Micro-Digressions: A Philosophy Podcast

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode!Matthew Adelstein returns to Micro-Digressions to talk about the arguments for the existence of God at the top of his tier list. You can find his complete ranking of arguments for God's existence here:Arguments For God Tier-list - by Bentham's Bulldog

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode!Mike Huemer and His Offensiveness Steve Kershnar join Spencer to discuss free will and moral responsibility.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode!Matthew Adelstein, the prolific young writer who posts at "Bentham's Bulldog" on Substack, has recently attracted attention for a tier ranking of philosophical arguments for the existence of God. Matthew and Spencer discuss the arguments at the bottom of his list, ascending from arguments that get an "F" to one in the C tier. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode!Sarah Malanowski and Nicholas Baima join Spencer Case to discuss their book Why it's Ok to be a Gamer. They cover common objections to gaming, such as the claim that gaming is addictive and violent games promote violence.  They also consider ways that video games can promote friendships and cultivate virtue. Finally, they debate the supposed vice of being a "tryhard."

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode!Featuring rants by Matt Lutz (on a priori knowledge and the politicization of the university) Travis Timmerman (on the film "Megalopolis") Spencer Case (on the depraved adulation of Luigi Mangione) and Ben Burgis (on the hypocrisy of "heterodox" liberals on Palestine).

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode!Featuring rants from Matthew Adelstein (on shrimp welfare), Mark Oppenheimer (on missing the golden age of universities), Craig White (on the folly and immorality of American involvement in Ukraine) David Baker (on the wrongness of peacetime conscription) and Jason Werbeloff (on common misconceptions about AI).

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode!Michael Huemer returns to the podcast to discuss more of the issues in his self-published book, Progressive Myths (which you can buy on Amazon for a mere $12.50). Mike and Spencer discuss the gender pay gap, the claim that women don't lie about sexual assault, and the sex-gender distinction.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode!Michael Huemer returns Micro-Digressions to discuss his new self-published book, Progressive Myths, which you can purchase here for a mere $12.50:Progressive Myths: Huemer, Michael: 9798332272073: Amazon.com: BooksDiscussed here: Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and George Floyd cases, as well as some of the general patterns of police violence; the science of climate change and masking (compared with what activists say about these things), and the causes of progressive myths. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode!Dave Baker returns to Micro-Digressions to finish the discussion of nuclear weapons. Topics this time include the development of the hydrogen bomb, the problems with developing missile defense systems, and nuclear proliferation.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode!Is the possession of nuclear weapons morally justified? Was it a mistake to invent them to begin with? Dave Baker joins Spencer to discuss these and other questions about nuclear war. (Correction: Joseph Stalin died in 1953, not 1952).

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode!You may have heard that there's an election going on in the U.S. A big one in fact. This episode is a debate about the records of one of the candidates, Joe Biden. Matt Lutz, noted error theorist and Biden enthusiast, returns to the podcast to argue that Americans are insufficiently appreciative of Biden's performance on the economy and foreign policy. Spencer provides pushback on Biden's various student loan repayment schemes and immigration.Errata: The student loan repayment plan that Biden unveiled on July 18, 2024, was an expansion of an already existing program, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, and not an entirely new program. The costs of this expansion are estimated to be a mere 1.2 billion. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode!Mike Huemer rejoins Spencer to discuss the nature of consciousness. They consider the reasons for thinking that consciousness can't be physical and some prominent physicalist rejoinders to dualist arguments. Here's a link to Mike's excellent "Fake Nous" substack:Fake Noûs | Michael Huemer | Substack

Come for Spencer's funeral home jokes; stay for the unanticipated discussion of the movie Her. Travis Timmerman and Spencer Case resume their discussion about death. This time they talk about annihilationism, the idea that being annihilated is an intrinsically bad thing for the annihilated person, as well as popular arguments that immortality would be a bad thing for creatures like us.

Ben Burgis rejoins Spencer to defend Marx's record. 

This episode tackles one of the most controversial topics of the day (really, most days over the last several decades): Israel/Palestine. Craig White, a former diplomat and the author of Iraq: The Moral Reckoning, and Mark Oppenheimer of Brain in a Vat podcast fame join Spencer to discuss the issue. 

Ryan W. Davis, a philosophy professor at Brigham Young University, joins Spencer Case to discuss the ethics and politics of gun ownership in the US. Check out his new book, Why it's OK to Own a Gun (Routledge, 2024).

