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 YOU! Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes: patreon.com/ILearnedNothing
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. CHECK IT OUT! Also check out our Patreon for Bonus Content: www.patreon.com/ILearnedNothing
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 & philosophical underpinnings of the hottest new super-religion on the scene: Islam. Learn about the Tawwhid, Sufi mysticism, and Al Ghazali's nutty theory of occasionalism in this epic TWO PARTER! Buckle up, buttercup, and don't forget to check out our Patreon (patreon.com/ILearnedNothing) for some sweet sweet extra credit.
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 cheeky pricks (*cough* Daniel Dennett *cough*) don't even believe they exist? Can you believe that? So tune in folks. Keep on thinking hard. Oh also patreon.com/ILearnedNothing for more stuff.
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.
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, check out our Patreon: patreon.com/ILearnedNothing.
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 that is the measure of right and wrong." Seems legit right? Except when you explore specific scenarios that highlight "the greater good" at the expense of individual dignity and suffering. Would you kill an innocent person to save the world? What if that person was your mom, you sick fuck? That's Utilitarianism. Strap in!
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, and righteousness, check out our Patreon: www.patreon.com/ILearnedNothing
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 gets very erotic. And, for just $5 a month, you can access hard-hitting exposés like this one every single week. Well how about that? Just join our Patreon at patreon.com/ILearnedNothing
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 is the correct religion.)
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.
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 tradition and intended to access that dimension with Western reasoning, Eastern spiritual practice, and a dash of dubious crypto-Nazi race science for good measure. It gets weird. Don't blame me. Pat picked the topic.
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.
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?
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!
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.
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 Cioran. Listen in to learn more!
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, never mind, just listen to the episode. Pat gets mad. Buy Kyrgies. Check out our Patreon: patreon.com/ILearnedNothing. Fuck you.
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 hand and here's the other. And boy howdy did the skeptics ever catch those hands, nawmean?
