Micro-Digressions: A Philosophy Podcast

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Ben Burgis rejoins Spencer to defend Marx's record. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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 Reckonin g, and Mark Oppenheimer of Brain in a Vat podcast fame join Spencer to discuss the issue. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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).

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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 Dyi...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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 spirit Matthew Adelstein on the stupidity and depravity of Effective Altruism critics Matt Lutz on possible world confusions Mark Oppenheimer on the Israel-Gaza war Oliver Traldi on the university...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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/

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Kevin Vallier joins Spencer Case to talk about social trust and the role it plays in the psychological and moral foundations of liberal societies. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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 ca...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Commentator Charles "Concealed Weapon" Cooke joins Spencer to discuss American identity and patriotism.  

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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 u...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff of Brain in a Vat join Spencer to discuss one of their favorite subjects: thought experiments. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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/10.4324/97...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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&q...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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 ba...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Jim Skidmore joins Spencer to continue the discussion of Singer's argument in "Famine, Affluence, and Morality."

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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. Th...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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, Spence...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! 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).