Brain in a Vat cover art

All Episodes

Brain in a Vat — 288 episodes

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Title
1

The Time-Meaning Conundrum | Rivka Weinberg

2

Should You Need Permission to Take Medicine? | Jessica Flanigan

3

Can Torture Be Justified? | Stephen Kershnar

4

A World Without Scarcity | Steven Kotler

5

Living with Adversity | David Benatar

6

Risky Storytelling | Kevin Allison

7

Free Speech, Hate Speech, and Mental Health | Chloe Carmichael

8

The Bias against Conservatism in Higher Education | Amy Wax

9

The Nature of the Sexes | Tomás Bogardus (with Stephen Kershnar)

10

God Is Not Praiseworthy | Stephen Kershnar and Nathan Bray

11

Facial Distortions and Prosopometamorphopsia | Brad Duchaine (Rebroadcast)

12

Should We Stay or Should We Go | Lionel Shriver (Rebroadcast)

13

Parental Licensing | Connor Kianpour (Rebroadcast)

14

Can AI Bring Our Loved Ones Back? Inside Reflekta AI’s Digital Afterlife | Miles Spencer

15

Cultural Appropriation | Stephen Kershnar (Rebroadcast)

16

Aztec Philosophy: What the Aztecs Knew About Life | Sebastian Purcell

17

The Assassination of Charlie Kirk

18

Using AI to Fight Crime | David Boonin (Rebroadcast)

19

Are We Free at Work? Marx on Capitalism Today | Brian Leiter

20

The Possible Worlds of David Lewis | Barry Lam (Rebroadcast)

21

Procreative Ethics | Rivka Weinberg (Rebroadcast)

22

Imagine There’s No Gender | Holly Lawford-Smith [with Raja Halwani] (Rebroadcast)

23

The Moral Lives of Spies | Cécile Fabre

24

The Right to Sex | Raja Halwani (Rebroadcast)

25

Decriminalizing Sex Work | Jessica Flanigan

26

Disgust | Martha Nussbaum (Rebroadcast)

27

Patriotism Unpacked | Spencer Case (Rebroadcast)

28

Is Tarot a Tool for Thought? | Georgi Gardiner

29

Living The Philosophical Life | Agnes Callard

30

The Israel Palestine Conflict | David Benatar

31

The Ideal State: An AI Debate - Plato vs Nozick

32

Organ Markets | James Stacey Taylor (Rebroadcast)

33

Academic Freedom in Universities | Eric Sampson and Rebecca Tuvel

34

Children's Rights and Parenting | Connor Kianpour and Ella Coleman

35

Are Conspiracy Theories Right? | Jared Millson and Ella Coleman

36

Animal Liberation Now | Peter Singer (Rebroadcast)

37

End Taxes? | Jessica Flanigan

38

The Problem with Democracy | Jason Brennan (Rebroadcast)

39

Mass Shootings | Kurt Blankschaen

40

The Problems with Virtue Ethics | Travis Timmerman

41

The End Goal of Wokeness | Nathan Cofnas

42

Effective Altruism and Making a Difference | Jacob Bauer

43

Ultimate Meaning | Rivka Weinberg (Rebroadcast)

44

Affirmative Action and Medical School | Stephen Kershnar

45

Should Only Queer Actors Play Queer Roles? | Kurt Blankschaen & Travis Timmerman

46

The Moral Circle: Are AI and Animals Included? | Jeff Sebo

47

Don't Vote | Chris Freiman with Rebecca Tuvel

48

Alix Spiegel on Storytelling | Alix Spiegel

49

Why It's Okay to Eat Meat - Or Is It? | Dan Shahar (Rebroadcast)

50

Who was Derek Parfit? | David Edmonds (Rebroadcast)

51

The Philosophy of Severance | Travis Timmerman (Rebroadcast)

52

Anti-Semitism | Mark Oppenheimer (Rebroadcast)

53

What Is a Woman? | Alex Byrne (Rebroadcast)

54

Sex Work or Prostitution? | Lori Watson (Rebroadcast)

55

Is Monogamy Wrong? | Harry Chalmers (Rebroadcast)

56

The Privacy Paradox | David Boonin (Rebroadcast)

57

Benatar on Bullshit | With Rebecca Tuvel

58

Unravelling “White Privilege” | Spencer Case

59

Cultural Appropriation | Stephen Kershnar

60

Determinism, Free Will, and the Meaning of Life | Stephen Maitzen

61

Abortion: An AI Debate - Mill vs Kant

62

Will Machines Rule the World? | Barry Smith

63

Reimagining Democracy as Lottocracy | Alexander Guerrero (With Travis Timmerman)

