Giulio Tononi - Why is Consciousness so Baffling? Closer To Truth 2026-09-25 | Giulio Tononi - Why is Consciousness so Baffling?
Jennifer Mather - Do Animals Practice Deception? Closer To Truth 2024-10-19 | Follow Closer To Truth on X for updates, interesting articles, and more: https://x.com/CloserToTruthWhat is it about deception that it pervades all life? Deceptions are conditions or actions that communicate misinformation and hide truth, thus misleading other individuals of the same or different species. By promoting false images or by obscuring true images, deception serves the interest, often the survival, of the deceiver. What are expressions and functions of animal deceptions? In the “arms race” between purveyors and recipients of deception, evolution works its magic.Follow Closer To Truth on Instagram for news, announcements, and exciting updates: https://shorturl.at/p2IhMJennifer Mather is Professor of Psychology at the University of Lethbridge. She is a leading researcher on octopuses, concentrating on their behavior and personalities. She has been publishing articles on cephalopods since 1978.Get exclusive member benefits—like early access to new episodes—with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Christopher Evans - Addictions Impact on Society Closer To Truth 2024-10-18 | Get special exclusives and discounts with a free Closer To Truth membership today: closertotruth.com/.Society is composed of human minds working collectively. By appreciating consciousness can we understand society better? Conversely, by appreciating society can we understand consciousness better? What’s the relationship between society and consciousness? Can we have either without the other? Or are they inextricably bound together?Support Closer To Truth with a tax-deductible donation of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqChristopher Evans is the former Director of the UCLA Brain Research Institute and the Stefan Hatos Professor directing the Shirley and Stefan Hatos Center for Neurophamacology in the UCLA Semel Institute.Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Niels Gregersen - Are Science and Religion at War? Closer To Truth 2024-10-18 | Listen to audio versions of your favorite interviews on the Closer To Truth podcast: https://shorturl.at/hwGP3Science and religion—each pursues large truths and offers total solutions. Science works; that’s for sure. Religion? Not so sure. What are the thought processes, the ways of thinking, of science and religion? How do the ‘scientific method’ and the ‘religious method’ compare and contrast? Moreover, how to develop trust in the separate truths of science and religion?Support Closer To Truth with a tax-deductible donation of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqNiels Henrik Gregersen is a professor in the faculty of theology at the University of Copenhagen. At Aarhus University he was Assistant Professor in Ethics and Philosophy of Religion, Associate Professor in Systematic Theology, and Research Professor in Theology & Science.Are you a Closer To Truth member? Register for a free account to get special exclusives and discounts at closertotruth.com/.Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Simon Blackburn - The Illusion of Self: Understanding Personal Identity Through Time Closer To Truth 2024-10-17 | Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqThink back 5, 10, 20 years—50 if you’re old enough. Physically, you are completely different. Mentally, you feel pretty much the same. Decades roll by and every molecule of your body changes many times over. Yet you sense yourself the same—continuous, a unity. How can this be? Is the self an illusion? If not, what’s the commonality that persists through time.Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen: https://shorturl.at/mtJP4Simon Walter Blackburn is an English academic philosopher known for his work in metaethics, where he defends quasi-realism, and in the philosophy of language; more recently, he has gained a large general audience from his efforts to popularize philosophy.Wear your support for the show with a Closer To Truth hoodie, T-shirt, or tank: bit.ly/3P2ogjeCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Samir Okasa - Reductionism and Emergence: Key Concepts in Biology and Science Closer To Truth 2024-10-16 | Show your support for the show with a Closer To Truth merch purchase: bit.ly/3P2ogjeCan biology be explained entirely in terms of chemistry and then physics? If so, that’s “reductionism.” Or are there “emergent” properties at higher levels of the hierarchy of life that cannot be explained by properties at lower or more basic levels?Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen: https://shorturl.at/mtJP4Samir Okasha FBA, is a Professor of Philosophy of Science at University of Bristol. He was appointed a Fellow of the British Academy in 2018.Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Martin Rees - Exploring the Limits of Reality Closer To Truth 2024-10-16 | Are you a Closer to Truth member? Sign up for a free account to receive special exclusives like early access to episodes and more: closertotruth.com/.Delve into the divergent views on reality held by scientists and those who see a dimension beyond the physical world. Is human understanding inherently limited? Are there dangers in dogmatic beliefs claiming to have all the answers? The universe is vastly complex, and we need a respectful dialogue between science and mainstream religious views as many mysteries may forever elude our grasp. Explore the depths of inquiry as we navigate the intersection of science, belief, and the unknown.Support the show with a donation of any amount to help Closer To Truth continue exploring life's deepest questions: shorturl.at/OnyRqMartin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow is a British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He has been Astronomer Royal since 1995 and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge from 2004 to 2012. He was President of the Royal Society between 2005 and 2010.Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Patrick Haggard - What is the Problem with Free Will? Closer To Truth 2024-10-15 | Watch more videos on the philosophy of free will: https://shorturl.at/bEHCOWhy is free will such a complex puzzle, enough to drive philosophers slightly mad? Free will probes consciousness, examines what it means to pick, choose, select, decide. But some say that ‘free will’ is just a trick of the brain. How to discern the key issues of free will, scientifically and philosophically?Follow Closer To Truth on Instagram for news, announcements, and exciting updates: https://shorturl.at/p2IhMPatrick Neville Haggard, FBA, is a cognitive neuroscientist and academic. He is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. Haggard completed his undergraduate degree at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and then spent a year as a Harkness Fellow at Yale University.Get exciting member exclusives—like early access to new content—with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Tim Maudlin - Realism vs. Anti-realism Closer To Truth 2024-10-14 | Follow Closer To Truth on Instagram for news, announcements, and exciting updates: https://shorturl.at/p2IhMWhat are anti-realists and why do they deny objective reality? What we know of the world must come through our senses and be processed by our brains. Both can be unreliable; illusions can fool our senses and illness or injury can disrupt our brains. Therefore, can we ever be sure that anything outside ourselves is truly what it seems?Watch more videos on the metaphysics of the cosmos: bit.ly/47VmzNOTim William Eric Maudlin is an American philosopher of science who has done influential work on the metaphysical foundations of physics and logic. He is Founder and Director of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics and Professor of Philosophy at New York University.Get member exclusives—like early access to new content—with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Sabine Hossenfelder on mathematics and beauty Closer To Truth 2024-10-14 | Watch the full episode on what makes math true and beautiful here: https://t.ly/6608u #shorts @SabineHossenfelder
Nathan Lents - Philosophy of Evolution and Religion Closer To Truth 2024-10-13 | Like us on Facebook for daily videos and comment your thoughts on CTT interviews: https://shorturl.at/7IG5TTwo kinds of questions describe the relationship between evolution and religion. The first explores discrepancies, even contradictions, between the science of evolution and the beliefs of religion. The second examines how religion itself evolved.Get exclusive member benefits with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comNathan H. Lents is an American scientist, author, and university professor. He has been on the faculty of John Jay College since 2006 and is currently the director of the Cell and Molecular Biology program.Donate today to help Closer To Truth continue exploring new questions of human existence: shorturl.at/OnyRqCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Freeman Dyson - Is Intelligent Design Evidence of God? Closer To Truth 2024-10-12 | Follow Closer To Truth on X for updates, interesting articles, and more: https://x.com/CloserToTruthThe world certainly appears to be designed, in particular from the cosmology of the cosmos rather than from the biology of species. Are appearances deceiving or revealing? Does design need a Designer? And if a Designer, why must a designer be a personal kind of God? Discover new twists to this old argument.Follow Closer To Truth on Instagram for news, announcements, and exciting updates: https://shorturl.at/p2IhMFreeman John Dyson was a British-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician, famous for his work in quantum electrodynamics, solid-state physics, astronomy, and nuclear engineering.Get exclusive member benefits—like early access to new episodes—with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Joseph LeDoux - What is the Nature of the Self? Closer To Truth 2024-10-11 | Get special exclusives and discounts with a free Closer To Truth membership today: closertotruth.com/.Personal identity seems so strong. We have the same sense of ourselves throughout our lives, even though everything about our physical bodies and brains is changing constantly. What then causes the continuity of personal identity? Some say personal identity is an illusion, but that seems like cheating. Others credit a nonphysical soul. That seems as though it’s cheating too.Support Closer To Truth with a tax-deductible donation of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqJoseph E. LeDoux is a neuroscientist and the Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science, as well as Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at New York University. He is also the Director of the Center for the Neuroscience of Fear and Anxiety, a multi-university Center in New York City devoted to using animal research to understand pathological fear and anxiety in humans. He received his PhD at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He was a recipient of the 2005 International Prize of the Fyssen Foundation.Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
David Bentley Hart - Imagining Eternal Life Closer To Truth 2024-10-11 | Listen to audio versions of your favorite interviews on the Closer To Truth podcast: https://shorturl.at/hwGP3Almost all religions offer some kind of life or awareness after physical death. Speculations of what such life after death might be like—the form it might take, how we might feel, what we might do—are deemed beyond our capacity to know. Yet anyway we feel compelled to speculate.Support Closer To Truth with a tax-deductible donation of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqDavid Bentley Hart is an American writer, fiction author, philosopher, religious studies scholar, critic, and theologian. Reviewers have commented on Hart's baroque prose and provocative rhetoric in over one thousand essays, reviews, and papers as well as 24 books.Are you a Closer To Truth member? Register for a free account to get special exclusives and discounts at closertotruth.com/.Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Barry Smith - Do We Really Have Free Will? Closer To Truth 2024-10-10 | Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqPersonal agency is a state, the capacity of individuals to affect things. Free will is a mental faculty of various strengths. What’s the relationship between free will and personal agency? It would seem that strong personal agency depends on a robust kind of free will, which makes an analysis of how they articulate especially important.Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen: https://shorturl.at/mtJP4Barry C. Smith is a British philosopher and director of the Institute of Philosophy at the School of Advanced Study at University of London. He also co-directs the Centre for the Study of the Senses.Wear your support for the show with a Closer To Truth hoodie, T-shirt, or tank: bit.ly/3P2ogjeCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Joshua Swamidass - Philosophy of Race and Ethnicity Closer To Truth 2024-10-09 | Show your support for the show with a Closer To Truth merch purchase: bit.ly/3P2ogjeRace is obviously real—historically, socially, politically. What about biologically? What’s the relationship between color and race? Are human races subspecies of homo sapiens? Is race a “natural kind?” How to form a coherent theory of race?Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen: https://shorturl.at/mtJP4S. Joshua Swamidass is a computational biologist, physician, academic, and author. He is an associate professor of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, and a Faculty Lead of Translational Bioinformatics in the Institute for Informatics at Washington University in St. Louis.Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Nancey Murphy - Bridging Science and Faith: The Power of Critical Realism Closer To Truth 2024-10-09 | Sign up for a free Closer To Truth membership to receive special exclusives like early access to episodes and more: closertotruth.com/.Does what we discover in science reflect what really exists in the world? Can science access external, independent, ultimate reality? “Realists” say Yes; “anti-realists”, No. Can we discern the ultimate reach of human knowledge? Clearly in science, but also, potentially, in theology. That’s what “critical realism” attempts to do.Support the show with a donation of any amount to help Closer To Truth continue exploring life's deepest questions: shorturl.at/OnyRqNancey Murphy is a philosopher and theologian who is Professor of Christian Philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA. She received the BA from Creighton University in philosophy and psychology, a PhD from University of California, Berkeley in philosophy of science, and a ThD from the Graduate Theological Union.Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
George Lakoff - Do Souls Exist?: Exploring Human Identity Closer To Truth 2024-10-08 | Follow Closer To Truth on Instagram for news, announcements, and exciting updates: https://shorturl.at/p2IhMIs the ‘real you’ a special substance that is nonphysical and immortal? Most regular people would agree, but most scientists would not. What are you? A body alone that is dead forever once it dies? A soul temporally inhabiting a body? A body unified with a nonphysical entity of some kind? What some theologians think may surprise you.Watch more videos on souls and the nature of our identity: bit.ly/47Z6Hd7George P. Lakoff is an American cognitive linguist and professor of linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1972.Get exciting member exclusives—like early access to new content—with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Terrence Deacon - Species vs. Individuals: The Philosophy of Life Closer To Truth 2024-10-07 | Watch more videos on evolutionary biology: https://shorturl.at/yb76lWhat is the classification system in biology, the taxonomy used to categorize organisms in a structured hierarchy? What are species and individuals in biological and evolutionary contexts, and what is the relationship between them?Follow Closer To Truth on Instagram for news, announcements, and exciting updates: https://shorturl.at/p2IhMTerrence William Deacon is an American neuroanthropologist. He is currently Professor of Anthropology and member of the Cognitive Science Faculty at the University of California, Berkeley.Get exclusive member benefits—like early access to new episodes—with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Brian Keating on ambiguity in the Cosmos Closer To Truth 2024-10-07 | Watch the full interviews where @DrBrianKeating discusses the possibility of a multiverse here: https://t.ly/QnygM
Galen Strawson - The Nature of Reality: Metaphysics vs. Materialism Closer To Truth 2024-10-06 | Get special exclusives and discounts with a free Closer To Truth membership today: closertotruth.com/.Metaphysics asks the most profound questions, then uses sophisticated philosophical analysis to seek the deepest truths. What happens when metaphysics trains its analytical guns on ‘materialism’, the claim that only the physical is real? What are the metaphysical arguments for and against materialism?Support the show with a tax-deductible donation of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqGalen Strawson holds the President’s Chair in Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin’s College of Liberal Arts. He studied at the University of Cambridge before receiving his BPhil and DPhil in philosophy from the University of Oxford.Watch more videos on the metaphysics of consciousness: https://shorturl.at/YJMxKCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Michael Merzenich - Exploring the Self: What Defines Personal Identity? Closer To Truth 2024-10-05 | Support Closer To Truth with a tax-deductible donation of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqLook at an old photo. Then look in the mirror. Those two images are of the same person, right? How so? They don’t look the same. Their memories are different. And virtually every atom in their bodies is different. We feel unity across time, but is this solidified sense of self an illusion? If not an illusion, what enables personal identity?Are you a Closer To Truth member? Register for a free account to get special exclusives and discounts at closertotruth.com/.Michael M. Merzenich is a Professor Emeritus Neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco. He attended the University of Portland in Portland, Oregon earning his Bachelor of Science.Listen to audio versions of your favorite interviews on the Closer To Truth podcast: https://shorturl.at/hwGP3Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Semir Zeki - How the Brain Explains Art: The Science Behind Neuroaesthetics Closer To Truth 2024-10-04 | Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen: https://shorturl.at/mtJP4What is happening in our brains when we perceive and appreciate the arts? What are the neural substrates of artistic sensations, feelings and emotions? How do diverse arts affect the brain? How different? How similar?Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqSemir Zeki is a British neurobiologist who has specialized in studying the primate visual brain and the neural correlates of affective states, such as the experience of love, desire, and beauty that are generated by sensory inputs within the field of neuroesthetics.Wear your support for the show with a Closer To Truth hoodie, T-shirt, or tank: bit.ly/3P2ogjeCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Yujin Nagasawa - Radical New Concepts of God Closer To Truth 2024-10-03 | Wear your support for the show with a Closer To Truth hoodie, T-shirt, or tank: bit.ly/3P2ogjeIs God, if there is a God, a personal, conscious, all-powerful Supreme Being? Some offer radically different concepts of ‘God’, exploring novel ideas of what God may be like. They challenge theism – the God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam – with radically new kinds of gods. Is this ‘heresy’? Or enlarging our vision of what the Ultimate can be like?Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen: https://shorturl.at/mtJP4Yujin Nagasawa is the Kingfisher College Chair of the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics, and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oklahoma.Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Carmine Clemente - How Do Human Brains Think and Feel? Closer To Truth 2024-10-02 | Find us on Facebook for daily videos and comment your thoughts on CTT interviews: https://shorturl.at/7IG5TNothing means anything without our brains. Not science, not theology, not politics, not love. Everything we know and do—all the sense of human thought, all the feelings of human emotion, all the fullness of human achievement—all are the product of the brains in our heads. By what processes do human brains work? How much can science discover?Get exclusive member benefits with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comCarmine D. Clemente was a medical doctor and former Director of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute.Donate now to help Closer To Truth continue exploring new questions of the universe: shorturl.at/OnyRqCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Neil Gillman - Is There an Afterlife? Closer To Truth 2024-10-02 | Register for a free Closer To Truth membership to receive special exclusives like early access to episodes and event discounts: closertotruth.com/.Is there a soul? Is there an afterlife? The two questions are likely related. No soul, no afterlife. Is there any evidence for either? Any argument? However, the two questions—soul and afterlife—might be separated. A soul but no afterlife? Or an afterlife but no soul? According to science, you cannot have either. But is science the last word?Support the show with a tax-deductible donation of any amount to help us continue exploring life's deepest questions: shorturl.at/OnyRqNeil Gillman was an American rabbi and philosopher, affiliated with Conservative Judaism.Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Ned Block - Can Neuroscience Fully Explain Consciousness? Closer To Truth 2024-10-01 | Follow Closer To Truth on Instagram for news, announcements, and exciting updates: https://shorturl.at/p2IhM‘Neurophilosophy’ is the view that all that is mental or mind or consciousness can be solved ultimately by neuroscience. ‘Neuromania’ is the view that trying to explain consciousness by physical processes alone is impossible (if not ridiculous). The two views are diametrically opposed. Appreciate the arguments of each. Then decide, which is correct?Watch more videos on the mind-body problem: https://shorturl.at/WJVcRNed Block is an American philosopher working in the field of the philosophy of mind who has made important contributions to matters of consciousness and cognitive science.Get exclusive member benefits—like early access to new content—with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Lisa Lloyd - Philosophy of Sex, Sexuality, & Gender Closer To Truth 2024-09-30 | Get special exclusives and discounts with a free Closer To Truth membership today: closertotruth.com/.Sexual questions abound. What is “normal” sexual behavior vs. multiple variations? How to appreciate LGBTQ+ issues? What can be learned from sex in animal models that is relevant for human sexuality? A philosophical perspective can provide clarity.Support the show with a tax-deductible donation of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqElisabeth “Lisa” Anne Lloyd is an American philosopher of science specializing in the philosophy of biology. She is currently Distinguished Professor of History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine and Adjunct Professor of biology at Indiana University, Bloomington, affiliated faculty scholar at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction and Adjunct Faculty at the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior.Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
David Chalmers: The mechanics of consciousness Closer To Truth 2024-09-30 | Watch the full playlist on the mystery of consciousness here: https://shorturl.at/hOeDb
Patrick Haggard - Free Will: Key to Consciousness? Closer To Truth 2024-09-29 | Watch more videos on free will and consciousness: closertotruth.com/video/sinwa-010/?referrer=8433Why might free will be a key to understanding consciousness? What is it about the problems of free will such that addressing these problems can elucidate the deep structure or underpinnings of the mind? The key is how free will works in a wholly physical, material world? Or perhaps it doesn’t work?Support the show with a tax-deductible donation to Closer To Truth of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqPatrick Haggard is a neuroscientist and current Deputy Director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, where he is a professor in the department of Psychology.Register for a free CTT membership with perks like event discounts and early access to interviews at closertotruth.comCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Hamza Yusuf - Do Science & Religion Conflict? Closer To Truth 2024-09-28 | Support Closer To Truth with a tax-deductible donation of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqWhat is it about science and theology that causes such conflict? Scientists who are believers speak of the harmony (if not the ‘proof’). Scientists who are non-believers speak of the ignorance and distortion. But should conflict be embraced not shunned? Conflict can help discern fact from fancy, highlight differences, force focus on critical issues.Are you a Closer To Truth member? Register for a free account to get special exclusives and discounts at closertotruth.com/.Hamza Yusuf is an American Islamic neo-traditionalist, Islamic scholar, and co-founder of Zaytuna College. He is a proponent of classical learning in Islam and has promoted Islamic sciences and classical teaching methodologies throughout the