Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ bite-sized philosophy • political philosophy, liberty, inequality, democracy • ethics and law, organ donation, self-defense, future generations • epistemology and cognitive bias • metaphysics, time, numbers • game theory, decision puzzles • commons, population, evolution • literature themes: 1984, Camus
This podcast offers brief, accessible introductions to philosophical ideas, typically framed as a single concept, argument, or problem that can be explored in a short listening window. Across the episodes, the focus ranges from classic figures in the philosophical canon to modern debates in ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, and metaphysics, with an emphasis on explaining what a view is, why it matters, and what questions it raises.
A recurring thread is moral and political evaluation of social life and institutions. The podcast regularly considers how communities should manage shared resources and collective risks, how liberty and equality should be understood, and how law relates to ethical reasoning. It also treats applied ethics topics where philosophical tools are used to examine real-world dilemmas, including issues in public policy and biomedical decision-making, along with questions about duties that may extend across time to future people.
Another prominent theme is how we know what we know. Several discussions center on the structure of knowledge and justification, the challenge of skepticism, and the ways human reasoning can systematically mislead us. Related to this are episodes that use puzzles, thought experiments, and decision problems to illuminate rational choice, incentives, and strategic interaction, drawing on ideas associated with probability, expected value, and game theory.
The podcast also explores metaphysical questions about what reality is made of and what kinds of things exist, including debates about time, abstract objects, and the mind–body relationship. In addition, it sometimes uses well-known literary works as a vehicle for philosophical analysis, drawing out themes such as power, control, ideology, and the conditions under which individuals can resist or become complicit in oppressive systems.
Overall, listeners can expect concise explanations of influential arguments and frameworks, frequent use of illustrative examples, and a mix of historical context with contemporary relevance.
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Episodes:
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147: Thomas Malthus on Population
2023-Dec-04
15 minutes
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146: Hardin on The Tragedy of The Commons
2023-Nov-09
11 minutes
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145: The Commons
2023-Oct-19
13 minutes
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144: Confirmation Bias
2023-Sep-29
11 minutes
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143: Bioethics and Organ Donation
2023-Sep-04
12 minutes
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142: Philosophy and 1984: Part 4
2023-Aug-12
17 minutes
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141: Philosophy and 1984: Part 3
2023-Jul-28
12 minutes
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140: Philosophy and 1984: Part 2
2023-Jul-12
18 minutes
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139: Philosophy and 1984: Part 1
2023-Jun-29
22 minutes
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138: Philosophy and 1984 Summer Series Announcement
2023-Jun-13
2 minutes
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137: Leibniz on Monads
2023-May-17
13 minutes
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136: Duties Owed to Future Generations?
2023-Apr-26
10 minutes
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135: Ethics And The Law
2023-Apr-11
12 minutes
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134: Camus's 'The Stranger': Part 2
2023-Mar-29
15 minutes
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133: Camus's 'The Stranger': Part 1
2023-Mar-21
11 minutes
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132: Camus's 'The Stranger' Preview
2023-Mar-14
2 minutes
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131: Hannah Arendt on the Banality of Evil
2023-Mar-03
7 minutes
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130: Isaiah Berlin's 'Two Concepts of Liberty'
2023-Feb-21
11 minutes
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129: Two Utilitarian Thought Experiments
2023-Feb-10
9 minutes
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128: Price Gouging and Scarcity
2023-Jan-31
14 minutes
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127: Herbert Spencer's Evolutionary Individualism
2023-Jan-20
18 minutes
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126: Darwin on Natural Selection
2023-Jan-10
16 minutes
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125: Princess Elisabeth's Objection to Descartes's Dualism
2022-Dec-30
16 minutes
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124: The Gettier Problem and Knowledge
2022-Dec-20
13 minutes
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123: Knowledge as Justified True Belief
2022-Dec-09
12 minutes
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122: Natural Procedural Rights
2022-Nov-29
13 minutes
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121: Rousseau on Inequality
2022-Nov-18
12 minutes
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120: Egalitarianism
2022-Nov-08
12 minutes
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119: The Ring of Gyges in Plato's Republic
2022-Oct-28
10 minutes
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118: The Prisoner's Dilemma and Game Theory
2022-Oct-18
14 minutes
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117: The Rabbit Duck Illusion
2022-Oct-07
10 minutes
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116: Aristotle On The Best Type of Life
2022-Sep-27
9 minutes
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115: The Montey Hall Puzzle
2022-Sep-16
7 minutes
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114: Presentism
2022-Sep-09
8 minutes
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113: Big Lotteries and Expected Value
2022-Sep-02
11 minutes
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112: Descartes's Sixth Meditation
2022-Aug-26
16 minutes
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111: The Blind Chessmaster
2022-Aug-18
8 minutes
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110: Descartes's Fifth Meditation
2022-Aug-11
13 minutes
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109: Descartes's Fourth Meditation
2022-Jul-28
17 minutes
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108: Descartes's Third Meditation
2022-Jul-14
19 minutes
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107: Descartes's Second Meditation
2022-Jun-30
13 minutes
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106: Self-Defense
2022-Jun-23
10 minutes
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105: Descartes's First Meditation
2022-Jun-16
11 minutes
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104: Descartes Summer Series Announcement
2022-Jun-09
3 minutes
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103: Tocqueville's Democracy in America: Part 2
2022-Jun-02
11 minutes
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102: Tocqueville's Democracy in America: Part 1
2022-May-26
12 minutes
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101: Economics Without Ethics?
