I Learned Nothing

ILN EP 164: Twin Earth

Pat was feeling unique so Ben blasts his precious little perspective right out of the water by introducing him to the Twin Earth thought experiment. In one fell swoop, Ben destroys Pat's commitment to semantic internalism thanks to Hilary Putnam and his view that "meaning just ain't in the head." If you know anything about philosophy of language, you'll recognize this thought experiment for the earth shattering mental exercise that it is. If you know nothing about philosophy of language, FUCK YOU! Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes: patreon.com/ILearnedNothing

ILN EP 163: G. E. M. Anscombe

Pat was feeling murderous so Ben tamps that rage with the devout moral reasoning of near-canonized Catholic saint and Wittgenstein acolyte Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe. One of the big heavy hitters of Ordinary Language Philosophy and pioneer of Virtue Ethics, G.E.M. Anscombe started her career as a Catholic convert, then Wittgenstein's protege/favorite, then went toe-to-toe with the 20th Century's greatest mass murder, Harry S. Truman over his trigger-happy bombings of innocent civilians. CHECK IT OUT! Also check out our Patreon for Bonus Content: www.patreon.com/ILearnedNothing

ILN 160: Islamic Philosophy, Part I

Pat was feeling haram, so Ben sat his infidel ass down and explained to him the groundbreaking philosophical developments unleashed by the Islamic world. Centuries before Christian thinkers like Thomas Aquinas and Albertus Magnus (Latin for Fat Albert) were even potty trained, Muslim philosophers from Spain to Persia shed a guiding light on the other wise very Dark Ages. This dream team includes the likes of Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Ibn Arabi, and Al Ghazali, who expounded on the metaphysical & philosophical underpinnings of the hottest new super-religion on the scene: Islam. Learn about the Tawwhid, Sufi mysticism, and Al Ghazali's nutty theory of occasionalism in this epic TWO PARTER! Buckle up, buttercup, and don't forget to check out our Patreon (patreon.com/ILearnedNothing) for some sweet sweet extra credit.

ILN EP 158: Qualia

Pat was feeling pretty self-conscious so Ben explains it's because of all his damn Qualia, stupid! Qualia is a concept in philosophy of mind referring to that mushy notion of what it's like to experience something, like the color red, the smell of wet ham, or feeling cool as hell. It's that certain je ne sais quois of how life feels as our subjective consciousness navigates the objective world. Do they only apply to emotions? Sense-data? Can they be further applied to thoughts, memories? Some cheeky pricks (*cough* Daniel Dennett *cough*) don't even believe they exist? Can you believe that? So tune in folks. Keep on thinking hard. Oh also patreon.com/ILearnedNothing for more stuff.

ILN EP 152: The Beetle In The Box

Pat was feeling trapped so Ben tuned him on to the wacky linguistic thought experiment developed by Ben's Main Man Ludwig Wittgenstein. Are humans capable of having a private language? Not just shibboleth for your crew but a private language only YOU know about? Wittgenstein says NO, you idiot. And it has something to do with a beetle in a box. Fuck you.