Within Reason

Alex J O'Connor
  • 4.7 (3)
  • PHILOSOPHY
  • EVERY TWO WEEKS

For the curious. A philosophy podcast that sometimes flirts with other disciplines, Within Reason has featured guests including Richard Dawkins, Douglas Murray, William Lane Craig, Peter Singer, Konstantin Kisin, and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

  1. 2 HR AGO

    #150 Materialist AND Panpsychism are True - Galen Strawson

    Get Huel today with this exclusive offer for New Customers of 15% OFF with code alexoconnor at https://huel.com/alexoconnor (Minimum $50 purchase).For early, ad-free access to videos, and to support the channel, subscribe to my Substack: https://www.alexoconnor.com.Galen Strawson is a British analytic philosopher and literary critic who works primarily on philosophy of mind, metaphysics, John Locke, David Hume, Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Nietzsche.TIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Is Radical Emergence Possible?08:15 - Can Physics Describe Consciousness?12:01 - Is Everything Made of Consciousness?18:34 - Why Are People Resistant to Panpsychism?21:19 - Can Experience Alone Tell Us What Consciousness Is?23:50 - Does Consciousness Require Complexity?29:03 - Panpsychism vs Idealism: What’s the Difference?36:08 - The Combination Problem40:03 - What is the “Self”?43:16 - Do We Even Need to Explain Consciousness?48:25 - Is Consciousness a Scientific or Philosophical Question?53:25 - Is It Possible for AI to Become Conscious?

    58 min

  2. 6 DAYS AGO

    #149 My Problem With C.S. Lewis - Philip Pullman

    Philip Pullman is one of England's most cherished and celebrated writers. Author of the popular His Dark Materials series of books (later adapted into a film, The Golden Compass (2007), and a 2019 HBO/BBC drama series), his novels are dripping with philosophical and religious themes.Get Philip Pullman's Books here. - TIMESTAMPS:0:00 - C.S. Lewis Tells Filthy Lies5:12 - Childhood Innocence is Overrated10:09 - Religion in Philip’s Novels21:26 - How to Improve the Story of Jesus and the Gospels27:43 - The Connection Between Music and Fiction36:24 - Books vs Movies43:38 - Consciousness in The Book of Dust50:05 - Should Novelists Go Back and Update Their Books?56:11 - The Omniscient Narrator1:00:12 - How Movies Changed Novels1:05:49 - Why Subtitles Are So Popular Now1:10:56 - The Role of Philosophy in Philip’s Novels1:13:27 - Philip’s Writing Process1:20:11 - The Fear of AI in Creative Industries

    1hr 27min

  3. 25 MAR

    #149 Blaise Pascal: Philosopher, Mathematician, Genius - Graham Tomlin

    Get Huel today with this exclusive offer for New Customers of 15% OFF with code alexoconnor at https://huel.com/alexoconnor (Minimum $50 purchase).For early, ad-free access to videos, and to support the channel, subscribe to my Substack.Graham Tomlin is a British theologian, author and former Church of England bishop.LINKS:Get Graham's book, Blaise Pascal: The Man Who Made the Modern WorldGraham's organisation, Seen and Unseen TIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Can Blaise Pascal Be Categorised?03:05 - Who Was Blaise Pascal?11:12 - Pascal’s First Conversion17:19 - Pascal’s “Night of Fire”21:59 - Did Pascal Reject Reason?31:45 - Pascal’s War With Descartes42:31 - Did Pascal Invent the Bus?45:42 - The Heart Has Its Reasons, Of Which Reason Knows Nothing50:03 - How Pascal Invented Probability Theory52:29 - Pascal’s Wager1:15:35 - The Pensées1:18:30 - Pascal’s “Two Minds”1:22:39 - The Importance of Boredom1:26:58 - Why Should Atheists Read Pascal?1:31:34 - What Would Graham Ask Pascal?

    1hr 34min

  4. 18 MAR

    #147 What is PURE Consciousness? - Thomas Metzinger

    Get Huel today with this exclusive offer for New Customers of 15% OFF with code alexoconnor at https://huel.com/alexoconnor (Minimum $50 purchase). For early, ad-free access to videos, and to support the channel, subscribe to my Substack: https://www.alexoconnor.com. Thomas Metzinger is a German philosopher and Professor Emeritus of theoretical philosophy at the University of Mainz. His primary research areas include philosophy of mind, philosophy of neuroscience, and applied ethics, particularly focusing on neurotechnology, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. Get The Elephant and the Blind: The Experience of Pure Consciousness: Philosophy, Science, and 500+ Experiential Reports TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - The Minimal Phenomenal Experience Project 11:34 - Is MPE New Age Meditation? 17:07 - Collecting Reports of Pure Consciousness 25:48 - Lucid Deep Sleep - Thomas’ Experience 32:19 - Does Consciousness Require Complexity? 39:29 - The Power of Meditation 45:32 - Is Meditation Always a Positive Experience? 53:13 - Is a MPE Actually an Experience? 01:11:21 - Your Brain is Not Telling You the Truth 01:20:08 - Analysing Minimal Conscious Experiences 01:27:26 - Is Meditative Enlightenment Unethical? 01:32:37 - Western Ignorance of Eastern Tradition 01:40:13 - “Coming Home” 01:44:29 - The Political Implications of MPE 01:52:40 - Should Ketamine Be Legalised?

    2h 3m

  5. 8 MAR

    #146 The Most Complicated Thing in the Universe: What is the Brain?

