Kershnar presents a dilemma: we’re responsible for our decisions because they’re caused by our psychology. But do we choose our psychology? If we do, then it seems that choice couldn’t have been a morally responsible choice, since our psychology didn’t choose it. But if we didn’t choose our psychology, then we can’t be responsible for the choices that come from our psychology. Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Feb 05, 2023•55 min•Season 5Ep. 1
Mark and Jason join their producer in this retrospective season finale. Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen Brain in a Vat bookshop (Shopify): https://smarturl.it/BrainShop Brain in a Vat bookshop (Amazon): https://smarturl.it/BrainAmazonShop
Dec 18, 2022•49 min
What does it all mean? If we live on a pail blue dot in a vast and uncaring universe can our lives have cosmic meaning? Is it better never to have been born? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen Brain in a Vat bookshop (Shopify): https://smarturl.it/BrainShop Brain in a Vat bookshop (Amazon): https://smarturl.it/BrainAmazonShop
Dec 11, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Do we have a right to sex, and is there an obligation to sexually fulfill the disabled? Should sex work be not only legal, but obligatory? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Dec 04, 2022•59 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Should we remove offensive monuments at the cost of erasing history? Is there an unacceptable cost to open borders? And what would a just tax system look like? Hosts: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Nov 27, 2022•58 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Are moral facts baked into reality, the way facts about socks or rocks are? Or should we think about morality in a more pragmatic way: that it doesn’t matter whether ethics are ‘in the world’ – only that ethics guide our actions effectively? Andrew’s Book, ‘Pragmatist Quietism’: https://www.andrewsepielli.com/book-pragmatist-quietism Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen Brain in a Vat bookshop (Shopify): https://smarturl.it/BrainShop Brain in a Vat b...
Nov 20, 2022•43 min
Why should we punish the guilty? Is it because they’ve done something wrong, to remove them from society, or to dissuade others from wrongdoing? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Nov 13, 2022•1 hr 1 min
Utilitarians and Kantians struggle to account for the care we should provide loved ones over strangers. Can Ubuntu, or African Ethics, provide a framework that resolves this problem? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Nov 06, 2022•59 min
Could we be systematically mistaken about the world around us? Would we be wrong about everything if we turned out to be a brain in a vat, a mind manipulated by an evil demon, or born into a virtual simulation? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Oct 30, 2022•56 min
Is lying ever justified? Is it permissible to kill one innocent person to save many others? Learn more about the views of one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th Century. Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen Philosophy as Dialogue: https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-as-Dialogue-Hilary-Putnam/dp/0674281357/
Oct 23, 2022•45 min
Is racial profiling always wrong, even if used by an AI to decrease crime? Should we use AI to judge criminal cases, recommend sentences for the guilty, or decide parole for prisoners?
Oct 16, 2022•1 hr 14 min
Do reporters have special moral obligations? Is it ever justified for governments to shut down newspapers? Should private companies like Paypal be allowed to deplatform journalists? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Oct 09, 2022•50 min
Dan Shahar defends the view that eating meat is permissible, even though meat farming is not. Is this a coherent position? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Oct 02, 2022•53 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Is gender a social construct? Is gender distinct from sex? And can you be wrong in your beliefs about your own gender? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Sep 26, 2022•51 min
Should Judges decide if and when women are entitled to abort their pregnancies? Should this choice be left up to congress? If abortion is immoral, should it be illegal? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen Brain in a Vat bookshop (Shopify): https://smarturl.it/BrainShop Brain in a Vat bookshop (Amazon): https://smarturl.it/BrainAmazonShop Contact us: Mark.Oppenheimer[at]gmail and Jwerbe[at]gmail www.markoppenheimer.co.za...
Sep 18, 2022•52 min
What exactly makes us feel disgusted? Is disgust for a person or group ever justified? And is disgust useful, or should we try to eliminate it? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Sep 11, 2022•58 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Do defectors generally do something wrong when they contradict their group's values or beliefs? And is it permissible for the group to silence them, especially if it's a minority group? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Sep 04, 2022•51 min
Are transathletes a minority group that warrant special protection? Is the purpose of sport to be inclusive or fair? Should the Olympics exclude the best athletes because they are professionals? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Aug 28, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 2
If most voters are misinformed, is democracy legitimate? What sort of voting system should we have in its place? And should some votes count more than others? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Aug 21, 2022•1 hr 1 min
Is immortality a blessing or a curse? Would eternal life be boring, meaningless, and amoral? Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen
Aug 14, 2022•1 hr
Why is free speech valuable? Should there be any limits on what we are allowed to say? Should we tolerate words that are hateful? Hosted by Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Produced and Edited by James Mullen
Aug 07, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 1
How do scientists and philosophers work together to make progress on the nature of the cosmos, the meaning of life, and what it means to flourish? The John Templeton Foundation funds work on the intersection of philosophy and science in some of the most important questions of our time. Hosted by Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Edited and Produced by James Mullen
Jul 31, 2022•50 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Can music be objectively good (or bad)? How should we understand fundamental disagreement about preferences and values? And should philosophical discussion be theory driven or should we use another methodology?
Jul 24, 2022•51 min
Are we obligated to save strangers? Does it matter whether those strangers are in different countries or our in own? And even if we are not obligated, have we done something wrong if we help but not in the most efficient way possible? Theron's book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-rules-of-rescue-9780190884147?q=pummer&lang=en&cc=us Hosted by Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbleoff Produced by Jimmy Mullen...
Jul 17, 2022•57 min•Season 3Ep. 28
What makes a good apology? Are we ever obligated to apologize even though we did nothing wrong? And how should we deal with apologies in this highly politicized landscape? Hosted by Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Edited and produced by James Mullen
Jul 10, 2022•57 min
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a magnificent mess. The film raises questions around the meaning of life, the nature of the multiverse, and how we should understand free will in a world filled with counterfactuals. Presenters: Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Editor and Producer: Jimmy Mullen Brain in a Vat bookshop (Shopify): https://smarturl.it/BrainShop Brain in a Vat bookshop (Amazon): https://smarturl.it/BrainAmazonShop
Jul 03, 2022•52 min•Season 3Ep. 25
When is death preferable to living? Are there fates worse than death? And what sort of future society should we build? Lionel Shriver discusses her latest novel, Should We Stay or Should We Go Hosted by Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Edited and Produced by James Mullen
Jun 26, 2022•56 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Ben Stiller's superb series, Severance, raises fascinating questions about the nature of personal identity. Are we minds or brains? Is it possible for two persons to inhabit the same body? And can a person survive gaps in their existence? Hosted by Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Edited and Produced by James Mullen
Jun 19, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 23
As Russia wages an unjust war against Ukraine, questions around the ethics of war abound. Are soldiers fighting for the wrong side ever justified in killing? Should we punish these soldiers even if they were coerced by their State to fight? And is it ever justified to kill civilians? Read Jeff's book here: amazon.com/Killing-War-Uehiro-Practical-Ethics/dp/019960357X Hosted by Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Edited and Produced by James Mullen...
Jun 12, 2022•58 min•Season 3Ep. 22
What is an "Aha" moment, and why does it matter for our lives? Sophie Grace Chappel argues that our ethics and value system should be formed around our epiphanies. Hosted by Mark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff Edited and Produced by James Mullen Brain in a Vat bookshop (Shopify): https://smarturl.it/BrainShop Brain in a Vat bookshop (Amazon): https://smarturl.it/BrainAmazonShop Podcast: https://anchor.fm/braininavat Contact us: Mark.Oppenheimer[at]gmail and Jwerbe[at]gmail...
Jun 05, 2022•58 min•Season 3Ep. 21
