Very Bad Wizards is a podcast featuring a philosopher (Tamler Sommers) and a psychologist (David Pizarro), who share a love for ethics, pop culture, and cognitive science, and who have a marked inability to distinguish sacred from profane. Each podcast includes discussions of moral philosophy, recent work on moral psychology and neuroscience, and the overlap between the two.
http://sites.libsyn.com/474285/site
episode 59: Tumors All the Way Down (With Sam Harris)
Bestselling author and friend of the podcast Sam Harris joins Tamler and Dave for a marathon podcast. (Seriously, pack two pairs of astronaut diapers for this one). We talk about the costs and benefits of religion, dropping acid in India, and the illusory nature of (a certain kind of) free will. Then we go at it on blame, moral responsibility, hatred, guilt, retribution, and vengeance. Sam thinks these are antiquated responses based on a belief in spooky metaphysics, Tamler thinks they are important components of human morality, and Dave just wants everyone to get along and be reasonable (like that nice Kant fellow).
Time markers (roughly)
0:00-47:00 Intro and costs and benefits of religion
47:00-77:30 Drugs, the self, free will
77:30-- Blame, guilt, vengeance, moral responsibility, desert.
Links- Sam Harris [samharris.org]
- Waking Up: A guide to spirituality without religion by Sam Harris [amazon.com affiliate link]
- Daniel Dennett reviews "Free Will" by Sam Harris [naturalism.org]
- Sam Harris responds to Dennett's Review of "Free Will" [samharris.org]
Special Guest: Sam Harris.
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