Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. oncluding on "Universality and Truth" from Richard Rorty's Pragmatism As Anti-Authoritarianism. Start with the previous part, or better yet, ep. 349. Despite Rorty's rejection of transcendent Truth, he claims not to be a relativist. An absolutist accusing someone of being a relativist is Continue Reading …
Ep. 350: Rorty on Justification and Essentialism (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On "Universality and Truth" and "Pan-Relationalism," which are lectures 3-5 in Richard Rorty's Pragmatism As Anti-Authoritarianism, which we began discussing last episode. Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan continue to hash through Rorty's pragmatism, which in this book is given in relation to how Continue Reading …
Ep. 350: Rorty on Justification and Essentialism (Part Two for Supporters)
Concluding on "Universality and Truth" from Richard Rorty's Pragmatism As Anti-Authoritarianism. Start with the previous part, or better yet, ep. 349. Despite Rorty's rejection of transcendent Truth, he claims not to be a relativist. An absolutist accusing someone of being a relativist is saying "either our beliefs are caused by things in the world or we are constructing Continue Reading …
Ep. 350: Rorty on Justification and Essentialism (Part One for Supporters)
On "Universality and Truth" and "Pan-Relationalism," which are lectures 3-5 in Richard Rorty's Pragmatism As Anti-Authoritarianism, which we began discussing last episode. Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan continue to hash through Rorty's pragmatism, which in this book is given in relation to how to best promote democracy. Rorty thinks democracy can "stand on its own two feet"; it Continue Reading …
Ep. 349: Rorty’s Pluralistic Pragmatism (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing from part one on Richard Rorty's Pragmatism As Anti-Authoritarianism, ch. 1, "Pragmatism and Religion" and 2, "Pragmatism as Romantic Polytheism." Sponsors: Apply for convenient term life insurance from Fabric by Gerber Life at meetfabric.com/PEL. Give online therapy a try at Continue Reading …
Ep. 349: Rorty’s Pluralistic Pragmatism (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Richard Rorty's Pragmatism As Anti-Authoritarianism (written 1997), ch. 1-2. Should democracy be defended on absolutist grounds, e.g. by reference to God-given or natural rights, the nature of Man, or the dictates of Reason? Sponsor: Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at Continue Reading …
Ep. 349: Rorty’s Pluralistic Pragmatism (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing from part one on Richard Rorty's Pragmatism As Anti-Authoritarianism, ch. 1, "Pragmatism and Religion" and 2, "Pragmatism as Romantic Polytheism." Rorty evaluates James, Dewey, and Peirce on religion and finds Dewey's approach most fruitful toward promoting democracy. While James promoted tolerance, Dewey thought that we should regulate our actions and beliefs by Continue Reading …
Ep. 349: Rorty’s Pluralistic Pragmatism (Part One for Supporters)
On Richard Rorty's Pragmatism As Anti-Authoritarianism (written 1997), ch. 1-2. Should democracy be defended on absolutist grounds, e.g. by reference to God-given or natural rights, the nature of Man, or the dictates of Reason? Throughout this book (adapted from a series of 1997 lectures but not published until 2021 after Rorty's death), Rorty argues that democracy, ethics, Continue Reading …
Ep. 345: William James on Religious Experience (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content Continuing from part one on The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902). Does James' claim that science and culture shouldn't ignore the subjective point of view really mean that the religious objects that motivate people are real, and that each of us should be open to religious sentiments in Continue Reading …
Ep. 249: Dewey on Education and Thought (Part Two)
Continuing on John Dewey's Democracy and Education (1916) ch. 1, 2, 4, and 24 with guest Jonathan Haber. How is education different than mere conditioning, and how does it relate to habits and growth? Dewey (not Wittgenstein) invented "meaning as use"! We try to figure out whether he's just recommending what we've covered in our liberal education episodes, or something else. Continue Reading …
Ep. 249: Dewey on Education and Thought (Citizen Edition)
