Walden Pod

Wild animal suffering – is it possible to do anything about it? Should we do anything about it? Even though the general principles that inform our concern for animal welfare shouldn’t be arbitrarily limited to animals outside the wild, I think intervention on any serious scale would be ill-advised. The natural order is deeply interconnected, dynamic, and awesomely complex. Drastic action, such as...

Personal identity, the potential evolutionary origins of religion, Bernardo Kastrup and analytic idealism, the Ship of Theseus and substance dualism. Leave a voicemail at (734) 707-1940 YouTube Twitter @waldenpod @OnPanpsychism Patreon.com/waldenpod linktr.ee/emersongreen

A few thoughts on what mysterianism is not. Also, why "What is consciousness?" is a bad question.  Linktree

My opinionated introduction to mysterianism. Inspired by Noam Chomsky, Colin McGinn, and Eric Schwitzgebel, we explore a version of mysterianism that I think may be true. YouTube Support on Patreon Listen to our sister show, Counter Apologetics here Transcript Shane Wagoner - From Physicalism to Mysterianism Music by ichika Nito and used with permission. Twitter @waldenpod @OnPanpsychism linktr.ee...

A few scattered thoughts about internet materialists, stronger forms of physicalism, underdetermination, neuroscience, the evolution of consciousness, qualia microscopes, and the hard problem of consciousness. YouTube Consider supporting the show on Patreon here or Counter Apologetics here Listen to our sister show, Counter Apologetics here Music by ichika Nito and used with permission. Twitter @w...

If epiphenomenalism is true, mental causation is an illusion. Even if pain and pleasure were inverted, you’d go on behaving the same way you do now, since your conscious states have nothing to do with determining or motivating your physical behavior. This is counterintuitive, to say the least. But it also leaves us completely unable to explain why our conscious states line up appropriately with ou...

Ben Burgis recently invited me on his Callin show to speak about the value of “science fiction” thought experiments in applied ethics.  I argue that in the realm of applied ethics, thought experiments often confuse more than they clarify. They don’t map on to the real world cases they’re intended to help with (for various reasons), and we shouldn’t be informing action with scenarios that differ in...

Many leaders in the skeptic community have proven themselves to be untrustworthy sources of information on the topics they speak about. They’ve misled me often about what others believe and why. Moreover, genuine skepticism seems to be far less important to the skeptic community than the kind of conclusions one comes to. Failure to adopt the required list of beliefs disqualifies one from being a r...

I’m joined by philosopher Luke Roelofs to discuss the combination problem for panpsychism, split brain cases, vagueness arguments, illusionism, mental privacy, the general and special composition question, mereological nihilism and universalism, and many other topics related to consciousness and composite subjectivity. Watch on YouTube Combining Minds: How to Think About Composite Subjectivity (Ox...

I'm joined by Scott Clifton (Theoretical Bullshit) to discuss free will skepticism, compatibilism, moral responsibility, revenge, and killing coyotes. Video version - Is free will an illusion?   Scott's channel   Follow me @waldenpod and TBS @TheoreticalBS Consider supporting Walden Pod here or Counter Apologetics here linktr.ee/emersongreen

I respond to Alex O'Connor's arguments against compatibilism, the view that there is no real conflict between determinism and free will. Is free will skepticism the better view, as Alex claims? Will the British ever learn their lesson? CosmicSkeptic - Compatibilism Debunked Subscribe on YouTube here Listen to our sister show Counter Apologetics here Consider supporting Walden Pod on Patreon here o...

After listening to Very Bad Wizards' new episode about panpsychism, I hit record and commented on a few clips that stood out to me. Subscribe on YouTube here Listen to our sister show Counter Apologetics here Consider supporting the show on Patreon here or Counter Apologetics here An interesting article on panpsychist history by Joe Zadeh Follow on Twitter @waldenpod and @OnPanpsychism linktr.ee/e...

Compatibilism is the thesis that free will is compatible with determinism. In other words, a compatibilist is someone who doesn’t have a quarrel with using the term “free will” and who doesn’t think we need to run around with our hair on fire if determinism turns out to be true. By my lights, free will skeptics and libertarians seem to be entirely wrong about the dramatic consequences that would f...

