Episode 28: Is It Bad to Judge People?
Being “judgmental” sounds like something bad, yet refraining from all moral judgment seems pathetic, and also impossible. So, what should we do? Can we be truly compassionate without also being capabl...
18 Sep 20231h 3min
Episode 27: Why Do We Like to Remember Things that Hurt?
Is there any pain as great as recalling past happiness from present misery? If so, why do we do it? Do we get pleasure from tormenting ourselves about losing something (or someone) we loved? Was Socra...
11 Sep 202353min
Episode 26: What Comes After Monotheism?
Does belief in God lead to intolerance and violence? Is monotheism about the number of gods or is it, as Egyptologist Jan Assmann suggests, about “having no other gods” and stamping out idol worship a...
28 Aug 20231h
Episode 24: Is Being Deep Better than Being Shallow?
What does it mean to be deep? Is profundity something good or is it pretentious and boring? Are there different kinds of deepness? Is shallowness itself a kind of depth? Is it only shallow people who ...
14 Aug 202353min
Episode 23: Are There Monsters Among Us?
What are monsters? Do they lurk among us? Are some of us monsters? How would we know? What’s really frightening about monsters – that they’re inhuman or that they’re all too human? If a shark could sp...
8 Aug 202349min
Episode 22: Is Being Unintelligible?
What is it to be? We be, and we be jammin’ but what about other things? Is a hole a thing? Or just a lack of dirt? Unicorns aren’t real, but are they in some other way? Perhaps unicorns are, but don’t...
31 Jul 202352min
Episode 21: Are All Human Relationships Struggles for Domination?
Was Jean-Paul Sartre right that hell is other people? Are all human relationships an attempt to beat the Other before the Other beats the Us? Is every person coming down the road a potential master of...
24 Jul 202356min
Episode 20: Would You Do Bad Things if You Knew You Could Get Away With It?
Actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician Fred Armisen joins Eric and Taylor this week to ponder the twin mysteries of morality and moral motivation. Do we do good only out of a fear of blame an...
17 Jul 202356min