2022-May-19
11 minutes
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100: Are Numbers Even Real?
2022-May-12
11 minutes
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99: Peter Kropotkin on Mutual Aid
2022-May-05
12 minutes
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98: Religious Liberty And The State
2022-Apr-29
11 minutes
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97: Transhumanism and Immortality: Part 2
2022-Apr-22
11 minutes
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96: Transhumanism and Immortality: Part 1
2022-Apr-15
7 minutes
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95: Ethics and Truth
2022-Apr-08
10 minutes
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94: Truth: The Basic Views
2022-Apr-01
13 minutes
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93: The Turing Test
2022-Mar-25
9 minutes
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92: Marx on Alienated Labor
2022-Mar-18
11 minutes
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91: Economic Inequality
2022-Mar-11
10 minutes
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90: Secondary Ticket Markets
2022-Mar-04
9 minutes
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89: Thomas Kuhn on Scientific Revolutions
2022-Feb-25
8 minutes
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88: Anselm's Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
2022-Feb-18
9 minutes
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87: Emma Goldman on Anarchism
2022-Feb-11
10 minutes
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86: Ethical Relativism
2022-Feb-04
8 minutes
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85: Max Stirner's Anti-Authoritarianism
2022-Jan-28
9 minutes
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84: Advaita Vedanta and Reality
2022-Jan-21
8 minutes
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83: Martin Luther King Jr. on Just and Unjust Laws
2022-Jan-14
12 minutes
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82: Assumptions
2022-Jan-07
7 minutes
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81: God and Foreknowledge
2021-Dec-31
8 minutes
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80: Gifts and Gift Giving
2021-Dec-25
9 minutes
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79: Public Goods, Free Riders, and Rose Gardens
2021-Dec-22
10 minutes
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78: The Morality of Taxation
2021-Dec-16
10 minutes
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77: Kant on Space and Time
2021-Dec-10
14 minutes
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76: Kant on the Phenomena and Noumena
2021-Dec-03
10 minutes
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75: Freedom and Mental Conflict
2021-Nov-26
7 minutes
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74: Review of 'The Truman Show'
2021-Nov-19
8 minutes
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73: Camus and the Myth of Sisyphus
2021-Nov-12
9 minutes
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72: Tattoos and End of Life Medical Care
2021-Nov-05
7 minutes
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71: Locke on Tacit Consent
2021-Oct-29
13 minutes
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70: Consent
2021-Oct-22
9 minutes
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69: Marx on False Consciousness
2021-Oct-15
10 minutes
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68: Marx on Relative Deprivation
2021-Oct-08
7 minutes
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67: Poisonous Balloons and Vaccine Mandates
2021-Oct-01
10 minutes
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66: Freedom, Moral Responsibility and Alternative Possibilities
2021-Sep-24
9 minutes
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65: Justin McBrayer Discusses His Book 'Beyond Fake News: Finding the Truth in a World of Misinformation'
2021-Sep-17
8 minutes
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64: Cooley's Looking Glass Self
2021-Sep-10
8 minutes
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63: Paley, Watches, and God
2021-Sep-03
8 minutes
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62: Harm
2021-Aug-27
8 minutes
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61: Science, Evolution, and Circular Reasoning
2021-Aug-20
9 minutes
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60: Moral Luck
2021-Aug-13
9 minutes
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59: Nietzsche and The Arts
2021-Aug-06
10 minutes
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58: Nietzsche and Nihilism
2021-Jul-23
8 minutes
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57: Martin Bunzl Discusses His Book 'Thinking While Walking: Reflections on the Pacific Crest Trail'
2021-Jul-16
10 minutes
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56: Nietzsche's Ubermensch
2021-Jul-09
9 minutes
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55: Nietzsche's Will to Power
2021-Jun-25
8 minutes
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54: The Non-Identity Problem in Bioethics
2021-Jun-19
5 minutes
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53: Nietzsche and Truth
2021-Jun-11
8 minutes
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52: Nietzsche Summer Series Announcement
2021-Jun-09
2 minutes
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51: Hobbes on Government
