Autumn Daniel-Midterm

 I want to welcome you all to this weeks podcast, "The Truth about Philosophy". This week three talented and philosophical authors have joined us here on a skype call and are eagerly waiting to get on air. Sadly we cannot host our usual in-person podcasts due to COVID, but it'll be one for the books regardless. Their names are Kurt Anderson, Nigel Warburton, and Julian Baggini. I want to go ahead and mention that if you haven't read their books, you can stay on air at the end of the podcasts to find out where to purchase them- and i recommend everyone listening to this does so. Now, let's get this thing started and introduce the guests. Welcome gentlemen, I'm so glad you could join us today.

Julian Baggini, Kurt Anderson, Nigel Warburton

Thank you so much for having us tonight, and it's a pleasure to see you all again. For those of you who don't know me, I am the author of  "How the World Thinks"- which i'll mention later today. I am also a Co-Founder of Philosopher's Magazine, and an author of other magazines, articles, and books.     

Hello Julian, and thank you for having me as well. I am Kurt Anderson- author of "Fantasy Land", and the host of erstwhile Peabody-winning public radio program Studio 360. 

                                                     

Hello, hello, hello. I am Nigel Warburton. I am a philosopher, author, and very excited to be here with you all tonight.

                                                     

So the first and really major question that i want to ask you all tonight is the following:

 "Do you think philosophy can help people learn to respect truth, facts, reality, and one another, and to reject falsehood, superstition, selfishness, polarization, partisanship, and mutual hostility based on differences of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, belief, etc.? If so, how? If not, why not?

Wow, if you don't mind I'm going to go ahead and do my best to answer that.

Of course not, go ahead Nigel.

"There’s been a lot of interest in reviving Stoic philosophy recently, particularly the therapeutic aspects of it. I’m skeptical about this, as in my view philosophy is primarily the attempt to understand, and as such is an activity of enquiry. There’s no guarantee that discovering how things are will benefit us psychologically: it might in fact make things much worse. As Friedrich Nietzsche pointed out, it might not even be possible to confront the deeper truths of reality head-on."

Philosophy Interview with Nigel Warburton

I touched this subject in my book as well "A little history oh philosophy". It's necessary to understand the philosophy drawn out in history, and gain as much knowledge as you can- but you must use it as a tool to learn rather than a way of life. We shouldn't be obsessed with how our actions are going to pan out in the future because that can lead down a dangerous path. Instead, we should stay grounded in the present while we inquire about the past and use it to better ourselves. There's so much rich history in philosophy that's waiting to be absorbed, but that should be an activity.

“Ordinary people have little idea about reality because they are content with looking at what's right in front of them rather than thinking deeply about it” Page 5

Although, i do believe in learning philosophy and indulging yourself in different cultures and religions can lead to sympathizing more with people who aren't anything like us- and we should never judge someone purely based off their exterior or if we have no knowledge of their life. We should also seek out happiness, but not in possessions.

“The message is that riches, power and honour are worthless since they can come and go. No one should base their happiness on such fragile foundations. Happiness has to come from something that is more solid, something that can't be taken away. As Boethius believed that he would continue to live after death, seeking happiness in trivial worldly things was a mistake.” Page 40

I agree Nigel. Recently, i have seen our world more divided than it has ever been before. Americans have been swindled into believing a fantasy run on by our president and because of that we see so much hostility in our nation. Life has become a competition for who can be the richest, most succesful, have the most possessions, etc... We're all smacked in the face with capitalisms and greed everyday. A good bit of people think only in their little box of reality and don't look into other worlds of culture or open the mind to new religions, philosophies, and so much more. We should never seek to put down other just because of their race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual preference- yet it's become normalized due to the show our president has put on in order to win the election. A quote to depict this from Trump "I will build a great wall -- and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me --and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words". Who the hell says that and more importantly- who believes that?

“Let me quote once more from Tolkien’s lecture, which he delivered a few months before the fantasy-besotted Nazis started World War II. “Fantasy can, of course, be carried to excess. It can be put to evil uses. It may even delude the minds out of which it came.”

That's exactly what is going on today. The minds of so many have become deluded and our reality is far from what is imagined. The sense of "pride" that has developed while pushing back women's rights, trans rights, and the negligence of the people's rights is dangerous. Americans have always been hooked on the idea of freedom, doing whatever makes us happy, and just believing. Philosophy would serve as an amazing tool to ground those whos ego have inflated. We need to dream, but with regard to human life and an understanding of what's real and what is not.

