Adventures Among Ideas
David Dennen
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About This Podcast
This podcast by David Dennen, PhD explores ideas in philosophy, cultural history, and literary theory. The point is view is generally Romanticist, pragmatist, and behaviorist, but other traditions are explored as well. Episodes are usually monologues, occasionally dialogues.
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Recent Episodes
Film Criticism in Theory and Practice with CJ Sheu
I talk with film reviewer and literary critic CJ Sheu (許景順) about how he got into film reviewing, his favorite critics, the differences between academic and journalistic criticism, the relation…
The Gamer's Dilemma: The Ethics of Sex and Violence in Videogames
Is it immoral to depict or commit violence in video games? What about sexual violence? Daniel Tarpy and I discuss the gamer's dilemma and the nature of games.
Video Games Are Not Art. But They Are Important.
Why video games are not art but are still culturally valuable. Compares the aesthetic attitude to the ludic attitude.
Conversation with Johannes Jaeger on Agency, Algorithms, Art, and Bullshit
Daniel Tarpy and I talk with Johannes "Yogi" Jaeger about a wide range of topics, including: why philosophy should be important to biology, how our ideas affect the world we live in, the differences…
Emergence & Consciousness Reconsidered
Further thoughts on emergence and consciousness. Written version: https://daviddennen.medium.com/emergence-and-consciousness-reconsidered-7a5c19d5759b
Is Consciousness Emergent?
I and Daniel Tarpy try to figure out what emergence means. Is it novelty? Is it the unpredictable? Is it rare? Is it everywhere? What sorts of things are emergent? How do we know when something is…
Qualitative Binding: How Art Is Made Whole
On the concept of "qualitative binding" in art with reference to John Dewey, John Middleton Murry, Susanne Langer, Vincent van Gogh, and Richard Wright.
Exploring Fundamental Reality with Daniel Tarpy and Tyler Piteo-Tarpy
In this conversation I, Daniel Tarpy, and Tyler Piteo-Tarpy discuss several ways of thinking about fundamental reality, including idealism, materialism/physicalism, pantheism and panentheism,…
Discussing Free Will & Determinism: On Sapolsky, Harris, Dennett, and Others
Do we have free will? Does it matter? Daniel Tarpy joins me to discuss the free will debate. We discuss some classic and recent ideas about free will and determinism, including those of Robert…
Is Frank Jackson's Knowledge Argument about Knowledge?
I argue that the problem with Frank Jackson's Knowledge Argument (or Mary's Room Argument) against physicalism is that it's not about knowledge.
What Is Aesthetic Experience? Part 1: Dewey
What does John Dewey have to say about aesthetic experience?
Are Chatbots Conscious?
Is it possible for an artificial intelligence to become really conscious? Are some AIs already conscious, as at least a few people think? And in particular, are large-language-model-based chatbots…
Jay Ogilvy in 4 Essays: Paradigms, Power, and Possible Futures
In this episode I look at four essays by the philosopher Jay Ogilvy on paradigm shifts, the nature of power, and possible futures. -- Ogilvy, James. “Understanding Power.” Philosophy & Social…
Literature and Knowledge (Walsh)
A discussion of experiential knowledge and virtual experience based on Dorothy Walsh's Literature and Knowledge (1969).
Literature and Knowledge (Vivas)
More on the relation between literature and knowledge, this time through the work of Eliseo Vivas.
Literature and Knowledge (Peckham)
Does literature give us knowledge? If so, what kind of knowledge? And knowledge about what? In this episode I explore literature as propositional knowledge, behavioral knowledge, and reorientational…
Jacques Derrida's Two Kinds of Reading
Discusses Derrida's deconstruction as a kind of double reading. Useful Readings: *Abrams, M. H. “Construing and Deconstructing” (1986). Collected with Abrams’ other essay on deconstruction in Doing…
Wayne Booth on Vitality, Justice, Understanding, and Overstanding
In this episode I discuss Wayne C. Booth's four values for good critical (and perhaps social and political) life. Based on Booth's Critical Understanding (1979).
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Behaviorist
Is Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle a behaviorist? Listen and find out!
Toward an Ethics of Reading
In this episode I discuss a few ideas of the literary critic J. Hillis Miller on the ethics of reading.
Frequently Asked Questions
Adventures Among Ideas has published 48 episodes since February 2022, covering topics in Education, Philosophy.
Adventures Among Ideas is currently dormant with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 25m.
