Episode 33, Yujin Nagasawa and 'The Problem of Evil for Atheists' (Part I)

Welcome to Episode 33 on 'The Problem of Evil for Atheists' (Part I of II).

Yujin Nagasawa is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, as well as President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion and Co-Director of the John Hick Centre for Philosophy of Religion. Obtaining his PhD from the Australian National University in 2004, Nagasawa’s work in philosophy is extensive, focusing on a range of topics from the problems surrounding consciousness to the nature and existence of God. 

Our focus for Episode 33, is Nagasawa’s ‘The Problem of Evil for Atheists’. The argument can be stated as follows, atheists believe that the world is generally good and they are happy and grateful to exist i.e. they are existential optimists. However, our entire evolutionary biological system is based upon the painful, miserable suffering of the weak. So, why should we think that the world is overall good and that we should be grateful to exist, if our existence depends on a violent, cruel and unfair biological system which guarantees pain and suffering for unaccountably many sentient animals? Nagasawa argues that the theist is in a better position to answer this question than the atheist, suggesting that the problem of evil provides good reason to abandon atheism and adopt theism.

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Part I. 'The Problem of Evil for Atheists'.

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion.

Episode 31, Ludwig Wittgenstein with Prof. Richard Gaskin (Part II - Philosophical Investigations)

Welcome to Episode 31 on Ludwig Wittgenstein (Part II of II) with Prof. Richard Gaskin.

Ludwig Wittgenstein was an Austrian-British philosopher whose work focused on the philosophy of mathematics, logic, the philosophy of mind, and most notably, the philosophy of language.

Wittgenstein’s influence on the world of philosophy has been phenomenal. The study of philosophy was immensely important to Wittgenstein, not only as an academic discipline but as a form of therapy. In Ludwig’s own words, he describes philosophy as, "the only work that gives me real satisfaction".

Wittgenstein’s work can be divided into an early period, exemplified by the Tractatus (our focus for Part I), and a later period, articulated in the Philosophical Investigations (which is our focus for Part II). Early Wittgenstein was concerned with the logical relationship between propositions and the world. He thought that by providing an account of this relationship, he had solved every philosophical problem. The later Wittgenstein rejected many of the assumptions of the Tractatus, arguing that the meaning of words is best understood as their use within a given language-game.

Wittgenstein’s life and work are astonishing. His mentor, Bertrand Russell, described him as "the most perfect example I have ever known of genius as traditionally conceived; passionate, profound, intense, and dominating".

This week in Part II, we'll be discussing Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations from 1953. 

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Part I. The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (08:00 in Part I)

Part II. The Philosophical Investigations (start of Part II)

Part III. Further Analysis and Discussion (45:45 in Part II)

Episodes 29-31 are proudly supported by New College of the Humanities. To find out more about the college and their philosophy programmes, please visit www.nchlondon.ac.uk/panpsycast. 

Episode 31, Ludwig Wittgenstein with Prof. Richard Gaskin (Part I - Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus)

Welcome to Episode 31 on Ludwig Wittgenstein (Part I of II) with Prof. Richard Gaskin.

Ludwig Wittgenstein was an Austrian-British philosopher whose work focused on the philosophy of mathematics, logic, the philosophy of mind, and most notably, the philosophy of language.

Wittgenstein’s influence on the world of philosophy has been phenomenal. The study of philosophy was immensely important to Wittgenstein, not only as an academic discipline but as a form of therapy. In Ludwig’s own words, he describes philosophy as, "the only work that gives me real satisfaction".

Wittgenstein’s work can be divided into an early period, exemplified by the Tractatus (our focus for Part I), and a later period, articulated in the Philosophical Investigations (which is our focus for Part II). Early Wittgenstein was concerned with the logical relationship between propositions and the world. He thought that by providing an account of this relationship, he had solved every philosophical problem. The later Wittgenstein rejected many of the assumptions of the Tractatus, arguing that the meaning of words is best understood as their use within a given language-game.

Wittgenstein’s life and work are astonishing. His mentor, Bertrand Russell, described him as "the most perfect example I have ever known of genius as traditionally conceived; passionate, profound, intense, and dominating".

This week in Part I, we'll be discussing Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus from 1921. 

