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.
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Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 17 days 20 hours 18 minutes
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episode 57: Free Willie
David and Tamler talk about a new study that links your belief in free will to the fullness of your bladder. How do our bodily states influence our metaphysical commitments? What's the best way to measure beliefs about free will? Can you get your prostate
episode 56: Moral Heroes and Drunk Utilitarians
Following up their discussion of moral villains, Dave and Tamler argue about what makes a moral hero. Tamler defends Sharon Krause’s view that honor values can motivate heroic behavior. Dave accuses Tamler of being inconsistent...
episode 55: Rooting for Evil (With Paul Bloom)
Paul Bloom joins us to talk all things villainous -why we sometimes root for the bad guys, why we admire them even when we don't, why they are much more compelling than some of our heroes.
episode 54: Pooping on Ecstasy (Pain, Pleasure, and the Ethics of Breeding)
Tamler and David get bullied into talking about "anti-natalism," (the view that it is unethical to bring a being into existence), and to defend our ethical position as "breeders." Well, one of us defends it, at least. The other one? Well, you'll have to j
episode 53: The Psychology People Love to Hate (Evolutionary Psychology Pt.1)
Dave and Tamler take a shot at answering the question: what is an evolutionary psychologist?
episode 52: Thought Experiments (Huh!) What Are They Good For? (Part 2)
Experience Machines, Chinese Rooms, Original Positions, and Ice Buckets ("I don't know what you have in mind for this evening Homer, but count me out!") Dave and Tamler continue their discussion on thought experiments--how they can be effective, the diffe
episode 51: Zombies, Trolleys, and Galileo's Balls
Dave and Tamler talk about the value and purposes of thought experiments in philosophy and science.
episode 50: Keeping it Unreal
We honestly can't believe we made it to 50 episodes, so we must be brains in a vat. But we play along and celebrate with...a movie episode! We list our five favorite films about the subjective or questionable nature of reality. Our only rule: we couldn't
episode 49: Psychopaths and Contrastivizzzzzzzz (With Walter Sinnott-Armstrong)
Special guest Walter Sinnott-Armstrong joins the podcast to explain how his theory which desperately needs a new name ("contrastivism") can dissolve most of the fundamental problems and paradoxes in philosophy.
episode 48: Restorative Circle Jerk
Dave and Tamler take a mulligan and try to resolve their conflict about restorative justice. Do restorative processes lead to more just outcomes than other approaches? Is it more vulnerable to instances of prejudice and bias? Is revenge a form of restorat