"If were splitting into two different cultures, we in reality-based America must try to keep our zone as large and robust and attractive as possible for ourselves and the next generations. We need to adopt a guiding principle, based on those aphorisms of Daniel Moynihan and Thomas Jefferson Ive quoted so often You're entitled to your own opinions and your own fantasies, but not your own facts-especially if your fantastical facts hurt people." Page 439

I can see how you would feel as if America has separated, and i can agree. In my eyes, we are all connected and we spend too much time trying to label everything, when in reality everything is really connected, we are all one in the universe. Philosophy can indeed help people see this and realize our true reality for the greater good. We should all incorporate Western and Eastern philosophies into our lives to fully accept all that comes our way. I have traveled the world and interviewed so many distinguished philosophers and although i have found so much, we can choose what we do and do not practice.

"Values of Autonomy, harmony, community and individuality all have legitimacy, but there is more than one way to live that allows us to maximize all of them. There is more than one way for humans to flourish and trade-offs are inevitable. Sometimes we can borrow a value and it can flourish in our native soil, just as Japanese privet has thrived in Britain. Sometimes, however, values struggle outside of their native environments, just as you cant grow Cocoa in England." Page 340

That was great stuff. it's really really important that our listeners soak in all this. I do have one other question.How would you answer William James's "really vital question for us all: What is this world going to be? What is life eventually to make of itself?"

I'm afraid that America will be the first modern society to go from fully developed to failing. We have become increasingly divided and swept into this illusion of false importance in politics.

"From the 1960s and ’70s on, I realized, America had really changed in this regard. Belief in every sort of make-believe had spun out of control— in religion, science, politics, and lifestyle, all of them merging with entertainment in what I called the fantasy-industrial complex. In that book I explained the deep, centuries-long history of this American knack for creating and believing the excitingly untrue. As soon as I finished writing Fantasyland, we elected a president who was its single most florid and consequential expression ever, a poster boy embodying all its themes."

'Evil Genuises' Kurt Anderson

I believe eventually people will learn how to use philosophy as a guideline towards good morals, and understanding other people in a way we never have. Right now we are extremely divided as a country, but this has happened all over the world and is subject to change. We can each create our own reality, and as soon as people start realizing that, the better off we will be. Not everything is inheritantly right or wrong, we must choose and judge the decision based off their consequences. We all have an equal claim at a good life, and we should never purposely try to make others lives worse. Finding meaning in life is so subjective, but when we do that- we can fully enjoy the present and find meaning in our present. The future is ours but we must not focus too hard on it. If people can do this and have good moral, we're at least taking a step in the right direction.      

    

I can't say what the world is going to be, but i too have hope for us. We just need to understand the different teachings and perspectives of philosophers over history- and most importantly we must be true to ourselves and our reality. Every action we make is a step towards "happiness". It's up to us to define that happiness and make our life our own.

“Everything we perceive takes place in time and space, and every change has a cause. But according to Kant, that is not because of the way reality ultimately is: it is a contribution of our minds. We don't have direct access to the way the world is. Nor can we ever take the glasses off and see things as they truly are. We're stuck with this filter and without it we would be completely unable to experience anything. All we can do is recognize that it is there and understand how it affects and colours what we experience.” Page 110

"Think of a Flower. If you water it, give it enough light, maybe feed it a little, then it will grow and bloom. If you neglect it, keep it in the dark, let insects nibble at its leaves, allow it to dry out, it will wilt and die, or at best end up as a very unattractive plant. Human Beings can flourish like plants too, though unlike plants we make choices for ourselves: we decide what we want to do and who we want to be." Page 11

Thank you again gentlemen- I wish we were able to meet under different circumstances but I am grateful nonetheless. I'm gonna have to end the podcast here because we have others joining us shortly, but i appreciate each of you taking the time to do this- and each and every one of our listeners.

Goodbye Nigel and Kurt, it's been a pleasure. Goodbye to you as well, thanks for having me.

Goodbye Julian and goodbye Nigel. May we meet again soon.

Farewell to you both as well and our generous host. I wish you all luck and bright futures, thank you for listening.

Julian Bagini interview                                                                                                                            

Why Philosophy is so important- Nigel