Episode 154: Metaphysical Vertigo (Borges's "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius")
In the famous words of the idealist philosopher George Berkeley, "To exist is to be perceived." Our ideas and perceptions are the fundamental objects in the universe; there is no real world beyond the...
18 Dec 20181h 56min
Episode 153: Progress in Psychology: A Reply to BootyBootyFartFart
David dies for science's sins and addresses the failed replication of one of his studies (conducted with three former VBW guests) by the Many Labs Project. But first, the guys try to gauge their intui...
4 Dec 20181h 46min
Episode 152: Ruthlessness, Public and Private
Tamler and David continue their Nagel-gazing by discussing another essay from Mortal Questions: "Ruthlessness in Public Life." Why do we treat the immorality of politicians, military leaders, and othe...
20 Nov 20181h 21min
Episode 151: Viddy Well, My Listeners (Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange")
There was me, that is Tamler, and my droog, that is David, and we sat in our living rooms on Skype trying to make up our rassoodocks what Stanley Kubrick's a Clockwork Orange was really about? Free wi...
6 Nov 20182h 4min
Episode 150: Paul Bloom Insisted That We Talk About Sex Robots
What better way to celebrate our 150th episode than to bring back our favorite guest – Paul Bloom! We riff on a series of topics: the new "grievance studies" hoax, sex robot brothels, perverse desires...
23 Okt 20181h 26min
Episode 149: Death, Immortality, and Porn (Intuition) Pumps
Is living forever a good thing? Could we maintain our values and personal attachments throughout eternity? Would we be motivated to accomplish anything? Can we make sense of a human life that doesn't ...
2 Okt 20181h 41min
Episode 148: Am I Wrong?
Tamler wades into a Twitter controversy about Serena Williams - could this be his fast-track pass into the IDW? And since we're talking about that, why not throw in a discussion of Louis CK's surprise...
19 Sep 20181h 41min
Episode 147: Effective Altruism and Moral Uncertainty (with The One True Scotsman, Will MacAskill)
Oxford philosophy professor Will MacAskill joins us to talk about effective altruism, moral uncertainty, and why you shouldn't eat your grandmother (even if consequentialism is true). How should we ac...
4 Sep 20181h 43min
