Micro-Digressions: A Philosophy Podcast

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! This episode is a companion to the recent moral experts roundtable article in Quillette. Oliver Traldi rejoins Spencer, along with first-time guests Bo Winegard and  Geoffrey Miller, to discuss the philosophical and social problems of moral expertise. Over the course of the episode, they touch on the concept of expertise, the moral realism/anti-realis...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Matt Lutz returns to the podcast to explain his (in his opinion, very neglected) solution to the "counter-induction parody" argument, which is used to bolster Hume's notorious argument for inductive skepticism. Spencer makes a big personal announcement.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! What's so bad about hypocrisy? What difference does an agent's intentions make to the morality of his or her action?  Craig White joins Spencer Case to discuss these questions, and to register his objections to the unrealistic thought experiments that some moral philosophers deploy.  

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff, the two South African hosts of the irreverent and fearless Brain in a Vat podcast, join Spencer to discuss the uses of philosophy its role in a flourishing human life. Along the way, they also discuss the permissibility of outsourcing your religious duties to an AI and other surprising topics.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Jeff McMahan, White's professor of philosophy at Oxford University and author of Killing in War and other books, joins Spencer to talk about the ethics of participating in wars and other topics.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Peter Jaworski, a philosophy professor at the Georgetown University McDonough school of business, and Rob Gressis, a philosophy professor at California State University Northridge, join Spencer to debate the pros and cons of open borders.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Mary Beth ("no hyphen") Willard of Weber State University joins Spencer and his wife, May to discuss the relationship between beauty and moral goodness. They pay particular attention to the question of whether an artist's moral character can ever affect the aesthetic or moral qualities of his or her art. Subjects include Bill Cosby and...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Two guests, Nathan Nobis and Christopher Kaczor, join Spencer to discuss the ethics of abortion.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Is there something bad about being too good? Might belief in objective morality distort our moral behavior? Marcus Arvan joins Spencer Case to discuss.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Stephen Kershnar joins Spencer Case to discuss the moral quandaries surrounding affirmative action and other forms of discrimination on the basis of race and gender.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Many people claim to have experiences of God. Others have experiences that cause them to lose faith. What is the significance of these experiences? Chad McIntosh and Spencer Case discuss. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! What is Critical Race Theory and why is it evil (if it is in fact evil)? Sam Hoadley-Brill and Oliver Traldi join Spencer Case to discuss the culture war controversy surrounding CRT. They discuss the proper way of defining CRT, the relationship between CRT and figures like Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo, and the pros and cons of the anti-"CRT&...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! What is Bitcoin, anyway? Craig Warmke joins Spencer Case to discuss his view that Bitcoin is a kind of fictional substance that nonetheless has real economic value. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Francesca Minerva joins Spencer Case to discuss the launch of the new Journal of Controversial Ideas, which allows scholars to publish peer reviewed research anonymously to avoid backlash. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Holly Lawford-Smith joins Spencer to defend her website, No Conflict They Said (.org). This   collects anonymous stories from women who say they have been negatively affected by the intrusion of biological males into what have been female only spaces. Critics allege that this website is transphobic. Spencer and Holly discuss  these criticism, the exte...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Crispin Sartwell joins Spencer Case to discuss the nature of knowledge, the relationship between aesthetics and knowledge, and other themes. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Matt Lutz, an associate professor of philosophy at Wuhan University, joins Spencer Case to discuss philosophical conundrums about disagreement. Must we alter our beliefs in the face of disagreement? If so, then how much and in what circumstances? Along the way, they discuss the Wuhan lockdown -- which Matt experienced firsthand -- conspiracy theories,...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Tyler Paytas rejoins Spencer Case on Micro-Digressions to discuss the irrationality of anger and fear. They also touch on retributivism and strategies for overcoming anger and fear.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Philosophers of science disagree about what, if anything, distinguishes science from other bodies of knowledge, and other areas of inquiry. It's clear science commands a great deal of authority. But is this authority always a good thing? Spencer Case and Philippe Lemoine discuss the ways in which that authority can be misused and corrupted. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Liberalism has recently been subjected to criticisms from both the political left and the right. But what is liberalism, anyway? Do these recent arguments against it carry any weight? Spencer Case discusses these and other questions with Prof. Patrick Lee Miller of Duquesne University.

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! You probably think of yourself as a good person. But how sure are you that, if faced with certain sorts of social pressures, you wouldn't do something really terrible? There is, unfortunately, a evidence that most people aren't nearly as good as they believe themselves to be. Christian Miller, author of The Character Gap, discusses some of t...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Guest Oliver Traldi and Spencer Case discuss the phenomenon of so-called "cancel culture."

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Spencer Case and Dan Kaufman discuss the importance of disposition to philosophy, and the difference between wisdom and knowledge. 

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Relativism about some domain is the rejection of truth standards independent of some perspective or standpoint. It may be implied in the slogan: "What's true for me may not be true for you." Should we accept relativism about morality or anything else? Spencer Case discusses with Robert Gressis, who teaches philosophy at California State...

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Spencer Case and Jacy Reese Anthis, a co-founder of the Sentience Institute, discuss effective altruism, vegan activism and debate whether strong moral convictions presuppose moral realism.