Dr. Ned Block, professor of philosophy and psychology at NYU, joins me to discuss theories of consciousness, functionalism, the difference between access and phenomenal consciousness, the limitations of current Large Language Models, and how far away artificial general intelligence is from our current capacities.

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Feel free to follow me on⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

00:22 Hard vs. easy problems of consciousness

07:39 Reductive vs. non-reductive physicalism

12:19 The Chinese nation thought experiment

19:14 Can ChatGPT fool you into thinking it's a human? The Turing test

28:31 Rules vs. patterns-based reasoning

34:16 Blockhead thought experiment

37:53 Phenomenal vs. access consciousness

44:09 What is artificial intelligence?

46:27 The limits of LLMs

49:48 Does thinking require a brain?

50:34 Narrow vs. general AI

51:57 Is AI about to surpass human intelligence?

Sam Thomas, my philosophy bestie hailing from Oxford, England, joins me to go through the results of the 2020 PhilPapers survey of professional philosophers. We offer our opinions on many major philosophical issues.

Check out the ⁠2020 PhilPapers survey⁠.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:15 A Priori Knowledge

00:11:22 Aim of Philosophy

00:22:01 Eating Animals

00:32:50 Experience Machine

00:43:17 External World Skepticism

00:52:11 The Trolly Problem

01:06:23 God's Existence

01:29:38 Meaning of Life

01:41:37 Chinese Room

01:48:55 Immortality

02:00:20 Philosophical Progress

Dr. Thomas Rudelius, early universe cosmologist and professor of physics at Durham University, sits down with me to discuss whether cosmology indicates that the universe began to exist, what it might mean for spacetime to "emerge" from a deeper reality, and whether the fine-tuning of the laws of physics indicates design behind the universe.

Dr. Michael Huemer and I discuss ethical intuitionism, the view that there are moral truths, and that we know these truths via intellectual intuition. For more about Dr. Huemer, click here. To purchase Dr. Huemer's book, 'Ethical Intuitionism', click here.

Dr. Craig Blomberg, professor emeritus of New Testament at Denver Seminary, responds to Richard Carrier's critique of the historical argument for the resurrection of Jesus. To donate to the channel (super big pretty please please please), click here. To watch my interview with Carrier, click here. Blomberg's written debate on the resurrection, 'Resurrection: Fact or Faith?', accessible here.

Dr. Richard Carrier, author of 'On The Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt', returns to the podcast to discuss his problems with the proffered historical case for the resurrection of Jesus, focusing on William Lane Craig. To access Richard Carrier's blog, click here. To support the podcast (pretty please), click here.

James Fodor, author and YouTuber, joins me to debate the case for and against Christianity. To access James's YouTube channel, click here. To support my efforts at having interesting conversations with interesting people, click here.

Dr. Barry Loewer, professor of philosophy at Rutgers University, joins me to discuss the merits of scientific anti-realism, the view, roughly, that our best scientific theories do not attempt to capture the truth about the world. We also talk about the relationship between science and philosophy. It's good stuff. To support my efforts to explore interesting topics with interesting people, consider donating here. For a list of Dr. Loewer's publications, click here.

Dr. Afshordi is an astrophysicist at the University of Waterloo, specializing in cosmology, quantum gravity, and the physics of gravity. We discuss dark matter, dark energy, quantum gravity, the fine-tuning of the universe, and the multiverse. If you like my work and want to support me as I explore lots of cool things with lots of cool people, do please consider donatinghere. To pre-order Dr. Afshordi's book, Battle of the Big Bang, clickhere. For more on Dr. Afshordi and his research, check out his websitehere.

Dr. Randal Rauser joins me once again, this time to discuss the tradition Christian doctrine of eternal conscious torment (ECT), and his objections to this view. We also discuss issues arising for alternatives to ECT, like annihilationism and universalism, ending with three objections to the doctrine of Heaven. For more of Randal's work, check out his blog here.

Phil Halper joins me to discuss his forthcoming book, Battle of the Big Bang: New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins, and whether William Lane Craig misrepresents the empirical evidence for a beginning of the universe.

If you enjoy what I do and want to continue seeing interesting people on the channel, super pretty please consider donating, click here.

To pre-order Phil's book, click here.

To watch Phil's first appearance on the Majesty of Reason critiquing Dr. Craig, click here.

To view Phil's second appearance on the Majesty of Reason replying to Dr. Craig's response, click here.

To watch Phil's documentary critiquing the kalam cosmological argument, click here.

