Continuing with Dave Pizarro on articles by Stanley Milgram, Philip Zimbardo, and John Doris about situationism, which entails that people's level of morality will vary by situation, as opposed to virtue ethics, which posits that how people will act in a novel situation will be determined by the quality of their character. We get into Doris's article, "Persons, Situations, Continue Reading …
Episode 176: Situationism in Psych: Milgram & Stanford Prison Experiments (Part One)
Psychologist Dave Pizarro of the Very Bad Wizards joins us to discuss Stanley Milgram's "Behavioral Study of Obedience" (1963; read it), Philip Zimbardo’s "Interpersonal Dynamics in a Simulated Prison" (1973; read it), and John Doris’s "Persons, Situations, and Virtue Ethics" (1998). Do difficult situations make good people act badly? Are there really "good" and "bad" Continue Reading …
Ep. 176: Situationism in Psych: Milgram & Stanford Prison Experiments (Citizen Edition)
Psychologist Dave Pizarro of the Very Bad Wizards joins us to discuss Stanley Milgram's "Behavioral Study of Obedience" (1963; read it), Philip Zimbardo’s "Interpersonal Dynamics in a Simulated Prison" (1973; read it), and John Doris’s "Persons, Situations, and Virtue Ethics" (1998). Do difficult situations make good people act badly? Are there really "good" and "bad" Continue Reading …
Episode 172: Mind, Self, and Affect with Guest Dr. Drew (Part Two)
Continuing with Drew Pinsky on “Attachment and Reflective Function: Their Role in Self-organization” by Peter Fonagy and two articles by Allan Schore. Fonagy claims we gain the ability to emotionally self-regulate as a result of achieving secure attachment with a caregiver as infants. Schore claims that if this fails, we can end up fundamentally disengaged. So what are the Continue Reading …
Episode 172: Mind, Self, and Affect with Guest Dr. Drew (Part One)
Radio legend and PEL fan Dr. Drew Pinsky introduces us to some psychology papers on the theory of mind and the establishment of the sense of self: “Attachment and reflective function: their role in self-organization” by Peter Fonagy and Mary Target (1997) (read it online) “Attachment and the regulation of the right brain” by Allan N. Schore(2000) (read it online) Continue Reading …
Ep. 172: Mind, Self, and Affect with Guest Dr. Drew (Citizen Edition)
Radio legend and PEL fan Dr. Drew Pinsky introduces us to some psychology papers on the theory of mind and the establishment of the sense of self: “Attachment and reflective function: their role in self-organization” by Peter Fonagy and Mary Target (1997) (read it online) “Attachment and the regulation of the right brain” by Allan N. Schore (2000) (read it online) Continue Reading …
Episode 171: Buddhism vs. Evolution with Guest Robert Wright (Part Two)
Continuing on Why Buddhism Is True. We discuss the "no self" doctrine as articulated in Buddha's so-called Second Discourse, the "Anatta-lakkhana Sutta: The Discourse on the Not-Self Characteristic" and the modularity-of-mind psychological theory that Bob claims supports the Buddhist position. What's the ethical implication of the no-self doctrine, and do we really need Continue Reading …
Episode 171: Buddhism vs. Evolution with Guest Robert Wright (Part One)
Bob joins Mark, Seth, Wes, and Dylan to discuss his new book Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment. Bob is a best-selling author and scholar in the area of evolutionary psychology (as well as a podcaster: check out bloggingheads.tv). His past books like Nonzero and The Moral Animal lay down foundations for talking about the Continue Reading …
Ep. 171: Buddhism vs. Evolution with Guest Robert Wright (Citizen Edition)
Bob joins Mark, Seth, Wes, and Dylan to discuss his new book Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment. Bob is a best-selling author and scholar in the area of evolutionary psychology (as well as a podcaster: check out bloggingheads.tv). His past books like Nonzero and The Moral Animal lay down foundations for talking about the Continue Reading …
Episode 119: Nietzsche on Tragedy and the Psychology of Art
On Friedrich Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy (1872), which was his first book. What's the connection between art and society? Nietzsche thought that you could tell how vital or decadent a civilization was by its art, and said that ancient Greek tragedy (like Antigone) was so great because it was a perfect synthesis of something highly formal/orderly/beautiful with the Continue Reading …
