Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode. Listen to a preview. On "What Is Man" (1905) by Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain, featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan and Seth. This rare bit of philosophy wasn't published until after Twain's death (maybe because it was too bleak?), but apparently reflects the mechanistic, cynical take on humanity that informed his literary works. Twain was Continue Reading …
Ep. 284: Mark Twain’s Philosophy of Human Nature (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing from part one on "What Is Man" (1905). We work through Twain's metaphors for human nature: We're like engines made out of various materials, and these materials can be refined (through education, which acts to root out prejudice), though the type of material will limit its maximum capabilities even with refinement. We also get Twain's concept of instinct: Continue Reading …
Ep. 284: Mark Twain’s Philosophy of Human Nature (Part One for Supporters)
On "What Is Man" (1905) by Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain, featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan and Seth. This rare bit of philosophy wasn't published until after Twain's death (maybe because it was too bleak?), but apparently reflects the mechanistic, cynical take on humanity that informed his literary works. Twain was a tech guy; he was interested in the machines of his age, and he Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Ep. 260: Locke on Moral Psychology
Subscribe to get the full episode. We made one last swipe at mopping up some outstanding issues in John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689), covering Book II, ch. 21 and 28, featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. This preview includes only about a third of the discussion, but I'm going to give you my full essay about its contents here: What makes a moral Continue Reading …
Ep. 260: Locke on Moral Psychology (Supporters Only)
One last take on John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689), covering Book II, ch. 21 and 28, featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. What makes a moral claim true? Do we have free will? What makes us choose the good, or not? In this coda to our long treatment of Locke's opus, we bring together all he has to say about morality, which is strangely modern yet also Continue Reading …
Should We Always Seek to Forgive?
Some time ago, five men were jailed for their part in a failed attempt to break into the wine cellar of famed collector Michel-Jack Chasseuil. The men threatened Chasseuil with a Kalashnikov rifle, punched him, and broke a few of his fingers. With the ordeal behind him, Chasseuil commented: "Je pardonne mais je n’excuse pas" (I forgive but I do not excuse). What did Continue Reading …
New Books in Philosophy: Bongrae Seok on the Moral Psychology of Confucian Shame
Listen to Bonegrae interviewed on the New Books in Philosophy Podcast. Shame is a complex social emotion that has a particularly negative valence; in the West it is associated with failure, inappropriateness, dishonor, disgrace. But within the Confucian tradition, there is in addition a distinct, positive variety of moral shame, a virtue that, as Bongrae Seok writes, "is not Continue Reading …
What the Word “Bigot” Actually Means (and Why it is Important)
Subscribe to more of my writing at https://www.wesalwan.com Follow me on Twitter Update: Coates responds. I rebut. Ta-Nehisi Coates and Andrew Sullivan have both responded to my criticisms of their claim that Alec Baldwin is a “bigot” for, among other offenses, calling a photographer a “cocksucking fag.” In doing so, they resort to two tried-and-true tactics available Continue Reading …
No, Alec Baldwin is Not a Bigot
Subscribe to more of my writing at https://www.wesalwan.com Follow me on Twitter Update: Coates responds here, and Sullivan here. My follow-up here. Alec Baldwin is a talented actor who also happens to be extremely intelligent, verbally dexterous, and politically active on the left. And he has a history of getting in trouble for very public (or publicized) displays of Continue Reading …
The Moral Uselessness of Moral Outrage
Andrew Sullivan has accused Glenn Greenwald of “justifying” terrorism for a post that is largely about the inconsistent use of the word “terrorism.” Greenwald’s response is a thorough and decisive debunking of Sullivan’s accusations, but I wanted add something as a follow-up to my discussion of Sullivan’s incoherence on these issues. In this latest piece, he doubles down on Continue Reading …
Episode 42: Feminists on Human Nature and Moral Psychology (Citizens Only)
Discussing Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s utopian novel Herland (1915) and psychologist Carol Gilligan's In a Different Voice (1983). How does human nature, and specifically moral psychology, vary by sex? Charlotte Perkins Gilman claims that when philosophers have described human nature as violent and selfish, they have in mind solely male nature. Females, left to themselves in Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 42: Feminists on Human Nature and Moral Psychology
This is a 30-minute preview of a 1 hr, 35-minute episode. Buy Now Purchase this episode for $2.99. Or become a PEL Citizen for $5 a month, and get access to this and all other paywalled episodes, including 68 back catalogue episodes; exclusive Part 2's for episodes published after September, 2020; and our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat Continue Reading …
Magnetic Morality Modulation
This September, PBS will re-broadcast an interesting episode of NOVA ScienceNOW, which touches on some points raised in PEL's interview with Patricia Churchland. The episode demonstrates a procedure called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), which can influence a person's moral judgments as they are being made, simply by messing with the neural activity located within the Continue Reading …
Topic for #42: Feminists on Human Nature and Moral Psychology
This episode will feature Azzurra Crispino, whom you might recall from our Kant on epistemology episode. We're reading two works that were significant for the development of her interest in feminist philosophy: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland(1915) is a utopian novel about a society of all women. Gilman thought that when classic philosophers describe human nature as Continue Reading …