Tony Talks Back

There's no real answer for the question of why we are here. At least not one that we know. Sure, the big bang, evolution, emperors and economies. But that doesn't answer the question of why. Why are we here? Well, we emerged. From what - that is the question. As always, thanks for listening. It means a lot to me that someone, somewhere can hear my thoughts. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Resources: Aristotle: https://se-scholar.com/se-blog/2017/6/23/who-said-the-whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts Space and the distances between: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_travel Emptiness of atoms: https://education.jlab.org/qa/how-much-of-an-atom-is-empty-space.html Exurb1a and hard logicality: https://youtu.be/EH-z9gE2uGY Machine learning: https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/machine-learning.html Crashcourse neural networks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV3ZY6tJiA0 Honeybee honeycombs: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep28341 Music: The Descent by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4490-the-descent License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Anguish by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3373-anguish License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Magic Tavern by Alexander Nakarada Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/9139-magic-tavern License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Leaving Home by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4708-leaving-home License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

When the robot overlords come for me, tell them I'm out grabbing a byte. I joke, but artificial intelligence may legitimately mean the end of life as we know it if we're not careful. In this series I'll be investigating the many facets of AI and what the future may hold for humanity. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Resources: Uyghur genocide, perpetuated by the government of China: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59595952 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/world/asia/china-surveillance-xinjiang.html CRISPR gene editing: https://www.newscientist.com/definition/what-is-crispr/ AlphaFold AI protein folding project: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/alphafold-a-solution-to-a-50-year-old-grand-challenge-in-biology Deep Blue chess AI project: https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/deepblue/ Prions and mad cow disease: https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/all-about-bse-mad-cow-disease Tesla's AI: https://www.tesla.com/AI Sam Harris TED Talk: https://youtu.be/8nt3edWLgIg Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36576608-flowers-for-algernon Brief history of the universe: https://www.space.com/52-the-expanding-universe-from-the-big-bang-to-today.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_No_Mouth,_and_I_Must_Scream Kardashev scale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale A significant portion of the video was inspired by CGP Grey's video on AI, it is definitely worth a watch: https://youtu.be/7Pq-S557XQU Music: Deep Relaxation Preview by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5726-deep-relaxation-preview License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Healing by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3860-healing License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

There is little doubt in my mind that artificial intelligence is the most fascinating, utterly confusing, and potentially dangerous development mankind will go through. In the near future, we will need to face ethical questions of such kind as, do we grant personhood to AI? How do we determine who qualifies as a person and therefore is afforded ‘human rights'? What restrictions, if any, are necessary on personhood and artificial intelligence to ensure the flourishing and continuation of life? What I believe lies at the very heart of this discussion, is consciousness. Consciousness as subjective experience of the world seems to be more or less how we determine right from wrong. We find it immoral to cause harm to a subjectively experiencing entity, from babies to puppies, so long as we agree that they are in fact capable of subjective experience. Will AI develop this felt experience? And how will we tell? These questions, and more, I hope to address in this new series. Take care guys. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Music credits: Impact Prelude by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/7565-impact-prelude License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Quite a messy episode. Freedom of speech is messy. Even so, I hope to convince you of the truth of what Voltaire stood for. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Links- Voltaire's Treatise on Tolerance: https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/voltaire1763.pdf Life and times of Voltaire: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/voltaire/ Voltaire's Candide: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19942/19942-h/19942-h.htm Hong Kong autonomy: https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/China-retreats-from-50-year-pledge-of-Hong-Kong-autonomy2 Mao ZeDong's sparrow drive: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0306422018800259 Whorf hypothesis: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/sapir-whorf-hypothesis George Orwell's 1984: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021.txt Music credits: Waltz (Tschikovsky Op. 40) by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4605-waltz-tschikovsky-op-40- License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Pride by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4239-pride License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Leaving Home by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4708-leaving-home License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

As with many of Plato's works, it is legitimately impossible to overstate the impact and significance of Plato's Republic on our society, development, and life in general. As I explore the smallest fraction of the wisdom within, I relay and relate my thoughts on the January 6th attack on the Capitol Building of the United States of America. Perhaps there is something we can learn from Plato that may help us through this time. Or perhaps not. But if there is even the slightest chance that something can save our republic, I believe it is absolutely worth a try. Read Plato's Republic at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1497/1497-h/1497-h.htm BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Music credits: Relent by Kevin MacLeod - volume adjustments Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4274-relent License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Canon In D For Two Renaissance Harps by Kevin MacLeod - volume adjustments Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/6958-canon-in-d-for-two-renaissance-harps License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Energizing by Kevin MacLeod - volume adjustments Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5709-energizing License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Adding The Sun by Kevin MacLeod - volume adjustments Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5708-adding-the-sun License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Truth in the Stones by Kevin MacLeod - volume adjustments Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4550-truth-in-the-stones License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Hermann Hesse wrote in German, but the concepts within are indescribable in any language. Watch and listen to my struggle to understand. And please, if you can...enlighten us. Video link: https://youtu.be/PeBec7wzgGM Read Siddhartha from Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2500/2500-h/2500-h.htm Listen to the audiobook from LibriVox: https://librivox.org/siddhartha-by-hermann-hesse/ BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack

