Micro-Digressions: A Philosophy Podcast
Philosophical excursions into interesting, and often controversial, topics. Hosted by Spencer Case.
Episodes
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Nathan Cofnas joins Spencer Case to discuss the nature of the political ideology/movement known as "wokeness." Cofnas argues that wokeness follows from accepting environmental differences combined with post-Christian morality. Case partly agrees with this analysis, but places greater emphasis on moral egalitarianism than empirical egalitarianism. Both interlocutors agree that ...
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Oliver Traldi challenges the standard conservative model of academic freedom in his article, "Defusing Academic Freedom." Link here:
Spencer and Oliver discuss. Topics include: does the university have a univocal purpose? Does a truth norm really justify academic freedom as it's ordinarily understood and practiced.
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Jake Monaghan joins Spencer to discuss his new book, Ethical Policing. The discussion covers such questions as: what makes policing legitimate? What sorts of considerations undermine that legitimacy? How can police appropriately balance order and respect for individual freedom in a non-ideal world?
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Matthew Adelstein returns to Micro-Digressions to talk about the arguments for the existence of God at the top of his tier list. You can find his complete ranking of arguments for God's existence here:
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Mike Huemer and His Offensiveness Steve Kershnar join Spencer to discuss free will and moral responsibility.
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Matthew Adelstein, the prolific young writer who posts at "Bentham's Bulldog" on Substack, has recently attracted attention for a tier ranking of philosophical arguments for the existence of God. Matthew and Spencer discuss the arguments at the bottom of his list, ascending from arguments that get an "F" to one in the C tier.
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Sarah Malanowski and Nicholas Baima join Spencer Case to discuss their book Why it's Ok to be a Gamer. They cover common objections to gaming, such as the claim that gaming is addictive and violent games promote violence. They also consider ways that video games can promote friendships and cultivate virtue. Finally, they debate the supposed vice of being a "tryhard."
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Featuring rants by Matt Lutz (on a priori knowledge and the politicization of the university) Travis Timmerman (on the film "Megalopolis") Spencer Case (on the depraved adulation of Luigi Mangione) and Ben Burgis (on the hypocrisy of "heterodox" liberals on Palestine).
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Featuring rants from Matthew Adelstein (on shrimp welfare), Mark Oppenheimer (on missing the golden age of universities), Craig White (on the folly and immorality of American involvement in Ukraine) David Baker (on the wrongness of peacetime conscription) and Jason Werbeloff (on common misconceptions about AI).
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Michael Huemer returns to the podcast to discuss more of the issues in his self-published book, Progressive Myths (which you can buy on Amazon for a mere $12.50). Mike and Spencer discuss the gender pay gap, the claim that women don't lie about sexual assault, and the sex-gender distinction.
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Michael Huemer returns Micro-Digressions to discuss his new self-published book, Progressive Myths, which you can purchase here for a mere $12.50:
Progressive Myths: Huemer, Michael: 9798332272073: Amazon.com: Books
Discussed here: Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and George Floyd cases, as well as some of the general patterns of police violence; the science...
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Dave Baker returns to Micro-Digressions to finish the discussion of nuclear weapons. Topics this time include the development of the hydrogen bomb, the problems with developing missile defense systems, and nuclear proliferation.
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Is the possession of nuclear weapons morally justified? Was it a mistake to invent them to begin with? Dave Baker joins Spencer to discuss these and other questions about nuclear war. (Correction: Joseph Stalin died in 1953, not 1952).
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You may have heard that there's an election going on in the U.S. A big one in fact. This episode is a debate about the records of one of the candidates, Joe Biden. Matt Lutz, noted error theorist and Biden enthusiast, returns to the podcast to argue that Americans are insufficiently appreciative of Biden's performance on the economy and foreign policy. Spencer provides pushbac...
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Mike Huemer rejoins Spencer to discuss the nature of consciousness. They consider the reasons for thinking that consciousness can't be physical and some prominent physicalist rejoinders to dualist arguments.
Here's a link to Mike's excellent "Fake Nous" substack:
Fake Noûs | Michael Huemer | Substack
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Come for Spencer's funeral home jokes; stay for the unanticipated discussion of the movie Her. Travis Timmerman and Spencer Case resume their discussion about death. This time they talk about annihilationism, the idea that being annihilated is an intrinsically bad thing for the annihilated person, as well as popular arguments that immortality would be a bad thing for creatures like...
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Ben Burgis rejoins Spencer to defend Marx's record.
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This episode tackles one of the most controversial topics of the day (really, most days over the last several decades): Israel/Palestine. Craig White, a former diplomat and the author of Iraq: The Moral Reckoning, and Mark Oppenheimer of Brain in a Vat podcast fame join Spencer to discuss the issue.
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Ryan W. Davis, a philosophy professor at Brigham Young University, joins Spencer Case to discuss the ethics and politics of gun ownership in the US. Check out his new book, Why it's OK to Own a Gun (Routledge, 2024).
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What is death? Does fear of death affect our everyday lives? And will your death harm you or not? Travis Timmerman, associate professor at Seton Hall University, joins Spencer to discuss these and other questions. Timmerman is coeditor, along with Michael Cholbi, of a fine anthology on the philosophy of death, Exploring the Philosophy of Death and Dying. Purchase your copy here:
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