Patterson In Pursuit: Philosophy | Politics | Religion

If animals can suffer, does that make it immoral to eat meat? I'm joined again by Dr. Mike Huemer to help me answer this question. He has recently released a series of four dialogues on the topic, which address many of the issues we talk about in this episode. Also covered: free will, empathy, and whether the nutritional value of meat changes our ethical judgments.  Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Does objective truth exist? Thaddeus Russell joins me for part two of our discussion about postmodernism. In this episode, we focus on the philosophy of truth. Can we know anything about the world? Can we know anything about our minds? Are the laws of logic objective or just a convention of language? Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

I am joined by Dr. Thaddeus Russell to talk about postmodernism. With the popularity of people like Jordan Peterson, who vocally criticize postmodernism, Thaddeus thinks most of the criticism is misplaced. We also have a great conversation about love, religion, and people's motivation for their actions. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Season 2 is here! The show starts up again with a fantastic interview with Dr. Bernardo Kastrup about idealism.  I've spent a lot of time arguing against physicalism and for a kind of "reluctant dualist" worldview, but I've not explained my position on idealism. So, I brought Dr. Kastrup on the show to give his case that only mental stuff exists. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

I need to take a break from Patterson in Pursuit to focus on health and writing. I can't wait to return. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Consciousness is a hard phenomenon to explain in any worldview. We seem to be able to intentionally change the content of our experience. How is that possible?  Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Who determines whether an individual or group has the right to govern themselves?  At what point does secession become legitimate? How many people need to get together in order to secede? I try to tackle some of these questions while giving my perspective on the imminent Catalonia independence referendum. I am unabashedly in favor of secession - all the way down to the individual. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Language is ambiguous. If you want to communicate effectively, you must understand that different people have different meanings for the same words.  Far too many rationalists waste their time arguing for objective definitions, instead of stating their intended meaning for words. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Can the whole be greater than the sum of its parts? Does consciousness require that we split the world between mind and body? Can free will exist in a naturalistic worldview? Dr. David Kelley joins me on this episode to give his Objectivist perspective on these questions. As Dr. Kelley explains, many ideas in Objectivism are heavily influenced by Aristotelian thinking. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Many thinkers are more concern with how their ideas look, rather than how accurate they are. They want to appear intelligent, rather than have true beliefs. I call them the "fashionable thinkers," and this is my rant against them. I've noticed many common traits among fashionable thinkers. Have you? Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Do we see reality as it is? Or, are we stuck inside our own mental representations of the world? My guest this week is Dr. Donald Hoffman, who believes that there's a 0% chance that we accurately perceive the world. He believes that mental phenomena - consciousness, experience, qualia - is the real stuff that makes up the world, not physical objects. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

It's tempting to dismiss anybody who claims they've been abducted by aliens or seen Bigfoot in the forest. However, simple dismissal might not be the most rational response. Extreme cases can actually help us understand the relationship between the mind and the world? What exactly do these people see/experience, and how can we know? Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Part four of my conversation about race with TK Coleman. In this episode, we talk about the intersection of race, politics, and economics in America. It's impossible to understand how the world works without understanding economics, and once you grasp the fundamentals, economics will change your worldview - especially your political theory. TK understands economics and has a political solution that everybody should be able to agree on. We don't have to argue about the extent of racism anymore; we can agree on a solution, regardless of the severity of the problem. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Is the world composed of one thing or many things? Some thinkers believe that the universe is one object that our minds chop up into many pieces. I believe that the universe is many objects that our minds unify into one whole. It might seem abstract, but regardless of your conclusion, it's got big implications. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Is it racist to notice cultural differences among groups? Can we make judgments about those differences? Without a doubt, race is one of the most taboo subjects to talk about in America. To help me grapple with these sticky questions, I'm talking with T.K. Coleman. We spoke in episodes 40 and 41 about race relations, and we continue the conversation today. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

This is the craziest time in Bitcoin's history, and it's mired in confusion and misinformation. To help give some context, I'm joined by a long time Bitcoiner and entrepreneur Ryan X. Charles, who is the CEO and co-founder of Yours. He breaks down some of the facts and history surrounding the network split and creation of Bitcoin Cash. If you're interested in Bitcoin at all, you'll want to listen to this episode. If you appreciate the content and want to donate Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash, you can use this address:  1A3oPBkXU156c3NKqWpNdGfTizc8JAgwKZ Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I'm joined by Oren Sofer to talk about meditation and philosophy. We start by laying out the basics of meditation - what's going on, internally and externally - and then we get into some of the deeper questions in metaphysics like: "What is the mind?","What is the self?", "Do observations require an observer?" Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

How well-justified are the insights of feminist philosophy? What is the metaphysical status of the patriarchy? Is there such a thing as a "biological difference" between men and women? This is my interview breakdown of Episode 51 - my conversation with Dr. Michelle Boulous-Walker of the University of Queensland. Let's just say: we disagree. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

Hegel is famous for being a difficult and controversial philosopher. His work comes up often in my conversations about paradox and contradiction - from those who argue that paradoxes can exist in the world.  Or, even more strongly, from those argue that "the world is paradoxical." I don't know much about Hegel, so I've traveled to Atlanta to interview Dr. Donald Verene of Emory University, who specializes in Hegelian philosophy. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe

The Silk Road case is filled to the brim with corruption, and the media has done a terrible job getting the facts out. Ross Ulbricht has been painted as a vicious kingpin, when in fact, he has no violence in his background, nor has he been charged with any violent crimes. New evidence keeps emerging that demonstrate Ross has been abused by the American legal system. My guest, Lyn Ulbricht, is the mother of Ross, and she shares some of this new evidence in our conversation. If you want to learn more about the case, or if you want to donate to their fund, visit freeross.org. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe