Philosophy Overdose

Epizodes

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  The Problem of Free Will 17.08.2026 1h 10min

  A talk given by professor Pamela Hieronymi on the problem of free will and moral responsibility a few years back at the University of Alabama."Among the grandest of philosophical puzzles is a riddle about moral responsibility. Almost all of us believe that each one of us is, has been, or will be responsible for at least some of our behavior. But how can this be so if determinism is true and all our thoughts, decisions, choices, and actions are simply droplets in a river of deterministic events that began its flow long, long before we were ever born? The specter of determinism, as it were, devours agents, for if determinism is true, then arguably we never initiate or control our actions; there is no driver in the driver's seat; we are simply one transitional link in an extended deterministic chain originating long before our time. The puzzle is tantalizingly gripping and ever so perplexing — because even if determinism is false, responsibility seems impossible: how can we be morally accountable for behavior that issues from an 'actional pathway' in which there is an indeterministic break? Such a break might free us from domination or regulation by the past, but how can it possibly help to ensure that the reins of control are now in our hands?" Ishtiyaque Haji #philosophy #freewill #determinism #materialism #metaphysics #causality #philosophyofmind #causation #psychology #mind
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  The Virtual and The Real (David Chalmers) 17.08.2026 1h 11min

  Distinguished philosopher Dr. David Chalmers discusses some of the philosophical issues that arise regarding virtual reality technology in a lecture back in 2017 at the Community Library in Idaho. #philosophy #epistemology #davidchalmers #metaphysics #virtualreality
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  Sidney Morgenbesser on Naturalism (1966) 17.08.2026 1h 13min

  Audio recording of a 1966 lecture given by Sidney Morgenbesser on philosophical naturalism at the Cooper Union Forum as part of a series on Philosophy for Modern Man. #philosophy #determinism #atheism #freewill #causality #epistemology #science
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  The Guts of the Frankfurt School: Reexamining Marx and the Marriage with Freud (Marcuse and Bryan Magee) 17.08.2026 18min

  The full interview can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U23Ho0m_Sv0#philosophy #bryanmagee #marx #freud #politicaltheory #politicalphilosophy #marxism #historyofphilosophy
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  Divine Command Theory and the Euthyphro Objection 17.08.2026 8min

  Russ Shafer-Landau explains the Euthyphro Dilemma and why it presents a serious problem to Divine Command Theory. This comes from a talk on objective morality without God: https://youtu.be/50CQwa15R7A #philosophy #ethics #metaethics #moralphilosophy #historyofphilosophy
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  Perception, Abstraction and Idealism - General Philosophy (Peter Millican) 17.08.2026 1h 9min

  In this lecture on General Philosophy, Professor Peter Millican discusses the problem of perception, the distinction between primary and secondary qualities, resemblance, abstraction, and idealism. This comes from a 2010 series on General Philosophy. The slides have been added.This series of lectures was delivered by Peter Millican to first-year philosophy students at the University of Oxford. The lectures comprise of the 8-week General Philosophy course, delivered to first year undergraduates. These lectures aim to provide a thorough introduction to many philosophical topics and to get students and others interested in thinking about key areas of philosophy. Taking a chronological view of the history of philosophy, each lecture is split into 3 or 4 sections which outline a particular philosophical problem and how different philosophers have attempted to resolve the issue. Individuals interested in the 'big' questions about life such as how we perceive the world, who we are in the world and whether we are free to act will find this series informative, comprehensive and accessible.More lectures on General Philosophy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_xo2wvkm6qPZrUlAiRNHXbSource: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/general-philosophy00:00 Intro to Primary & Secondary Qualities 01:04 The Mechanisms of Perception 02:41 What are Objects Like? 04:20 Locke & Corpuscularianism 07:47 Pains, Colours, & Shapes 09:24 A Problematic Text 11:03 In Objects, or Just In the Mind? 14:29 Why Resemblance? 16:01 Can an Idea Resemble an Object? 18:41 Structural Resemblance? 21:44 Solidity 23:42 Hume’s Criticism 25:11 Empiricism & Understanding 26:23 The Attack on Abstraction 29:25 The Case for Idealism 30:26 “Something I Know Not What” 35:16 Locke’s Indirect Realism 36:13 An Unacceptable Interpretation 38:30 Sense Data 39:08 How To Prove the Causal Link? 40:50 Phenomenalism 43:20 Direct Realism 45:59 Is a Lockean View Defensible? 48:29 Explanatory Realism #philosophy #epistemology #perception #skepticism #philosophyofmind #historyofphilosophy
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  Wittgenstein on the Mind - Norman Malcolm (1968) 17.08.2026 1h 20min