On John Dewey's How We Think (1910) ch. 1 and Democracy and Education (1916) ch. 1, 2, 4, and 24. What model of human nature should serve as the basis for education policy? Dewey sees the scientific method as a refinement of ordinary thinking: We wonder about something, and experiencing that uncomfortable uncertainty, we jump for an explanation. Education should train us to Continue Reading …
Episode 196: Guest Simon Blackburn on Truth (Part Two)
Continuing with Simon on his book On Truth (2018). We move to part two of the book, where we get down to the procedures used to obtain truth in art, ethics, and science. Simon is well known for his meta-ethics, which is descended from C.L. Stevenson's emotivism. Just as he said in part one that he agreed largely with Strawson's view that to say a sentence is true is to Continue Reading …
Episode 196: Guest Simon Blackburn on Truth (Part One)
The Cambridge/UNC-Chapel Hill/etc. prof best known for his neo-Humean meta-ethics joins Mark, Wes, and Dylan to discuss his book On Truth (2018). What is truth? A pragmatist like William James wants to define truth in terms of the procedures we actually undergo to confirm a claim. Simon instead buys into a performative/deflationist view of truth. The notion can't be defined Continue Reading …
Episode 196: Guest Simon Blackburn on Truth (Citizen Edition)
The Cambridge/etc. prof best known for his neo-Humean meta-ethics joins Mark, Wes, and Dylan to discuss his book On Truth (2018). What is truth? A pragmatist like William James wants to define truth in terms of the procedures we actually undergo to confirm a claim. Simon instead buys into a performative/deflationist view of truth. The notion can't be defined in general, but Continue Reading …
In Dreams
There’s safety in delusion. People sometimes say it takes special courage to face the world as it is, even more to face ourselves, and we know the truth doesn’t always feel good. It can be painful. Perhaps, then, a moderate amount of delusion can be, well, healthy. Ta-Nehisi Coates has something else in mind. “To awaken the Dreamers, to rouse them to the facts,” is the greatest Continue Reading …
Episode 128: Hilary Putnam on Linguistic Meaning (Citizen Edition)
On "The Meaning of Meaning" (1975). So if per Kripke (we're following the thread from #126), meaning is NOT a matter of having a description in your head, then what is it? Hilary Putnam reformulates Kripke's insight in terms of Twin Earths: If Earth-water is H2O, and on Twin Earth, they have something that looks just like water but is a different compound, then we wouldn't Continue Reading …
Topic for #128: Hilary Putnam on Linguistic Meaning
On 11/8/15, Mark, Wes, and Dylan were rejoined by Matt Teichman to continue the thread of our ep. #126 on Saul Kripke. Our primary text was his 1975 article "The Meaning of Meaning," with secondary emphasis on his earlier, preparatory essays, "It Ain't Necessarily So" (1962) and "Is Semantics Possible?" (1970). If Kripke was concerned primarily with debunking the Continue Reading …
Episode 127: John Dewey on Experience and the World
On Experience and Nature (1925), through ch. 4. What's the relationship between our experience and the world that science investigates? Dewey thinks that these are one and the same, and philosophies that call some part of it (like atoms or Platonic forms) the real part while the experienced world is a distortion are unjustified. We need to remove the unjustified split Continue Reading …
Episode 127: John Dewey on Experience and the World (Citizen Edition)
On Experience and Nature (1925), through ch. 4. What's the relationship between our experience and the world that science investigates? Dewey thinks that these are one and the same, and philosophies that call some part of it (like atoms or Platonic forms) the real part while the experienced world is a distortion are unjustified. We need to remove the unjustified split Continue Reading …
Topic for #127: John Dewey on Experience and Nature
John Dewey is primarily known for two things: being one of the big names in pragmatism, and for his highly influential claims about education, specifically pointing out the active nature of learning such that simply sitting students down and telling them things is not very effective. Mark, Wes, and Dylan met on 10/25/15 to discuss the first four chapters of his 1925 book, Continue Reading …