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Micro-Digressions: A Philosophy Podcast

Philosophical excursions into interesting, and often controversial, topics. Hosted by Spencer Case.

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The Honesty Crisis

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Honestly, a great episode! After a 5-year Hiatus, Christian Miller returns to the podcast to talk about his new book, The Honesty Crisis , which addresses six ways in which technology undermines the virtue of honesty. Topics include AI student cheating, sermon plagiarism by pastors, and the extent to which the norms of honesty are more flexible in…

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Reading Paradise Lost with a Monk

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Longtime friend Brother Dunstan Enzor -- a monk briefly famous for telling a United Airlines customer service representative "I love you; God bless you; I'll pray for you-- but you have not been helpful" -- joins Spencer to dissect a great work of literature-- John Milton's Paradise Lost . The topics that come up include the nature of free will, the…

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The Concept of God

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Before we can think rigorously about whether God exists, we need to know what "God" is supposed to refer to in the first place. That's the theme of this episode. Perry Hendricks, Nevin Climenhaga, and Steve Kershnar join Spencer Case to interrogate the notion of God. Is God defined by a single property such as "the greatest possible being" or must we…

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Legal Injustices

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! The great Mike Huemer returns to Micro-Digressions to talk about ways in which the American legal system is morally problematic. Topics include plea bargaining and jury nullification. For more discussion of these topics, see Huemer's book, Justice Before the Law.

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The Iran War

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Craig White, Ben Burgis, and Daniel Kodsi join Spencer Case to discuss--and debate--the Iran War.

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Knowledge in Real Life

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Gordon Barnes joins Spencer to talk about the issues he discusses in his new book, Applied Epistemology: An Introduction .

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Good and Bad Advice

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Eric Wiland joins Spencer to discuss his book, Guided by Voices: Moral Testimony, Advice, and Forging a 'We'. In the ensuing discussion, Eric and Spencer cover a wide range of topics, including how moral testimony can generate moral understanding, what sort of responsibility those who give advice have for the actions of those who act on it, and…

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AI Dangers (The Dark Side of Technology, Part 3)

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Full professor of philosophy at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and sometimes David Cross impersonator Ryan Jenkins returns to Micro-Digressions to discuss the dangers of AI. The conversation covers such matters as the AI-alignment problem and why Chat GPT can't be horny.

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What is Hate Speech?

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Mark Oppenheimer from Brain in a Vat discusses controversies surrounding hate speech in South Africa.

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Philosophical Horrors

Tell Spencer your thoughts about this episode! Philosophers J.P. Andrew, Mark Oppenheimer, Jason Werbeloff, Nicholas Delon, and Jason Brennan discuss their worst philosophical nightmares.

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