2021-Jun-04
7 minutes
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50: Durkheim on Religion
2021-May-28
6 minutes
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49: The Communist Manifesto
2021-May-21
11 minutes
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48: The Detachable Body
2021-May-14
7 minutes
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47: The Euthyphro Dilemma
2021-May-07
8 minutes
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46: The Trolley Problem: Part II
2021-Apr-30
7 minutes
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45: The Trolley Problem: Part 1
2021-Apr-23
8 minutes
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44: Nietzsche on Eternal Recurrence
2021-Apr-16
6 minutes
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43: Vegetarianism and Animal Welfare
2021-Apr-09
7 minutes
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42: Euthanasia
2021-Apr-02
6 minutes
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41: Crito: The Death of Socrates
2021-Mar-27
6 minutes
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40: Weakness of Will
2021-Mar-20
7 minutes
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39: Threats, Offers, and The Godfather
2021-Mar-13
6 minutes
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38: Human Nature and Freedom
2021-Mar-06
6 minutes
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37: Act vs. Rule Utilitarianism
2021-Feb-28
7 minutes
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36: Use
2021-Feb-20
8 minutes
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35: Milton Friedman on Business Ethics
2021-Feb-13
7 minutes
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34: Utilitarianism
2021-Feb-06
8 minutes
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33: George Berkeley's Idealism
2021-Jan-30
10 minutes
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32: William James on Free Will and Determinism
2021-Jan-23
9 minutes
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31: Free Will: The Basic Views
2021-Jan-16
8 minutes
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30: Ought Implies Can, or Does it?
2021-Jan-09
6 minutes
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29: Music, Money, and Value
2021-Jan-02
6 minutes
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28: Self-Ownership
2020-Dec-26
9 minutes
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27: Ownership
2020-Dec-19
9 minutes
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26: Science and Falsification
2020-Dec-12
7 minutes
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25: Aristotle's Ethics
2020-Dec-05
12 minutes
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24: Veblen's Conspicuous Consumption
2020-Nov-27
9 minutes
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23: Pirsig on Time and Experience
2020-Nov-21
9 minutes
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22: Mill's Marketplace of Ideas
2020-Nov-15
6 minutes
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21: Voluntary Choice and Belief
2020-Nov-07
7 minutes
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20: God and the Problem of Evil
2020-Nov-01
9 minutes
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19: Justice in Rawls's Veil of Ignorance: Part II
2020-Oct-24
10 minutes
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18: Justice In Rawls's Veil of Ignorance: Part 1
2020-Oct-16
8 minutes
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17: Rights
2020-Oct-11
7 minutes
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16: Experience, Knowledge and Qualia
2020-Oct-02
7 minutes
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15: Four Noble Truths of Buddhism: Part II
2020-Sep-25
7 minutes
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14: Four Noble Truths of Buddhism: Part 1
2020-Sep-17
7 minutes
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13: The State as a Force Monopolizer
2020-Sep-09
10 minutes
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12: Pascal's Wager
2020-Sep-02
7 minutes
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11: Sartre and Bad Faith
2020-Aug-26
7 minutes
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10: Existentalism
2020-Aug-20
7 minutes
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9: Plato's Allegory of the Cave
2020-Aug-05
7 minutes
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8: Aquinas, Big Rocks, and God
2020-Jul-26
9 minutes
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7: Thoreau's Civil Disobedience
2020-Jul-07
8 minutes
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6: Knowledge and Classical Islamic Philosophy
2020-Jun-03
10 minutes
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5: Descartes and Knowledge
2020-May-27
8 minutes
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4: Robert Nozick's Experience Machine
2020-May-20
6 minutes
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Egg Timer Philosophy Trailer
2020-May-19
1 minute
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3: Identity Puzzles and The Ship of Theseus
2020-May-12
9 minutes
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2: Mill's Harm Principle
2020-May-05
9 minutes
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1: Stoicism
2020-May-01
9 minutes
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