  Rare audio recording of a 1968 lecture by Norman Malcolm on Ludwig Wittgenstein's views about the nature of the mind. He explains why Wittgenstein rejected the notion of the mind as some mysterious inner thing which is private and hidden from view, and which somehow serves as the cause of outward behavior. On the other hand, he also explains why it cannot be identified with mere external behavior either. He goes on to discuss Wittgenstein’s view that there can be no explanation for why people go on in the same way and apply words in similar ways to new cases. For there can be no image, rule, or essence in the head which would be able to play that role and do the kind of work that one would need it to do. #philosophy #wittgenstein #philosophyofmind #language #philosophyoflanguage #historyofphilosophy
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  What is Distinctive of Human Thought? 17.08.2026 53min

  Descartes famously argued that animals were mere machines, without thought or consciousness. Few would now share this view. But if other animals have conscious lives, what are they like, how do they differ from ours, and how would we ever know anything about them? In this lecture, Tim Crane addresses this question by looking at the kinds of thoughts we might share with animals, and looking at philosophical and empirical arguments for how our thoughts might differ from theirs. This talk was given by professor Tim Crane as part of his inaugural lecture as Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge back in 2010. #philosophy #philosophyofmind #epistemology #psychology #intentionality #mind #language
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  The Supremacy of Method - Ernest Nagel (1973) 17.08.2026 1h 27min

  Audio recording of a 1973 lecture by Ernest Nagel on the supremacy of method at Columbia University. #philosophy #science #epistemology #philosophyofscience #skepticism #relativism #historyofphilosophy
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  Hume on the Argument from Design 17.08.2026 5min

  Michael Levine discusses David Hume on the teleological argument or the argument from design with Alan Saunders in this clip from an episode of the Philosopher's Zone from back in 2011. Michael Levine was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Australia. This clip comes from an episode of the Philosopher's Zone, an ABC Radio National program, from back in 2011. The Philosopher's Zone: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/philosopherszone #philosophy #davidhume #philosophyofreligion #theism #atheism #agnosticism #historyofphilosophy
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  Robert Nozick on Karl Popper's Anti-Inductivism (2001) 17.08.2026 4min

  Audio recording of Robert Nozick presenting an argument against Karl Popper's anti-inductivist view of scientific knowledge in a clip from a 2001 interview by Juliαn Sαnchez on Nozick's most recent book "Invariances: The Structure of the Objective World". #philosophy #karlpopper #epistemology #science #nozick
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  Political Philosophy and John Rawls 17.08.2026 56min

  Audio recording of a lecture by Jonathan Wolff on John Rawls' political philosophy. After discussing the detrimental influence of logical positivism on ethical and political discourse, Jonathan Wolff goes on to explain John Rawls' famous contractarian conception of justice. Rawls' argument takes the form of a thought experiment involving a hypothetical contract in which people are made ignorant about certain facts about themselves which could bias them in their own favor (e.g. their race, gender, class, age, talents, etc.). In this way, ignorance is used as a way to guarantee impartiality in deciding how societies should be set up. After all, one cannot rig things up to benefit oneself if one doesn't know what one's interests are or what one's position in society will be. Rawls argued that people behind this so-called "veil of ignorance" would agree to two principles of justice: the liberty principle and the difference principle. Jonathan Wolf explains these principles and the main arguments for and against them. (My Summary) Note, this is re-upload. More details about this talk will be added at a later date.More Political Philosophy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_O1dkCOqsUke_0QUkX80A- #philosophy #politicalphilosophy #rawls #johnrawls #politicaltheory #historyofphilosophy
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  Prerequisites of Language Acquisition - Noam Chomsky (1964) 17.08.2026 2h 17min

  Noam Chomsky discusses language and the innate structures of the mind in a 1964 lecture at UC Berkeley and sponsored by the Philosophy Colloquium. 00:00 Lecture 1:10:24 Q&A Source: https://cla.berkeley.edu/item/?bndlid=26712#philosophy #chomsky #epistemology #language #linguistics #psychology #mind
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  Nietzsche on the Value of Truth - Ken Gemes 17.08.2026 1h 49min