world. Listen to audio versions of your favorite interviews on the Closer To Truth podcast: https://shorturl.at/hwGP3Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Carlo Rovelli - Is the Universe Theologically Ambiguous? Closer To Truth 2024-09-27 | Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen: https://shorturl.at/mtJP4Although many physicists, astronomers, cosmologists do not believe in God, many do. Why the stark division — divided both by what they believe and by how they interpret the same evidence. A cosmos of order or disorder? A cosmos life friendly or life hostile? A cosmos of meaning or no meaning? Both sides using the same evidence!Wear your support for the show with a Closer To Truth hoodie, T-shirt, or tank: bit.ly/3P2ogjeCarlo Rovelli is an Italian theoretical physicist and writer who has worked in Italy, the United States, France, and Canada.Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Don Page - Defining Personhood: Beyond Body and Mind Closer To Truth 2024-09-26 | Wear your support for the show with a Closer To Truth hoodie, T-shirt, or tank: bit.ly/3P2ogjeWhat does it mean to be a ‘person’? How do persons differ from other living things? Must all human beings be persons? Always? When does personhood start—during childhood, at birth, in the womb? Are you a person when asleep? Are people with severe mental deficiencies still persons? Severe brain injuries? What’s the importance of persons, anyway?Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen: https://shorturl.at/mtJP4Don N. Page is a Canadian theoretical physicist at the University of Alberta, Canada.Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Eric Schwitzgebel - Does Consciousness Challenge the Limits of Materialism? Closer To Truth 2024-09-25 | Like us on Facebook to get daily videos and comment your thoughts on CTT interviews: https://shorturl.at/7IG5TWhat would it take for consciousness to defeat materialism or physicalism? This is the worldview that only the physical is real, which is the dominant view of scientists and philosophers. Here’s what it would take: our inner awareness, our experience of what things feel like, could not be explained by physical brain alone That’s it. A tall order, though.Get exclusive member benefits with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comEric Schwitzgebel is Professor of Philosophy at University of California at Riverside. He received his B.A. in Philosophy from Stanford in 1990 and his PhD in Philosophy from U.C. Berkeley in 1997, under the supervision of Elisabeth A. Lloyd and Alison Gopnik.Donate to help Closer To Truth continue exploring new questions of the universe: shorturl.at/OnyRqCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Ernan McMullin - Would Sentient Aliens Undermine Religion? Closer To Truth 2024-09-25 | Register for a free Closer To Truth membership to receive special exclusives like early access to episodes and event discounts: closertotruth.com/.The Judeo-Christian religion teaches that human beings are special in God’s sight, the core of God’s purpose for creating the universe. What then if intelligent aliens are discovered? How would theologians explain them? Some say that the more intelligent life in the universe, the more we see God’s love for life. But there are other problems.Support the show with a tax-deductible donation of any amount to help us continue exploring life's deepest questions: shorturl.at/OnyRqErnan McMullin was a philosopher who last served as the O’Hara Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame.Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Dean Zimmerman - The Mystery of Personal Identity Closer To Truth 2024-09-24 | Follow Closer To Truth on Instagram for news, announcements, and exciting updates: https://shorturl.at/p2IhMPersonal identity seems so strong. We have the same sense of ourselves throughout our lives, even though everything about our physical bodies and brains is changing constantly. What then causes the continuity of personal identity? Some say personal identity is an illusion, but that seems like cheating. Others credit a nonphysical soul. That seems as though it’s cheating too.Watch more videos on personal identity: https://rb.gy/bcpgauDean W. Zimmerman is a Distinguished Professor of philosophy at Rutgers University specializing in metaphysics and the philosophy of religion.Get exclusive member benefits—like early access to new content—with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Kip Thorne: The Power of Black Holes Closer To Truth 2024-09-23 | Watch the full episode featuring Kip Thorne on what makes black holes so astonishing: https://rb.gy/bcpgau #shorts
