Philosophy

Damon Horowitz: Philosophy in prison

Submitted by Singularitarian on Mon, 2011-11-28 11:13

Damon Horowitz teaches philosophy through the Prison University Project, bringing college-level classes to inmates of San Quentin State Prison. In this powerful short talk, he tells the story of an encounter with right and wrong that quickly gets personal.

TEDxHogeschoolUtrecht - Tamler Sommers - The Limits of Rational Argument

Submitted by Singularitarian on Wed, 2011-11-23 07:22

Tamler Sommers is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Houston and holds a joint appointment with the Honors College. His research and teaching are in the areas of ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of law, specializing in issues relating to free will, moral responsibility, punishment, and revenge.

Why You Need a Brain (and Why You Don't)

Submitted by Singularitarian on Fri, 2011-05-20 06:45
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Jack Lyons

Dr. Jack Lyons is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He got his bachelor's degree from Valparaiso University in Indiana and his PhD in philosophy with a minor in cognitive science from the University of Arizona. He taught at Florida State University for two years before coming to Arkansas. He works mainly in epistemology, cognitive science, and philosophy of mind.

Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life

Submitted by Singularitarian on Sat, 2010-10-02 22:19
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Daniel Dennett

One of the best descriptions of the nature and implications of Darwinian evolution ever written, it is firmly based in biological information and appropriately extrapolated to possible applications to engineering and cultural evolution. Dennett's analyses of the objections to evolutionary theory are unsurpassed. Extremely lucid, wonderfully written, and scientifically and philosophically impeccable. Highest Recommendation!

Consciousness Explained

Submitted by Singularitarian on Sat, 2010-10-02 21:06
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Daniel Dennett

Consciousness is notoriously difficult to explain. On one hand, there are facts about conscious experience--the way clarinets sound, the way lemonade tastes--that we know subjectively, from the inside. On the other hand, such facts are not readily accommodated in the objective world described by science. How, after all, could the reediness of clarinets or the tartness of lemonade be predicted in advance? Central to Daniel C.

Dangerous Knowledge

Submitted by Singularitarian on Sat, 2010-10-02 19:59

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Georg Cantor
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Kurt Gödel
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Alan Turing
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Ludwig Boltzmann

In this one-off documentary, David Malone looks at four brilliant mathematicians - Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzmann, Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing - whose genius has profoundly affected us, but which tragically drove them insane and eventually led to them all committing suicide.

The film begins with Georg Cantor, the great mathematician whose work proved to be the foundation for much of the 20th-century mathematics. He believed he was God's messenger and was eventually driven insane trying to prove his theories of infinity.

Simulation and the Singularity

Submitted by Singularitarian on Sat, 2010-10-02 19:17
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David Chalmers

World-famous philosopher David Chalmers on simulation and the Singularity

Evolution, Culture and Truth

Submitted by Singularitarian on Fri, 2010-10-01 18:30
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Daniel Dennett

In this Tufts University video, Daniel C. Dennett, philosophy professor and co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University, offers a unique perspective on the role of philosophy in the cognitive and behavioral sciences. Dennett is known for his research on the mind and consciousness, relating philosophy to the scientific study of the brain, evolution and artificial intelligence.

Daniel Dennett

Submitted by Singularitarian on Fri, 2010-10-01 18:30

Daniel Clement Dennett (born March 28, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American philosopher and cognitive scientist whose research centers on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science. He is currently the Co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, and a University Professor at Tufts University. Dennett is a noted atheist and secularist, a member of the Secular Coalition for America advisory board, as well as a prominent advocate of the Brights movement.