Can we be ultimately responsible for what we do? No one denies that we can be the proximate cause of our actions. I made this episode because I wanted to. But being the proximate cause of an action is compatible with determinism – no determinist in their right mind would deny that I made this episode because I wanted to. So is there a deeper sense of responsibility that can be attributed to human...

I’m joined today by Jack Symes, editor of the new book, Philosophers on Consciousness: Talking about the Mind . Jack is a Teacher and Researcher of Philosophy at the University of Liverpool, UK and is also the co-host of The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast . Follow on Twitter @waldenpod and @OnPanpsychism Follow Jack on Twitter @_JackSymes @ThePanpsycast Philosophers on Consciousness: Talking about...

For the full episode, and access to other bonus episodes, subscribe at patreon.com/waldenpod How can one reconcile the reality of mental causation with the accuracy of “ the core theory ,” which Sean Carroll hails as explaining all of everyday life? Contrary to Carroll’s intention, his proclamation that the laws underlying the physics of everyday life are completely understood is one of the factor...

Is a brain necessary for experience? Do we have any good reason to limit the attribution of experience to creatures with complex nervous systems? Actually, no. Some materialists claim that consciousness can only exist in brains–sound reasoning, neuroscience, and physics all point in the same direction. We take a closer look at the reasoning that underlies the claim that complex nervous systems are...

Recently I learned that H.P. Lovecraft had undergone a surprising and dramatic political transformation in the final years of his brief life. I wanted to read a few of Lovecraft's letters and discuss his views on capitalism, socialism, and the influence of the profit motive on artistic expression. (In the middle part of this episode, I also indulge in a bit of culture war stuff, so consider yourse...

I was recently interviewed by Zac of Adherent Apologetics on the subject of problems with physicalism. We outline a few arguments against the view, including physicalism’s conflict with realism about phenomenal consciousness and anti-emergentism, as well as a couple different forms of the vagueness argument against physicalism. We also talk a bit about the tradition of atheist non-physicalism, whi...

Today I'm speaking with Dr. Michael Huemer about phenomenal conservatism , a theory in epistemology that seeks to ground justified beliefs in the way things “appear” or “seem” to the subject who holds that belief. We discuss a wide range of issues in epistemology, including internalism vs. externalism, justified true belief, proper functionalism, the epistemic value of psychedelic experiences, rel...

Naturalists, according to David Papinau, author of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on naturalism, urge “that reality is exhausted by nature, containing nothing ‘supernatural’.” Naturalism “has no very precise meaning in contemporary philosophy” beyond this, along with an emphasis on science as a means to understand the natural world. Naturalism is the view that there is only the natu...

Aaron is a lecturer in the Rutgers philosophy department (@ETVpod). Emerson is the host of Counter Apologetics and Walden Pod (@waldenpod). Aaron’s podcast, Embrace the Void https://voidpod.com/ This debate took place on the Right to Reason podcast https://therighttoreason.podbean.com/e/panpsychism-debate/ https://linktr.ee/emersongreen

Dustin and I discuss vagueness arguments against materialism, phenomenal conservatism, doubt arguments, Phineas Gage, physical causal closure, the core theory, vitalism, ghosts, split-brain cases, occam's razor, panpsychism, idealism, dual-aspect theories, and the problem of psychophysical luck. Dr. Crummett received a PhD from the University of Notre Dame in 2018, and he is currently working on a...

What is philosophy, and who counts as a philosopher? My two favorite answers come from Alvin Plantinga and Arthur Schopenhauer. According to Plantinga, philosophy is just thinking hard about something. Schopenhauer put it a bit more loftily: philosophy represents our attempt to “lay bare the true nature of the world.” (At least, this is true in philosophy’s more ambitious moments.) Additionally, I...

linktr.ee/emersongreen You can watch the video version of this podcast here emersongreenblog.wordpress.com Rate the show on iTunes here Support on Patreon here Listen to our sister show Counter Apologetics here Subscribe to CA and Walden Pod on YouTube here Follow on Twitter @waldenpod and @OnPanpsychism