Sadler's Lectures

This lecture discusses key ideas from the modern philosopher Thomas Hobbes' work De Corpore, specifically ch 11. "Of Identity and Difference", part 7

In this section, Hobbes explores questions and problems of what makes a thing remain the same thing throughout its changes over time or in composition. He considers several different philosophical approaches to the issue, one which focuses on the matter, another which focuses on the form, and a third which focuses on the accidents of the presumed substance in question. He references Plutarch's famous Ship of Theseus problem in the course of his discussion.

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This video focuses on chapter 6 of Stanislaw Lem's Summa Technologiae, specifically the section “Personality and Information”, which discusses thought experiments that bear on turning a person into information and reconstituting that person somewhere else or at a different point in time.

Specifically it examines on a somewhat different kind of thought-experiment, involving freezing a person, taking all of their atoms out of them while keeping records of their configurations, and then reconstituting and thawing them.

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This video focuses on chapter 6 of Stanislaw Lem's Summa Technologiae, specifically the section “Personality and Information”, which discusses thought experiments that bear on turning a person into information and reconstituting that person somewhere else or at a different point in time.

Specifically it examines one feature of these types of situations that is morally problematic, namely that it seems like the process has to in some way or another kill the original person who is telegraphed or transported.

To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler

If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM

You can find over 4500 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler

Purchase Stanislaw Lem's Summa Technologiae - https://amzn.to/4v0FxNz

This video focuses on chapter 6 of Stanislaw Lem's Summa Technologiae, specifically the section “Personality and Information”, which discusses thought experiments that bear on turning a person into information and reconstituting that person somewhere else or at a different point in time.

Specifically it examines the paradoxes and problems that arise when we start thinking through the implications of telegraphing (or in Star Trek, transporting) people by transmitting atomic-level information about them to a different place and then reconstituting them (or something that is a copy of them) there.

To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler

If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM

You can find over 4500 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler

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This lecture discusses the William Clifford's 1877 essay "The Ethics Of Belief", in which he makes and argued for the central claim "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."

It focuses on the third section of his essay, titled "The Limits Of Inference" in which Clifford discusses conditions for having well-founded beliefs of matters we don't have direct experience of, for example matters of everyday life, science, or history. We inevitably rely upon the assumption that the future or present will resemble what we have experienced in the past

To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler

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You can find over 4,000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler

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This lecture discusses the William Clifford's 1877 essay "The Ethics Of Belief", in which he makes and argued for the central claim "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."

It focuses on portion of part 2 of the essay that is devoted to Clifford's analysis of tradition. He distinguishes between particular traditions, developing within a specific group, culture, or civilization and the "tradition of the human race". He also makes an important distinction with the latter, arguing that any "tradition" that closes off inquiry does not actually serve humanity, and that a robust, useful tradition would actually lead to framing questions and promoting inquiry.

To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler

If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO

You can find over 4,000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler

Get Clifford's The Ethics of Belief - https://amzn.to/41WkkYA

This lecture discusses the William Clifford's 1877 essay "The Ethics Of Belief", in which he makes and argued for the central claim "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."

It focuses on Clifford's criteria for determining when and whether we ought to give credence to the testimony of other people, especially those who have made assertions we cannot directly verify. He identifies three key qualities we can look for in these persons, namely: veracity, knowledge, and judgement, explains what they are, and applies them to some example cases.

To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler

If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO

You can find over 4,000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler

Get Clifford's The Ethics of Belief - https://amzn.to/41WkkYA

This lecture discusses the William Clifford's 1877 essay "The Ethics Of Belief", in which he makes and argued for the central claim "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."

It focuses on Clifford's contention that the beliefs people hold, even if they seem to be quite trivial, can have significant importance and consequences. His argument is that we inevitably draw upon and share the beliefs of others, not only in the present, but across generations

To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler

If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO

You can find over 4,000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler

Get Clifford's The Ethics of Belief - https://amzn.to/41WkkYA

This lecture discusses the William Clifford's 1877 essay "The Ethics Of Belief", in which he makes and argued for the central claim "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."

It focuses on the two cases that Clifford's essay uses to illustrate the ethical duty he argues that we have not to believe anything without having gathered and weighed evidence for or against the belief. One example has to do with a ship owner who takes on passengers for a voyage without knowing whether or not the ship is actually seaworthy. The other example has to do with a group of people who persecute another group for engaging in practices they consider harmful without actually finding out whether they are in fact engaged in such practices. Clifford argues that even if it turns out to be as one believes, and that the actions produce good consequences, the person who believes upon insufficient evidence does wrong thereby.

To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler

If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO

You can find over 4,000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler

Get Clifford's The Ethics of Belief - https://amzn.to/41WkkYA

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca's Letters, this one looking at Letter 90

It focuses specifically on Seneca's engagement with another earlier Stoic philosopher, Posidonius, who developed theories about the development of human disciplines and technology (artes), having to do with wisdom and philosophy. Posidonius postulates a golden age in which human beings lived in accordance with nature and were ruled over by the wise, and then a degeneration through greed, self-indulgence, and other vices into a lesser state in which they needed more and more technologies. Seneca argues that these were developed using human reason, but not right reason, from ingenuity rather than wisdom, and that while philosophers might have developed some of them, they did not do so as philosophers. In this letter, Seneca also outlines what the matters that wisdom and philosophy deal with are.

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