Category: Knowledge
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Belief and temperament
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: Over a century ago, the American philosopher and psychologist William James argued in his book Pragmatism that what he called “the present dilemma in philosophy” is that philosophers may not be as objective as they have long claimed to be. The ideal of rational inquiry has long been, particularly since the enlightenment, that we must…
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What makes innovation possible?
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: We all value innovation, or at least we say we do. A question I seldom see answered or even asked, however, is what makes innovation possible? The question, what makes something possible, is often a philosophical one and it’s an important question to ask. In the case of most any innovation in knowledge…
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Jargon
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: Here’s a question that has long been on a great many people’s minds but that philosophers seldom discuss, at least on the record: why is there so much jargon in philosophy? Many people’s first impression of philosophy is that the prose is so heavily laden with this stuff that it’s impenetrable, especially as we get…
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Public Intellectuals
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: I can think of about a dozen reasons why you wouldn’t want to be a public intellectual. Here are just a few. Do you remember Socrates? He was a public intellectual. He went into the Athenian marketplace and discussed philosophy with whomever he found there. They killed him. Some years later, Aristotle fled…
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Foucault, Social Media & Post-Truth: A Conversation with C. G. Prado
C. G. Prado is Professor Emeritus of philosophy at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON Canada. His research ranges over several fields, but he has made especially important contributions to Foucault scholarship and biomedical ethics. Among the many books he has authored or edited, some more recent titles include Starting with Foucault, Searle and Foucault on Truth, America’s Post-Truth…
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Philosophy, East and West
Crush #16 Philosophy, like art, always reflects what’s happening in a culture at a given time. One way to define philosophy is as a sustained meditation on the present historical moment and the questions that belong to it, an attempt to understand and comment on the spirit of the times and on where we may…
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Ayn Rand Was Right About One Thing: Envy. Podcast
Ayn Rand is one of the 20th century’s most polarizing writers and despite what you might think about her fiction and Objectivist philosophy, the fact remains she was a best selling author and a highly influential intellectual. Her pull and controversy is still felt to this day. Whether you are a fan or a critic,…
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Ayn Rand Was Right About One Thing: Envy.
Crush #13 You won’t find a more polarizing writer than Ayn Rand. Typically, people who read her books either revere or despise her, and there’s little in between. There are reasons for this. She was given to extremes, and people who think that way tend to invite extreme reactions. Her devotees are many, although likely…
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Bring Back The Existentialists
Crush #7 Existentialism was a movement in continental European philosophy that had its heyday in the early to middle decades of the twentieth century. It has since been superseded by some more recent developments, from hermeneutics and critical theory to postmodernism and poststructuralism. Philosophy, like art, never remains frozen in time, but moves on from…
Philosophy Crush 