To view Phil's reply to Craig's response, click here.

Perry Hendricks, author of the recently published book Skeptical Theism, joins me to discuss one of the main theistic strategies for responding to the problem of evil, the problem of reconciling the evil and suffering in the world with the existence of an all-loving God. After outlining that response, Perry and I go through the four strongest objections to it: divine deception, Climenhaga's conundrum, equiprobability, and radical insensitivity. To access Perry's book-length treatment of skeptical theism, click here. To access the article from Brian what's-his-name, click here.

Dr. Graham Oppy, perhaps academia's leading atheist philosopher of religion, joins me to analyze a newly proposed argument for God's existence: the argument from psychophysical harmony.

Check out Psychophysical Harmony: A New Argument for Theism by Cutter and Crummett.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:52 Defining psychophysical harmony

00:14:06 The argument

00:14:48 Prior probability of theism and naturalism

00:39:19 Likelihood of harmony on theism and naturalism

00:46:56 Can evolution explain harmony?

00:56:20 What if mind is identical to brain?

Dr. Randal Rauser lays out the case against attempts to defend a literal interpretation of the biblical passages surrounding the slaughter of the Canaanites. We discuss the purported moral difference between slaughter and driving a people group from their homes, hyperbole in the Ancient Near East, and what a Christian is to do if they believe that a literal reading of the Canaanite conquest narratives cannot be correct. To read William Lane Craig's defense of the slaughter of the Canaanites, click here. To access Dr. Rouser's book, click here.

Rabbis Elie Feder and Aaron Zimmer, cohosts of the 'Physics to God' podcast, join me to discuss their project in showing how physics provides strong evidence for the existence of God. We discuss several aspects of the fine-tuning argument - whether a deeper law of physics can remove fine-tuning, the Achilles' heel of the multiverse, and whether God is a simple or complex hypothesis. To access Aaron and Elie's website, click here. To access the Physics to God podcast, click here.

Dr. Richard Carrier and I discuss his article, 'Ten Ways the World Would be Different if God Existed,' Carrier's case that we can turn ten theistic arguments on their head and use them to prove atheism. We naively thought we had time for all ten, but in 1.5 hours, we only discussed three - still, we had a substantive, spirited debate about the merits of theism and naturalism that I hope you'll enjoy.

To read Dr. Carrier's article, click here.

To read Sinhababu's article, 'Electrons in Love', click here.

Dr. Tim Maudlin, professor of philosophy at NYU, joins me to discuss the difference between quantum and classical mechanics, that various "interpretations" of quantum mechanics, why Sean Carroll is wrong to suppose that the many-worlds interpretation is better than all the rest, what Einstein's theories of special and general relativity tell us about the nature of time, and how philosophy and science relate.

Dr. Luke Barnes joins me to discuss whether empirical evidence indicates that the universe began to exist, and how theism and naturalism fare as explanations for the fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life. To purchase Barnes' book-length discussion of the fine-tuning argument, click here. To read Barnes' article on the fine-tuning argument, click here.

Joe Schmid joins me to discuss the best arguments for God's existence, and the best arguments against. We explored several nuances of the cosmological argument (for God) and the argument from gratuitous animal suffering (against God).

To access Joe's YouTube channel, Majesty of Reason, click here.

To see a list of Joe's publications, click here.

Dr. Graham Oppy, professor of philosophy at Monash University and author of the wide-ranging exploring of arguments for God's existence Arguing about Gods published by Cambridge University Press, joins me to discuss the relationship between science and religion, morality and God's existence, the future of philosophy of religion, and what the point of philosophy is in the first place. For more information about Oppy and a list of his publications, click here.

Dr. Max Baker-Hytch, tutor in philosophy at Oxford, joins me to discuss his recent published research on near-death experiences (NDEs) and their evidential significance, whether they provide reason to believe in an afterlife, and the strengths and weaknesses of natural explanations for these remarkable phenomena. To access Max's publication on NDEs, click ⁠here⁠. A compendium of Max's publications, click ⁠here⁠.

Hans Halvorson, professor of philosophy at Princeton, joins me to discuss the relationship between God and science, science and philosophy, and the role that philosophy has to play in our world today.

Alex Malpass, former lecturer in philosophy at the University of Bristol become software engineer, joins me to debate the kalam cosmological argument: the argument that because the universe began to exist, there must be a Creator that brought it into being. Malpass is one of the most articulate and careful critics of this line of thought, so it was a pleasure to discuss it with him. To access Alex's paper discussing the 'successive addition argument' against an infinite past, 'All the Time in the World,' click here. For a list of Alex's publications, click here. For Alex's blog with loads of good philosophical content, click here.