64

Navigating Kinky Sex: Ethics, Safety, and Risk | Georgi Gardiner

65

Comedy, Satire, and Laughing at the Uncomfortable | John Vlismas

66

The Value of Bad Movies | Matt Strohl (with Travis Timmerman)

67

Refugees and Border Control | Bradley Hillier-Smith

68

Exploring Alien Civilizations | Isaac Arthur

69

Can Animals Create Art? | Yolandi Coetser

70

Population Decline and Pronatalism | Paul Morland

71

Love and Limerence | Georgi Gardiner

72

Aliens, Social Groups, and the Golden Record | Jason Werbeloff

73

Ayn Rand and the Ethics of Selfishness | Tara Smith

74

The Fine-Tuning Argument for God’s Existence | Aaron Zimmer (with Nathan Bray)

75

Fatphobia | Kate Manne (with Travis Timmerman)

76

Money, Institutions, and Social Groups | J. P. Smit

77

Left vs Right, Polarization, and Political Legitimacy | Oliver Traldi

78

The Ethics of Swearing | Rebecca Roache [with Travis Timmerman]

79

Patriotism Unpacked | Spencer Case

80

The Ethics of Dark Humor | David Shoemaker

81

Is Israel’s War Unjust? | Mark Oppenheimer vs Raja Halwani

82

Gaming and Friendship | Nicholas Baima

83

Gaming: Dangerous or Beneficial? | Sarah Malanowski

84

The Edges of Philosophy: Good, Bad, and the Controversial | Travis Timmerman

85

Helpful Abortion Restrictions? | Perry Hendricks

86

Race and IQ | Nathan Cofnas

87

Lionel Shriver on the Dangers of Manic Equality

88

Gun Control | Eric Sampson (Rebroadcast)

89

Ethical Quandaries of Autonomous Weapon Systems | Afonso Seixas-Nunes

90

Paediatric Gender Medicine | Moti Gorin and Holly Lawford-Smith

91

Peter Singer on Animal Liberation Now

92

We Should Want Immortality | John Martin Fischer

93

Against Immortality | Stephen Cave

94

Immigration and Borders | Stephen Kershnar

95

Cascading Catastrophic Risks | Trond Undheim

96

The Ethics of Political Commemoration | Hans Gutbrod

97

Facial Distortions and Prosopometamorphopsia | Brad Duchaine

98

Pornography and Free Speech | Nadine Strossen and Holly Lawford-Smith

99

Unravelling “White Privilege” | Spencer Case

100

The Privacy Paradox | David Boonin

101

Dissecting Morality: Error Theory | Matt Lutz

102

The Morality Maze | Spencer Case

103

Why Israel's Response to Hamas Was Justified | Natasha Hausdorff

104

The Trouble with Gender | Alex Byrne

105

John Rawls: Justice as Fairness | Paul Weithman (Rebroadcast)

106

Near-Death Experiences | John Martin Fischer (Rebroadcast)

107

How To End Global Poverty | Andy Kuper (Rebroadcast)

108

Evolutionary Psychology | Justin Garson (Rebroadcast)

109

Trans women in sport: Is it fair? | Stephen Kershnar (Rebroadcast)

110

David Chalmers on Virtual Reality and The Simulation Argument (Rebroadcast)

111

Freedom | Ernst Roets and Martin Van Staaden

112

The Philosophy of Black Mirror's White Bear | Rebecca Tuvel

113

Why you should stop eating meat | Mylan Engel

114

David Benatar on the Israel Palestine Conflict

115

The Ethics of Killing in War | Jeff McMahan (Rebroadcast)

116

Pornography and Exploitation | Holly Lawford-Smith

117

Organ Markets | James Stacey Taylor

118

Is Monogamy Wrong? | Harry Chalmers

119

The Philosophy of Infinity Pool | Travis Timmerman

120

Oppenheimers on Barbenheimer

121

Stephen Kershnar on Cultural Appropriation

122

Sex work or prostitution? | Lori Watson

123

The Islam-Atheism Debate: Behind the Curtain

124

Death | Travis Timmerman

125

Luck and Knowledge | Mylan Engel

126

Who was Derek Parfit? | David Edmonds

127

Is Islam more rational than Atheism? | Eron Fasser, Mohammed Hijab, Mark Oppenheimer, Hamza Tzortzis

