Pat was feeling unique so Ben blasts his precious little perspective right out of the water by introducing him to the Twin Earth thought experiment. In one fell swoop, Ben destroys Pat's commitment to semantic internalism thanks to Hilary Putnam and his view that "meaning just ain't in the head." If you know anything about philosophy of language, you'll recognize this thought experiment for the earth shattering mental exercise that it is. If you know nothing about philosophy of language, FUCK YO...
Jun 03, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 164
Pat was feeling murderous so Ben tamps that rage with the devout moral reasoning of near-canonized Catholic saint and Wittgenstein acolyte Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe. One of the big heavy hitters of Ordinary Language Philosophy and pioneer of Virtue Ethics, G.E.M. Anscombe started her career as a Catholic convert, then Wittgenstein's protege/favorite, then went toe-to-toe with the 20th Century's greatest mass murder, Harry S. Truman over his trigger-happy bombings of innocent civilians...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 41 min
Pat was feeling haram, so Ben sat his infidel ass down and explained to him the groundbreaking philosophical developments unleashed by the Islamic world. Centuries before Christian thinkers like Thomas Aquinas and Albertus Magnus (Latin for Fat Albert) were even potty trained, Muslim philosophers from Spain to Persia shed a guiding light on the other wise very Dark Ages. This dream team includes the likes of Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Ibn Arabi, and Al Ghazali, who expounded on the metaphysical & ...
Feb 07, 2023•2 hr 2 min•Ep. 160
Pat was feeling pretty self-conscious so Ben explains it's because of all his damn Qualia, stupid! Qualia is a concept in philosophy of mind referring to that mushy notion of what it's like to experience something, like the color red, the smell of wet ham, or feeling cool as hell. It's that certain je ne sais quois of how life feels as our subjective consciousness navigates the objective world. Do they only apply to emotions? Sense-data? Can they be further applied to thoughts, memories? Some ch...
Jan 03, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 158
Pat was feeling trapped so Ben tuned him on to the wacky linguistic thought experiment developed by Ben's Main Man Ludwig Wittgenstein. Are humans capable of having a private language? Not just shibboleth for your crew but a private language only YOU know about? Wittgenstein says NO, you idiot. And it has something to do with a beetle in a box. Fuck you.
Mar 15, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 152
Pat was feeling sluggish so Ben ramps him up to accept the new outrun philosophy of Accelerationism all over his face. The WisdomBois begin with a quick recap of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guatarri's theory of deterritorialization and cap it off with a snappy rundown of Marx's thoughts on Late Capitalism and its prophesied self-destruction before exploring Accelarationism's darker, right-wing side espoused by British philosopher/twat Nick Land. This one's a wild one so strap in. We love you. Also,...
Feb 07, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 151
Pat was feeling shrewd so Ben clued him in on the HOTTEST ethical theory of the past 3 centuries: Utilitarianism! That's right folks. Ben and Pat are tackling Utilitarianism and you better believe it's a motherfucking two-parter. Conceived by the debauched mind of Jeremy Bentham and developed by English philosopher, MP, and fiend John Stuart Mill, Utilitarian is a consequrentialist theory of morality that operates under the central axiom that "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number ...
Dec 07, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 148
Pat once trusted the bedrock reliability of logic so Ben went ahead and shattered that nonsense by teaching him about The Liar's Paradox, the oldest, most stubborn, and most infuriating logical paradox in the history of paradoxes, SON! Check THIS out: "This sentence is false." Is the preceding sentence true? Or false? If it's true, then it's false. If it's false, then it's true. What the?! Tune in to find out how mad Pat get's as we try to solve this humdinger. Also, for more truth, knowledge, a...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 147
Folks! Put on some sunscreen and pull out your floaties because Pat & Ben are taking you on a tropical, aquatic adventure! We're releasing one of our COVETED Patreon episodes so you can get a taste of what you've been missing. In this installment, Pat teaches Ben about possibly the most ludicrous experiment in the history of science. What happens when you mix a loony neuroscientist, a 22 year old intern, 3 dolphins, and the 1960s in a house full of water? Listen to find out! Spoilers: It get...
Sep 28, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 146
Pat was feeling epiphanic so Ben brings him into the fold. The Religious Fold, that is! Don't worry. We haven't gone religious. But Pat couldn't help ask: What does is it all mean, Basil? And why is God involved? It seems that we as humans always need to talk about the Great Beyond, even if (or especially because) we claim to not believe in it. What a world! Listen in as Ben and Pat talk about what and why we believe in Him, Her, They, It and whatever you call Religion! (tl;dr Roman Catholicism ...
