Talia Mae Bettcher and Tomas Bogardus join me to debate the question, "What is a woman?". Is gender biologically grounded, socially constructed, or something else entirely? If you're looking for a cordial and substantive exchange from two thinkers who fundamentally disagree on these issues, look no further.

Video of this interview is available on YouTube.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:17 Bogardus opening statement

00:02:03 Dictionaries and ordinary usage

00:03:41 The ambiguity view

00:07:09 The resistant concept of woman

00:08:12 Circularity and self-identification

00:11:23 The relevance objection to ambiguity

00:13:47 Non-human men and women

00:16:17 Bettcher opening statement

00:18:29 Woman as a philosophical question

00:19:44 Folk concepts and biological definitions

00:22:13 Folk concepts vs. theoretical concepts

00:24:45 Adult, human, and female

00:28:14 Open discussion begins

00:28:57 Bettcher on the ambiguity thesis

00:30:28 Family resemblance and trans womanhood

00:35:16 Political concepts and same-sex marriage

00:52:25 Are folk concepts biological?

00:57:47 Souls, bodies, and female identity

01:04:31 Twin Earth, Superman, and non-human men

01:13:13 Stone lions, Batman, and conceptual analysis

01:26:44 The husbandry argument

01:29:44 Sex, function, and biology

01:34:35 Why the question matters

01:39:44 Closing statements

Keegan Kjeldson of the Untimely Reflections YouTube channel returns to the podcast to discuss the merits of continental philosophy. While he is largely in favor and I am not, we both agree that Hegel is abysmally obscure.

Video of this interview is available on YouTube.

To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:18 Hegel vs Plantinga: obscurity and clarity

00:03:07 Keegan’s defense of continental philosophy

00:08:38 Why continental philosophy feels impenetrable

00:11:15 Spinoza and intuitive knowledge

00:14:25 Nietzsche, style, and philosophical insight

00:18:07 Logical positivism and ethics

00:22:21 What is metaethics?

00:27:17 Utilitarianism and moral intuitions

00:30:17 Do arguments bottom out in intuition?

00:36:39 What is philosophy for?

00:44:41 Moral realism and objective moral truth

00:48:59 Judith Butler and the charge of gibberish

00:54:10 Clear continental thinkers

00:55:57 Heidegger and justified obscurity

01:02:00 Is clarity always a virtue?

01:06:49 Can poetry give us rational grounds?

01:12:52 Moral knowledge vs moral persuasion

01:15:29 Motivated reasoning in ethics

01:25:21 Ethics, emotion, and objectivity

01:28:14 The Nazi example and moral realism

01:32:26 Abortion, personhood, and moral disagreement

01:38:44 Objective truth in morality and science

01:41:17 Has humanity made moral progress?

The great, the one, the only Joseph C. Schmid returns to the podcast to offer a comprehensive reply to (almost) every objection to the fine-tuning argument for theism. Ever worried about puddles? Inverse gamblers? Stalking horses? Boltzmann Brains? Alex Malpass? Well, fear no more: we define, describe, and dispel (or defend!) all these concerns and more. Not gonna lie guys, this is one of my favorite discussions so far. Hats off to Joe for being 10/10 great.

Video of this interview is available on YouTube.

To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.

Follow me on X because you’re awesome.

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:46:12 #1 The puddle analogy refutes the FTA

00:05:49 #2 Other forms of life are possible!

00:08:58 #3 The multiverse explains fine-tuning

00:53:08 #4 Electrons in love

01:16:06 #5 We couldn't have observed a non-fine-tuned universe

01:21:09 #6 Maybe the constants are metaphysical necessary!

01:33:38 #7 Our universe is hostile to life

01:42:00 #8 Alex Malpass and the stalking horse objection

01:47:54 #9 We cannot get a grip on divine psychology