Dr. Michael Huemer, professor of philosophy at U.C. Boulder, returns to the podcast to defend the case for (libertarian) free will.Check our Dr. Huemer's fantastic Substack.

To support the channel, do please oh please ⁠⁠consider donating.⁠⁠ Feel free to follow me on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠.

EPISODE CHAPTERS:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:22 What is free will?

00:08:40 Huemer's proof of free will

00:23:20 Is the proof question-begging?

00:34:51 The mystery objection

00:49:56 The luck objection

01:05:02 Alex O'Connor's objection to free will

01:13:22 The neuroscience objection

01:22:05 Why do most scientists and philosophers deny libertarian free will?

I discuss a new kind of fine-tuning argument for God's existence with Dr. Robin Collins, professor of philosophy at Messiah University, one centered on the remarkable ability of human beings to discover the universe around us. Were the constants of physics altered in the smallest way, our capacity to understand the universe, our very ability to do science in the first place, would be remarkable diminished, if not irradicated entirely. Why, then, do the laws of physics take on these delicately balanced values that allow us to discover scientific truths? With Collins as my interlocutor, I take the chance to press objections that Neil Manson raised in our previous interview - philosophy in real time!

For more information about Robin, as well as a list of his publications, click here.

In my first ever interview for the show, I discuss and debate the fine-tuning argument with philosopher Neil Manson, a professor at the University of Mississippi. We discuss several lesser examined issues with the fine-tuning argument: how we could ever know what kind of universe God would likely create, theistic versus naturalistic multiverses, and whether, in the end, fine-tuning gives us any reason to think that God exists.

For an online repository of Neil Manson's publications, click here.

Dr. Evan Fales, professor of philosophy at Iowa University, discusses Alvin Plantinga's famous "evolutionary argument against naturalism," and whether Plantinga has successfully shown that naturalism - the view that there is no person such as God or anything like God - cannot be rationally affirmed.

To support the channel, do please oh please ⁠consider donating.⁠ Feel free to follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠ or ⁠Twitter⁠.

Episode Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:51 What is naturalism?

00:11:18 What is evolution?

00:21:24 Plantinga's central claim

00:38:00 Intentionality of mental states

01:07:11 Defeaters for theism

Dr. Josh Rasmussen, professor of philosophy at Baylor university, discusses the implications of the Apple Original TV show, "Severance", for two philosophical debates: (1) personal identity, and (2) the relationship between mind and body. To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating. Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Twitter.

Episode Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction

00:02:16 Topic 1 - Personal identity

00:06:17 Psychological accounts

00:18:17 Animalism accounts

00:41:18 Soul accounts

00:44:28 Primitive identity

00:51:31 Topic 2 - The mind-body problem

01:11:26 Substance monism

01:16:12 Consciousness after death

01:26:25 Is materialism simpler than substance monism?

01:34:20 Derek Parfit "Split Brain" Thought Experiment

Many have watched with alarm as American evangelicals - a particular sect of Protestant Christianity - have largely embraced President Donald Trump, despite the (seeming) inconsistency between his rhetoric on the one hand, and biblical principles on the other. Dr. Randal Rauser joins me for a third time to discuss the connections between evangelicalism, President Donald Trump, and the Republican party in general - contending, ultimately, that Christians must embrace a different vision of Christianity, one that cannot connect itself with President Trump.

Do please oh please consider donating to the channel to support to discuss interesting topics with interesting people.

For more from Randal, check out his blog.

As always, follow me in X-formerly-Twitter and Instagram.

Chapter Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:43 Defining "Evangelical"

00:05:00 Evangelicals Vs. Fundamentalists

00:10:07 The Role of Dispensationalism

00:12:33 Statistics about Evangelicals and Trump

00:13:35 Why Evangelicals Support Trump

00:20:40 Three Reasons Evangelicals Don't Take Issue with Trump

00:28:44 "It's what he does that matters, not what he says."

00:37:39 Single-issue voting: abortion

00:54:44 A New Vision of Christianity

Erik Wielenberg, professor of philosophy at DePauw University, discusses godless normative realism, his attempt to craft an objective morality without appeal to God. We also debate divine command theory, the attempt to do the precise opposite: ground ethics in God's nature, and in His commands.

