Chapel Phil

Happy Holidays! This year, we're all "Ba Humbug"! 

In her podcast debut, Brennan asks the question: Is it ethical to lie about Santa Claus to our children?

Is the existence of Santa reflective of a societal desire for control and order over our children? Perhaps we are a cynical bunch... 

Special thanks to Sidharth Sirdeshmukh for masterminding the background beats!

https://philosophynow.org/issues/135/Lies_Damn_Lies_and_Santa_Claus

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/12/18/your-kids-believe-santa-scientist-says-tell-them-stop-it/

Opinions espoused on Chapel Phil do not reflect the standpoints of the Parr Center for Ethics, Chapel Phil, or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Noah and Max talk about how the pandemic has strained many peoples' mental health. Questions like: "What can we do to improve mental health while complying with our moral obligations to others" and "What is the balance between social interaction and mental health" strive to uncover some aspects of the complex relationship between the pandemic's obligations and our own obligations to maintain mental wellness. 

Episode Guide:

Fact Check link: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fact-checking-trumps-claim-suicide-thousands-economic-shutdown/story?id=69790273

The opinions expressed in Chapel Phil are not reflective of the podcast's overall opinions, the opinions of the UNC Philosophy Department, or the Parr Center for Ethics. 

Anna and Noah provide insights about some of the best professors and classes that they have taken at UNC. 

As general advice, fulfilling your PH credit or continuing on in the philosophy major should be a fun and exciting process. We know that registration is stressful and overcomplicated,  but, hopefully, this episode can provide some insights on who you might want to take, or what courses you should be on the lookout for in the future! 

As always, avoid those 8ams.

Shoutout to Sidharth 

To see all of the courses offered by the department in the coming semester, follow this link! https://philosophy.unc.edu/undergraduate/undergraduate-courses/spring-2021/

This episode continues with Hamish hosting Pavel, Mary Elizabeth, and Garry. Now, the focus of the conversation shifts to critiques of religion's interaction with society. 

Has religion substituted proper mental healthcare for our elderly? Can the Church provide for the needs of society better than the government? 

These questions and more are explored as our guests dive deeper into how they would like to see religion's relationship with our world change. 

A greater description of each guest's background can be found in our last episode's description. 

Links to Bedlam documentary information: https://itvs.org/films/bedlam , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIW6K3Xx6s0

As always, shout out to Hamish for starting his own podcast, Thoughts, which can be accessed here: https://linktr.ee/Thoughts_PhilosophyUntangled

The views expressed on the Chapel Phil Podcast in no way, shape, or form represent the opinions of Chapel Phil, the Parr Center for Ethics, or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

In this episode, Hamish hosts a diverse group of religious and non-religious guests. The episode centers around exploring how religion guides ethics, whether people should be religious, and a discussion of how religion exists in our current American society. To ground this discussion we have a diverse set of guests: a conservative Christian, a progressive Christian, and an atheist. This episode was recorded earlier in the year, before the pandemic. 

 Garry Crites is a well known-Durhamite. He is best known as the Executive Director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Garry is a graduate of Duke's religious history Ph.D. studies program. He has experience teaching conservative perspectives on Christianity from his time as a Professor at Duke. *Not to be confused with our notorious campus Gary the Pit Preacher*. For more information on Garry, see https://naminc.org/nami-north-carolina-announces-new-executive-director/

Reverend Mary Elizabeth Hanchey is a graduate of UNC Law School, Duke Divinity, and now serves at the United Church of Chapel Hill. She is known for her commitment to combining social justice in her mission to spread the gospel. Mary Elizabeth brings a dearth of experiential knowledge about our southern community, particularly the North Carolina community. 

Pavel Nitchovski is a self-proclaimed atheist, best known around UNC for teaching existentialism being the soul of the philosophy department. He is a graduate student in Philosophy and a High School Ethics Bowl Judge legend for asking questions to students about kicking puppies. He is passionate about film. Pavel hosts Philosophy at the Movies, a fun experience for UNC students to come and watch and discuss movies and their themes. We hope that it resumes after coronavirus passes. Pavel has the best humor and anecdotes in the Philosophy Department, according to the Chapel Phil team. 

This is the first of two episodes that will come from this extended dialogue. 

Today on the podcast we're talking about the devil of government structures: Fascism.  Joined by German History Prof., Konrad Jarausch, Hamish leads a discussion on the difficulties of defining fascism and identifying its historical causes. In the second half of the episode, we talk about the possibility of fascism returning. Towards the end, Dr. Jarausch argues that the subversive threat of the present day is unaccountable and unrepresentative governments masquerading as democracies. 

Citations:

With the increased help of the Parr Center, Chapel Phil is excited to announce two new types of episodes: 

The second set of new episodes will be called "what should you do?" (or WSYD for short)  This type of episode will feature the fellows exploring different topics, like fire, planes, etc. and our obligations when navigating them. Topics will be one word. We will evaluate anonymous hot takes from members of the philosophy department and other UNC staff on top of our own opinions.  

The goal of these episodes is to increase our presence in the UNC community and allow for the Parr Center Fellows to engage in ethical discussion. We are excited and ready to diversify beyond our weekly interview-based episodes! 

In this episode, Hamish and Max Forster, a guest parr center fellow, recorded a special episode with one of our favorite Assistant Philosophy professors at UNC, Dr. Alex Worsnip. The discussion centered on Dr. Worsnip’s research about how people can maintain irrational mental states. In the second half of the episode, they explored how rationality relates to political disagreements and echo chambers. The episode concludes by talking about the relationship between ethical and political beliefs. Dr.Worsnip possesses an impressive ability to construct complex philosophy in an exciting and accessible way!

Citations:

This episode is a deep dive into the inspiration behind a masterful collection of poems. William Brewer has been touched personally and has taken up a mantle to write for all who have been harmed by the opioid epidemic. Specifically regarding West Virginia, Brewer brings a pointed critique of how the United States can erase states with a "culture of extraction". His lyrical style, amorphous writing style, and his personal opinions drive this episode into avenues of literature and culture previously unexplored on Chapel Phil. Hosting on this episode is Noah. 

https://williambrewer.net/about

This is a short outtake from a tangent, which was edited out of our last episode with Geoff Sayre-McCord. Learn who Sina's favorite philosopher is, what he thought about dinner parties, and which sense is the most worthless! This is an exciting, short bit that we are happy to share.