Patreon/Tip Jar: https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon
Table of Contents Below >>>
Original Course Listing on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEA18FAF1AD9047B0
Buy Prof. Kagan's Book on Death:
About the Course (Yale)
There is one thing I can be sure of: I am going to die. But what am I to make of that fact? This course will examine a number of issues that arise once we begin to reflect on our mortality. The possibility that death may not actually be the end is considered. Are we, in some sense, immortal? Would immortality be desirable? Also a clearer notion of what it is to die is examined. What does it mean to say that a person has died? What kind of fact is that? And, finally, different attitudes to death are evaluated. Is death an evil? How? Why? Is suicide morally permissible? Is it rational? How should the knowledge that I am going to die affect the way I live my life?
Link to Syllabus/Readings and Course Description:
https://oyc.yale.edu/death/phil-176
This course has 26 lectures - these (169a) are the first 13, in order. The forthcoming 169b will contain the back half. Shelly says 1-13 are about metaphysics of death, and 14-26 are about value theory of death.
Chapters
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:57) Course Introduction
(00:45:47) The Nature of Persons
(01:23:52) Arguments for the Existence of the Soul I
(02:05:09) Arguments for the Existence of the Soul II: Plato's Phaedo
(02:47:38) Arguments for the Existence of the Soul III: Free Will and Near-Death Experiences
(03:30:56) Arguments for the Existence of the Soul IV: Plato Part 1
(04:03:00) Plato Part II
(04:44:30) Plato Part III
(05:26:55) Plato Part IV
(06:09:08) Personal Identity Part I: Identity Across Space and Time and the Soul Theory
(06:49:07) Personal Identity Part II: Body and Personality Theory
(07:33:58) Personal Identity Part III: Objections to the Personality Theory
(08:17:42) Personal Identity Part IV: What Matters?
(08:58:21) Schubert Impromptu No. 3 in G-Flat Major performed by Max John, CC License, YouTube
-//-
Support the Rebel Alliance: https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon
People Mentioned:
Mahmoud Khalil
Maria Lugones
Byung-Chul Han
Lars von Trier (dir. Melancholia, 2011)
Hannah Arendt
Tyson Yunkaporta
Concepts:
Kenosis (self-emptying)
Books:
Putnam, Bowling Alone
News/References:
Zinc Mine in Georgia/https://thecurrentga.org/2025/06/20/okefenokee-mine-sale-conservation-fund/
Minister of Loneliness UK
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/minister-loneliness-appointed-united-kingdom-180967883/
Guy dies in ICE Facility
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/30/us-ice-detention-deaths
Finger Shot Off (graphic)
ChatGPT Datacenter Depletes Groundwater
https://energytheory.com/chatgpts-thirsty-data-centers-are-draining-water-resources/
Peter Thiel/Greta Thunberg Interview
Palestinian Youth Movement and Mask off Maersk
https://www.maskoffmaersk.com/
Andrew Callaghan Channel Five Uranium Mine
Patreon: https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon
Photo Credit:
Morning Tai Chi by Shuolong Ma
Music Credit:
Music Copyright Kevin MacLeod
Coconut Tree Meme Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7_5nHIbsjo
Books/Sources
Hans-Georg Moeller Daoism Explained
https://www.amazon.com/Daoism-Explained-Butterfly-Fishnet-Allegory/dp/0812695631
Oliver Sacks, the Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Iain McGilchrist, the Master and His Emissary
Jean Piaget, Concrete Operational/Formal Operational
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaget%27s_theory_of_cognitive_development#Concrete_operational_stage
Buy Sarah's Book:
Sarah's Socials:
Website: https://www.sarahscoles.com/books.html
Bsky: https://bsky.app/profile/sarahscoles.bsky.social
Patreon:
https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon
REFERENCES:
Trump Golden Dome Cost Projection
SDI / Star Wars in the 1980s with Reagan
Costs associated with SENTINEL and ICBM Upgrades
Fallout and Downwinders, Thyroid Cancer, Nevada Test Site
Contact: A Novel by Carl Sagan
Beethoven's 13th String Quartet
Hegemony or Survival - Noam Chomsky
Russell-Einstein Manifesto on Abolition of War/Nukes
Kellogg/Briand Pact 1928 Abolishing War
CHROMEDOME/Goldsboro B-52 Crash in NC
Carnegie Corporation Psychologists:
-Moran Cerf
-Paul Slovic
At long last, Book 4 of the 5-book masterpiece, De Consolatione de Philosophiae by Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius. Translated by W. V. Cooper, critical edition by Goins and Wyman.
I would describe this one as "a comfy doozy slightly too close to home."
Enjoy~
Patreon: https://patreon.com/c/hemlockpatreon
Breaking News.....
America has bombed 3 Iranian nuclear reactors.
Happy summer solstice.
References
Iraq 1981 Nuclear Reactor Bombing by Israel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera?wprov=sfla1
Kissinger's Flip-Flop on the Iran Deal
"Today, the standard claim is that Iran has no need for nuclear power, so it must be pursuing a secret weapons program: "For an oil producer such as Iran, nuclear energy is a wasteful use of resources," Henry Kissinger explains. When the shah was in charge, Kissinger, as Secretary of State, held that " introduction of nuclear power will both provide for the growing needs of Iran's economy and free remaining oil reserves for export Or conversion to petrochemicals." Washington acted to assist these efforts, with Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld also playing significant roles. US universities (my own, MIT, for one, despite overwhelming student opposition) were arranging to train Iranian nuclear engineers, doubtless with Washington's approval, if not initiative. Asked about his reversal, Kissinger responded with his usual engaging frankness: "They were an allied country" before 1 979, so therefore they had a genuine need for nuclear energy."
-Noam Chomsky, Failed States, 2006, page 73.
Blowback Podcast about Iraq
https://blowback.show/Season-1
Horror and Terror Theory (The Italian Philosopher I Cite)
Section on AI and Effective Altruism and Mars
Come check out the Patreon, where this episode was held in special quarantine for a few months...
https://patreon.com/hemlockpatreon
Nuclear weapons in Iran, Middle East environmental crisis, Israeli grand strategy, US covert action skullduggery, and a healthy reminder that it's all just oil at the end of the day.
References
FDR and Saudi King Abdul Aziz
https://www.history.com/articles/fdr-saudi-arabia-king-oil
Nuclear Blackmail at Conference of Ministers
Byrnes, on the eve of the first postwar foreign ministers conference to be held in London, remained adamant in opposition to any attempt to cooperate with the Soviets on atomic energy and viewed the bomb as a diplomatic asset that would make the Soviets more amenable. As Stimson observed in his diary, Byrnes went to London fully set on having "the implied threat of the bomb in his pocket during the conference."...
In a telling innuendo at the Conference of Foreign Ministers in London in 1945, Soviet Foreign Commissar Vyacheslav Molotov asked U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes whether he carried the atomic bomb in his side pocket. Byrnes warned, “If you don’t cut out all this stalling and let us get down to work, I am going to pull an atomic bomb out of my hip pocket and let you have it.” Molotov is recorded as having “laughed” at this blatant atomic blackmail. “The Allies are pressing on you to break your will and force you to make concessions,” Stalin coached him from Moscow.
https://warontherocks.com/2022/02/moscow-musings-on-brinksmanship-from-stalin-to-putin/
Operation AJAX and the CIA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
Stephen Kinzer's Books:
All the Shah's Men (Iran 53 and the CIA)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_Shah%27s_Men
Overthrow America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq
Sabrina is back for the second installment of the Documentary Doctors!
As a reminder, you can sign up for her class on Palestine here. If you can't attend you can also donate! And if you can't donate you can still attend!
This time we are watching (and curling up in a ball after viewing) The Act of Killing, a 2012 documentary about the massacre of the Indonesian PKI (communist party) in 1965 by Western-backed fascist paramilitaries in Indonesia. The events described occurred following the ouster of Indonesia's last (at least until the 90s) democratically-elected president, Achmed Sukarno and was, according to the CIA, "one of the worst mass-murders of the 20th century" and claimed an estimated 1.5 million lives. Vincent Bevins wrote the definitive book on the subject, "The Jakarta Method".
Also there's singing, dancing, stage makeup, women in dresses dancing out of the mouth of a 20 foot tall fish building, karaoke, market stall shakedowns, rape discourse in front of stuffed animal dioramas, glass Swarovski elephants, and a whole host of unspeakable murder-kitsch that you have to see to believe.
