Carneades.org Live Q&A

In honor of making it to 20,000 subscribers and 2,000,000 views we are doing a live Q&A! We have never streamed live before so please bear with us.

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

"Thoughts on Jordan Peterson's opinions on postmodernism"
"What is your view on postmodernism?"

First off, let's distinguish between postmodernism as an aesthetic movement and postmodernism as a philosophy. It seems to me that the aesthetic movement in many ways opened up a range of new and fascinating options for artists. Some of which failed and are often criticized as poster examples of a ridiculous movement, but others made a real and palpable impact. While this is not what Peterson is talking about directly, there are a myriad of connections, which I won't go into right now.

As for Peterson (I just watched another speech of his), it seems to me that he is a product of exactly the failings of feminism which I just mentioned in a comment. The way that some on the so called "far left" push their ideas not through rational dialogue, but through shaming of anyone with privilege. However I don't think that this is inherent to postmodernism, anymore than the flaws of execution I am concerned about are inherent to feminism. I find it ironic that Peterson complains that the postmodernists vilify others, and make the world into us vs them, when he is doing exactly the same thing by claiming that it is all of us against the postmodernists. He has created a strawman of the Postmodernist position, but he has only been allowed to do so because frequently so called "SJWs" are too dogmatically tied to their beliefs to allow for discussion.

Let me phrase it like this. In "Outlines of Pyrrhonism" Sextus Empiricus makes a distinction between The Dogmatic, The Academic, and The Skeptic. One who claims you can know something, one who claims you can know nothing and one that claims neither. It seems to me that one can take postmodernism as either the academically skeptical position that we cannot know anything about truth logic etc. and that the systems which support you are actually your chains, or the Pyrrhonian skeptical position (what Sextus would dub The Skeptic)and simply question and try to improve these structures through dialogue. Concerns such as those posed by Peterson only arise under the academically skeptical version of this position. The one that is certain we are engaged in a battle between the privileged and the not privileged. The one that would rather shame than discuss. This would be a strawman on many charitable interpretations of postmodern positions were it not for the fact that many "SJWs" actually act on these positions. The solution, is of course, pyrrhonian skepticism, which questions the systems but does not assume that they are evil or wrong, merely unjustified, and which allows for productive discussion, instead of dogmatically asserting anything. But that's just me.

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

"​Do you think teaching children about paradoxes could be another way to teach kids about philosophy?"

Yes. Certainly. Paradoxes are a great way to get kids excited about philosophy and thinking about big ideas.

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

"​Can you do the body as well to make this go longer?"

Unfortunately I prerecorded the making of Hume's face (it took 4 hours in total) as I expected to need all of my brain functions to answer such interesting questions. Thanks to everyone that watched and asked comments, we'll do this again soon!

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

"Are you a feminist or anti-feminist?"

I'm a skeptic. So I don't subscribe to any particular doctrine (and dichotomies which only offer two options which imply belief seem false to me). However, what I would say is that while it seems to me that feminism has valiant goals and ideals, the way in which it has attempted to achieve those ideals, particularly in recent waves in developed countries seems to have actually alienated people who would otherwise support the central tenants. I want to do a big series on it one day, probably after we are done with this ethics series.

[coolbadboy]

I really enjoyed this. Thank you for posting it, it was very informative.

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

"when do you think a new subject with its own methodology can emerge from philosophy? Just as the sciences e.g. physics, psychology etc emerged as their own disciplines from philosophy?"

It seems to me that there are a range of factors which influence this, but a central one to my way of thinking is the development of an importantly different methodology for studying the particular subject (such as the scientific method) beyond what philosophy offers of arguments.

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

I'm going to do the questions which we didn't get to in the stream. Thanks to Pastafarian Priest for saving the questions!

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

"Have you heard of Jordan Peterson? If so, what do you think of his talks?"

I had not, but I just watched a few minutes of his work. I'm all for Mill's "On Liberty" and I have more of a proclivity towards debate than uniformity, but I don't think that changing the world is necessarily at odds with bringing people with different views together. They seem to me to be similar projects. The more you get to know someone the less you hate them.

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

"What is the biggest thing happening in philosophy right now? Wich area is producing the most interesting new material today, in your opinion?"

Computer and information ethics is fascinating since it is such a young field and many people don't have preconceived ideas of what is ethical on a computer. Most people would say stealing a CD from a store is wrong, but downloading someone else's music for free? The intuitions seem to not have solidified yet.

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

"What's your view on Sam Harris?"

I have no problem with Sam Harris as a pop philosopher, and ultimately I am a skeptic and therefore an atheist so I'm all for a critique of any religion. Can science give us morality? I'm not as sure. But I would never count anything out.

[ricksysiphus]

I've just discovered your channel ...This became one of my favorite spots on youtube.
Thank you and keep it up !

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

"Do you believe in objective morality?"

I'm a skeptic, so the easy answer is no, I don't believe in anything. If pushed, I'm probably partial to emotivism, but I'm ultimately skeptical of any explanation.

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

"​Thanks for your work, your channel is great. What are your opinions on existentialism in philosophy?"

This might be a cop out, but as an analytic philosopher it is a position that I would love to learn more about.

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

"If you ever have time, would you be interested in either starting your own or appearing on a podcast?"

Appearing in a podcast, yes. Making my own? Maybe one day if I only had the time.

[CarneadesOfCyrene]

"Thoughts on Dawkins"

As with Harris, on an emotional level I'm with those that critique religion, though I would certainly disagree with his 7 point scale as a way to talk about degrees of belief. It seems to me that describing belief in degrees is concerning since it leaves out the range of other possibilities.

[laddgadfly]

Are we not able to see the livestream comments after it ends? If we need a backup, I made one, but I don't wanna cause confusion.

[xBogdan]

You have a lot of patience to draw with words like that, lol.