To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating.

For more information about Dr. Wielenberg and a list of his publications, check out his PhilPeople page.

As always, feel free to follow me on Instagram and X-formerly-Twitter.

William Lane Craig - Christian philosopher, theologian, and apologist - joins me to discuss the Christian doctrine of salvation. I, per usual, throw all my questions at him along the way. Why did God create the world? Could God have saved the world without requiring Jesus to die on the cross? Can a Mormon be saved? Why does salvation require propositional belief? Dr. Craig addresses all these questions and more.

To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating. Check out Dr. Craig's YouTube channel. The book on Molinism that Dr. Craig mentions is Luis de Molina: The Life and Theology of the Founder of Middle Knowledge. As always, you can follow me on Instagram or Twitter.

Matthew Adelstein, YouTuber, philosophy student, and prolific Substacker, sits down to discuss Richard Carrier's arguments for atheism and why they fail to convince.

IMPORTANT LINKS

Matthew's YouTube channel.

Matthew's written response to some of Carrier's arguments: https://substack.com/@benthamsbulldog...

Carrier's paper, "Bayesian Counter-Apologetics: Ten Arguments for God Destroyed".

My dialogue with Carrier on many of these same points.

Matthew returns to the podcast to discuss effective altruism and its philosophical underpinnings.

Check out Matthew's YouTube channel.

To support the channel, do please oh please⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠consider donating⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Dr. Max Baker-Hytch of Oxford University discusses Schellenberg's argument for atheism stemming from nonresistant nonbelief, nonbelief in God that results through no fault of one's own.

Check out Max's paper, "On Sin-based Responses to Divine hiddenness".

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

02:04 Do you struggle with divine hiddenness?

05:00 Schellenberg's argument

14:22 Are there nonresistant nonbelievers?

21:05 Would God prevent nonresistant nonbelief?

27:43 Step #1 - God would always be open to relationship

39:32 Step #2 - Openness entails no nonresistant nonbelief

45:28 Relationship without belief.

52:25 Alex O'Connor as a nonresistant nonbeliever

59:52 Related Problem #1 - Demographics of nonbelief

01:09:15 Related Problem #2 - Religious disagreement

Dr. Brian Cutter outlines the argument from psychophysical harmony for theism and responds to Graham Oppy's recent critique. Check out Crummett and Cutter's article defending the argument from psychophysical harmony:

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:22 The argument, summarized.

00:06:10 Does evolution explain harmony?

00:14:42 Probability of harmony on naturalism

00:20:46 Objection #1 - Infinite range of possible laws.

00:24:52 Objection #2 - Principle of indifference.

00:35:08 Probability of harmony on theism.

00:45:08 Replying to Graham Oppy's objections.

00:50:39 What if the mind and brain are identical?

01:14:36 Other explanations for harmony.

01:24:35 The role of historical context.

Dr. Mike Licona, professor of New Testament Studies at Houston Christian University, joins me to discuss the philosophy of history, whether a historian can determine if an event like the resurrection of Jesus happened, and then, if they can, whether the evidence is in fact sufficient to conclude that two-thousand years ago, Jesus rose from the dead.Check our Dr. Licona's book, "The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach."

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:15 Is the resurrection history or theology?

00:05:29 Methodological naturalism

00:24:46 Shouldn't we always prefer a natural explanation?

00:37:05 Bias in conservative New Testament scholarship

00:42:57 The historical case for the resurrection.

00:47:05 Was Jesus' tomb found empty?

00:49:53 What did the early disciples believe?

00:56:32 Did Paul teach a "spiritual" resurrection?

01:04:55 Alternative #1 - Someone stole the body.

01:08:48 Alternative #2 - The disciples hallucinated.

01:19:23 Alternatives #3 - Aliens raised Jesus from the dead.

Michael Huemer returns to the podcast to discuss his philosophical argument for reincarnation. If time is infinite, then the probability that you have lived multiple times - indeed, an infinite number of times - is 100%. I am not so sure about this argument. Check out Huemer's published version of the reincarnation argument, as well as his Substack.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:04:25 The argument.

00:06:53 Poincare recurrence theorem.

00:17:42 Arguments for an infinite past.

00:28:10 Objection: infinite space and cosmic clones.

00:46:07 What does it feel like to reincarnate?

00:54:31 Should we look forward to our future lives?

01:08:19 Philosophical problems with Heaven.

Troy Dana joins me to debate the fine-tuning argument for God, as well as his anti-design fine-tuning argument.