Viewer discretion (and listener discretion) is advised.
Art Credit: "Piece Offering" by Mr. Fish
https://clowncrack.com/2025/06/10/piece-offering/
Find William's writing on Substack:
https://philosophicalrebellion.substack.com/
References:
Greta Thunbeg's interview on Al Jazeera youtu.be/OY38HjfrNGQ
Democracy Now youtu.be/jkKRxD8D2kU
Book about Ukraine War:
Our Enemies Will Vanish- Yaroslav Trofimov
Book about Israel Lobby: The Israel Lobby - John Mearsheimer
Ryan Grim and Jeremy Scahill for reporting about Gaza:dropsitenews.com
Gilbert's interview on Democracy Now exposing Biden lying in the NSM-20youtu.be/V48vIcHTvbQ
Trump's disturbing A.I. Gaza video showing his Riviera of the Middle East planyoutu.be/PslOp883rfI
The Problems of the Presidency open.substack.com/pub/philosophicalrebellion/p/the-problems-of-…
The Unforgivable Legacy of Genocide Joe open.substack.com/pub/philosophicalrebellion/p/the-unforgivable…
Rethinking America's Relationship with Israel philosophicalrebellion.substack.com/p/rethinking-americas-relat…
Edward Snowden on Joe Rogan's podcast youtu.be/efs3QRr8LWw
Shireen Abu Akleh CNN targeted shooting investigation cnn.com/2022/05/24/middleeast/shireen-abu-akleh-jenin-killing-i…
Road to War - PBS Frontline
Osho, AKA Bhagwan, AKA Raj Rajneesh, AKA....we get it - mystic, con artist, cult leader, philosopher, terrorist, dupe? Your guess is as good as mine. Join Bhagwan Richard and myself as we explore the world of a man with 93 Rolls Royces and enough devoted worshipers to keep his toes permanently sucked and prescriptions filled.
References and Citations:
Building Utopia by Russell King
The Golden Road - William Dalrymple
The Eknath Easwaran / Nilgiri Press Trilogy:
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda
Wild Wild Country - Netflix Documentary
In Search of the Miraculous - PD Ouspensky (Gurdjieff)
Doppelganger - Naomi Klein (book about Steve Bannon and Naomi Wolf)
In this kickoff episode, activist and teacher Sabrina Jennings (links below) calls in to review two outstanding exposé documentaries, The Bibi Files, and The Lobby, both released 2024. Sabrina's critical class on the history of the Israel and Palestine conflict can be found right here - there are still a few slots left, so please sign up if you are interested in getting educated and getting active on the Gaza genocide.
CLASS SIGNUP LINK
https://form.typeform.com/to/fV4wTKx5
Sabrina's Patreon and Zine:
https://www.patreon.com/c/NoteToSelfzine/posts
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/notetoselfzine.bsky.social
The Bibi Files
https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-bibi-files
The Lobby -United States
https://electronicintifada.net/content/watch-film-israel-lobby-didnt-want-you-see/25876
Michael Scott Judge/Rulin and Amjad
https://chuffed.org/project/129541-urgent-appeal-help-my-family-survive-genocide-war-in-gaza
Written by Professor A. J. Mandt (Wichita State University)
https://philpeople.org/profiles/a-j-mandt
Voiced by Charlton Heston. Original here:
https://archive.org/details/thegiantsofphilosophy
Remastered for clarity using thousands of dollars of gear, free for the Internet forever.
Come join my Patreon!
https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon
Original Video (SFU)
Summary
In a passionate and wide-ranging lecture, Cornel West pays tribute to Edward Said, framing him not just as a brilliant academic but as a "poet" in the broadest sense—a human being of immense courage, imagination, and compassion who wrestled with complex truths. West emphasizes Said's deep connection to music and art as sources of human dignity and resilience, essential tools for navigating and resisting oppression, drawing parallels to the Black American experience where creative expression has been a lifeline.
West powerfully argues that music, art, and poetry are not merely decorative but constitutive of who we are, vital for taking risks and envisioning a better world, especially for the "wretched of the earth." He links this to the necessity of truth-telling, both to power and within one's own community, and the importance of retaining one's "funk"—an authentic, critical, and compassionate spirit. He highlights figures from John Coltrane to Kendrick Lamar as exemplars of this artistic and moral courage.
