Or here if you prefer iTunes:

Here is a link to BB&T’s philosophy sell sheet that Tones quoted in the show.  Mike thought it was a good, interesting display of philosophy in action. http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/bhobbs/BB_T_Philosophy.pdf

Music by BUSKERDROID from the FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE

Like what you’ve been hearing?  Help us continue the podcast with a small donation to cover the costs of bandwidth and this domain.  Even a dollar will help this hobbyist podcast!  Thanks!

Click here to stream the podcast here:

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Music by SMALL WHITE: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Small-White/123935553680

Click here to stream the podcast: 

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Music by Buskerdroid (free music archive) and Tones dinking around with his new guitar.

Click here to stream the Episode: ep14thoughtexper

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Tones gives a plug for a great “armchair philosopher” book: The Pig That Wants To Be Eaten by Julian Baggini. You can find it here on AMAZON

Music by Buskerdroid (free music archive) and NIGHTOSAUR (because they said I could).

Our next podcast will pick a few of our favorite thought experiments, choosing some from ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology. We’ll describe the scenario, dissect the different angles, and see what light this may show on the abstract theory as well as its applicability to real life.

It should be a fun one!

We need suggestions, though. If you have a favorite scenario: The Inhospitable Hospital, The Pig Who Wanted To Be Eaten, etc. let us know and we’ll consider it for Episode 14.

Email: philosurvival@gmail.com or leave a comment!

Click here to stream: 13bbad

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Music by NIGHTOSAUR. Here they are on facebook:

Please note that Mike and Tones both give rather strong judgements on Marx and his political theory, which may drift a bit from our Prime Directive/Mission Statement.  As always, we do invite you to read the discussed work for yourself, think critically, and to make your own judgements.  As always, we also invite you to add to the discussion via email or the “comments” portion of this page.

Click here to Stream: ep12marx

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Bumper Music by Tones.

Click here to Stream: ep11socratesII

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Bumper Music by Nightosaur off of their NEW album, SpaceAxers.  Check them out here: NIGHTOSAUR 

We’re hoping to record soon and have the installment up within a week or so.

Thanks for your continued interest! See you next week!

Your old WordPress link will still work, but the shortened, simpler new link is now available.

Click here to Stream: ep10socrates

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Bumper Music by Nightosaur off of their NEW album, SpaceAxers.  Check them out here: NIGHTOSAUR 

Click here to Stream: philosurvivalguideep9

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Bumper Music by Nightosaur off of their NEW album, SpaceAxers.  Check them out here: NIGHTOSAUR 

Our mission with this podcast is to break down the barrier between philosophy and the so-called “real world” by not only demonstrating its worth in every-day living, but to also call out philosophic BS when we see it.  Bach seems to share this mentality. It’s not often that the study of philosophy gets much cred in discussions outside of philosophy itself, so we highly recommend that you check it out: HERE