Aug 08, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 144
Pat was feeling empathetic so Ben continues to interrogate Pat about his thoughts on Artificial Intelligence and their capacity to feel. Do androids dream of electric sheep? Or will their thoughts be lost in time like tears in rain? Also, in a stunning twist, Ben presents Pat with a thought experiment involving love, betrayal, friendship, and Allen Iverson (AI). Listen in to the epic conclusion of our AI ethics.
Jun 27, 2021•1 hr 57 min•Ep. 143
Pat was feeling esoteric so Ben's coming in hot with a spiritual alternative to the dry, academic Western philosophy he's been torturing Pat with for the past 4 years. That's right. Holy shit. It's been 4 years of this. Thanks for listening? Anyway! Ben teaches Pat about Rudolf Steiner, a German philosopher turned cult leader who founded the spiritual/esoteric practice called Anthroposophy. Steiner believed wholeheartedly in a spiritual dimension not hitherto accessed by the Western scientific t...
May 29, 2021•2 hr 8 min•Ep. 141
Pat was feeling self-conscious so Ben opens his eyes to the wild and wonderful world of universal consciousness. In our latest episode, Ben teaches Pat about hottest new philosophy since Existentialism: Panpsychism. Have you ever suspected that trees feel pain? That rocks can yearn? That your toilet plots revenge? If so, then Panpsychism is for you! Listen to find out why.
May 11, 2021•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 140
Pat was feeling inauthentic so he calls on Benjamin C. Cholok, sygil of authenticity himself, to summon the horny spirit of Jean Paul Sartre once again and wrest Pat's struggling spirit from the yawning jaws of bad faith once and for all. Dramatic, no? Listen in for the full picture! Dao you doin?
May 11, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 139
Pat was feeling existential AGAIN so Ben brings out the big guns: the stinkiest, most wall-eyed Frenchman this side of the 20th Century, Jean-Paul Sartre. King of Existentialism, widely acclaimed philosopher and writer, and all-around prankster, Jean-Paul Sartre features heavily in this two-part episode about himself. To understand him is to understand teenagers everywhere. Enjoy!
Apr 05, 2021•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 138
Pat was feeling asynchronous so Ben sets his ass straight with a few mINd BeNdInG TIME TRAVEL PARADOXES. Hoo boy, is this one a doozy. Thanks for listening and remember to check out our Patreon to get bonus episodes for $5/month. C'maaaaaannnnnn. Also, buy Kyrgies slippers for those filthy feet of yours: kyrgies.com. Use ILK @ checkout for 15% OFF.
Mar 17, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 137
Pat was feeling despondent so Ben perks him up with the cheery, not-at-all-controversial philosophy of antinatalism. In a nutshell, this theory argues that with all the suffering and pain life brings, it's unethical to bring new people into the world, both because of the inevitable risks of being alive plus the fact that it's inherently a non-consensual act. And then you die! A philosophy for surly teenagers everywhere, it was most vocally supported by Romanian writer and hit at parties Emil Cio...
Jan 24, 2021•2 hr 23 min•Ep. 136
Pat was feeling KINDA BLUE so Ben floors him with the absolutely jazzy color theory of hep cat/philosopher Nelson Goodman and his controversial theory of Grue. Grue is a new color Goodman invented but it's also an innovative new critique of the Problem of Induction. How do we confirm that something is green if we also no that those green things will become grue after time t? Then how do we confirm that anything is green after time t if they were blue? What if they were blue before time t? Ugh, n...
Dec 18, 2020•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 135
Folks! We're releasing YET ANOTHER free Pat-reon Bonus Episode, piping hot and fresh from the vault!! Pat was feeling a little “down under” so he flips the script and teaches Ben a thing or two about a thing or two. In this installment, we learn about Australia’s Great Emu War of 1932, easily one of the most humiliating military engagements in modern history. Listen to learn who won! And if you want more, join our Patreon for just $5 a month. We love you.
Oct 31, 2020•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 133
Pat was feeling gaslit, so Ben clears the air by introducing philosophy's savior of common sense: G. E. Moore. As one third of the Triumvirate of analytic philosophy (including the pervert Bertrand Russell and closet-case Ludwig Wittgenstein), G.E. Moore spearheaded the revolt in British philosophy against the oppressive yoke of German Idealism and ushering in the current analytic turn we see today. He also called bullshit on dogmatic skepticism with his "proof" of an external world: Here's one ...