The lecture culminates in a call for deep self-reflection and an unwavering commitment to justice, urging listeners to confront the "internal conversation" and resist the co-optation that can come with success or the allure of empire. West stresses the importance of solidarity across different oppressed groups, the courage to speak truth even when it's uncomfortable, and the continuous, compassionate engagement required to build a more just and loving world, recognizing that true progress involves wrestling with difficult realities, both external and internal.
I will end with a little scene that took place in the last months of peace. They were the most terrible months of my life, for helplessly and hopelessly one watched the inevitable approach of war. One of the most horrible things at that time was to listen on the wireless to the speeches of Hitler—the savage and insane ravings of a vindictive underdog who suddenly saw himself to be all powerful. We were at Rodmell during the late summer of 1939 and I used to listen to those ranting,raving speeches. One afternoon I was planting in the orchard under an apple-tree iris reticulata, those lovely violet flowers, which like the daffodils come before the swallow dares and take the winds of March with beauty. Suddenly I heard Virginia’s voice calling to me from the sitting room window: “Hitler is making a speech.” I shouted back, “I shan’t come. I’m planting iris and they will be flowering long after he is dead.” Last March, twenty-one years after Hitler committed suicide in the bunker, a few of those violet flowers still flowered under the apple-tree in the orchard.
-Leonard Woolf, "Downhill All The Way"
Hardt and Negri - "Empire"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_(Hardt_and_Negri_book)
Totality and Infinity by Emanuel Levinas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totality_and_Infinity
Bob Woodward, "Peril" (2021)
Adam Becker/Cult of Tech Doomsday Actors
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/212987932-more-everything-forever
Oliver Haimson/Trans Technology OUT NOW
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2IELqCfDmDICHdMHt3XyXo?si=d88b4927ec4f4a15
Savonarola bonfire of the vanities
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonfire_of_the_vanities
We own this City (Baltimore PD Docudrama)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Own_This_City
Liberation theology / Second Vatican Council
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_theology
Oscar Romero
Adorno, Horkheimer, and Frankfurt School
Fiji is sinking underwater
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/climate-change-fiji-sealevels/
Patreon:
How I learned to stop worrying and love the Dome.
References:
Reykjavik Summit 1986
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reykjav%C3%ADk_Summit
Katyn Forest Massacre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre
Operation CYCLONE 1979-92 (Aid to Afghan Mujahideen)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone
Rambo III
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambo_III
Checkpoint Charlie Crisis 1961
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Crisis_of_1961
The song at the end Tom Lehrer (Sep 1967)
The Fox News Clip "What A Time to Be Alive"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1074RmRvlLU
Reagan, Remarks at Keflavik Air Force Base, Oct 12 1986
Music Credit (under the FOX clip):
Anapse Entertainment
Streamsafe Essentials I
Oliver's Book Trans Technologies:
Oliver's Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/haimson.bsky.social
Guest: Oliver Haimson, Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, and Director of the Community Research on Identity and Technology Lab.
Episode Overview:
In this episode, host William Engels sits down with Professor Oliver Haimson to discuss his new book, Trans Technologies. They explore how technology, broadly defined, plays a crucial role in the lives of trans people, often serving as a tool for empowerment, resistance, and community building in the face of increasing political hostility and systemic barriers. The conversation touches on recent events, philosophical definitions of technology, and the practical challenges and ethical considerations involved in creating and maintaining technology for marginalized communities.
The discussion covers a wide range of topics, including the impact of leaked government documents threatening essential services for LGBTQ youth, the vital work of organizations like Trans Lifeline, and the sustainability issues faced by independent tech creators. Professor Haimson shares examples of technologies built by and for trans people, such as state risk maps and databases tracking anti-trans legislation, highlighting how technology can be a powerful tool for survival and advocacy when traditional political systems fail. They also delve into the definition of technology itself, considering it not just as digital tools but as anything that extends human agency.
Beyond the immediate political climate, the interview touches on the importance of privacy and data security in sensitive technologies, especially given the realities of government surveillance. They reflect on the journey of writing the book, the surprising breadth of trans technological creativity from gaming to art, and the possibility of a more optimistic future where technology can be focused less on survival and more on fostering joy and connection. Ultimately, the conversation underscores the resilience and ingenuity of the trans community in leveraging technology to navigate a challenging world.