What is death? Does fear of death affect our everyday lives? And will your death harm you or not? Travis Timmerman, associate professor at Seton Hall University, joins Spencer to discuss these and other questions. Timmerman is coeditor, along with Michael Cholbi, of a fine anthology on the philosophy of death, Exploring the Philosophy of Death and Dying. Purchase your copy here:https://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Philosophy-Death-Dying-Contemporary/dp/1138393584/ref=sr_1_1?crid=15H1NSANTN5NL&keywords=exploring+the+philosophy+of+death+and+dying&qid=1706235275&sprefix=%2Caps%2C656&sr=8-1

It's the end of the year again and time to rant! This year's collection of rants includes:Jarrod Blair on bad habits that crush the philosophical spiritMatthew Adelstein on the stupidity and depravity of Effective Altruism criticsMatt Lutz on possible world confusionsMark Oppenheimer on the Israel-Gaza warOliver Traldi on the university presidents' testimony to CongressJP Andrew on naturalism as a dogma in philosophySpencer Case on scientific dogmatismJason Werbeloff on moralizing vegetariansAlex Byrne on social constructionLinks:Virtue Vibes Podcast:https://www.virtuevibes.org/Bentham's Bulldog substack:https://benthams.substack.com/Brain in a Vat podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brain-in-a-vat/id1509951964Humean Being Substack:https://humeanbeing.substack.com/

Oliver Traldi rejoins Spencer Case to discuss the nature of political beliefs. Topics they cover include the bad incentives that influence political beliefs, how political beliefs should be defined, and the need for (and possibility of) politically neutral language in which to discuss political issues.

His Offensiveness Stephen Kershnar returns to the podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about the philosophy of law. This leads to a discussion of the Students For Fair Admissions (SFFA) Supreme Court Case. Music: "Sweet, Man" by Jeremy Mohney.  Available for download $1 here: https://jeremymohneymusic.bandcamp.com/

Kevin Vallier joins Spencer Case to talk about social trust and the role it plays in the psychological and moral foundations of liberal societies. 

Alex Byrne discusses the controversy around his article on pronouns in the Journal of Controversial Ideas.  Byrne and Matt Lutz debate the meaning of the word 'woman.' Alex's view is that women are adult human females, whereas Matt thinks that the word is ambiguous between that traditional definition and a trans-inclusive meaning. We can be tolerant and accept both are legitimate meanings of the word. The conversation eventually comes to focus on the idea that the meanings of words are outcomes of social negotiations of various kinds. Spencer concludes the episode with some thoughts on how this might mean that semantics is morally entangled.  

Commentator Charles "Concealed Weapon" Cooke joins Spencer to discuss American identity and patriotism.  

MIT philosophy professor Alex Byrne and podcast regular Matt Lutz join Spencer to discuss an article that recently appeared in the Journal of Controversial Ideas entitled "A Defense of Merit in Science." The article, which was written by 27 co-authors, including many social scientists, alleges that the "liberal epistemology" that underlies science is under threat by the institutionalized influence of identity-based ideologies. (The article doesn't use the term "wokeness", but the left identitarian ideologies whose influence it critiques  can plausibly be called "woke.") The three conversation partners consider the strengths and weaknesses of the article and also evaluate some of the objections critics have raised. 

Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff of Brain in a Vat join Spencer to discuss one of their favorite subjects: thought experiments. 

Keshav Singh joins Spencer to discuss Sikh religion and philosophy.  ("Sikh" is pronounced with the short 'i'  sound, and not like "seek"). They cover they history and basic tenets of the Sikh faith, its idea of divinity, and the Sikh idea that "haumai", meaning roughly obsession with oneself, is the root of all human evil. Keshav's personal webpage is here: https://www.keshavsingh.com/

Johnny the Anomaly joins Spencer Case to argue that the potential benefits of genetic enhancement outweigh the risks (Spencer is skeptical).The electronic version of Anomaly's book, Creating Future People: The Ethics of Genetic Enhancement can be downloaded free at Amazon for Kindle or here:https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9781003014805/creating-future-people-jonathan-anomaly?_gl=1*1ui59as*_ga*MjA2NDM2ODk5NS4xNjcxNzM5MTQ4*_ga_0HYE8YG0M6*MTY4MDE0OTA5My44LjAuMTY4MDE0OTA5My4wLjAuMA..

Mike Huemer joins Spencer Case for a wide-ranging discussion about epistemology. Mike argues that you should trust the experts rather than relying on your own "critical thinking"; Spencer's not so sure.  They also discuss two strategies for rejecting the Brain-in-a-Vat argument for external world skepticism. Music: "April Kisses" by Eddie Lang (1929), www.openaccessmusic.org

Ryan Jenkins, professor of philosophy at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, rejoins Spencer for the first time since the inaugural episode of Micro-Digressions to resume the conversation about how technology can make our lives worse. The topics discussed include anti-Covid measures, government and corporate surveillance, content moderation on social media, and (taking a page from Oliver Burkeman's Four Thousand Weeks), the ways in which technology encourages us to instrumentalize our everyday experiences.