128

Imagine There’s No Gender | Holly Lawford-Smith (with Raja Halwani)

129

Hate Speech | Mark Oppenheimer (Live at St Andrews)

130

What is a woman? | Alex Byrne

131

Is Grieving Good for You? | Michael Cholbi

132

The Supreme Court Ban on Affirmative Action | David Benatar

133

Self-driving Cars and the Apocalypse | Ryan Jenkins (with Stephen Kershnar)

134

Animal Ethics | Thad Metz

135

Will there be peace in the middle east? | Raja Halwani

136

Friendship is Magic | Samuel Kimbriel

137

Anonymous Publishing | Ivar Hardman

138

Thought Experiments | Spencer Case

139

Conserving Monuments | Dan Demetriou

140

Why Americans Don't Owe Veterans Gratitude | Stephen Kershnar (with Spencer Case)

141

Procreative Ethics | Rivka Weinberg

142

Anti-Semitism | Mark Oppenheimer

143

Ultimate Meaning | Rivka Weinberg

144

Dystopian Technology | Ryan Jenkins, guest host Stephen Kershnar

145

Dark humor and censorship | Connor Kianpour, guest host Stephen Kershnar

146

David Benatar on Affirmative Action

147

Holocaust Responsibility | Spencer Case

148

Parental Licensing | Connor Kianpour

149

Amnesia and Split Identity | Jacob Derin

150

Is AI art unfair to artists? | James Helps

151

The Ethics of Pet Ownership | Cheryl Abbate

152

Conversations about Philosophy | Brain in a Vat

153

Stephen Kershnar on the Impossibility of Responsibility

154

End of the Year Special: A Look Back

155

David Benatar: The Meaning of Life [Remastered]