Key Topics Discussed:
Introduction to Oliver Haimson and the book "Trans Technologies"
Recent political attacks on LGBTQ+ services and suicide hotlines (988)
Trans Lifeline as an example of a critical trans-led technology/service
Challenges in sustainability and resources for small-scale trans technologies
Technology as a form of resistance and empowerment
The relationship and tension between political action (voting, policy) and technological solutions for trans issues
Examples of trans technologies: state risk maps, databases tracking anti-trans laws (Transformations)
Defining "technology" – extending human agency (drawing on Sandy Stone's definition)
Tags/Keywords:
Oliver Haimson, William Engels, Trans Technologies, Transgender, LGBTQ+, Technology, Trans Studies, Queer Studies, Mental Health, Crisis Hotline, Suicide Prevention, Trans Lifeline, Privacy, Data Security, Ethics, Government Surveillance, Foia, Academics, University, Whistleblowing, Chelsea Manning, WikiLeaks, DNA Phenotyping, Political Backlash, Anti-Trans Legislation, Fearmongering, Activism, Resistance, Mutual Aid, Philosophy of Technology, Media Studies, Human-Computer Interaction, Digital Humanities, Policy, Discrimination, Marginalization, Oakland Institute for Urban Studies, University of Michigan, National Science Foundation, Grant Funding, Culture Wars, Freedom of Information Act, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity (DEI), Academia, Optimism, Pessimism, Utopia, Solar Pump, Gay Revolution, Identity, Community, Support, Art, Video Games, itch.io, Documentaries, Books, Sandy Stone, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Avery Dame-Griff, Jamie Lauren Keiles, Martin Heidegger, Marshall McLuhan, Antonio Gramsci, Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Pete Hegseth, The Two Revolutions, The Third Person.
TOPHER'S BOOK:
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By the way here's what Google Gemini has to say about our conversation:
In a conversation centered around author Topher McDougal's new book Gaia Wakes, McDougal and host William Engels delve into the complex relationship between humanity, technology, and the future of the planet. With the book's release imminent, McDougal notes increased media attention and requests to discuss his work. The discussion immediately touches upon the rapid, exponential growth of AI computing power, a central theme explored in Gaia Wakes. McDougal presents his book as an "exercise in optimism," arguing that despite facing complex global challenges that may currently overwhelm human institutions, there's a potential path towards a more integrated and collectively intelligent future for the Earth, partly facilitated by emerging technologies like AI.
The conversation explores various philosophical and economic dimensions of this future. They debate the concept of AI sentience and its implications for rights, contrasting traditional anthropocentric views with the possibility of intelligence manifesting at a planetary scale. Economic ideas like the incentive structures related to global public goods (like clean air) and the increasingly fluid boundary between production and predation in a technologically advanced world are examined. McDougal suggests that as global problems become too vast for current human systems to manage, there's an economic rationale for developing new forms of coordination and responsibility, potentially leading to a "body planetary" where AI integrated with global sensors develops a form of collective consciousness or "proprioception" for the Earth.
The discussion broadens to include perspectives from science fiction, historical philosophies, and socio-political critique. They touch on works like The Three-Body Problem and Dune, contrast different historical narratives (linear progress vs. cyclical history), and explore concepts like the capabilities approach to human rights and the nature of justice. McDougal argues against simple pessimistic views, suggesting that even amidst global crises and the concentration of power, there's potential for positive transformation. He frames his book as offering a hopeful, albeit realistically cautioned, vision for navigating these turbulent times, encouraging readers to consider the possibility of humanity's future role as a "custodial species" within a larger, interconnected planetary intelligence, ultimately calling for deliberate effort to build this future and avoid succumbing to fatalism.
