW-Episode 22: More James’s Pragmatism: Is Faith Justified? What is Truth?

July 18, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 23 Comments

PREVIEW-Episode 22: More James’s Pragmatism: Is Faith Justified? What is Truth?

On William James’s “The Will to Believe,” and continuing our discussion on James’s conception of truth as described in his books Pragmatism and The Meaning of Truth. Does pragmatism give ground for religious belief, like if it feels good for me to believe in God, can that justify belief? Is belief in science or rationality itself a form of faith?

Looking for the full Citizen version?

Partially Naked Self-Examination Music Blog, Week 28

July 9, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Three songs today: cover tunes by The MayTricks from 1992 or so. Specifically, the Police’s “Can’t Stand Losin’ You” (which I sing) and Talking Heads’ “And She Was” and The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” (both of which Steve sings). These are actual, multi-track studio recordings done with probably as much care as many of our actual album tracks, recorded Continue Reading …

Partially Naked Self-Examination Music Blog, Week 27

July 4, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Correcting my previous post, apparently this is my first recorded original composition: “The Funny Train.” While I had always assumed this to be a traditional melody, a quick web search reveals no previous versions, so I hereby claim it. However, I note that “There was a little man, and he had a little can” appeared previously in a prohibition-era song Continue Reading …

Episode 21: What Is the Mind? (Turing, et al) (Citizens Only)

June 28, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 8 Comments

Episode 21: What Is the Mind? (Turing, et al) (Citizens Only)

Discussing articles by Alan Turing, Gilbert Ryle, Thomas Nagel, John Searle, and Dan Dennett. What is this mind stuff, and how can it “be” the brain? Can computers think? What is it like to be a bat? With guest Marco Wise.

End Song: “No Mind” by Mark Lint and the Fake Johnson Trio (1998)

PREVIEW-Episode 21: What Is the Mind? (Turing, et al)

June 28, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 69 Comments

PREVIEW-Episode 21: What Is the Mind? (Turing, et al)

Discussing articles by Alan Turing, Gilbert Ryle, Thomas Nagel, John Searle, and Dan Dennett. What is this mind stuff, and how can it “be” the brain? Can computers think? What is it like to be a bat? With guest Marco Wise.

Looking for the full Citizen version?

Mind Video #8: What level consciousness?

June 27, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Here’s a roundtable that gives an interesting high-level overview of a couple of points: First, Joseph Bogen, a neurologist, gives us possible levels at which the brain could produce consciousness: sub-cellular, cellular, circuit, systems, the whole brain, or brain interacting with larger systems (other brains). Second, we get a quick face-off at the end with Stuart Hameroff mentioning something like Continue Reading …

Partially Naked Self-Examination Music Blog, Week 26

June 25, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

At the half way point of this 2010 experiment, I’ve got something very special to post: my first ever intentional recording of a song, which was also my first experience playing with a band that I put together. It’s from spring ’86 and called “Venus on Earth.” I had some little music composition program on my Apple IIe that let Continue Reading …

Mind Video #7: V.S. Ramachandran

June 24, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 4 Comments

This video features a guy I’d not heard of before, Vilayanur S. Ramachandra, called “The Marco Polo of neuroscience,” though I prefer “the great gesticulator,” a title I just invented while watching this animated performance: Rama states the common conception of qualia (from Frank Jackson): we can know all of the neurological facts about color and yet still learn something Continue Reading …

Partially Naked Self-Examination Music Blog, Week 25

June 22, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

Today I present the crown jewel of my high school band years: The Spring ’89 version of “Run Away.” I’ve previously blogged about this song, which is pretty cheesy, but pleasurable, I think. This version owes a lot to the keyboard programming of the last couple of albums by The Cars (my favorite band at the time). The story of Continue Reading …

Mind Video #6: Ned Block

June 22, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Ned Block (or is it Bill Maher?) gives us a good statement of the fundamental problems of consciousness and talks about some of the most commonly cited neuroscientific findings and what they mean about consciousness, and specifically what he takes to be Dennett’s position that consciousness is an illusion: “The hard problem:” how is it that the neural basis of Continue Reading …

Mind Video #5: Daniel Dennett

June 21, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Dan Dennett, who is not Santa Claus, has many clips on youtube, both as “new atheist” and as someone who wants to “deflate consciousness,” i.e. show to us through optical illusions and things that we don’t know as much of what’s going on in our minds as we think. Here he discusses the “Cartesian theater,” his starting point for argument Continue Reading …

Mind Video #4: Colin McGinn

June 19, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Here’s a guy that Wes brought up to me as being a somewhat extreme case in terms of anti-scientism. Whereas Churchland approaches the problem of consciousness from a scientific perspective, Colin McGinn (who must be in the witness protection program based on how darkly this is filmed) is a proclaimed “mysterian,” saying that consciousness just can’t be understood: There are Continue Reading …

Mind Video #3: John Searle

June 18, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Here’s John Searle, most famous for his Chinese room argument against the possibility of programming a mind on a computer and who reminds me most of a figure from my childhood growing up in the Chicago area, snarky Sun Times columnist Mike Royko. Here Searle gives us, in a mere minute and 20 seconds (the latter part of this clip), Continue Reading …

Mind Video #2: Patricia Churchland

June 17, 2010 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

Here’s an eliminative materialist, Pat Churchland, from whom I get sort of a Miss Hathaway from the Beverly Hillbillies vibe. Keep a sharp eye for the key points where she is interrupted by Mr. Rogers music with pictures of traffic, and then later when she’s overlaid with blurry students on campus: Churchland here explains what “eliminative materialism” is supposed to Continue Reading …

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