Love & Philosophy

Beyond Dichotomy | Andrea Hiott
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It's reasonable to care. Exploring philosophical, scientific, technological & poetic spaces beyond either/or bounds. From the heart. Deeply researched. Mostly unscripted. Hosted by philosopher and cognitive scientist Andrea Hiott. A project with Making Ways.

  1. MAR 27

    #82 Philosophy of the Heart with Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Scilla Elworthy

    Send a love message Facing Reality with Clear Eyes but without Desperation: Scilla Elworthy on Listening with the Heart to Transform Conflict  Three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee Scilla Elworthy reflects on 70 years of work with conflict and war, beginning at age 12 after seeing tanks in Budapest and being sent to help concentration camp survivors. She describes how others’ suffering “hit” her heart and led her to action in Algeria, the Congo, and South Africa, where she worked on starvation relief, shipped milk powder, and supported education, noting the central role of women in community resilience. Elworthy emphasizes “listening with the heart” to discern what people truly need beyond narratives, and explains how turning to the heart helps release harsh self-criticism. She also shares practical self-nourishment through nature and gardening, and recounts using humanizing, vulnerable moments—like discussing children—to soften high-stakes meetings, including military dialogues in China, as a way to build connection and “power with” others. "Triple nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with Oxford Research Group to develop effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers worldwide and their critics from 1983-2003. Founded Peace Direct in 2002, awarded the Niwano Peace Prize in 2003, the Luxembourg Peace Prize in 2020, the GOI Peace Award in 2023. Founded The Business Plan for Peace  based on her latest books - The Business Plan for Peace: Building a World Without War (2017), The Mighty Heart: how to transform conflict (2020), and The Mighty Heart in Action (2022)." Find all Scilla's work here. Kyla Scanlon's post mentioned here 00:00 Why We Still Kill 00:55 Action Over Apathy 01:07 Heart As Guide 01:39 Inner Critic Quieted 03:23 Podcast Introduction 07:03 Meet Scilla Elworthy 08:17 Tanks In Budapest 11:32 Early War Witnessing 14:33 Africa Conflict Journeys 17:47 Women Leading Change 19:52 Listening With Heart 22:29 Defining The Heart 25:31 Nature As Nourishment 29:35 Self Inspection To Embodiment 32:41 Taming The Inner Critic 34:04 Heart Led Self Compassion 35:54 Daring Diplomacy With Generals 36:49 Breaking The Ice With Humanness 42:48 Power With Vulnerability 47:24 Courage In The Moment 51:07 Love In The Garden 53:03 Closing Thanks And Future Fears 53:55 Listener Note And NYC Event Support the show Please rate and review with love. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Substack.

    55 min

  2. MAR 18

    #81 Changing Minds, Metaphysics, and a Life in Analytic Philosophy with Janet Levin of USC

    Send a love message  Janet Levin on Physicalism, Zombies, and Changing Minds  Andrea hosts philosopher Janet Levin, newly retired after 40 years at USC and the department’s first tenure-track woman hire, to discuss a life in analytic philosophy and debates about mind and consciousness. Levin recounts stumbling into philosophy at the University of Chicago with Ted Cohen and later studying at MIT amid figures like Jerry Fodor, Noam Chomsky, and advisor Ned Block, and writing the Stanford Encyclopedia entry on functionalism. They contrast dualism and physicalism, explain metaphysics as inquiry into what exists and what is possible, and examine thought experiments such as Descartes’ arguments, Jackson’s knowledge argument, and Chalmers’ zombie case. Levin holds that our feelings and experiences are nothing over and above physical processes in the body, primarily the brain and central nervous system. The conversation closes on teaching, women in philosophy, and how openness, identity, and social forces affect willingness to change one’s mind and pursue truth. The Road Taken APA Talk Janet Levin Time Stamps: 00:00 Big Questions on Mind Change 01:47 Consciousness and Zombies 02:11 Welcome and Season Setup 03:22 Meet Janet Levin 07:31 Stumbling Into Philosophy 08:25 Why Minds Change Slowly 11:10 Synthetic Hippocampus and Extended Mind 12:57 Chicago Origins With Ted Cohen 18:02 MIT Era and Cognitive Revolution 22:01 From Behaviorism to Functionalism 26:17 Defining Physicalism and Supervenience 29:23 What Is the Mind Really 34:46 Cognitive Phenomenology Debate 37:31 What Metaphysics Studies 40:02 Classic Metaphysics Puzzles 43:15 Free Will and Determinism 46:34 Descartes and the Self 51:41 Conceivability and Zombie Arguments 58:40 Dualism’s Causation Problem 01:11:40 Type B Physicalism and Phenomenal Concepts 01:22:46 Water Lightning Mind 01:24:15 Identity Theory Pushback 01:27:51 Physicalism Explained Broadly 01:30:05 Phenomenal Concepts Introspection 01:32:17 Introspection As Skill 01:34:44 Defending Armchair Philosophy 01:37:22 Armchair Near Window 01:39:10 How Minds Change 01:43:55 Bias Identity And Windows 01:45:35 Women In Philosophy Shifts 01:50:28 Grad Training Mentorship 01:54:43 Teaching Confidence Bloomers 01:57:42 Love Retirement Future Questions 02:02:12 Host Outro Waymaking Giving Page Longer Show Notes and PDF of APA talk Janet Levin is Professor Emerita of Philosophy at the University of Southern California, where she was a longtime faculty member in the School of Philosophy. Her research focuses on epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of psychology. She earned her Ph.D. in philosophy from MIT and her B.A. from the University of Chicago.  Much of her work engages with one of the hardest problems in philosophy: how to account for the subjective, felt quality of conscious experience within a broadly physicalist framework. She has also written the entry on functionalism for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — the view that what makes something a mental state depends not on its physical makeup, but on the functional role it plays in a larger Support the show Please rate and review with love. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Substack.