Oct 13, 2020•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 132
Pat was feeling naughty so Ben tempts him with a comprehensive discussion of the ancient concept of Evil. Evil as a moral or ethical notion has plagued us and bewitched us since we as a species could first distinguish right or wrong. Evil is fundamental, primordial, and horrifying. The Eldritch entity of ethical concepts, the term "Evil" has been applied to people, actions, motives, and institutions throughout history. Some people, however, don't even think it exists. Isn't that nuts? Let's dirt...
Aug 11, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 130
Pat was feeling pretty satisfied with himself on his precious little birthday so Ben decides to dash his spirits with the Internet 2.0's hottest new meme paradox: Roko's Basilisk. Roko's Basilisk is a thought experiment outlined in 2010 by SOME GUY on SOME BLOG that has disturbed nerds and lurkers alike, causing some to even have nervous breakdowns. Imagine a powerful AI that retroactively punishes all those humans who don't actively contribute to it's creation once knowing about it. Now that I ...
Jul 19, 2020•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 129
Pat was feeling loquacious as usual so Ben takes this opportunity to lay out the nuanced and penetrating philosophy of British nerd/superspy JL Austin. This guy is famous for being one of the most original philosophers of the 20th Century, focusing mainly on language and its role in constructing our very reality. Austin's main contribution was his theory of Speech Acts -- how utterances in our language constitute more than just propositions describing states of affairs, but also serve as actions...
Jul 02, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 128
Pat was feeling sleepy so Ben regales him with one of the most infuriating thought experiments of all time: The Sleeping Beauty Problem. Concocted by Ben's very own thesis adviser Professor Adam Elga (seriously), The Sleeping Beauty Problem was submitted to the world in 2000 and it has boggled minds ever since. Listen to the episode to hear the full scenario, but here let it be asked: Are you a Halfer? Or a Thirder? We all hate this.
Jun 19, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 127
Pat and Ben were both feeling sad, confused, and powerless, so Ben drives that feeling home by discussing the troubling and disheartening political philosophy of contemporary Italian political theorist Giorgio Agamben. Tying together several disparate threads from both ancient and modern political traditions, Agamben distills his unique view on modern politics into his best known theories of the State of Exception and Homo Sacer. In this episode, Ben attempts to connect Agamben's thought to the ...
Jun 09, 2020•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 126
We're releasing a free Pat-reon, putos!! Pat had laryngitis a while back so Ben invites friend of the show, comic extraordinaire, and host of Avery and Adam's Christmas Committee: The Podcast Avery Moore to teach him about the arcane topic of the Air Buddies Universe. Strap in bitches, because this one's gooder'n hell. And if you want more, join our Patreon for just $5 a month. Also, check out Mr. Dogg herself, Avery Moore (@AveryReedMoore) for more hilarity!
May 23, 2020•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 125
Pat was feeling saucy so Ben tantalizes him with a stirring discussion of podcast favorite Friedrich Nietzsche's self-effacing autobiography Ecce Homo, which is Latin for "Behold the Homo." Nah, just playing. Joining in on the third mic is comedian, carpet cleaner, and Professor of Culinary Arts at Columbia University Lando Shepard. The three intrepid lads discuss Nietzsche's work, the chapters of which are titled "Why I Am So Wise", "Why I Am So Clever", and "Why I Write Such Good Books." Serio...
May 08, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 124
Pat was feeling socially distanced so Ben keeps him company as they take a dip in a rather steamy topic: Sex AND Power. As the world reels from the Great Cough of 2020, the WisdomBois talk all things Foucault, focusing specifically on the complex relationship between sex, power, and knowledge, under the avuncular gaze of King Daddy himself: Michel Foucault. Also, since we're all struggling, and if you enjoy the podcast, any little bit helps. If you Venmo $5 to @PatDeanRules, Pat will send you 4 ...
Apr 08, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 123
Pat was feeling nihilistic so Ben calls for back up. Who does he call? Well he's forced to call the Kopswa of course! In these absurd, trying times, Ben decides the perfect antidote is to teach Pat about French existentialist (don't call me that!) and human ashtray Albert Camus, with the help of fellow Austin comic and actual Nobel Prize winner Derek Kopswa. In Episode 122, they discuss life, love, death, and despair while the world burns around them. Wait a minute...What happened to Episode 121...
Mar 30, 2020•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 122
Pat was feeling interpellated so Ben briefs him on the updated Marxist philosophy of the EXTREMELY cancelled French theorist Louis Althusser. Ben spills the tea with Pat about the life and writings of the most tormented son of a bitch in 20th Century French thought. Raised as a nice Catholic boy, Louis took an interest in philosophy early. Unfortunately, his academic career was interrupted when he was suddenly drafted in 1940, immediately captured, and imprisoned as a Nazi POW for the entirety o...
Mar 15, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 120
