Philosophy Club!

Does Wisdom Exist?

Logan tells Aaqib and Ben that he has doubts that Wisdom exists at all. Might Wisdom not be an empty term? For who can be wise if it takes a single foolish act to make yo

What is Education For? And What is it Missing?

With dash and their typical circumambulatory style, Logan, Ben, Sara, Kitty and Aaqib ask what is education for? There are several answers, perhaps none of which we stumb

What Are 100 Things Everyone Should Learn?

In an effort to better understand education, Ben, Kitty and Logan ask each other for 100 things every American should learn? What should make the list may tell us somethi

The Baggage Claim Effect and Limited Determinism

The Butterfly Effect is the common term for a system where small changes to initial conditions create outsized impacts. Logan, Katie and Ben discuss the "Baggage Claim Ef

Non-Consensual Governance

After a six-month hiatus, Logan and Ben come back to dismiss "Consent of the Governed" and move on to what happens next. If consent of the governed does not dictate good

What is Justice? Parsing through Plato, Habitual Obedience and Batman.

Is Justice getting what you deserve? Is it perhaps the balance of wisdom moderation and courage? Or is Justice a chimerical idea we are fed to go along with authority? B

Philosophy Club Afterthoughts! How to be Free.

No question so concerns our collective humanity as that of freedom. Unsatisfied with our first conclusions on the subject, Ben and I reframe the question of Liberty. Perh

How to be Free.

Logan asks Kitty, Mike and Ben "what is Liberty? Is it the most choice? Is it the least obligation? Is it the least arbitrary system?" There is perhaps no concept so cen

Promises, Oaths, and Morality (does swearing make it right to do?)

Can you take an oath that changes your moral obligations? Can you make a personal decision to follow a specific set of moral guidelines? Why do Veterinarians and soldiers

When to Tell a Story Out of Order

Would Casablanca have been as good if it started in Paris? Ben, Logan and Sara ask why you should tell a story out of order, using flashbacks, flash-forwards and a handfu

Who Wouldn't Want The Right to Own a Pet?

Sara, Ben, Mike and Logan embark on a broad discussion that goes to the heart of public policy making and comes back again. We begin by taking a situational test design

Philosophy Club Afterthoughts! Mansplaining

In this first of its kind episode, Kyra and Mackenzie revisit the "Mansplaining" episode of Philosophy club. Mackenzie initially argues against the usefulness of the te

Mansplaining

Sara, Logan and Ben ask "What is mansplaining?" "Why is it so aggravating?" and "How do you avoid mansplaining?" Along the way we discuss Essentialism and Bell Hooks, r

Talking with a Good Therapist

In this special episode of Philosophy Club, Evan, a practicing Therapist (and roommate of Kitty), helps Aaqib, Ben, Kitty, Logan, Mackenzie and Mike to answer what makes

What is the purpose of Grammar?

Ben, Katie, Logan and Mike discuss why we call one way of speaking proper and another colloquial. Along the way, we learn about Ben's hardships at an Orioles' game, David

The Qualities of a Classic

Beau, Ben and Logan first discuss how to find a what to read, and Ben introduces the question: What makes a classic? It seems endurance, quality and popularity have somet

No Take-Backs! What does it mean to retract, correct, renege and change your mind?

Ben, Mike and Logan ask what it means "to take something back." They stumble into the topics of opinions versus facts, the value of a promise, and the proper way to crack

What makes a government "legitimate"? And what do the Founding Fathers and the Bolsheviks have in common?

Happy Independence Day! In this episode, Aaqib, Ben, Ian, Logan, Mackenzie and Michael discuss what makes a government a government, and how in a moment of crisis, taking

Is T-Pain the Greatest Musical Talent of the Past 150 Years? (And what is modern musical mastery)?

Aaqib, Ben, Ian, Logan and Mike ask if the 2000-2010 was a tough time for music. Opinions vary wildly. They discuss what is complexity in music now? How can music theory

"Locker Room Presence" and Consequentialism-How to pick a President

Ben, Ian and Logan discuss the how to evaluate policy decisions and the wisdom of playing catch with a bowling ball from a tall building. It's hard to evaluate policy bas