Paul Davies - Do Science & Religion Conflict? Closer To Truth 2024-09-23 | Get access to special exclusives and discounts with a free Closer To Truth membership: closertotruth.com/.How to think about God afresh? Can we consider God—God’s possible existence, God’s essence and nature—without preconceived assumptions or biases? What questions arise when our target of inquiry might be the Creator of the universe? Where do we start? What are the categories? Can we make progress?Support the show with a tax-deductible donation of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqPaul Davies is a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and astrobiologist. He is currently Regents’ Professor of Physics and Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University, where he also runs a cancer research project and co-directs a cosmology program.Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Thalia Wheatley - Free Will and Morality Closer To Truth 2024-09-21 | Watch more videos on free will and morality: https://shorturl.at/ocu5hIs free will required for moral responsibility? If a person with a brain tumor breaks the law, should that person be judged by lower standards? It’s a slippery slope, because if a legal defense is based on a ‘my brain did it, not me’ theory, and if it holds, law enforcement will suffer. Our jails would be less crowded, but our streets would teem with criminals.Support the show with a tax-deductible donation to Closer To Truth of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqThalia Wheatley is an associate professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth College in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She earned her BA from the University of Texas at Austin, and an MA and PhD from the University of Virginia.Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Alan Love - Philosophy of Genes & Biology Closer To Truth 2024-09-21 | Sign up a free Closer To Truth membership today for special discounts and members-only exclusives: www.closertotruth.comWhat is information in biology? information is essential for analyzing data and testing hypotheses. But what is information in evolution, population genetics, levels of selection, and molecular genetics? Is computational biology transformational?Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqAlan C. Love, Ph.D., is a professor in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota. He also serves as director of the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science.Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen: https://shorturl.at/mtJP4Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Ananda Guruge - Do Angels and Demons Exist? Closer To Truth 2024-09-20 | Support Closer To Truth with a tax-deductible donation of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqMany theologians take angels and demons seriously. Why? Certainly, most human beings believe in angels and demons. Anecdotal cases are legion. Certainly, such nonphysical beings, in one form or another, populate most of the world’s religions. But angels and demons seem out of place, anachronistic, in our modern world. Is there anything here we should take seriously?Are you a Closer To Truth member? Register for a free account to get special exclusives and discounts at closertotruth.com/.Ananda Wahihana Palliya Guruge was a Sri Lankan diplomat, buddhist leader, and writer.Listen to audio versions of your favorite interviews on the Closer To Truth podcast: https://shorturl.at/hwGP3Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
WATCH: David Papineau on consciousness and reality Closer To Truth 2024-09-20 | Don't miss philosopher David Papineau discuss mind, AI, animal consciousness, and much more: https://shorturl.at/ovN6R #shorts
John Behr - How are Humans Unique? Closer To Truth 2024-09-19 | Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen: https://shorturl.at/mtJP4Humans are obviously far more capable than other animals. There’s no comparison in personal capacities and social achievement. But what physically distinguishes humans? Higher animals all have the same kinds of body parts. Human brains are similar to the brains of other primates and smaller than the brains of whales and elephants. What’s our secret?Wear your support for the show with a Closer To Truth hoodie, T-shirt, or tank: bit.ly/3P2ogjeJohn Behr is a contemporary Eastern Orthodox priest and theologian, and Dean of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, where he teaches Patristics. He was ordained to the diaconate on September 8, 2001 (the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos) and the priesthood on September 14, 2001 (the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross).Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Raymond Tallis - Metaphysics vs. Materialism Closer To Truth 2024-09-19 | Wear your support for the show with a Closer To Truth hoodie, T-shirt, or tank: bit.ly/3P2ogjeMetaphysics asks the most profound questions, then uses sophisticated philosophical analysis to seek the deepest truths. What happens when metaphysics trains its analytical guns on ‘materialism’, the claim that only the physical is real? What are the metaphysical arguments for and against materialism?Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen: https://shorturl.at/mtJP4Raymond C. Tallis is a a retired physician and neuroscientist from Great Britain. His resume boasts titles like philosopher, poet and novelist. He is also a member of the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal College of Physicians and Royal Society of Arts.Donate to Closer To Truth and help us keep our content free and without paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
