Can faith be justified through reason? Why do modern debates about God never work?
When medieval Christians got their hands on the logic and rationalism of Aristotle they worked to combine their scripture with the reason of philosophy… but would it work? Years later we still try to prove and "unprove" god but perhaps there is another solution. Soren Kierkegaard, whilst struggling with his own faith seemed to suggest a reason why Christians and atheists just can't seem to get along and keep arguing past one another… - Pencil drawing of Kierkegaard - Our essays can be found here - Previous episode
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
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The Dark Ages; philosophy is all but unknown to this world of staunch faith and brutal conflict. A relatively new religion has arisen in the Middle East, carving out an empire from the Pagan and Christian Kingdoms left in the wake of the collapse of the ancient world. As their culture grows and interacts with others, pioneering Muslim intellectuals are tasked with translating the works of antiquity as they are unearthed from the past....
In a revolutionary gamble, Al Kindi challenged convention by suggesting that the calculative reason of Aristotle was akin to the revelation found in scripture and faith. Could he convince the pious of his time to adopt philosophy or had he failed before even beginning? We've written a bunch of uni essays on these subjects that can be found here
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
Philosophy graduates attempt to understand science...
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
Across the world, thousands of religious adherents believe they can "experience God", but what exactly does this mean? Back for series 3, but still podcasting over Discord, Connor, Sam and Joe set up their microphones to talk about mysticism.
This chat takes us to the poetry, dancing and sword swallowing of Islamic Sufi mystics to Zen Buddhists and even bonkers English esoteric traditions. We talk about these more experiential branches of faith and what they get up to. In a heated discussion, we also discuss why "spiritual", might be an unhelpful word. Drawing upon the philosophy and psychology of religion from thinkers like William James, we offer our thoughts on religious experience and how they fit into what we might call "unconventional" religion. …Connor also invents the phrase "whatever your biscuit". - Some thoughts on religion, mysticism and spirituality - Sufi music mixed with tales of coming of age - Our thoughts on the topic
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
We're back! In our first episode we decided to chat a little about ethics and how different moral theories tackle questions of right and wrong...
Mostly focusing the classic theory of utilitarianism, our new guest Al argues for its application in moral situations. Meanwhile Connor and Joe take a more sceptical view, questioning whether moral rules and theories actually help guide moral action at all. Diving into concepts like moral sainthood and virtue we ask if we can we quantify or conceptualise morality or whether we're committing a category error by thinking that ethics is something we can reason and calculate. We ask whether is moral action is even the best way to think about ethics. Is character, or something else entirely, a better way of truly capturing the heart of ethics? ...Al wanted this episode to be called Big ethics with Big Al and we thought that was terribly funny.
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
SPOILER WARNING. To cap off Series Two, we thought we would talk about one of our favourite films - Ex Machina; a science fiction thriller released in 2014. Ex Machina concerns artificial intelligence and handles themes about technology, purpose and consciousness with a bit of religious mythology thrown in.
Part review, part analysis: we give an overview of the film's themes and run through some of the general ideas relating to AI mentioned in the movie… The Turing Test, The Chinese Room, Mary's Room (or the Knowledge Argument), Machine ethics and AI Consciousness. We also talk a little about Devs, Frankenstein, Annihilation and Westworld. Our thoughts summarised Emergence Explained
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
Stay safe, connected and appreciate the small things. Loneliness is a killer so reach out to anyone you can and never feel that feeling alone is abnormal or a burden.
Connor, Joe and one of the Two Joes (this is getting confusing) talk about how society has reacted to recent events… Recorded quite early into the lockdown, we talk about how the economy will be affected and change, that relaxing and being away from work aren't necessarily bad things, how everybody has suddenly joined the neighbourhood watch and ways the situation can be turned positive for those not affected by poverty and poor health. We also discuss the animal trade, clapping for the NHS, the misuse of wartime parallels and how society might change in the coming years. - How modern stoicism can help in a pandemic - "Somme" comments
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
Hope everyone is having a nice Easter despite the current circumstances. This will be the first episode we release during the lockdown and we've got loads more on the way…
In this episode Connor, Nye, Joe & Zach take a look at some of the weirdest Easter traditions on Earth; from anti-Satan butter to willow whipping. Finally Zach can rest easy knowing the true date and religious significance of Easter, Connor goes on a rant about neo-paganism and we learn the dastardly ingredients of chocolate eggs. - Butter lamb number 1 - Butter lamb number 2 - Our thoughts summarised
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
Spanish Museums would have you believe that Spain once enjoyed a "Golden Age" of interfaith relations. That's right, after the Islamic Conquests and (according to some) even during later Christian rule, all the Abrahamic Religions got along just swell… or did they?
Connor and Joe dig out some old undergraduate essays from their time at university and try to remember their field trip to Córdoba in Southern Spain as they answer this question. Focusing mainly on the Jewish experience of rule under the Caliphates and Christian Kings, it turns out that history is a lot more complicated than people are letting on… Here are some photos of some of the things we reference…
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
In the last century, the funeral industry in the West has diversified. Traditional Christian funerals are out and football anthems and Twix coffins are in! But are all these trends and pluralities truly revelatory of an emergent revolution in open and thoughtful conversation on death? Or is this just the ultimate way of extravagantly and competitively keeping up with the Jones'? Connor and Joe ponder some of the bizarre quirks of the funeral industry, as well as "funeral poverty", as they answer this question.
An undergraduate essay from Connor, where most of the real thinking was done in greater detail: Twix coffins Sitting at your own wake Death Salon Website Dying Matters Website People don’t know will plans (study):
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin) |
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