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.

The file size is large, please be patient whilst the podcast buffers/downloads/debates how the brain produces consciousness

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)).