Check out Troy's YouTube channel, along with Troy's written version of his anti-design argument.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction.

00:00:57 Overview of the FTA.

00:04:49 Troy's anti-design FTA.

00:13:40 Likelihood of fine-tuning given bare design.

00:25:09 Discovering the digits of pi in the cosmic microwave background.

00:33:11 Double counting the evidence?

00:40:37 Bayesianism breaks down in cosmic contexts?

00:44:43 Return of awesome theistic evidence.

01:00:36 We'll pursue this in writing.

01:01:24 Troy's second anti-design argument.

01:11:10 Prior probability of theism.

Keegan Kjeldson, YouTuber and musician, joins me to discuss how Nietzsche would have responded to philosopher Michael Huemer's argument for free will.

Check out Keegan's awesome YouTube channel.

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Joe and I take a more personal turn in this video, discussing the importance of philosophy, what got us into the discipline, and whether studying Immanuel Kant your whole life is really worth it.

Check out Joe's YouTube channel, Majesty of Reason.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:02 What's the value of philosophy?

00:03:35 Are some areas of philosophy pointless?

00:15:17 Joe Schmid: A Personal History

00:25:27 Miles Donahue: A Personal History

00:31:25 Why is Joe an agnostic?

00:40:34 The FTA Objection 1 - Epistemically illuminated region

00:49:34 The FTA Objection 2 - Theism's predictive problem

01:03:57 The FTA Objection 3 - The Multiverse

01:10:20 Question Lightning Round

Dr. Darrell L. Bock, research professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, discusses the gnostic gospels and their relationship to early Christian belief and the historical Jesus.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

00:18 What makes the gnostic gospels so interesting?

01:41 What is gnosticism?

05:15 What did the gnostics think about Jesus?

13:04 The Gospel of Thomas

17:06 The Gospel of Judas

18:31 The Gospel of Peter

20:22 The Gospel of Phillip

24:00 How did the New Testament books get selected?

29:22 The Niece Creed and its history

37:58 What role did Constantine play?

47:04 Bart Ehrman's views on early Christianity

Dr. Robyn Faith Walsh, professor of New Testament at the University of Miami, explains the gnostic gospels, their significance, and their relationship to the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and whether Jesus' earlies disciples would recognize the theology of the earliest Christian creeds.

Check out Dr. Walsh's book, "The Origins of Early Christian Literature."

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:06 What is gnosticism?

00:10:43 The historical value of the gnostic gospels

00:24:12 Are the canonical gospels less legendary than the gnostic ones?

00:31:11 The gospels as literature rather than history

00:35:58 The Gospel of Thomas

00:48:35 Do the gnostic gospels go back to the first century?

00:53:28 Does the Apostles' Creed reflect earliest Christianity?

01:01:55 Would the apostles recognize modern Christianity?

01:07:14 The gospels writers borrowed from Paul

01:14:25 Are evangelical NT scholars taken seriously?

01:25:56 Confirmation bias in NT scholarship

Philip Goff joins me to discuss panpsychism, cosmopsychism, and how these theories of consciousness have the potential to explain one of the most striking discoveries of modern science: the fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life.

Check out Philip's book, Why?: The Purpose of the Universe.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:05 What is panpsychism?

00:14:46 Panpsychism vs. idealism

00:17:49 Why we should be panpsychists

00:34:35 The combination problem

00:40:12 From panpsychism to cosmopsychism

00:48:40 The fine-tuning of the universe

00:56:28 Cosmopsychism vs. theism

01:10:45 What is the purpose of the universe?

01:16:40 Debating William Lane Craig

Dr. Jc Beall, professor of philosophy at Notre Dame, explains "glut theory," the view that some contradictory statements can both be true - or, equivalently, that true theories can be inconsistent.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:03:25 What is dialetheism?

00:15:12 Languages vs. meta-languages

00:23:47 Examples of true contradictions

00:25:02 #1 - The liar paradox

00:31:23 #2 - Contradictions in the law

00:40:11 #3 - Paradoxes of motion

00:45:00 Not every contradiction is true

00:52:40 Why should glut theorists care about consistency?

01:07:13 My argument against dialetheism

01:16:39 Contradictions within Christianity

01:23:30 Can both atheism and Christianity be true?

01:26:34 Is glut theory itself both true and false?

