Episode 99: Steven Nadler discusses Spinoza on freedom

Subscribe to Elucidations:       Full transcript here. This month, we delve back into the early modern period with Steven Nadler, William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy, Evjue-Bascom Professor of the Humanities, and Weinstein-Bascom Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Click here to listen to our conversation. Baruch Spinoza is known for his views about how the mind and body are the same thing (see our Episode 70), and for coming up with a completely non-anthropomorphic notion of God....

Further reading on credibility

If you’d like to delve further into Jennifer Lackey’s views about credibility excesses, she has generously made her excellent paper ‘Credibility and the Distribution of Epistemic Goods’ available for you to download. Enjoy! Matt Teichman...

Episode 98: Jennifer Lackey discusses credibility

Subscribe to Elucidations:       This month, we talk to Jennifer Lackey (Northwestern University) about what it means to be too trustful of another person. Click here to listen to our conversation. For some time, feminist authors have been concerned about the fact that women tend to be believed less than men, simply because they’re women. The mere fact that someone is a woman should have of course have no bearing on whether you believe them–you should believe them if what they’re saying is plausible and well supported by evidence, and you should disbelieve them if what they’re saying is implausible and unsupported by evidence....

Recommended reading on time biases

Meghan Sullivan’s book on time biases is due out any moment now. (Of course, according to her argument, we should feel indifferent to when it comes out, but I can’t help but feel anticipation!) If, like me, you are having trouble resisting the pull of that particular time bias, check out her and Preston Greene’s excellent article from last year that explores a number of the arguments we discussed. ‘Against Time Bias,’ Preston Greene and Meghan Sullivan...

Episode 97: Meghan Sullivan discusses time biases

Subscribe to Elucidations:       This month, Meghan Sullivan (University of Notre Dame) urges us to consider how we feel about the past, present, and future. Click here to listen to our conversation. Remember the marshmallow test? Back in the 1970s, some psychological experiments suggested that people who opted to delay short-term rewards if it meant a bigger reward in the future were likely to have more successful lives....

Further reading on the role of belief in reasoning

To do a deep dive into what I discussed with Nic Koziolek, check out the following papers: ‘Inferring as a Way of Knowing,’ Nic Koziolek ‘Coming to Believe,’ Nic Koziolek ‘Belief, Judgment, and Rational Explanation,’ Nic Koziolek He has a treasure trove of other work up on his website, which I would encourage you to visit. Matt Teichman...

Episode 96: Nic Koziolek discusses the role of belief in reasoning

Subscribe to Elucidations:       This month, we talk to Nic Koziolek (Auburn University) about some big, meaty topics, including but not limited to thought, judgment, belief, reasoning, and knowledge. Click here to listen to our conversation. We engage in reasoning on a constant basis. Here’s an example of the kind of reasoning I engage in all the time: they’re working on the water main, my car is parked right in front of the water main, I want them to be able to work on the water main, so I guess I have to go move it....

Further reading on the genealogy of color

Those of you who would like to follow up on the history of color concepts can do no better than to check out Zed Adams’ fascinating book on the topic! On the Genealogy of Color, Zed Adams Happy reading. Matt Teichman...

Episode 95: Zed Adams discusses the genealogy of color

Subscribe to Elucidations:       This month, we talk to Zed Adams (New School for Social Research) about colors like red, blue, and green. Click here to listen to our conversation. What is the color red? Is it a physical property of certain chemicals–the fact that they tend to reflect light with a wavelength of about 670 nm and absorb the rest?...

Further reading on fictional names

If you’d like to follow up on our interview with Zsofia Zvolenszky, check out her paper: Fictional Characters, Mythical Objects, and the Phenomenon of Inadvertent Creation, Zsofia Zvolenszky Happy reading! Matt Teichman...