Episode 119: Nietzsche on Tragedy and the Psychology of Art (Citizen Edition)
On Friedrich Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy (1872), which was his first book. What's the connection between art and society? Nietzsche thought that you could tell how vital or decadent a civilization was by its art, and said that ancient Greek tragedy (like Antigone) was so great because it was a perfect synthesis of something highly formal/orderly/beautiful with the Continue Reading …
Topic for #119: Nietzsche on the Birth of Tragedy (and the Function of Good Art)
On 6/10/15, the full four were re-joined by drama guy John Castro to discuss Friedrich Nietzsche's first book, The Birth of Tragedy, originally published in 1872, though the 1886 version that we read (that's right in the thick of his later, more fun books) features an amusing, very self-critical introductory essay, "An Attempt at Self-Criticism," in which he dismisses the work Continue Reading …
Ep 116 Aftershow: Freud and Dream Interpretation
Featuring Danny Lobell, Wes Alwan, Bjorn Dahlby, Ken Presting, Chase Fiorenza, Michael deCamp, Terra Leigh Bell, and Sam Baguley. Recorded June 7, 2015. Our discussion focused less on dreams than on Freud and everything else we happened to want to talk about, from psychedelic drugs to the female lioness' "ambivalence" about mating. Watch on YouTube. Listen to episode Continue Reading …
Episode 116: Freud on Dreams
On Sigmund Freud's On Dreams (1902), a bit of The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), and the lecture, “Revision of the Theory of Dreams” (1933). For Wes Alwan's Freud summaries, go here: https://www.philosophysummaries.com. Are dreams just a bunch of random crap? Freud says, no, they're actually the first and best way to figure out the structure of the mind, which Continue Reading …
Topic for #116 Freud on Dreams
On 5/11/15, the basic foursome recorded a discussion of Sigmund Freud's method of dream interpretation (for Wes Alwan's Freud summaries, go here: https://www.philosophysummaries.com), and got a little bit into what this is supposed to tell us about the human mind, and what the results are for philosophy per Ricoeur's admonition that we should take Freud into account. The Continue Reading …
Episode 116: Freud on Dreams (Citizen Edition)
On Sigmund Freud's On Dreams (1902), a bit of The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), and the lecture, “Revision of the Theory of Dreams” (1933). For Wes Alwan's Freud summaries, go here: https://www.philosophysummaries.com. Are dreams just a bunch of random crap? Freud says, no, they're actually the first and best way to figure out the structure of the mind, which Continue Reading …
Topic for #81: Carl Jung on the Psyche and Dreams
Listen now to Wes's introductory precognition of this Jung discussion. On 8/7/13, we recorded a discussion of Carl Jung's Man and His Symbols, specifically essay he wrote that kicks off the book (which includes several authors), "Approaching the Unconscious." This reading (written shortly before Jung's death in 1961 and published afterwards) was recommended to us by some Continue Reading …
Topic for #74: Lacan on the Self/Subject
Listen to the episode. What is that thing I call "I?" While most of your grade-A philosophers of the past hundred years or so agree that it's not a Cartesian Cogito, i.e. an immortal soul characterized by continuous consciousness, the alternatives are many and varied. With Hegel, we got the idea that the self is built, and this through our relations with others, but that Continue Reading …
Wisdom Studies
It is oft said (at least when exercising etymology muscles) that philosophy is "love of wisdom." Just like other mind-related topics such as emotion and creativity, wisdom is getting the scientific treatment. One of our listeners pointed us to a book by Stephen S. Hall titled Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience which surveys a variety of answers to the question of what Continue Reading …
Montaigne, Mirror Neurons, and Men with Guns
Here's an excerpt from a good series on Montaigne the Guardian UK ran last year, written by Sarah Bakewell, who just published a well received book on Montaigne: To take just one example of how we can derive wisdom from Montaigne: his Essays give us a wealth of anecdotes exploring ways of resolving violent confrontations. As a teenager in Bordeaux, Montaigne had witnessed one Continue Reading …