A couple of philosophy professors, Megan Fritts and Frank Cabrera, try to prove that you can do philosophy about almost anything. Join them as they explore the philosophical dimensions of topics on the outskirts of the academy. From Bigfoot to birthday parties, they take a Socratic approach to phenomena strange and mundane, asking listeners the question: What if we did philosophy on the fringes?
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A couple of philosophy professors, Megan Fritts and Frank Cabrera, try to prove that you can do philosophy about almost anything. Join them as they explore the philosophical dimensions of topics on the outskirts of the academy. From Bigfoot to birthday parties, they take a Socratic approach to phenomena strange and mundane, asking listeners the question: What if we did philosophy on the fringes?
In this episode, Megan and Frank examine astrology. What is astrology, and why do people practice it? What are the strongest objections to astrology? Should astrology count as a science? If not, why not? What can the case of astrology teach us about the role of science in a democratic society? And why does the ancient practice of reading the stars prompt us to ponder the deepest aspects of human experience? Thinkers discussed include: Aristotle, Cicero, Ptolemy, Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Imre Lakatos, Paul Feyerabend, Carl Sagan, Ian James Kidd, and Massimo Pigliucci.
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Hosts' Websites:
Megan J Fritts (google.com) [https://sites.google.com/view/meganjfritts/home?authuser=0]
Frank J. Cabrera (google.com) [https://sites.google.com/view/frank-j-cabrera/research?pli=1]
Email: philosophyonthefringes@gmail.com
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Bibliography:
Philosophy of Science and the Occult | State University of New York Press [https://sunypress.edu/Books/P/Philosophy-of-Science-and-the-Occult] (first section is an invaluable resource, containing the 1975 manifesto, Feyerabend's critique, and articles summarizing statistical studies disconfirming astrology)
Cabrera - Evidence and explanation in Cicero's On Divination [https://philarchive.org/rec/CABEAE-5]
LacusCurtius • Ptolemy — Tetrabiblos [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ptolemy/Tetrabiblos/home.html]
LacusCurtius • Cicero — De Divinatione: Book I [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/thayer/e/roman/texts/cicero/de_divinatione/1*.html]
A double-blind test of astrology | Nature [https://www.nature.com/articles/318419a0]
Readings in the Philosophy of Science: From Positivism to Postmodernism [https://www.amazon.com/Readings-Philosophy-Science-Positivism-Postmodernism/dp/0767402774] (See for short selections from Popper, Kuhn, and Lakatos)
Ian James Kidd - Why did Feyerabend Defend Astrology? Integrity, Virtue, and the Authority of Science [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02691728.2015.1031851] (An excellent paper that very much informed our discussion of the science & society question)
M. Pigliucci - Was Feyerabend Right in Defending Astrology? A Commentary on Kidd [https://social-epistemology.com/2016/05/02/was-feyerabend-right-in-defending-astrology-a-commentary-on-kidd-massimo-pigliucci/]
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Cover Artwork by Logan Fritts
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Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/simon-folwar/neon-signs
License code: YYRPW29K1IDMU76F
Philosophy on the Fringes
A couple of philosophy professors, Megan Fritts and Frank Cabrera, try to prove that you can do philosophy about almost anything. Join them as they explore the philosophical dimensions of topics on the outskirts of the academy. From Bigfoot to birthday parties, they take a Socratic approach to phenomena strange and mundane, asking listeners the question: What if we did philosophy on the fringes?