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Summary:
In this powerful 2014 speech, journalist and author Chris Hedges dissects what he terms the "psychosis of permanent war" that grips the United States. He traces its origins to the anti-communist fervor following World War I, arguing that the Wilson administration pioneered modern mass propaganda techniques, manipulating public emotion rather than appealing to reason. Hedges contends that this permanent state of war, fueled by corporate interests and sustained by both political parties, has destroyed American democracy, corrupted core values like thrift and community, and replaced them with hedonism and the cult of the self. Drawing heavily on his experiences as a war correspondent in the Middle East, Latin America, and the Balkans, Hedges details the devastating human cost and destructive power of modern industrial warfare, critiquing US foreign policy interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and the consequences of Israeli actions in Gaza. He discusses how these actions often create more enemies than they defeat (blowback) and lead to the erosion of civil liberties at home through mass surveillance and laws undermining due process. Referencing thinkers like Dwight Macdonald and Sheldon Wolin (specifically the concept of "inverted totalitarianism"), Hedges argues that corporate power has effectively seized control, leaving mass civil disobedience as potentially the only recourse for citizens to reclaim agency. The speech also includes a Q&A segment touching on climate change activism, the limitations of electoral politics (including the Green Party), and the nature of resistance against entrenched power.
Keywords:
Chris Hedges, Permanent War, War Psychosis, US Foreign Policy, Militarism, Propaganda, Anti-Communism, Corporate Power, Inverted Totalitarianism, Democracy, Civil Liberties, Iraq War, Afghanistan War, Middle East, Gaza, Syria, Israel, War Crimes, Mass Surveillance, Civil Disobedience, Media Critique, Political Philosophy, Sheldon Wolin, Dwight Macdonald, Woodrow Wilson, Sigmund Freud, Noam Chomsky, Climate Change, Occupy Wall Street.
People Mentioned:
Come join my Patreon!
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Sauce for the audio:
https://archive.org/details/NoamChomsky-02-13-96-BreakingTheMythAnExposeOfExploitative
Paul Krugman article that Chomsky urges you to read (title: Pop Internationalism)
https://archive.org/details/popinternational00paul/mode/2up
Chapters:
Modernity has forced the human spirit into a tunnel - is the light at the end the way back to Paradise, or an unstoppable train coming to end the human experiment?
Come join my Patreon!
https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon
Original Video Credit (Kenan Institute for Ethics, 2002):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obeI1ea5ox4
Music of Tibet (1967)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Tibet_(album)
Why Religion Matters (2001)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25885.Why_Religion_Matters
Books and People
Summer of the Gods - Edward J. Larson (Scopes Trial)
The Origins of Love and Hate (Unfinished) - Ian D. Suttie, cited by John Bowlby
The Soul of the American University by George M. Marsden
Chapters
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:03:02) Main Talk, Skip Intro
Outline
This talk features Dr. Huston Smith, a distinguished professor of religion and philosophy, discussing themes from his work, particularly relevant to his then-forthcoming book "Why Religion Matters." He posits that modernity, driven by the success of the scientific method, has inadvertently led to "scientism"—a worldview that limits reality to the material and measurable. This scientific worldview, he argues, has shunted the human spirit into a metaphorical "tunnel," characterized by a loss of transcendence, the sense of a greater, qualitative reality that was central to traditional religious outlooks.
Smith identifies higher education, the media, and the law as institutions reinforcing this tunnel by promoting skepticism towards non-scientific truths and marginalizing religious perspectives in public life, creating an environment less hospitable to the human spirit compared to the "enchanted garden" of traditional views.
Despite this confinement, Dr. Smith sees potential "light at the end of the tunnel," pointing to several hopeful trends. These include the "fairness revolution" advancing minority and gender rights, a shift in psychology towards understanding human nature as fundamentally seeking communion and love (challenging Freudian drives), and developments in physics and cognitive science that suggest limitations to the purely materialist worldview and acknowledge realities potentially beyond space-time or current comprehension. He contrasts these positive signs with his concern that biology remains somewhat stuck in a reductive Darwinian framework, often polarizing the discussion unnecessarily. Throughout the lecture and Q&A, Smith emphasizes the enduring importance of the transcendent perspective offered by world religions for a complete understanding of reality and human flourishing.
Keywords
Huston Smith, Religion, Philosophy, Transcendence, Modernity, Scientism, Scientific Worldview, Traditional Worldview, Human Spirit, Tunnel Metaphor, Higher Education, Media Criticism, Law, Native American Church, Peyote, Fairness Revolution, Human Nature, Physics, Cognitive Science, Consciousness, Darwinism, Why Religion Matters, Multi-phonic Chanting.