156

The Right to Sex | Raja Halwani

157

Lionel Shriver on Abominations

158

We Should Be More Pragmatic about Ethics | Andrew Sepielli

159

Do the guilty deserve punishment? | John Martin Fischer

160

African Ethics: A Superior Moral Framework? | Thaddeus Metz

161

Putnam on the Brain in a Vat | David Macarthur

162

Hillary Putnam on Morality | Mario de Caro

163

Using AI to Fight Crime | David Boonin

164

Freedom of the Press | Toby Young

165

Why it's okay to eat meat - or is it? | Dan Shahar

166

Is Your Gender Up to You? | Shaun Stanley

167

The Supreme Court and Abortion | Brian Leiter

168

Martha Nussbaum on Disgust

169

Should we silence defectors? | Connor Kianpour

170

Trans Sports | Jon Pike

171

The Problem with Democracy | Jason Brennan

172

Immortality | John Martin Fischer

173

Is Hate Speech Free Speech? | Nadine Strossen

174

Science and The Big Questions | Alexander Arnold

175

Music and Philosophy | Mark Linsenmayer

176

Effective Altruism | Theron Pummer

177

The Philosophy of Apology | Jeff Helmreich

178

The Philosophy of Everything Everywhere All at Once | Taylor Cyr

179

Lionel Shriver on Should We Stay or Should We Go

180

The Philosophy of Severance | Travis Timmerman

181

The Ethics of Killing in War | Jeff McMahan

182

Eureka! Why epiphanies matter | Sophie Grace Chappell

183

David Chalmers on Virtual Reality and The Simulation Argument

184

The Value of Truth | Simon Blackburn

185

The Creative Life | Theresa Hardman

186

The Kalam Cosmological Argument | Majesty of Reason

187

Trans women in sport: Is it fair? | Stephen Kershnar

188

Evolutionary Psychology | Justin Garson

189

The Philosophy of Dune | Adam Taylor

190

How to discover TRUTH | Galen Barry

191

Sex, Gender and Sexual Orientation | Raja Halwani

192

Hidden Motives| Elena Garadja

193

Dignity and Society | Colin Bird

194

Gun Control | Eric Sampson

195

Should we save animals? | Jeffrey Sebo

196

Near-Death Experiences | John Martin Fischer

197

The Philosophy of Squid Game | Travis Timmerman

198

Free Will and Moral Responsibility | John Fischer

199

Abortion | Stephen Kershnar

200

The Kershnar Controversy | Brain in a Vat

201

Sexual Taboos | Stephen Kershnar

202

Parfit's view of personal identity | Jeff McMahan

203

Do you have a character? | Iskra Fileva

204

End of Year Surprise

205

The Fall of UCT | David Benatar

206

The Possible Worlds of David Lewis | Barry Lam

207

Can Hope Save Your Life? | Jack Kwong

208

Moral Disagreement | Eric Sampson

209

Ballenesque | Roger Ballen

210

Pandemic Ethics | Peter Singer

211

Michael Huemer on Disobeying the Law

212

Is Nuclear War Ever Justified? | Eron Fasser

213

Plato’s problem with Democracy | Clif Mark

214

Is it wrong to enjoy good films made by bad people? | Travis Timmerman

215

The Power of Imagination | Amy Kind

216

Where is my mind? | Shaun Stanley

217

Should You Trust Experts? | Oliver Traldi

218

How To End Global Poverty | Andy Kuper

219

Cryonics: who wants to live forever? | Francesca Minerva

220

Addiction | Daniel Hochman

221

Death | Travis Timmerman

222

When should you forgive? | Brandon Warmke

223

John Rawls: Justice as Fairness | Paul Weithman

224

Do the ends justify the means? | Alastair Norcross

225

What Is Madness? | Justin Garson

226

Is it okay to be a slacker? | Alison Suen

227

What Offends You? | Mark Oppenheimer

228

Is evil real? | Spencer Case

229

What if? | Peg Tittle

230

What Is Happiness? | Shane Gronholz

231

Trans, Sex, and Gender | Kathleen Stock

232

Do Social Groups Exist? | Jason Werbeloff

233

12 Mind Blowing Thought Experiments

234

The Dangers of Thought Experiments | Roy Sorensen

235

Is Morality Real? | Shaun Stanley

236

The Danger of Wokeness | Helen Zille

237

The Second Sexism | David Benatar

238

Wittgenstein's Poker | David Edmonds

239

Hate Speech and Pornography | Mari Mikkola

240

Animal Welfare | Bob Fischer

241

Who should you believe? | Chris Ranalli

242

Can God Right Past Wrongs? | Sam Lebens

243

Anarchy & Socialism | Mark Lance

244

What is the Value of Philosophy? | Justin Weinberg

245

So You've Been Publicly Shamed | Rebecca Tuvel

246

Nietzsche: Morality is Dead | Brian Leiter

247

Stephen King and Philosophy | Jacob Held

248

Is Academic Freedom Under Threat? | Spencer Case

249

Which God Should You Believe in? | Eron Fasser

250

Is Abortion Immoral? | Nathan Nobis

251

The Argument for Anarchism

252

Face Blindness with Jeff Waters

253

Tenet Explained

254

The Future of Brain in a Vat

255

Brian Leiter: The Supreme Court

256

Thad Metz: Meaning in Life

257

Do You Have Free Will? With Mark Leon

258

Does Your Vote Count? With Jacob Bauer

259

Black Mirror, Virtual Sex and Trans with Rebecca Tuvel

260

#2000andlate in 2020 Hindsight

261

Do You Have a Soul? With Tyron Goldschmidt

262

Should Robots Have Rights? With Rob Sparrow

263

Should We Save The Polar Bears? With Yolandi Coetzee

264

[Bonus] Mark Oppenheimer²

265

Mark Oppenheimer²: The Limits Of Free Speech?

266

Let's Talk About Sex With Raja Halwani

267

David Benatar: The Meaning of Life

268

Should You Volunteer To Get Covid? With Dustin Crummett

269

Gorgeous or Grotesque? With Amanda Ballen

270

Crime and Punishment With Doug Husak

271

Is Cultural Relativism Racist? With Justin Kalef

272

What is Love? With Raja Halwani

273

Are You Evil?

274

What's Wrong with Moral Grandstanding? With Brandon Warmke

275

Is it wrong to eat meat? With Dustin Crummet

276

Graham Oppy: Does God Exist?

277

Should Offensive Art be Banned? With Elisa Galgut

278

Peter Boghossian: How to Have Impossible Conversations

279

Do You Live in a Simulation? With Kenny Pearce

280

Does Race Exist? With Shaun Stanley

281

Does Tuvix Deserve to Die?

282

Is the Lockdown Lawful? With Martin van Staden

283

Time Travel and The Grandfather Paradox with Helen Robertson

284

Belief, Faith, and Hope with Liz Jackson

285

Lost in Translation with Shaun Stanley

286

The Value of Human Life with Eron Fasser

287

The Veil of Ignorance and Justice in a Lockdown

288

Lockdown: A Trolley Problem