In Defense of Sam Harris. Politics are not the most important thing in my life; that spot is reserved for philosophy. Sam Harris found himself in a defensive political game for much of the past few years, which is really a shame as his academic work seems to me much more important a place for Sam to put his PhD brain to use. In this episode I argue that taking breaks from political life is important if you wish to not be entirely consumed by it. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Sam Harris and Dave Rubin on the Rubin Report: https://youtu.be/zQqxlzHJrU0 Sam Harris on Bill Maher with special guest Batman (Ben Affleck): https://youtu.be/vln9D81eO60 Music credits: Cold Funk by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3522-cold-funk License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - fade in/out Sax, Rock, and Roll by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4324-sax-rock-and-roll License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - fade in/out --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Love it or hate it, we are all here today because of capitalism. There are few if any global systems more well-developed than our markets and free trade. Listen to my personal philosophy, the general philosophy of capitalism, and its modern foundations in the writings of Adam Smith in this rather more controversial podcast episode. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Learn more about the topics discussed: Biography of Adam Smith: https://www.investopedia.com/updates/adam-smith-wealth-of-nations/ Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3300/3300-h/3300-h.htm Locke's Second Treatise on Government: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7370/7370-h/7370-h.htm Capitalism: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalism.asp Global poverty statistics: https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty? Music credits: Peace of Mind by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4199-peace-of-mind License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Canon In D For Two Harps by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/6959-canon-in-d-for-two-harps License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ SCP-x5x (Outer Thoughts) by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/6735-scp-x5x-outer-thoughts- License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

What does it mean to be a liberal? The grandfather of liberalism, John Locke, will tell you it boils down to three fundamental principles of human existence: the right to life, liberty, and property. It is no exaggeration to say that John Locke laid the foundations of freedom for the world to follow. Listen to my rundown of the more poignant points of his philosophy. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Learn more about the topics discussed- Read Locke's Two Treatises of Civil Government: https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/john-locke-two-treatises-1689#lf0057_head_003 Sir Robert Filmer, Locke's ideological opponent: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Filmer Marduk and Babylon: https://www.ancient.eu/Marduk/ Dr. Jordan Peterson's lecture encompassing Marduk: https://youtu.be/R_GPAl_q2QQ The Mandate of Heaven in Chinese culture: https://www.ancient.eu/Mandate_of_Heaven/ Music credits: Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out White by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4626-white License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out Samba Isobel by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4316-samba-isobel License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out Sad Trio by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4314-sad-trio License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

**Not an actual sea monster. This monster is in fact one that we've created ourselves, and is composed of our own bodies. The societal contract that binds us together. Where does it come from? How has it persisted? Why do I always ask so many questions? Come with me into this little dive with Thomas Hobbes and the Leviathan. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Learn more about the topics discussed: Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan- https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes-moral/ https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3207/3207-h/3207-h.htm Article partly discussing Jane Goodall and the Gombe Chimp War: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150811-do-animals-fight-wars World War 2: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-history The concentration camps of Nazi Germanys: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-camps Music credits: "Sincerely" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out changes "Angel Share" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out changes "Perspectives" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out changes --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Alternate title: In Defense of The Republic. Philosopher-King, Philosopher-King, who is fit to rule? Is mob justice true justice, or is it unjustly cruel? Call me Dr. Seuss, because my rhymes are fire. This episode covers a rather large range of topics, but the prevailing theme throughout is the concept of Tyranny of the Minority, AKA your standard dictatorship, vs. Tyranny of the Majority, AKA mob rule. It's a debate I find personally fascinating, and as I explain in the episode I think the United States of America does an exceptional job of balancing the two extremes of governance. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Learn more about the topics discussed: Jean-Paul Sartre - https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sartre/ Greek democracy - https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-greece/ancient-greece-democracy Plato's Apology - the trial of Socrates - http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html Plato's Republic - http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html Vidkun Quisling - https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/vidkun-quisling The Constitution of the United States - https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution ///// Music Credits: "Egmont Overture" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out changes "Thunderbird" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out changes "Stay the Course" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - music fade in/out changes --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

