You've Got It All Wrong

Are humans just a mere collection of atoms, arranged just so, or is the “self” something that transcends the physical world? This question goes all the way back to Plato and Aristotle, but Rene Descartes kicked off the modern debate in his famous “Meditations on First Philosophy.” In this episode we take a look at the arguments for and against “dualism,” or the idea that minds and bodies are different things. We talk about substance dualism, property dualism and review the latest philosophical research on the mind-body problem. We also take a look at how zombies can help us figure out philosophical problems, what Paco’s new toothbrush can tell us about consciousness and whether you’d be able to buy snacks if you worked inside a thought experiment.

Is doing the most good for the most people always the right thing to do? The moral theory known as “consequentialism” holds that our decisions should be guided by their outcomes. Utilitarianism is one type of consequentialism, which says that our moral choices should be focused on maximizing happiness or “utility” across the whole of humanity. One way to sum up utilitarianism is to say that “the ends justify the means.” In this episode we take a hard look at the implications of utilitarianism and review the writings of John Stuart Mill, Jeremy Bentham and Bernard Williams. We also ask some tough questions, like, “would you kill one innocent person to save five others?” and “what’s it like to work in a coffee mine?” Find out what happens in the Hospital of Utilitarianism and get some pro tips from famous philosophers on weird stuff to put in your will.