01:32:07 Glut theory and Eastern religions

01:39:49 Things logicians wish everyone would know

01:42:44 Godel's incompleteness theorems

Neil Manson explains the hidden tension between environmental ethics and findings in cosmology over the last thirty years: if life exists throughout the universe, then we lose one main argument for caring what happens to life here on Earth.

Check out Neil Manson's paper, "Anthropocentrism, Exo-Planets, and the Cosmic Perspective".

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:45 Cosmological science today

00:10:25 Anthropocentrism, defined

00:15:16 Two kinds of anthropocentrism: biological and personal

00:30:46 Consequentialism

00:32:15 The cosmic perspective and non-anthropocentrism

00:40:47 Objection: Some infinities are better than other infinities

00:56:59 Why we should reject nonanthropocentrism

01:01:48 Should we seek to preserve nature?

01:18:25 Towards a stewardship model of environmentalism

Dr. Tim Maudlin returns to the channel to discuss the fine-tuning of the universe, the beginning of the universe, and whether these facts might be reasonably suggest that a creator God exists.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:56 How do science and philosophy relate?

00:11:33 The fine-tuning argument

00:22:35 Is the universe fine-tuned for rocks?

00:27:39 Does evil disprove God?

00:31:04 Of multiverses and Boltzmann Brains

00:35:45 How does the multiverse explain fine-tuning?

00:47:39 Do we know we're not Boltzmann Brains?

00:50:59 God and the beginning of the universe

00:58:24 The Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem

01:01:49 Does everything that begin to exist have a cause

01:08:02 Are theistic philosophers acting in good faith

01:11:56 Are atheists acting in good faith?

01:16:59 What is Tim's favorite color?

01:17:29 Will physics ever explain consciousness?

Dr. Randal Rauser, himself a Christian apologist, joins me to critically examine some of the mistakes and excesses of Christian apologetics as it is commonly practiced - on YouTube and within broader academic discourse as well.

Check out Randal's YouTube channel.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:15 What is apologetics?

00:05:52 What is a 'tentative' apologist?

00:14:25 Mistake #1 - Not giving weight to moral experience.

00:36:09 How do we determine what the Bible teaches?

00:38:02 Mistake #2 - Thinking every question must be answered.

00:45:49 Mistake #3 - Simplifying enormously complicated issues.

00:50:50 If saving souls isn't the right motive for apologetics, what is?

00:57:03 Mistake #4 - Mixing apologetics with politics.

01:01:36 Debating vs. discussing controversial issues.

Dr. Michael Huemer and I discuss the evils of factory farming, the strengths and possible drawbacks of a vegan and vegetarian diet, whether animals have rights, if humans are the pinnacle of intrinsic value, and whether already having severe dietary restrictions justifies eating meat (it doesn't).

Check out Dr. Huemer's book, "Dialogues on Ethical Vegetarianism".

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:33 What goes on in factory farms?

00:10:45 Do we have to argue that animals have rights?

00:17:26 Do animals have rights?

00:25:02 Can we hunt animals?

00:27:24 Are all animals sentient?

00:29:01 The Shrimp Welfare Project

00:36:54 Why does it seem normal to eat meat?

00:41:08 Nutritional deficiencies in a vegan diet?

00:47:25 Plant farming kills animals too!

00:55:06 Are we heading for a vegetarian-only world

01:02:30 The role of ethical intuitions

01:09:04 BONUS CONTENT - The inconsistencies of moral anti-realists

Dr. RT Mullins discusses his view that God is literally identical to time. We also discuss and critique William Lane Craig's proposal that God is, in a sense, both temporal and timeless.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:12 What's the point of philosophical theology?

00:11:00 Mullins' definition of time.

00:21:14 An absolutist theory of time.

00:23:39 Is this pantheism?

00:30:49 The idea that God is time.

00:39:35 William Lane Craig's view - God creates time.

00:52:50 Is God's timelessness logically prior to His temporality?

01:04:48 Does time have a beginning?

01:14:07 Do scientists know anything about time?

Dr. Daniel Rubio graciously agreed to come on the channel to discuss and critique a paper I wrote examining four lesser-discussed hypotheses that lie somewhere between theism and atheism: the simulation hypothesis, cosmopsychism, axiarchism, and new laws of nature.

To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating via⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PayPal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy Me a Coffee⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:12:13 Option #1 - We're in a simulation.

00:32:26 Option #2 - The universe designed itself.

01:05:31 Option #3 - Goodness requires that the universe exist.

01:29:01 Option #4 - Laws of nature guide the universe towards life.