    2h 3m

  3. TRAILER

    Focusing on Care: Field Notes from Love and Philosophy

    Send a love message Love and Philosophy Beyond Dichotomy: Way Making, Care, and a New Season Andrea Hiott introduces Love and Philosophy Beyond Dichotomy and reflects on how a late-2023 research project became a podcast shaped by the guiding question of “way making”: how we find our way and how our way makes us. Drawing from philosophy, neuroscience, urban planning, ecology, biology, and navigability heuristics, she reframes life’s most crucial action as care, challenging fixed separations like ontology, epistemology, and axiology and emphasizing “constellation” or kaleidoscopic thinking over either/or dichotomies. She previews more rigorous work addressing questions about consciousness, representation, agency, self, mind, and technology through the lens of care, and mentions an upcoming book, Holding Paradox. A new season begins tomorrow March 17 with philosopher Janet Levine, releasing monthly episodes on the 17th, with show notes summarizing key ideas from the past two years. Give here: https://loveandphilosophy.com/giving-page Here is a link to the free Love & Philosophy Field Guide which comes to your email: https://making-ways.kit.com/01025445f6 or find it here: https://lovephilosophy.substack.com/p/focusing-on-care-field-notes-and 00:00 Welcome and Project Update 00:27 Waymaking as Core Question 01:03 Care as Life’s Foundation 03:48 Beyond Either Or Thinking 04:49 Books and Rigorous Philosophy Ahead 06:38 New Season Schedule and Thanks 07:15 Support the Work 07:43 The Hard Parts and Staying in Care 08:31 Show Notes Summary and Closing Good Wishes Field Notes at https://making-ways.kit.com/01025445f6 Support the show Please rate and review with love. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Substack.

    9 min

  4. MAR 7 ·  BONUS

    Curiosity as a Practice and the Capacity to Connect with philosopher Perry Zurn (from the archive)

    Send a love message From the archive. Giving Page Andrea introduces an archive episode of Love and Philosophy featuring Perry Zurn, provost and associate professor of philosophy at American University about the book Curious Minds, coauthored with Dani Bassett. The intro previews an upcoming season launch with Janet Levin.  In the following conversation, Perry links curiosity to desire and love, arguing love can guide curiosity away from appropriative or objectifying inquiry. Zurn reframes curiosity not as an individual desire to fill information gaps but as a social practice and a “capacity to connect,” drawing on network science, complexity, and ecological aesthetics through the idea of “edge work.” Andrea and Perry discuss diverse styles of curiosity (busy body, hunter, dancer), curiosity’s role in shifting knowledge networks and methods, interdisciplinary resistance, and how breaking “edges” or “cracks” can be both destructive and creative, relating curiosity to hope and to more-than-human ecologies. Perry also describes the book’s artwork by Poonam Mistry and the dedication to children who ask whether things must be this way. Perry Zurn's website Curious Minds: Buy the book 00:00 Archive Season Preview 00:56 Why Curiosity Matters 03:19 Support And Welcome 03:53 Love And Curiosity 06:28 Origins Of Curious Minds 08:51 Curiosity As Practice 11:24 Edge Work Explained 15:18 Pioneering And Ethics 17:39 Complexity And The Brain 21:27 Styles Of Curiosity 26:08 Curiosity Across Divides 30:12 Walking As Knowing 32:31 Methods As Paths 36:34 Why New Paths Threaten 39:38 Dead Ends And Branching 40:33 Connectional Curiosity 42:48 More Than Human Curiosity 47:29 Cracks Hope And Destruction 51:35 Daring To Disturb 53:47 Art And Dedication 56:45 Closing Reflections Support the show Please rate and review with love. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Substack.