–Tones

Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” (1917) was recently declared the most influential work of modern art according to a Gordon’s Gin survey. Uh… yeah. I can see that.
“Fountain” is influential because it helped start the anything-goes definition of art. Today’s art museums will display anything—a shapeless swirl of colors, a slab of uncut stone, random geometric shapes on canvas, or apparently–a urinal. A modern definition of art is, well, whatever the artist’s whim decides. What is most dangerous, though, is that the modernists who are taken the most seriously today are actually producing anti-art–or art that is destructive to art itself. Observe that Duchamp could have chosen any household item to exhibit his art-is-what-I-say-it-is movement–but he chose a urinal. If Duchamp’s intention was truly as benevolent as he claimed–to show that art can be found in everyday objects–why not display an everyday object that is beautiful? The choice of a urinal shows the true nature behind Duchamp’s statement. A urinal is disgusting, offensive. To choose a urinal was the equivalent of a middle finger saying, “F-you, art, display this.”
It is one thing to convey a dream-like quality like a surrealist, or to experiment with shapes like an abstract artist, but Duchamp not only blurred the essential artistic elements–he removed them with destructive intent… and thus we have Dada. Dada is defined by Webster as “a movement in art and literature based on deliberate irrationality and negation of traditional artistic values.” Sounds accurate to me, but the definition doesn’t capture the evil behind the movement.
Dadaism goes well beyond showing contempt for art–it shows contempt for the rational mind. Art is man’s way of bringing abstractions into reality. We can easily deal with the concept of “chair” because it can be shown. I can also show non-concrete concepts such as “tall” and “transparent” by pointing to a tree and a pane of glass. How would I show the abstract concepts of “beauty,” “resilience,” “pride,” or “happiness?” I would do it with art. I cannot point to “heroic,” but I can point to Michelangelo’s David. I can’t show you “tension” and “suspense,” but I can play you John Williams’ theme from Jaws. I may find it hard to cope with a sudden sadness, but watching Steel Magnolias might help.
What does Dadaism offer to the rational mind? If art offers man the ability to see a physical representation of previously invisible concept–what would anti-art offer? If art is essential for man’s understanding/coping/enjoyment of reality–what good can come from an “art” purposely devoid of the artistic elements? The answer is nothing (that’s what nihilism offers us… nothing).
Sure, “Fountain” served a purpose–and I say that we help it fully reach its potential. Let’s plumb the thing and use it for what it’s best suited to be. I’ll be first in line to use it.

–Tones

Click here to Stream: Episode8

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Bumper Music by Nightosaur off of their NEW album, SpaceAxers.  Check them out here: NIGHTOSAUR  or click here for a free download: THERE MAY BE DRAGONS

Here’s what is on the docket (subject to change): a brief introduction to Aesthetics (what is it? what does philosophy offer to art?), BF Skinner (per Mike’s request) and the blurred line between philosophy and psychology), and a bit more on Free Will (briefly discussed in a previous episode, but Tones realized that he was naive and assumed this was no longer a big debatable subject.  WOW was he wrong).

Thanks again for your interest and be sure to contact us if you have topic suggestions, disagreements, comments, or concerns!

Click here to Stream: Ep7: Presocratics and “Bull Crap”

Click here if you prefer iTunes

Click here  to access the referenced Philosophy: A Bunch Of Bull Crap article by Jordan Roston

Bumper music by Tones

Thanks for your patience and interest!  Hopefully things slow down and we’ll be back to our bi-weekly ‘casts.

If time allows, we’ll also continue our intro-to series and introduce Aesthetics.  We’ll also allot some time for a couple other hot topics and hopefully another philosophy joke to close the show.

Look for a Shamrock Shake and Guinness infused Episode VII to be edited and published around the 21st.

Update: Schedule conflicts forced yet another delay.  We are hoping to hook up with Skype to get this @#$$## episode recorded!!  This busy BUSY month of March has been mean and cruel.  Thanks for your patience!

Click here to Stream: philosurvivalguideep6

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Bumper Music by MPLS ‘s own, Small White: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Small-White/123935553680  (thanks, guys!)

See you next week!

Click here to Stream: philosurvivalguideep5

Click here if you prefer iTunes

Bumper Music by Nightosaur (intro) and Hump! (outro)

2) Based on Tones’s underestimation of the interest in this podcast, he thought he could fly under the radar with his bumper music choices, giving some love to his favorite bands: Rush, Descendents, Big Business, Talking Heads, Nightosaur, etc. But now it’s time to protect ourselves and to respect these artists’ property. (Milo, if you give me the permission, we will make the Descendents our official house band. Milo? Geddy?)

3) Nightosaur has been kind enough to give us permission to use their music for our podcast. Thanks! Check them out HERE. We’ll also throw in a few bars from Tones’s old band, HUMP! and maybe record some other stuff. Tones just spent the last hour or so retrofitting Episodes 1-4, so we are now 100% legal, protected, and permitted.

4) Bumper music doesn’t really matter for a philosophy podcast, we know. But Tones is from the old age of mix tapes and choosing intros and outros is a nice opportunity to give a nod to our fav’s.

