
Why Universal Skepticism Is Philosophy's Greatest Deception
Today we are joined by philosopher Jennifer Nagel for a take-no-prisoners look at universal skepticism—philosophy’s greatest deception. We unpack why doubt itself is the ultimate illusion, how knowledge is primitive instant recognition, and what this means for self, free will & consciousness.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:28 The Nature of Knowledge
10:58 Philosophers and the Skeptical Mindset
16:57 Types of Skepticism
22:27 Exploring Knowledge Attribution
29:51 The Illusion of Knowledge
34:16 Knowing Without Knowing
38:10 Writing About Knowledge
46:10 Analyzing Knowledge
55:08 The Gettier Problem and Its Challenges
1:01:10 The Functionality of Knowledge
1:11:23 Collaborative Understanding of Knowledge
2:10:00 Understanding and Consciousness
2:26:32 Truth and Its Nature
2:32:16 Superposition and Contradictions
2:32:19 Conclusion
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Links Mentioned:
- Knowledge: A Very Short Introduction (book): https://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-Very-Short-Introduction-Introductions/dp/019966126X
- Knowledge and its Limits (book): https://www.amazon.ca/Knowledge-its-Limits-Timothy-Williamson/dp/019925656X
- Very Short Introductions (series): https://www.google.com/search?q=a+very+short+introduction+to+series&sca_esv=3da4db664be6b3a1&ei=ypX6Z6flHsDniLMP2v2QkQk&ved=0ahUKEwin8oSB9tKMAxXAM2IAHdo-JJIQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=a+very+short+introduction+to+series&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiI2EgdmVyeSBzaG9ydCBpbnRyb2R1Y3Rpb24gdG8gc2VyaWVzMgUQABiABDILEAAYgAQYhgMYigUyCxAAGIAEGIYDGIoFMgsQABiABBiGAxiKBTIIEAAYogQYiQUyCBAAGIAEGKIEMggQABiABBiiBDIFEAAY7wVIqBRQxAtYwBBwAXgAkAEAmAFZoAGtAqoBATS4AQPIAQD4AQGYAgSgAocCwgIKEAAYsAMY1gQYR8ICDRAuGIAEGLADGEMYigXCAg0QABiABBiwAxhDGIoFwgIPEAAYgAQYQxiKBRhGGPsBwgIbEAAYgAQYQxiKBRhGGPsBGJcFGIwFGN0E2AEBwgIGEAAYBxgemAMAiAYBkAYKugYGCAEQARgTkgcBNKAHph6yBwEzuAf_AQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#wgvs=e
- Time: A Very Short Introduction (book): https://www.amazon.ca/Time-Short-Introduction-Jenann-Ismael/dp/0198832664
- Laplace meets Godel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB3tS7j7nNU
- Flexible Goals (paper): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/cogs.13195
- The Legend of the Justified True Belief Analysis (paper): https://philpapers.org/archive/DUTTLO-3.pdf
- Lay Denial of Knowledge for Justified True Beliefs (paper): https://philpapers.org/archive/NAGLDO
- TOE’s Consciousness Iceberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDjnEiys98o
- Matt Segal on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeTm4fSXpbM
- Curt reads Plato’s Cave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PurNlwnxwfY
- David Bentley Hart on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEAgVvW9i10
- Donald Hoffman on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmieNQH7Q4w&t=1s
- Iain McGilchrist on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-SgOwc6Pe4&t=6326s&ab_channel=CurtJaimungal
- Geoffrey Hinton on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_DUft-BdIE
- John Vervaeke on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVj1KYGyesI&t=1s
- Wolfgang Smith on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp18_L_y_30
- Polymath’s Ai panel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abzXzPBW4_s
- Donald Hoffman and Philip Goff on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmaIBxkqcT4
- Robert Sapolsky on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0IqA1hYKY8&pp=ygUUY3VydCByb2JlcnQgc2Fwb2xza3k%3D
- Curt debunks the “all possible paths” myth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcY3ZtgYis0&t=46s
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Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal
Exploring theoretical physics, consciousness, Ai, and God in a technically rigorous manner. If you'd like to support this endeavor, then please visit the Patreon ( https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal ). Thank you for your charitable and kindhearted support. My name's Curt Jaimungal, a Torontonian with a degree in mathematical physics from the University of Toronto and I analyze various Theories of Everything from this analytic perspective, though more and more opening up to alternative approaches. The separating factor of TOE from other podcasts is its focus on depth even at the risk of limiting the audience due to how much detail we delve into subjects. Paralleling the intensity found in academic discourse, we're increasingly embracing a spectrum of unconventional ideas to conduct research during this podcast, rather than merely conveying existing information. Contact toe [at] indiefilmTO [dot] com for business inquiries / sponsorship.
- No. of episodes: 302
- Latest episode: 2025-05-05
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