    Matthew Cobb is a British zoologist and Emeritus professor of zoology at the University of Manchester. Get his book, The Idea of the Brain: A HistoryCloser to Truth's Map of Consciousness: loc.closertotruth.com/mapTIMESTAMPS:0:00 The Heart or the Head?4:13 Medicine in the Ancient World12:25 Why Don’t We Accept Evidence?18:34 From Ancient to Modern Understanding29:29 When Did We Reach a Consensus on the Brain?37:41 Electricity in the Brain39:58 Our Metaphors for the Brain44:15 Is the Brain Segmented or Whole?01:05:20 Why is Speech Governed by the Left Hemisphere?01:18:55 Why is the Brain Split Into Two Hemispheres?01:23:06 Where in the Brain Does Consciousness Originate?01:32:46 The Ladybug Robot01:35:08 Back to Consciousness01:45:27 What is a Neuron?01:56:04 Why is Smell Connected to Memory So Strongly?02:02:14 Do London Cab Drivers Have Larger Hippocampi?02:10:11 The Limits of MRI and CT Scans02:19:24 Will We Ever Be Able to See Consciousness in the Brain?

    2h 25m

  6. 4 MAR

    #145 The Algorithm is God Now - The Etymology Nerd

    Get Huel today with this exclusive offer for New Customers of 15% OFF with code alexoconnor at https://huel.com/alexoconnor (Minimum $50 purchase). For early, ad-free access to videos, and to support the channel, subscribe to my Substack: https://www.alexoconnor.com. - VIDEO NOTES Adam Aleksic, known online as Etymology Nerd, is an American linguist and content creator who produces videos exploring the origins of words. He began exploring word origins in 2016 through his blog. Aleksic studied at Harvard University, where he gained attention for his educational TikTok videos on linguistics and language in 2023. In 2025, he published Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language. - LINKS Buy "Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language": https://amzn.to/3NcOLpw - TIMESTAMPS 0:00 – Will Social Media End Local Languages? 7:49 – Why Does Language Change? 15:11 – What Is Algospeak? 22:33 – We Worship Our Phones 27:36 – Upcoming Slang to Invest In 33:26 – Online Slang That Never Quite Caught On 38:48 – Introducing Adam to British Slang 47:13 – The Origins of Language 57:22 – Punctuation in Text Messaging 1:06:24 – The Latin Mass and Hocus Pocus 1:13:44 – The Message of Algospeak - CONNECT My Website: https://www.alexoconnor.com SOCIAL LINKS: Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cosmicskeptic Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cosmicskeptic Instagram:http://www.instagram.com/cosmicskeptic TikTok: @CosmicSkeptic The Within Reason Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/within-reason/id1458675168 - CONTACT Business email: contact@alexoconnor.comBrand enquiries: David@modernstoa.co ------------------------------------------

    1hr 16min

  7. 25 FEB

    #144 Sam Harris - Spirituality for Atheists.

    Get all sides of every story and be better informed at https://ground.news/AlexOC - subscribe for 40% off unlimited access. Come to my UK tour, tickets still available for Cambridge and Newcastle: https://www.livenation.co.uk/alex-o-connor-tickets-adp1641612. For early, ad-free access to videos, and to support the channel, subscribe to my Substack: https://www.alexoconnor.com. Sam Harris is a neuroscientist, philosopher, New York Times best-selling author, host of the Making Sense podcast, and creator of the Waking Up meditation app. Buy the Waking Up book here. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Tour 00:32 – Is ‘Spirituality’ a Dirty Word? 04:26 – Why Take Reflective Knowledge Seriously? 29:11 – What Is the Self? 47:04 – Why Are There Distinct Selves? 1:01:22 – The Two Hemispheres of the Brain 1:06:47 – The Problem of Emergence 1:18:41 – What’s the Minimal Amount of Consciousness? 1:34:09 – Is AI Lying to Us About Consciousness? 1:39:15 – What Is the Present?

    1hr 53min

  8. 16 FEB

    #143 Hinduism, Consciousness and Advaita Vedanta - Swami Sarvapriyananda

    Get Huel today with this exclusive offer for New Customers of 15% OFF with code alexoconnor at https://huel.com/alexoconnor (Minimum $50 purchase). Come to my UK tour: https://www.livenation.co.uk/alex-o-connor-tickets-adp1641612. For early, ad-free access to videos, and to support the channel, subscribe to my Substack: https://www.alexoconnor.com. - Swami Sarvapriyananda is a Hindu monk belonging to the Ramakrishna Order. He is the current resident Swami and Minister in Charge, of the Vedanta Society of New York. - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Tour 00:32 – An Intro to Hinduism and Advaita Vedanta 14:31 – What Are the Upanishads 22:08 – Where Do the Vedas (Scripture) Come From? 29:02 – What Does “Upanishad” Mean? 34:36 – What Do the Upanishads Teach Us? 47:07 – What Is Brahman, or Ultimate Existence? 1:02:52 – What Is the True Nature of Consciousness? 1:08:15 – Non-Dualism in Advaita Vedanta 1:18:34 – Why Isn’t There Just One Big Consciousness? 1:29:06 – What Is the Self? 1:36:30 – Are Brahman and Atman the Same Thing? 1:45:25 – What Does ‘God’ Mean in Hinduism? 1:49:07 – Does Hinduism Believe Other Religions Are Incorrect?

    1hr 55min
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Hosts & Guests

Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

For the curious. A philosophy podcast that sometimes flirts with other disciplines, Within Reason has featured guests including Richard Dawkins, Douglas Murray, William Lane Craig, Peter Singer, Konstantin Kisin, and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Information

  • Creator
    Alex J O'Connor
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    146
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Alex J O'Connor
  • Show Website
    Within Reason

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