Driven To Meaning

Episode 32: Hooked on Dogmatism

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 19:16:00 -0700

Are we 'hardwired' to believe in God?

Episode Link

Episode 31: A Climate of Fear

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 19:38:00 -0700

Saving the world, one accusation at a time.

Episode Link

Episode 30: The Condemnation Game

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 18:15:00 -0800

Points initially spread across the spectrum.
Dials turned, frequencies adjusted.
Out of the noise something began to take form.

Episode link

Episode 29: The Evil That People Do

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Sun, 6 Jan 2019 00:59:00 -0800

Are we honest enough about what each and every one of us is capable of doing to others under certain environmental pressures?

Episode Link

Episode 28: Naughty or Nice?

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 02:01:00 -0800

Were you naughty or nice in 2018?

Episode Link

Episode 27 - The Empirical Self and the Transcendental Self: Kant and Critique of Pure Reason

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 23:51:00 -0700

In this episode, we wrap up our extended focus on Kant's Critique of Pure Reason by coming full circle and looking at his view on personal identity, the topic of Episode 1 of this podcast. Recall, in that episode, we were introduced to David Hume's thoughts on the topic.

Episode Link

Episode 26 - More on the Threefold Synthesis: Kant and Critique of Pure Reason

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 03:13:00 -0700

An intuitive breakdown of the threefold synthesis of the first edition of Critique of Pure Reason.

Episode Link

Episode 25 - The Threefold Synthesis: Kant and Critique of Pure Reason

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Mon, 3 Sep 2018 07:06:00 -0700

We begin Kant's famous Transcendental Deduction this episode, focusing first on what he called 'the threefold synthesis' of cognition.

Episode Link

Readings from Critique of Pure Reason [first edition], by Immanuel Kant:

A96-98
A 99-100: 1. ON THE SYNTHESIS OF APPREHENSION IN INTUITION
A101-102: 2. ON THE SYNTHESIS OF REPRODUCTION IN IMAGINATION
A103-106: 3. ON THE SYNTHESIS OF RECOGNITION IN THE CONCEPT

Episode 24: The Elephant in the Room: Kant and Critique of Pure Reason

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Sun, 19 Aug 2018 23:16:00 -0700

Is transcendental idealism philosophically inconsistent? Does Kant not fully get the love he should from the philosophy community because he seems to have violated one of his own doctrines?

Episode Link

Episode 23 - The Origin of Cognition: Kant and Critique of Pure Reason

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 00:51:00 -0700

In this episode, hopefully we nail down what it is that Kant means when he uses the term 'transcendental.' Also, the cognitive mechanism Kant calls 'synthesis' is introduced.

Readings from Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant:
(A56/B80) - General logic vs. transcendental logic
(A57/B82) - Brief but clear description of what transcendental logic is
(A58-59/B82-83) - A little about what truth is
(A77-79/B102-105) - Synthesis is introduced

Reading from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume:
Book I, Part III, Section VIII - Intensity of belief in terms of probability

Episode link

Episode 22 - The Elements of Cognition: Kant and Critique of Pure Reason

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Wed, 1 Aug 2018 22:54:00 -0700

What makes cognition possible according to Kant? We dive slightly deeper into Transcendental Logic.

Episode link

Episode 21: Transcendental Logic Introduction

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 22:02:00 -0700

We briefly touch upon the opening section of Transcendental Logic in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason.

Episode Link

Episode 20: More on Transcendental Idealism

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Thu, 5 Jul 2018 23:50:00 -0700

Continuing Kant's Critique of Pure Reason...
What does the mind bring to experience?
A little more on transcendental idealism as touched on in Transcendental Aesthetic.

Episode link

Episode 19: Transcendental Idealism

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 05:44:00 -0700

A little on how Hume's controversial claim about the nature of cause-and-effect associations led Kant to rethink his approach to metaphysics.

Episode link

Episode 18 - The Attack on Metaphysics: Hume on Cause and Effect

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Sat, 9 Jun 2018 03:30:00 -0700

What was it that Hume said that awoke Kant from his so-called dogmatic slumber? In this episode we look at how susceptible we are to the inferences our minds make.

Link to this episode.

Episode 17 - Pieces of Infinity Pt 2: Kant on Space

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Sat, 26 May 2018 23:09:00 -0700

In this episode we contrast Hume's idea of space as a concept derived from experience and Kant's idea of space as an a priori presentation.