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Part I. The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (08:00 in Part I)

Part II. The Philosophical Investigations (start of Part II)

Part III. Further Analysis and Discussion (45:45 in Part II)

Episodes 29-31 are proudly supported by New College of the Humanities. To find out more about the college and their philosophy programmes, please visit www.nchlondon.ac.uk/panpsycast. 

Episode 30, Friedrich Nietzsche - with Mark Linsenmayer and Gregory Sadler (Part II)

Welcome to Episode 30 (Part II of II) on Friedrich Nietzsche with Mark Linsenmayer and Dr Gregory Sadler.

Born in Rocken, in Prussia in 1844, Nietzsche set out his career in philology but later turned to writing idiosyncratic philosophical treatise and collections of aphorisms. He directed these against the pious dogmas of Christianity and traditional philosophy. He saw both as self-serving veils drawn over the harsher realities of life. He felt we needed not a high moral or theological ideals but a deeply critical form of cultural genealogy that would uncover the reasons why we humans are as we are and how we have come to be this way. He believed that every great philosopher actually a kind of involuntary and unconscious memoir rather than conducting an impersonal search for knowledge. Studying our own moral genealogy cannot help us escape or transcend ourselves but it can enable us to see our illusions more clearly and lead a more vital, assertive existence. 

There is no God in this picture. The human beings who created God have also killed him. It is now up to us alone. The way to live is not to throw ourselves into faith but into our own lives, conducting them in affirmation of every moment, exactly as it without wishing anything was different and without harbouring resentment for others or our fate (Sarah Bakewell, The Existentialist Cafe, p.19-20).

This week in Part II, we'll be looking at what Nietzsche can teach us, as well as engaging in some further analysis and discussion. 

Share your thoughts and feedback @thepanpsycast.

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Part I. What is the philosophical underpinning of Nietzsche? (36:40 in Part I)

Part II. An Introduction to Nietzsche’s Thought (50:00 in Part I)

Part III. What can Nietzsche teach us? (00:05 in Part II)

Part IV. Further Analysis and Discussion. (28:15 in Part II)

Episodes 29-31 are proudly supported by New College of the Humanities. To find out more about the college and their philosophy programmes, please visit www.nchlondon.ac.uk/panpsycast. 

Episode 30, Friedrich Nietzsche - with Mark Linsenmayer and Gregory Sadler (Part I)

Welcome to Episode 30 (Part I of II) on Friedrich Nietzsche with Mark Linsenmayer and Dr Gregory Sadler.

Born in Rocken, in Prussia in 1844, Nietzsche set out his career in philology but later turned to writing idiosyncratic philosophical treatise and collections of aphorisms. He directed these against the pious dogmas of Christianity and traditional philosophy. He saw both as self-serving veils drawn over the harsher realities of life. He felt we needed not a high moral or theological ideals but a deeply critical form of cultural genealogy that would uncover the reasons why we humans are as we are and how we have come to be this way. He believed that every great philosopher actually a kind of involuntary and unconscious memoir rather than conducting an impersonal search for knowledge. Studying our own moral genealogy cannot help us escape or transcend ourselves but it can enable us to see our illusions more clearly and lead a more vital, assertive existence. 

There is no God in this picture. The human beings who created God have also killed him. It is now up to us alone. The way to live is not to throw ourselves into faith but into our own lives, conducting them in affirmation of every moment, exactly as it without wishing anything was different and without harbouring resentment for others or our fate (Sarah Bakewell, The Existentialist Cafe, p.19-20).

This week in Part I, we'll be looking at the thinkers who influenced Nietzsche, as well as introducing you to his philosophy. 

Share your thoughts and feedback @thepanpsycast.

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Part I. What is the philosophical underpinning of Nietzsche? (36:40 in Part I)

Part II. An Introduction to Nietzsche’s Thought (50:00 in Part I)

Part III. What can Nietzsche teach us? (00:05 in Part II)

Part IV. Further Analysis and Discussion. (28:15 in Part II)

Episodes 29-31 are proudly supported by New College of the Humanities. To find out more about the college and their philosophy programmes, please visit www.nchlondon.ac.uk/panpsycast. 

Episode 29, Stephen Law and 'The Evil-God Challenge' (Part II)

Welcome to Episode 29 (Part II), where we'll be interviewing Dr Stephen Law and discussing his 'Evil-God Challenge'.