Featuring: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff from the Brain in the Vat podcast ranting against each other,  Perry Hendericks on  biased refereeing, Bob Pasnau on contemporary philosophy versus history of philosophy, Matt Lutz on probability and China's zero Covid meltdown,  Mike Burke on woke enablers, Spencer Case on why moral extremism is bad, and Oliver Traldi on conceptual engineering. 

Jim Skidmore joins Spencer to continue the discussion of Singer's argument in "Famine, Affluence, and Morality."

The first of a two-part series on Peter Singer's famous argument that we must give our expendable income to highly effective charities.  This episode features guest Travis Timmerman of Seton Hall University. (Note: Jim Skidmore participated in the first part of this conversation, but his audio wasn't useable due to technical difficulties. That explains a few references to a third participant. Skidmore will appear in part 2). 

Philippe Lemoine returns to Micro-Digressions to talk about the difference between realism and idealism in foreign policy thinking, and why he thinks excessive idealism led to the ongoing Russo-Ukraine war.

Benedict Beckeld joins Spencer Case to talk about his new book Western Self-Contempt: Oikophobia in the Decline of Civilizations. They discuss the phenomenon of oikophobia, which is roughly contempt for one's home country or culture, the decline of philosophy of history, and other topics.

Big news: Spencer is a father! Jessica Flanigan, mother of four and philosopher, is this episode's guest. The topics they cover include: what are babies' minds like? Do we have good reasons to become parents (or to avoid becoming parents)? Do we have any special duties toward our offspring? Special appearance by new mother Han Ruimei, Spencer's wife. The picture is of their son, Elijah Han Case (Han Yilai). 

This first recorded episode of Micro-Digressions has been re-edited for improved sound quality and flow. Justin Kalef and Spencer Case discuss their worries about hyper-politicization, and together develop a case that society requires politically neutral ground.

Ben Burgis joins Spencer to discuss G.A. Cohen's defense of socialism, and objections to it. They also discuss the difference between Marxism and utopian socialism, different conceptions of political freedom, and other topics. 

Jason Brennan joins Spencer to discuss the many problems that afflict the university as an institution, all of which stem from bad incentives. They also discuss the psychology of extremism and bad faith engagement. This intro and outro music is "Eddie's Twister" by Eddie Lang (1927).

This episode is a companion to the recent moral experts roundtable article in Quillette. Oliver Traldi rejoins Spencer, along with first-time guests Bo Winegard and  Geoffrey Miller, to discuss the philosophical and social problems of moral expertise. Over the course of the episode, they touch on the concept of expertise, the moral realism/anti-realism debate, and the extent to which values do (and should) influence scientific research. 

Matt Lutz returns to the podcast to explain his (in his opinion, very neglected) solution to the "counter-induction parody" argument, which is used to bolster Hume's notorious argument for inductive skepticism. Spencer makes a big personal announcement.

What's so bad about hypocrisy? What difference does an agent's intentions make to the morality of his or her action?  Craig White joins Spencer Case to discuss these questions, and to register his objections to the unrealistic thought experiments that some moral philosophers deploy.  

Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff, the two South African hosts of the irreverent and fearless Brain in a Vat podcast, join Spencer to discuss the uses of philosophy its role in a flourishing human life. Along the way, they also discuss the permissibility of outsourcing your religious duties to an AI and other surprising topics.

Jeff McMahan, White's professor of philosophy at Oxford University and author of Killing in War and other books, joins Spencer to talk about the ethics of participating in wars and other topics.

Peter Jaworski, a philosophy professor at the Georgetown University McDonough school of business, and Rob Gressis, a philosophy professor at California State University Northridge, join Spencer to debate the pros and cons of open borders.

Mary Beth ("no hyphen") Willard of Weber State University joins Spencer and his wife, May to discuss the relationship between beauty and moral goodness. They pay particular attention to the question of whether an artist's moral character can ever affect the aesthetic or moral qualities of his or her art. Subjects include Bill Cosby and the blues artist Louisiana Red .

Two guests, Nathan Nobis and Christopher Kaczor, join Spencer to discuss the ethics of abortion.

Is there something bad about being too good? Might belief in objective morality distort our moral behavior? Marcus Arvan joins Spencer Case to discuss.

Stephen Kershnar joins Spencer Case to discuss the moral quandaries surrounding affirmative action and other forms of discrimination on the basis of race and gender.

Many people claim to have experiences of God. Others have experiences that cause them to lose faith. What is the significance of these experiences? Chad McIntosh and Spencer Case discuss. 

What is Critical Race Theory and why is it evil (if it is in fact evil)? Sam Hoadley-Brill and Oliver Traldi join Spencer Case to discuss the culture war controversy surrounding CRT. They discuss the proper way of defining CRT, the relationship between CRT and figures like Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo, and the pros and cons of the anti-"CRT" bills. 

What is Bitcoin, anyway? Craig Warmke joins Spencer Case to discuss his view that Bitcoin is a kind of fictional substance that nonetheless has real economic value.