  Audio recording of the second lecture by Ken Gemes on Nietzsche. Nietzsche claims that with the rejection of religious underpinning of the value of truth (e.g. truth as God’s word and as something absolute), we can now raise the question of why and to what extent we should value truth. He argues that our need for meaning conflicts with our will to truth because such a will tends to destroy all mythologies including the mythology of value – our will to truth reveals that values are not objectively 'out there' in the world, but are merely our own projections onto the world. This knowledge eviscerates the world of meaning. This does not mean that Nietzsche rejects the value of truth. He instead rejects the notion, inherited from the Judeo-Christian worldview, that truth is an unconditional value. Such a notion of truth, destructive of all myth and meaning, is unliveable. The very claim that the truth is valuable, even if not unconditionally valuable, is itself one of those myths that help give life meaning.You can find the previous talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHShypzrqGwNote, this is a re-upload. 00:00 Talk 46:53 Q&A #nietzsche #philosophy #ethics #historyofphilosophy
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  The Hiddenness of God (Peter van Inwagen) 17.08.2026 1h 3min

  Audio recording of a lecture by Peter van Inwagen on the problem of divine hiddenness at Calvin College back in 2004. This was the second of his Jellema lectures. His first lecture can be found here: https://youtu.be/nNEweeN32QI #philosophy #philosophyofreligion #agnosticism #atheism #theism #epistemology
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  2 Romanticism - First Attack on Enlightenment (Isaiah Berlin 1965) 17.08.2026 1h 17min

  Isaiah Berlin gives the 2nd lecture in a series of 6 on Romanticism and its roots.All 6 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_9uxkmfSIt2JJK6oKbXmd-For Berlin, the Romantics set in motion a vast, unparalleled revolution in humanity’s view of itself. They destroyed the traditional notions of objective truth and validity in ethics with incalculable, all-pervasive results. As he said of the Romantics elsewhere: “The world has never been the same since, and our politics and morals have been deeply transformed by them. Certainly this has been the most radical, and indeed dramatic, not to say terrifying, change in men’s outlook in modern times.”In these brilliant lectures Berlin surveys the myriad attempts to define Romanticism, distills its essence, traces its developments from its first stirrings to its apotheosis, and shows how its lasting legacy permeates our own outlook. Combining the freshness and immediacy of the spoken word with Berlin’s inimitable eloquence and wit, the lectures range over a cast of the greatest thinkers and artists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including Kant, Rousseau, Diderot, Schiller, Schlegel, Novalis, Goethe, Blake, Byron, and Beethoven. Berlin argues that the ideas and attitudes held by these and other figures helped to shape twentieth-century nationalism, existentialism, democracy, totalitarianism, and our ideas about heroic individuals, individual self-fulfillment, and the exalted place of art. This is the record of an intellectual bravura performance–of one of the century’s most influential philosophers dissecting and assessing a movement that changed the course of history. These Mellon lectures were delivered in Washington in 1965.00:00 Program for the Lectures01:07 Enlightenment Tradition22:44 Montesquieu & Relativism26:42 David Hume & Skepticism32:07 Germans & Sour Grapes44:32 Hamann & Counter-Enlightenment#Philosophy #Romanticism #IsaiahBerlin
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  Aldous Huxley on the Ultimate Revolution (1962) 17.08.2026 1h 42min

  Audio recording of a 1962 lecture by Aldous Huxley at UC Berkeley. He discusses some of the themes of his famous work Brave New World regarding authoritarian state control and the various methods of psychological manipulation. #philosophy #aldoushuxley #bravenewworld #authoritarianism #totalitarianism #socialtheory #psychology
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  Examining the Ethics of the Unthinkable: The Holocaust and Bioethics - Arthur Caplan (1989) 17.08.2026 1h 49min

  Audio recording of a keynote speech by Professor Arthur L. Caplan at a 1989 conference on the meaning of the Holocaust for bioethics at the University of Minnesota. 00:00 Lecture 52:17 Q&A #philosophy #ethics #bioethics #history #moralphilosophy #utilitarianism #medicalethics #totalitarianism #authoritarianism
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  Wittgenstein's Notion of Family Resemblance 17.08.2026 3min

  Audio from: https://youtu.be/v_hQpvQYhOIMore Short Clips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE8v8UVlc7JuuNHwvhkaOvzcYou may also want to check out the following on Wittgenstein vs Socrates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp8KXhYlhsg#philosophy #wittgenstein #bryanmagee #historyofphilosophy
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  Language, Thought, and Politics 17.08.2026 1h 1min

  John Searle (the University of California, Berkeley) and Michael Silverstein (the University of Chicago) discuss George Orwell on the relation between language, thought, and politics with host Gretchen Helfrich in an episode of Odyssey from Chicago Public Radio back in 2003. #philosophy #orwell #language #politics