Dogs and pigs have meaningful lives Philosopher Michael Hauskeller Ep155

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=33taJ2WuaUs

Michael (https://sentientism.info/sentientist-...) is head of philosophy at the University of Liverpool. His current work spans transhumanism, death meaning. He has written a vast range of topics, including on whether non-human animals can have meaningful lives What It Is Like to Be a Bot . He says of his work: As a philosopher, I am a generalist, which is a nice way of saying that I have done many different things I am not really an expert on anything in particular. • In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” “what matters?” Sentientism is evidence, reason compassion for all sentient beings. The audio is on our Podcast: https://apple.co/391khQO https://anchor.fm/sentientism. • We discuss: • 00:00 Welcome • 01:42 Michael's Intro • What it means to be human, to live a good life, a meaningful life • Transhumanism human enhancement • Meaning life death • When dealing with foundational, broad questions: It is very difficult to be precise... I hardly ever feel that 'now I've got it' • 06:06 What's Real? • It's much easier to point at something disuss whether that is real • If you can name something then in some sense it must be real • Raised #Christian sent to Sunday school Bible classes regular confessions to the village priest • I sort of believed there was a god when I was little • A god watching me a means of controlling me... Big Brother in heaven... it was just oppressive... a punishing god, a critical god • I didn't feel the presence... I just believed that there was something because I was told there was something • Very quickly I dropped my religious beliefs... as soon as I started to think for myself I became an #atheist • It just faded away... it was always superficial • Some people take me for a Christian because I share some of the intuitions religious believers have • I'm not entirely comfortable with calling myself a naturalist although I don't believe in anything supernatural • Naturalism is also very programmatic ideological • There are a lot of things in this world that we cannot understand... some naturalists are very confident that we can understand everything that's there's no mystery... there is a lot of mystery. • Max More's #transhumanism ... pits science vs. religion • Origins of the universe life consciousness we don't know! Science might figure it out - it might not • ... whatever there is is part of nature • Over-confidence vs. humility • The subjective the objective • Plato Parmenides: being is more real than becoming ... but we live in a world of becoming... how can that be less real? • The normative use of reality ... to declare something else as not real... a term to deny something else its reality • The denial of animal suffering not so common any more the #cartesian model • If you see an animal in pain you know it is in pain... it takes a lot of willful blindness not to acknowledge... • One of the reasons... why animals could not possibly feel any pain... because it would then be far too horrible how we treat animals... god wouldn't allow it! • If we assume the world is good we see all the apparent suffering... then it cannot be... A moral reason behind denying the suffering of animals • JW An echo of a religious mode of thought that's then re-built in a humanist mode of thought • If we have evolved naturally... there's no reason to assume our brains are capable of understanding the universe... what possible use can it have? • A naturalistic perspective should actually teach us humility • 29:03 What Matters? • I don't think that my early Christian upbringing has shaped my morals ideas • Morally I've been shaped... mostly by watching certain TV shows like Lassie The Waltons Little House on The Prairie... taught me what it means to do something right something wrong... People animals being in certain relations with each other • Being nice to each other... being decent... qualities that do not play a major role in ethical discussions but I think they are foundational • Vs. #nihilism, #divinecommandtheory, #relativism, #egoism, transactional... • I find it very difficult to align myself with a particular ethical system... #utilitarian ... #Kantian ... whatever... those systems highlight different aspects... that are all important • It's a wrong approach to say 'if we have conflicting moral intuitions one of them must be false' • When philosophers try to tell you that there's one right answer... I'm always suspicious. • 45:35 Who Matters? • 1:26:44 How Can We Make a Better Future? • much more... (sentientism.info for full notes) • #Sentientism is “Evidence, reason compassion for all #sentient beings.” More at https://sentientism.info/. Join our I'm a Sentientist wall https://sentientism.info/wall/. • Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. E.g.: / sentientism .

#############################

New on site