5) We respect and support the protection of property rights, copyrights, intellectual property, etc. We feel much better now that our bumper music reflects Mike and Tony’s stances on these issues.

Again, we can’t thank you enough for your interest in our podcast. We are having a blast producing them and it’s even better knowing someone out there is listening!

We learned:

• NOISE!  Sorry about it.  In the first 6 minutes, something was wrong with the recording and we are left with some cracks and pops.  The last 20 minutes are filled with the joyous sounds of Mike’s son playing with his HotWheel Cars.  I hope you think it’s cute and not annoying.  We’ll strive to keep quiet next time.  Thanks for your patience.
• Wiki was down during this podcast.  We support the fight against SOPA/PIPA.  Click here.
• Tony still needs to learn to SLOW DOWN!  Whew…. take a breath!
• This new format works.  We will continue to chose a philosopher or philosophy for each podcast for a nice discussion (on top of the usual smorgasbord of topics).

Thanks to you for checking us out.  We promise to improve with every episode!  Stick with us and be sure to suggest themes, questions, etc. to philosurvivalguide@gmail.com or @philopodcast on Twitter.

Click here to Stream: philosurvivalguideep4

Click here if you prefer iTunes

To be honest, the throw-away episode came at a good time.  Mike and I were unsure on how to proceed with our upcoming discussion(s) on Ethics.  Since questions of morality will be inevitable in future episodes, we didn’t know how to offer up our own viewpoints without sounding like a sermon or a Dear Abby column.  We played with the idea of picking a few contrasting philosophies to answer the ethical questions, but we came to the conclusion that it would be almost impossible to hide our own thoughts on these issues.

We finally concluded that the best course of action will be to lay out the ground work for our own views on Ethics so you know where we’re coming from, but we will leave plenty of room for the members of our audience to make their own decisions.  We will also strive to offer up alternative viewpoints from contrasting philosophies (maybe a good cop/bad cop session?) to remind the audience that we’re not trying to become the Oracle at Delphi, or trying to promote our own philosophy.  Rather, we want to show the key issues at stake and offer starting points for the listeners to come up with their own conclusions.

In another format change, Mike would like to introduce a philosopher or philosophy in each episode to force us to do some learning of our own while taking you along for the ride.  For some reason, he wants to start with Kierkegaard.  I wonder what he has up his sleeve?  Time to study…

So far, here’s what’s on the docket for EpIV Redux, but this could certainly change.

• Housecleaning from Episode III: how could we have an Epistemology episode and not mention REASON?!
• Laying the groundwork for our discussion(s) on Ethics.
• Intro to Ethics
• Kierkegaard

Thanks so much for your interest in our Podcast!

We learned:

We are beginning to feel the push/pull of trying to keep this podcast under 30 minutes and keep the topics down to Earth, while discussing broad topics such as Metaphysics and Epistemology.  In order to define our terms, we feel it necessary to set up shop and introduce the major branches of philosophy (metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, politics) but we also realize there’s no way we can cover it all within the given time nor can we say it as clearly as we wished while we are recording an unscripted, off-the-cuff podcast.  Please keep in mind that these first few episodes are INTRODUCING these terms; we are not trying to say it all at once.  There’s no doubt that we’re leaving a lot of topics and arguments unsaid.  The moment we stop recording, we play the woulda/coulda/shoulda game, but that’s what Episode IV is for!

Thanks to you for checking us out.  We promise to improve with every episode!  Stick with us and be sure to suggest themes, questions, etc. to philosurvivalguide@gmail.com or @philopodcast on Twitter.

Click here to Stream: philosurvivalguideep3

Click here if you prefer iTunes

• MERRY NEW YEAR!  What’s the point?
• Housekeeping from Episode II: a couple leftover topics related to our brief discussion of Metaphysics
• Lying
• EPISTEMOLOGY (continuing our intro-to series).
• Mike’s topics of the moment
• Another Joke?