Dr Stephen Law is a Reader in philosophy at Heythrop College, University of London, and editor of the Royal Institute of Philosophy journal THINK. Amongst many other books, Stephen Law is the author of A Very Short Introduction to Humanism, The War for Children's Minds, The Philosophy Gym, and Believing Bullshit: How Not to Get Sucked into an Intellectual Black Hole.

Stephen Law has debated many Christian philosophers, including William Lane Craig, John Lennox and Alvin Plantinga. Our central focus today is Law’s main argument against the existence of God – 'The Evil-God Challenge'. The evil-god challenge can be stated as follows: why should we consider the hypothesis that there exists a good-god, significantly more reasonable than the hypothesis that there exists an evil-god?

This week in Part II, we'll be analysing the 'Evil-God Challenge'.

Share your thoughts and feedback @thepanpsycast.

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Part I. The Evil-God Challenge (start of Part I)
Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion (start of Part II)

Episodes 29-31 are proudly supported by New College of the Humanities. To find out more about the college and their philosophy programmes, please visit www.nchlondon.ac.uk/panpsycast. 

Episode 29, Stephen Law and 'The Evil-God Challenge' (Part I)

Welcome to Episode 29 (Part I), where we'll be interviewing Dr Stephen Law and discussing his 'Evil-God Challenge'.

Dr Stephen Law is a Reader in philosophy at Heythrop College, University of London, and editor of the Royal Institute of Philosophy journal THINK. Amongst many other books, Stephen Law is the author of A Very Short Introduction to Humanism, The War for Children's Minds, The Philosophy Gym, and Believing Bullshit: How Not to Get Sucked into an Intellectual Black Hole.

Stephen Law has debated many Christian philosophers, including William Lane Craig, John Lennox and Alvin Plantinga. Our central focus today is Law’s main argument against the existence of God – 'The Evil-God Challenge'. The evil-god challenge can be stated as follows: why should we consider the hypothesis that there exists a good-god, significantly more reasonable than the hypothesis that there exists an evil-god?

This week in Part I, we'll be introducing Stephen and setting up the 'Evil-God Challenge'.

Share your thoughts and feedback @thepanpsycast.

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Part I. The Evil-God Challenge (start of Part I)
Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion (start of Part II)
Episodes 29-31 are proudly supported by New College of the Humanities. To find out more about the college and their philosophy programmes, please visit www.nchlondon.ac.uk/panpsycast. 

Episode 25, Philip Goff and David Papineau Debate: 'Can Science Explain Consciousness?' (Part III)

Hello and welcome to Episode 25, Philip Goff and David Papineau Debate: 'Can Science Explain Consciousness?' (Part III).

In the words of David Chalmers, “The hard problem of consciousness is the problem of experience. When we think and perceive, there is a whir of information-processing, but there is also a subjective aspect. As Nagel has put it, there is something it is like to be a conscious organism. This subjective aspect is experience. When we see, for example, we experience visual sensations: the felt quality of redness, the experience of dark and light, the quality of depth in a visual field. What unites all of these states is that there is something it is like to be in them. All of them are states of experience.”

Debating the question, 'Does physicalism address the hard problem of consciousness?' are Philip Goff and David Papineau.

This week in Part III, Goff and Papineau answer your questions.

Any thoughts? Please tweet us @thepanpsycast.

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Part I. Open Debate (Part I - 13:25)

Part II. Listener Questions (Start of Part III)

External Links:

Philip Goff

David Papineau

Episode 25, Philip Goff and David Papineau Debate: 'Can Science Explain Consciousness?' (Part II)

Hello and welcome to Episode 25, Philip Goff and David Papineau Debate: 'Can Science Explain Consciousness?' (Part II).

In the words of David Chalmers, “The hard problem of consciousness is the problem of experience. When we think and perceive, there is a whir of information-processing, but there is also a subjective aspect. As Nagel has put it, there is something it is like to be a conscious organism. This subjective aspect is experience. When we see, for example, we experience visual sensations: the felt quality of redness, the experience of dark and light, the quality of depth in a visual field. What unites all of these states is that there is something it is like to be in them. All of them are states of experience.”

Debating the question, 'Does physicalism address the hard problem of consciousness?' are Philip Goff and David Papineau.