Link to this Episode

Episode 16 - Pieces of Infinity: Hume on Space

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Fri, 18 May 2018 00:22:00 -0700

A brief tangent from our survey of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, here we take a look at one of David Hume's unpopular discussions from A Treatise of Human Nature, namely his ideas on Space and infinite divisibility.

Link to this episode

Episode 15: More on the Analytic/Synthetic Distinction - Leibniz, Hume, and Kant

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Sun, 6 May 2018 07:54:00 -0700

We slow things down a little bit and spend a little more time on the analytic/synthetic distinction. A few thoughts from Leibniz and Hume, as well as Kant.
Link to this episode

Episode 14 - From Perceptions to Knowledge Pt 2: Pure Intuition Pt 2

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Fri, 4 May 2018 08:48:00 -0700

Continuing Transcendental Aesthetic in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. In this episode we cover the pure intuition of time.
Link to this episode

Episode 13 - Podcast Title Update

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Fri, 4 May 2018 02:26:00 -0700

A brief message about a change to the podcast.

Episode 12 - From Perceptions to Knowledge Pt 2: Pure Intuition Pt 1

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 04:24:00 -0700

Continuing Transcendental Aesthetic in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. We transition from empirical intuition to pure intuition. First up - Space

Link to Episode 12

Episode 11 - From Perceptions to Knowledge Pt 1 - Sensibility and Intuition: Pt 2

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 02:05:00 -0700

Kantian terminology explored in more detail, particularly the terms intuition and sensibility.

Episode 11 Link

Episode 10 - From Perceptions to Knowledge Pt 1 - Sensibility and Intuition: Pt 1

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 12:35:00 -0700

A brief introduction to Transcendental Aesthetic from Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Some basic vocabulary from the Critique is introduced to get started on Kant's theory of perception.

Link to Episode 10

Episode 9 - Driven to Meaning - Part 2: From Rules to Meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Sun, 1 Apr 2018 01:46:00 -0700

What are the basic rules we follow? We guess that they lie deep in the human psyche. How can we get at them?

Episode 9 Link

Episode 8 - Driven to Meaning - Part 1: The Doorway Effect

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Mon, 5 Mar 2018 11:00:00 -0800

How much of our experience with the world is predetermined by the contents of our mind?

Episode 8 Link

Episode 7 - Nietzsche and Morality Wrap-Up: A Final Thought or Two

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 22:17:00 -0800

A few last words concerning Nietzsche's writing style and how it affects our image of him.

Episode 7 Link

Episode 6 - Nietzsche and Morality - Pt 4: We Weak Ones

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 00:31:00 -0800

This episode concludes a four-part series focusing on Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals. Final commentary is presented as a recording of a talk given by Nietzsche scholar Bernard Reginster at Amherst College in 2017.

Episode 6 Link

Episode 5 - Nietzsche and Morality - Pt 3: Ressentiment

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 06:03:00 -0800

In this episode, sections 9 - 12 of the first essay of On the Genealogy of Morals are covered. Nietzsche's concept of Ressentiment is introduced, and he laments the diminution of the spirit of man.

Link to Episode 5

Episode 4 - Nietzsche and Morality - Part 2: The Slave Revolt

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Mon, 15 Jan 2018 01:06:00 -0800

Here we cover sections 5 - 8 of the first essay of On The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche. These sections cover Nietzsche's explanation of the transition from a culture of hero worship in ancient Greece and Early Rome to one in which people worship a god who demands self denial, one he (Nietzsche) calls a slave morality.

Link to Episode 4

Episode 3 - Nietzsche and Morality - Part 1: The Origin of Morality

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Sat, 30 Dec 2017 00:07:00 -0800

This episode begins a short series of episodes dedicated to the first essay in Friedrich Nietzsche's "On the Genealogy of Morals." The first 4 sections are read and very briefly commented on. The overall theme of these sections is the origin of our concepts of "good" and "bad."

Link to Episode 3

Episode 2 - Nietzsche - Part 1: Eternal Return

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Tue, 5 Dec 2017 05:10:00 -0800

The first in a series of episodes covering some of the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche. This episode introduces Amor Fati and Eternal Return.

Episode 2 - Nietzsche - Part 1: Eternal Return

Episode 1 - Personal Identity

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Thu, 7 Sep 2017 02:49:00 -0700

An introduction to the philosophical topic of personal identity, with a focus on David Hume's ideas on the matter.

Podcast Introduction Episode

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 22:41:00 -0700

Welcome to the podcast...

noreply@blogger.com (Will Jay) — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 00:24:00 -0700