Our blog is recording more views than we expected at this point, so we are sincerely thankful for your interest in our podcast.  It certainly is nice knowing a few people are on the listening end of this!  We are having a blast with this podcast, and we hope you are getting some entertainment out of it as well.

Again, you can keep up with our progress on Twitter here.

Also, please email any suggestions or comments to: philosurvivalguide@gmail.com

Cheers!

We Learn:

• Tony needs to learn how to share the mic.  Sorry, team.
• Rudolf is to Rainbow Fish as Steve Jobs is to Bill Gates (in his most current form)
• We guaranteed that Episode I would be 100% Jar Jar free… how about Episode II?  Damnit, Mike!
• Nightosaur rocks.

\m/ Thanks to Minneapolis Rock Stars NIGHTOSAUR for the intro music!  Check out their CD, “Black Blood of the Earth” and look out for a 2012 release!  \m/

Thanks to you for checking us out.  We promise to improve with every episode!  Stick with us and be sure to suggest themes, questions, etc. to philosurvivalguide@gmail.com or @philopodcast on Twitter.

Click here to stream: philosurvivalguideep2

Click here if you prefer iTunes

Our planned hot topics will (most likely) include:

• Rudolf vs. The Rainbow Fish
• Gates and Jobs
• Metaphysics (our intro to the branches of philosophy)
• Whatever Mike and Tony come up with to fill the time.

Meanwhile, you can follow us on Twitter  @philopodcast  if you’d like up-to-date… errr… updates.

Also, you feel free to email us: philosurvivalguide@gmail.com with any questions, comments, complaints, etc.

Thanks again for your interest and here’s to a safe and HAPPY holiday season!

–Tones and Mike

In Episode I:

Mike and Tony try to set up shop by introducing who we are, what this podcast will accomplish, and how we became interested in philosophy.  We then cover hard hitting issues such as: who should study philosophy, why anyone would choose philosophy as a major in college, and if a philosophy major’s resume is destined for an interview or the trash.

We’ve learned:

• Tony references Quantum Leap, Star Treks II and III, and the movie Se7en.  He needs to get current on his references.
• Mike’s MN accent is more hardcore than Tony’s.
• Bruce Lee was a “philosopher major.”
• Podcasting is awkward and hard; we hope to find our groove by Episode IV.  The first 3 Episodes of Star Wars don’t count either.
• Editing out Uh’s and Giggles is time consuming.  Mike totally lost it at the end, so pardon the jumpiness.  We hope to get better at that too.

Again, we appreciate your interest and encourage any comments or topic ideas!

Thanks,

Mike and Tony

Click here to stream: philosurvivalguideep1

Click here if you prefer iTunes

Thanks for checking out Philosophy: A Survival Guide, a podcast and blog (heavier on the podcast) dedicated to promote the study of philosophy through casual conversations and anecdotes that show that, like it or not, philosophy is everywhere.

If you decide to study philosophy, we hope to throw you a lifeline to bring you back to the “real world.”  We want to remind you that yes, those abstractions and generalities that you’re studying do have their proper context in your life.  We’ll help you stay grounded.  We hope to be your survival guide.

If you are doubtful that studying philosophy is necessary for everyday living, we hope to show you how studying and defining your personal philosophy will enhance your day-to-day life.  Trying to live without a defined philosophy is like trying write an essay without an outline; you may get the final paper done regardless, but a paper written with a properly outlined guide will be clearer, more efficient, and prevent the writer from wandering off course.  Philsophy is a survival guide.

See what we did there?

Anyway, we hope you have fun listening to our podcasts.  We’ll try to present a mixture of philosophic theory, fun stories, and we’ll try to keep it as far away from the guru’s mountain as possible.  We welcome you to send topic ideas, questions, or comments to: philosurvivalguide@gmail.com and/or follow us on Twitter: @philopodcast

Here’s who we are:

Michael Raveling  is a 12-year Software Test professional and Quality Assurance analyst. He’s a University of Minnesota graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in computer science. He also hosts a wildly popular podcast about software testing ( http://www.softwaretestpodcast.com )