Unlimited Opinions - Philosophy, Theology, Linguistics, & More

Good riddance to George Lakoff's Moral Politics! In this season finale, we discuss the last section of Lakoff's book, in which he lays out his reasons for being a liberal. His reasons are of course based on his book-long characterization of conservatives as being stupid, crazy, and evil, so his stance is not exactly one we agree with. We also discuss what pieces of value we gained from reading this book and lessons for th...

This guy doesn't even know about federalism! Join us as we discuss George Lakoff's magnificent discussion on how he is confused by the concept of federalism, and how he divides up other varieties of liberals and conservatives. We also discuss how Lakoff fundamentally refutes his entire book, insinuates that conservatives are one step away from being violent extremists, and doesn't seem to know much of anything at all...

At this point, our criticisms of Lakoff have even started boring even us, so in this episode, we use his brief (and incorrect) descriptions of liberal and conservative approaches to Christianity and abortion as jumping-off points for our own ideas. We discuss the necessity of a hierarchy within religion (such as in Catholicism), why separation of church and state does not mean what most people think it does, the importance of relig...

Is this our angriest episode yet? Possibly! Join us as we discuss George Lakoff's thoughts on some of the most controversial topics: affirmative action, gay rights, education, the environment, and much more! As always, we point out the issues with an overly simplistic description of the conservative point of view and try to describe the much deeper ideals behind conservative thought. By this point, we're pretty fed up wit...

As we all know, conservatives simply view the legal system in a very simple formula: more punishment = more good. Conservatives are certainly not concerned with a millenia-old theological, philosophical, legal, and moral tradition that argues for the responsibility of an individual's free will or anything like that. Join us as we discuss George Lakoff's theories on how conservatives and liberals view crime, covering topic...

Ignoring his horrible takes on conservatism, George Lakoff actually does a decent job of explaining the liberal worldview on social programs and taxes. Maybe this shouldn't be surprising - he definitely agrees with the liberals on everything. Join us as we discuss his analysis of liberal and conservative approaches to economic and social problems, ranging from immigration to military spending to charitable organizations!
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George Lakoff is right about one thing: conservatives do not like Hillary Clinton. In this episode, we look at Lakoff's descriptions of how liberals and conservatives categorize the ideal and worst citizens. Do conservatives really just care about upholding the current authority? Are liberals the only ones who believe in virtues? Lakoff seems to think so, and we criticize him heavily!

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In this episode, we actually give Lakoff some credit! He is embarking on a good project: analyzing liberal and conservative speech into a cohesive cognitive worldview. Unfortunately, he still can't seem to understand conservatives. We look at his descriptions of how liberals misunderstand conservatives (and his simplistic counters to those misunderstandings), how conservatives misunderstand conservatives, and how exactly he pl...

Despite not really understanding morality, Lakoff does accurately describe the views of the nurturant parent! Join us as we discuss his description of this moral system that believes that people who need help should be treated like children, that promoting your self-interest is a moral good, and sensuality is a virtue! We discuss what we think is wrong (and very briefly what is right) about this moral system and how Lakoff describe...

Does George Lakoff understand nothing about conservative morality? Maybe! Join us as we discuss his idea of Strict Father Morality, a system that he thinks conservatives believe in, with respect only for authority and strict punishments for those who do wrong. Somehow, Lakoff misses the fact that conservatives tend to believe in an objective morality that exists beyond worldly authority, but that does not stop him from professing h...

Which came first? Foundational moral thinking or metaphors that we use to express those foundations? George Lakoff seems to think the language came first! Join us as we try to figure out Lakoff's chicken-or-the-egg moral system as he outlines the metaphor of accounting and how morality is viewed as a system of transactions. Are we all really just trying to reach net zero in our moral obligations, or is there something much dee...

Our very first episode with a live studio audience! Join us as we discuss what linguist George Lakoff views as the worldviews of liberals and conservatives. In this episode, we examine what Lakoff thinks confuses liberals about conservative views (while also just attempting to refute the conservative opinion), the different words that people on the right and left use, and what he sees as the goal for studying these worldviews. Desp...

In this episode, we discuss George Lakoff's completely analytical, opinion-free, 100% objective explanation of what he views as the role of cognitive linguists in examining liberal and conservative worldviews. We discuss whether or not unconscious thoughts truly exist, the importance of categories, and Lakoff's ever-present idea of conservatives being a mysterious "gorilla in the mist!" We also discuss what he g...

In this first episode of Season 8, we look at the preface to our new book: George Lakoff's Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think, which examines the different linguistic metaphors that liberals and conservatives use to shape their worldview. We discuss Lakoff's plan for the book, how he draws his conclusions, and the immense amount of biases that he presents just in the introduction. We also go on many rant...

Is the sexual revolution the true cause of moral relativism, or are the two intertwined? In this final episode covering Peter Kreeft's A Refutation of Moral Relativism, we look at some of the biggest cultural issues in the world today, particularly contraception, abortion, and divorce. We also take a retrospective look at the book as a whole, discussing what we admire about Kreeft's writing, how ahead of his time he was, ...

We were always destined to publish this episode, at least according to the crazy determinists! In this episode, we discuss the philosophical assumptions that one must make in order to be an absolutist, particularly regarding metaphysics and epistemology. We look at flawed theories such as nominalism, determinism, materialism, and more, all while we go on endless tangents!

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Do you want to hear our thoughts on Bryan Fiel's 1990 play Dancing at Lughnasa, a story of five sisters in 1936 Ireland? Do you want to hear our thoughts on the arguments in favor of moral absolutism? Luckily for you, we have those exact things in this episode! Join us as we discuss how language proves absolutism correct, the poor track record of relativism, and how relativists only extend tolerance to those that they like. We...

What does hemlock taste like, and if drank in a small enough dose, can we find out? This important question and much more is discussed in this episode of Unlimited Opinions, as we examine where the philosophy of relativism came from.  We talk about how reductionism has led to a complete lack of acceptance of anything beyond the physical world and how this has impacted morality, and especially how this has impacted education. We als...

Do good intentions make acts good, or do we need something more? Did we simply evolve morality as a beneficial social system? Are relativists really just the most judgmental people of all time? Find out as we continue discussing Peter Kreeft's A Refutation of Moral Relativism, examining even more common arguments for moral relativism and how easily they are refuted!

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