This week in Part II, Goff and Papineau conclude their open debate. 

Any thoughts? Please tweet us @thepanpsycast.

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Part I. Open Debate (Part I - 13:25)

Part II. Listener Questions (Start of Part III)

External Links:

Philip Goff

David Papineau

Episode 25, Philip Goff and David Papineau Debate: 'Can Science Explain Consciousness?' (Part I)

Hello and welcome to Episode 25, Philip Goff and David Papineau Debate: 'Can Science Explain Consciousness?' (Part I).

In the words of David Chalmers, “The hard problem of consciousness is the problem of experience. When we think and perceive, there is a whir of information-processing, but there is also a subjective aspect. As Nagel has put it, there is something it is like to be a conscious organism. This subjective aspect is experience. When we see, for example, we experience visual sensations: the felt quality of redness, the experience of dark and light, the quality of depth in a visual field. What unites all of these states is that there is something it is like to be in them. All of them are states of experience.”

Debating the question, 'Does physicalism address the hard problem of consciousness?' are Philip Goff and David Papineau.

This week in Part I, Goff and Papineau begin their open debate. 

Any thoughts? Please tweet us @thepanpsycast.

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Part I. Open Debate (Part I - 13:25)

Part II. Listener Questions (Start of Part III)

External Links:

Philip Goff

David Papineau

Episode 24, The A. C. Grayling Interview (Part II)

Hello and welcome to Episode 24 (Part II/II) The A. C. Grayling Interview.

Philosopher and master of the New College of the Humanities professor A. C. Grayling is considered by many to be amongst the greatest and most influential philosophers of our time. Professor Grayling has published around 40 books in philosophy, history of ideas, human rights and ethics. These include the Refutation of Scepticism, The Future of Moral Values, Wittgenstein, The Meaning of Things, The God Argument and The Age of Genius. Professor Grayling is an exceptional example of someone who has lived the examined life. In this fascinating interview, we ask Professor Grayling about a broad range of philosophical topics. This is a must listen for anyone interested in philosophy.

This week in Part II, we'll be discussing A. C. Grayling's views.

Any thoughts? Please tweet us @thepanpsycast.

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Part I. The Examined Life (Start of Part I)
Part II. A. C. Grayling: The Philosopher (Start of Part II)

Episode 24, The A. C. Grayling Interview (Part I)

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Hello and welcome to Episode 24 (Part I/II) The A. C. Grayling Interview.

Philosopher and master of the New College of the Humanities professor A. C. Grayling is considered by many to be amongst the greatest and most influential philosophers of our time. Professor Grayling has published around 40 books in philosophy, history of ideas, human rights and ethics. These include the Refutation of Scepticism, The Future of Moral Values, Wittgenstein, The Meaning of Things, The God Argument and The Age of Genius. Professor Grayling is an exceptional example of someone who has lived the examined life. In this fascinating interview, we ask Professor Grayling about a broad range of philosophical topics. This is a must listen for anyone interested in philosophy.

This week in Part I, we'll be discussing the examined life and whether or not it is worth living.

Any thoughts? Please tweet us @thepanpsycast.

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Part I. The Examined Life (Start of Part I)
Part II. A. C. Grayling: The Philosopher (Start of Part II)

Episode 11, Guest Daniel Hill on Plantinga's Reformed Epistemology (Part II)

Welcome to Episode 11 (Part II of II) on Alvin Plantinga's reformed epistemology. In this section we question and challenge Dr Daniel Hill and Plantinga's reformed epistemology.

You can find the texts we will be discussing  at the bottom of the page.

Thank you for listening!

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Part I. Plantinga's Reformed Epistemology (Episode 11, (Part I)).
Part II. Analysis and discussion (Episode 11, (Part II)).

Episode 11, Guest Daniel Hill on Plantinga's Reformed Epistemology (Part I)

Welcome to Episode 11 (Part I of II) on Alvin Plantinga's reformed epistemology. Is belief in God rational? Do we all have a sense of the divine?

In this instalment guest Dr Daniel Hill from the University of Liverpool talks us through Plantinga's reasoning. 

You can find the text we will be discussing at the bottom of the page.

Thank you for listening!

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Part I. Plantinga's Reformed Epistemology (Episode 11, (Part I)).
Part II. Analysis and discussion (Episode 11, (Part II)).