Morality & Religion - New Ideal - Reason | Individualism | Capitalism

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer is joined by professor and clinical psychologist Gena Gorlin to discuss the widespread notion that “intellectual humility” is the rational antidote to dogmatism.

Among the topics covered:

How academic and popular defenders of reason have mixed up a legitimate concern for careful thinking methods with the illegitimate idea that nothing is certain; Why humility entails servility, despite failed attempts to reconcile it with the love of truth; Why intellectual ambitiousness demands working hard to attain knowledge; The difference between earned certainty, probability, and the false certainty claimed by r...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Don Watkins and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss New Year’s resolutions, what makes them difficult to maintain, and how integrated, contextual thinking can help automatize good habits.

Among the topics covered:

The unhealthy motivation of the “fresh start effect” vs.

 

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Elan Journo discuss the philosophical bankruptcy of effective altruism and the movement’s role in FTX’s financial collapse.

Among the topics covered:

The connection between FTX’s financial collapse and the effective altruism movement, including CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s goal of “earning to give”; What effective altruism advocates and why its offshoot, “longtermism,” champions some unusual causes; Why some of the common criticisms of effective altruism, such as the idea that it is a cynical ploy or that it is Utopian, miss the mark; The real problem with...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer, Don Watkins, and Mike Mazza discuss Oxford philosophy professor William MacAskill’s new book, What We Owe the Future. The book advocates “Longtermism,” which calls for treating the well-being of people in the indefinite future as equal in value to presently existing people.

 

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Onkar Ghate discuss the idea held by critics of “cancel culture,” such as John McWhorter and Bari Weiss, that we should not call our political opponents evil. They discuss why we should sometimes regard those who disagree with us as immoral or evil — and treat them accordingly.

 

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Ben Bayer discuss Ayn Rand’s provocative view of the meaning and importance of moral judgment as articulated in her fiction and in her nonfiction philosophic work.

This discussion assumes familiarity with Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, and listeners should note that it includes plot spoilers.