David Papineau on Consciousness, Physics, & the Mind-Body Problem | Closer To Truth Chats Closer To Truth 2024-09-18 | Donate to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqHow do conscious states relate to the rest of reality? Do all animals deserve moral consideration? Can AI be conscious? Philosopher David Papineau discusses the nature of consciousness, the mind-body problem, physicalism versus materialism, and much more.Watch more Closer To Truth Chats: https://t.ly/jJI7eDavid Papineau is a British academic philosopher, born in Como, Italy. He works as Professor of Philosophy of Science at King's College London and the City University of New York Graduate Center, and previously taught for several years at Cambridge University, where he was a fellow of Robinson College.You can purchase Papineau's latest book, The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience, here: amzn.to/3TAM1lNCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
The event you really cant miss... Closer To Truth 2024-09-18 | @HTLGIFestival, the world’s largest ideas and music festival. Expect to see Slavoj Žižek, Roger Penrose, Yoshua Bengio, Rupert Sheldrake, Marika Taylor, and more Sept. 21-22 in London. 30% off tickets with code CTTL30: https://shorturl.at/jxzUx #shorts
Jennifer Mather - Why Do Animals Deceive? Closer To Truth 2024-09-17 | Connect with us on Facebook for daily videos and to comment your thoughts on CTT interviews: https://shorturl.at/7IG5TWhat is it about deception that it pervades all life? Deceptions are conditions or actions that communicate misinformation and hide truth, thus misleading other individuals of the same or different species. By promoting false images or by obscuring true images, deception serves the interest, often the survival, of the deceiver. What are expressions and functions of animal deceptions? In the “arms race” between purveyors and recipients of deception, evolution works its magic.Get exclusive member benefits with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comJennifer Mather is Professor of Psychology at the University of Lethbridge.Donate to help Closer To Truth continue exploring new questions of the universe: shorturl.at/OnyRqCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Paul Davies - Is Consciousness Fundamental? Closer To Truth 2024-09-17 | Register for a free Closer To Truth membership to receive special exclusives like early access to episodes and event discounts: closertotruth.com/.The great challenge is explain consciousness—the inner experiences of sense, thought, intent, feelings. It’s what David Chalmers calls ‘The Hard Problem’ of consciousness. Is our mental life a random accident, solely the product or byproduct of physical brain? Or is conscious awareness deeply special, perhaps revealing hidden realities of how the world works?Support the show with a tax-deductible donation of any amount to help us continue exploring life's deepest questions: shorturl.at/OnyRqPaul Davies is a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and astrobiologist. He is currently a professor in Arizona State University and director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science.Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
WEDNESDAY: David Papineau chats with CTT Closer To Truth 2024-09-17 | Tomorrow, September 18 at 12pm ET, watch philosopher David Papineau discuss human and animal consciousness with Robert Lawrence Kuhn: https://shorturl.at/ovN6R #shorts
Carol Cleland - Philosophy of Life, Biological Thinking, & Theories Closer To Truth 2024-09-16 | Follow Closer To Truth on Instagram for news, announcements, and more: https://shorturl.at/p2IhMWhat are biological theories, their scope and depth? How do biologists think? How do they conduct their research and construct their theories? What happens when traditional theories are challenged?Watch more videos on the philosophy of biology: https://shorturl.at/sM6hlCarol Edith Cleland is an American philosopher of science and a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado Boulder. She holds affiliations with the NASA Astrobiology Institute, the SETI Institute, and the CU Boulder Center for Astrobiology.Get exclusive member benefits—like early access to new content—with a free Closer To Truth account: closertotruth.comCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Alfred Mele - Psychology of Free Will Closer To Truth 2024-09-15 | Get access to special exclusives and discounts with a free Closer To Truth membership: closertotruth.com/.What do common people think about free will, and why should it matter what they think anyway? Do common people think they have free will? Can they be persuaded otherwise? How does one’s sense of free will affect one’s sense of morality and responsibility?Support the show with a tax-deductible donation of any amount: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqAlfred Remen Mele is an American philosopher and the William H. and Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy at Florida State University. He is also the past Director of the Philosophy and Science of Self-Control Project (2014-2017) and the Big Questions in Free Will Project (2010-2013). Mele is the author of thirteen books and over 250 articles.For more videos on the mysteries of free will, click here: https://shorturl.at/nR0TiCloser To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
