Dialogues #55 Read in browser↗️ "We can set aside the Rosetta Stone and just speak English to a computer. They will likely understand just as well as when speaking to them in Python. This immediately presents two choices: We can get lazy, or we can elevate our thought." - Marco Argenti “If you want to pursue a career in engineering, you should focus on learning philosophy in addition to traditional engineering coursework.” That’s Marco Argenti, the Chief Information Officer at Goldman Sachs,...
11 days ago • 5 min read
Dialogues #54 Read in browser↗️ "One of the most damaging and widespread social beliefs is the idea that most adults are incapable of learning new skills." - Naval Ravikant Congratulations to Joshua, who won a free year of my Introduction to Logic course in last week's one-year anniversary giveaway! I created the Introduction to Logic course because I think greater logic literacy would be a net good for society. But it isn't easy to capture those sweet mental gains that come from learning...
17 days ago • 5 min read
Dialogues #53 Read in browser↗️ "Do good work. Work that you’re excited about, that challenges you, makes you better, and creates value for other people. Work that you're proud of, not just work that pays you well." - Justin Welsh It has been one year since I officially started this Selling Plato project. My YouTube channel just reminded me of its 1st birthday, and a couple coupons from my logic course just expired. To celebrate this anniversary, I am giving away an entire year of my...
24 days ago • 4 min read
Dialogues #53 Read in browser↗️ "Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem." - Thomas Szasz Education will never be the same. AI is changing everything. AI gives students an opportunity to generate acceptable answers using a fraction of the work and time, and without requiring any critical thinking. In short, some use of AI exploits a student’s character flaws. Its use filters for students with character, who resist trading short-term,...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Dialogues #52 Read in browser↗️ "The magic you're looking for is in the work you're avoiding." - Chris Williamson Most days I ask myself this question somewhat skeptically: What in the world does my discipline of philosophy have to offer? It’s a question that tries to get at the core problem of how to make philosophy appealing. The problem is not that people have no interest in ethical issues, to take one example. You don’t have to look hard to see a flood of moral outrage through social...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Dialogues #51 Read in browser↗️ It’s intellectually irresponsible to throw yourself headlong into an inquiry before questioning the concepts you’re using in that inquiry. - Herman Cappelen and David Plunkett I'm currently reading over the proofs for a book review I wrote that's coming out in the Journal of Moral Philosophy. The book is Reality & Morality by Billy Dunaway, and I'll let you know when it's available, in case you're interested. But first: Here's a free 400+ page book from Oxford...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Dialogues #50 Read in browser↗️ What Nietzsche calls attention to is not “ordinary” or “folk” moral disagreement, but rather what seems to me the single most important and embarrassing fact about the history of moral theorizing by philosophers over the last two millennia: namely, that no rational consensus has been secured on any substantive, foundational proposition about morality...the history of moral philosophy is the history of intractable disagreement. - Brian Leiter Stay tuned below...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Dialogues #49 Read in browser↗️ "One of my biggest complaints is politically motivated selective demands for rigor…What passes for serious philosophy often in the best presses or the best journals is just not very good. And I don't think I say that just because I disagree with it. The standards get lower. Whereas among philosophers, if you're running into something more controversial, the standards go way up. And anyone who's tried to publish anything controversial has experienced it. That's...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Dialogues #48 Read in browser↗️ Intellectual honesty demands that, occasionally at least, we go out of our way to confront strong arguments opposed to our views. How else are we to protect ourselves from continuing in error? - Robert Nozick Next week you will hear much more about the topic below from Dr. Brandon Warmke in our next podcast episode. He is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University, and starting this fall he will be Associate Professor of Humanities at...
2 months ago • 3 min read