True Detective very much helped to popularize the view of pessimism as tenable philosophical ground to the national television-viewing audience. The story of Rust Cohle is one of bleak reality almost too real to bear. Thomas Ligotti, likewise, broadcast his own philosophical pessimism to horror-savvy readers with his book “The Conspiracy Against The Human Race”. In this episode I discuss both popular accounts of pessimism and my own experience and investigations into the abyss. It's impossible to mention the philosophy of Ligotti without mentioning his predecessor, H.P. Lovecraft, and his incomprehensible creations like Cthulhu. Perhaps the reality of existence truly is too much. Then again, the philosophy of Buddhism accepts much the same premises as philosophical pessimism, but comes to radically different conclusions. Maybe the answer is to strive in the face of suffering per Dr. Jordan Peterson and Dr. Viktor Frankl. As always, I leave the answers up to you to figure out. Let me know what you come up with. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Learn more about the topics discussed: True Detective's Rust Cohle and the philosophy of pessimism: https://youtu.be/9oX2xFo7JA4 David Benatar and Jordan Peterson debate: https://youtu.be/vsyZcKUP_-k Man's Search for Meaning by Dr. Victor Frankl: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning The Dhammapada: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.intro.budd.html The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft: http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/cc.aspx Thomas Ligotti: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/128466.Thomas_Ligotti Background music thanks to Anchor. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The importance of philosophy to the development of society and civilization as we know it is impossible to overstate. So why does philosophy often have the feel of an old forgotten relic, passed by by so many today? And how might we restore philosophy to its central position in the cultivation of progress and reason? Education might be a cliché answer to that question, but I do believe it is true. Philosophy is fundamentally the love of wisdom, but it manifests in different ways and through different points of view. Let me know what your own point of view on the subject is. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Learn more about the topics discussed: Aristotle, The History of Animals: http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/history_anim.4.iv.html Neil Degrasse Tyson's hot take on the subject of philosophy: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/neil-degrasse-tyson-and-the-value-of-philosophy_b_5330216 Laozi's Dao De Jing: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/49965/49965-h/49965-h.htm Confucius and the Analects: http://classics.mit.edu/Confucius/analects.html Background music thanks to Anchor. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

When faced with a terrible unknown, sometimes the best place to look for guidance is in ancient wisdom. Death is one of these unknowns. Many of us humans living and dead profess faith in an afterlife. Why does death still feel so alien, even with our self-proclaimed beliefs? Socrates discussed death philosophically as he awaited his own by way of execution. Perhaps Socrates can help alleviate some angst about this great mystery. Perhaps not. Alan Watts too may serve helpful to some. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Learn more about the topics discussed: Plato's Phaedo, the last hours of Socrates: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedo.html Plato's Crito, the attempted jailbreak: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.html Death as philosophical inquiry: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/death/ The painting, The Death of Socrates by Jacques Louis David: https://www.metmuseum.org/en/art/collection/search/436105 Background music thanks to Anchor. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

"The unexamined life is not worth living." Out of all historical figures democratically sentenced to death, Socrates is by far my favorite. Who was Socrates, you ask? Wonderful question. Read his apology to the men of Athens here: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Ever wake up one morning and realize that no one actually knows anything about anything? That's what the consciousness debate is like. Presumably everyone already has intimate firsthand knowledge of their own consciousness...so why can't we agree on anything? I'm throwing a few ideas out there with their own problems and challenges. What's your take on this greatest of mysteries? BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Check out the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on consciousness: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness/ Neural correlates of consciousness, what my episode seeks to address: http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Neural_correlates_of_consciousness Also zombies: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/zombies/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Descartes and Princess Elisabeth. Name a more iconic duo. Is dualism of the mind and body the answer? Or is the mind-body problem insurmountable? Will physicists be able to tell us what consciousness is? I don't have answers, only more questions. Also, what is it like to be a bat? Just curious. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Learn more about the topics discussed- Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/elisabeth-bohemia/ René Descartes: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/ Thomas Nagel, What Is It Like to Be a Bat?: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/iatl/study/ugmodules/humananimalstudies/lectures/32/nagel_bat.pdf David Chalmers, Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness: https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~drkelly/ChalmersHardProblem1995.pdf Dan Dennett's TED page: https://www.ted.com/speakers/dan_dennett Background music thanks to Anchor. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

With special mentions Descartes and Aristotle. Faith is a problem; so many of us believe or want to believe in something beyond ourselves, and yet the existentialist dilemma threatens the very idea of objective meaning central to many religious traditions. So what do we do with that? Kierkegaard may have the answer for those who seek faith in God. And for those who consider themselves "spiritual but not religious", Alan Watts is a remarkable teacher to go to for insight and clarity. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack Thanks to Anchor for background music. Learn more about the philosophers and topics discussed: Søren Kierkegaard: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kierkegaard/ Alan Watts: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/alan-watts Aristotle's prime mover argument: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle/The-unmoved-mover Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rene-Descartes/Meditations The painting, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog: https://www.wikiart.org/en/caspar-david-friedrich/the-wanderer-above-the-sea-of-fog --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Questions asked and never answered: what is consciousness, what are we all doing here, what is the meaning of life? Tony Remis tries to make sense of all of this nonsense with a quick introduction to existentialism and the types of problems the show will discuss. Music for the episode is courtesy of Anchor, and yours truly on the fiddle. Read more about Friedrich Nietzsche: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/ BECOME A PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/TonyTalksBack Or, make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/TonyTalksBack Follow on social media for updates on new content and releases: https://www.facebook.com/TonyTalksBack/ https://twitter.com/TonyTalksBack --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app