    57 min

  5. FEB 17

    Love, Life and Logic: Another Dialectic with Hegelian scholar Karen Ng (from the archive)

    Send a love message  From the archive. First aired in Jan of 2025. A conversation about Hegel. Andrea talks with Karen Ng, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. The discussion delves into Hegel's ideas on contradiction, self-consciousness, life, and love, revealing how these notions are intricately intertwined in his work. Karen Ng brings forward her insights from her award-winning book 'Hegel's Concept of Life,' highlighting the radical nature of Hegel's thought and its relevance in modern contexts. Together, they explore deeply challenging philosophical concepts, making connections to contemporary issues in philosophy, environmental science, and cognitive theory. Join us as we navigate through Hegel’s complex ideas and uncover their enduring significance. 00:00 Hegel's Contradictory Philosophy 00:47 The Machine Model vs. Organic Unity 02:55 Introduction to Karen Ng and Her Work 06:40 Karen Ng's Journey with Hegel 16:17 Kant's Influence and the Copernican Turn 24:57 The Concept of Life and Internal Purposiveness 39:55 Exploring the Conditions for Intelligibility 40:27 Hegel's Radical Thought on Life and Meaning 41:44 Primitive and Sophisticated Sense-Making 42:09 Self-Conscious Forms of Life 42:37 Hegel's Connection Between Life and Meaning 43:56 The Speculative Identity Thesis 44:41 The Shock of Hegel's Absolute Idea 45:53 Thinking and Corporeality 47:51 The Radical Nature of Self-Conscious Life 48:52 Challenging Cartesian Dualism 49:38 Kant's Dualism and Moral Philosophy 50:37 The Speculative Identity Thesis and Cognition 52:42 The Radical Connection Between Life and Cognition 53:05 Contemporary Philosophers on Life and Mind 53:32 Hegel's Influence on Modern Thought 01:06:06 The Importance of Teaching Philosophy 01:07:46 Hegel's Thoughts on Love and Life 01:09:12 The Concept of Free Love 01:10:03 The Role of Love in Hegelian Philosophy 01:13:26 Concluding Thoughts on Hegel and Love Support the show Please rate and review with love. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Substack.

    1h 15m

  6. FEB 3

    What Relates Creates with life & computer scientist Richard Watson (from the archive)

    Send a love message  Love, Science, and the Dynamics of Change: From the Archive This is a replay of an earlier conversation with Richard Watson (which was already an unpublished conversation we'd had earlier, so there's lots of nesting here). Initially focusing on Universal Darwinism and its limitations, the discussion evolves into a broader examination of alternative mechanisms like learning and mutual transformative change. Andrea and Richard delve into nuanced definitions of individuality and agency, challenging the reductionist view in favor of a more integrative approach. They explore the intersection of science and subjectivity, positing that love, characterized as 'deeply vulnerable mutual knowing,' plays a critical role in understanding relationships and evolutionary processes. This thought-provoking dialogue highlights the dynamic interplay of biological systems and the potential for a more compassionate and creative understanding of life's complexity. 00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview 00:27 Andrea's Reflections and Richard Watson's Work 00:56 Defining Individual and Body 01:14 Evolutionary Units and Mutual Transformative Change 01:41 Academic Ideas on Evolution and Cognition 03:27 Richard Watson's Background and Research 05:22 Natural Selection and Adaptation 12:02 Learning Processes vs. Natural Selection 21:08 Cooperation and Competition in Biology 28:53 Individuality and Agency in Living Systems 39:20 Bioelectricity and Gene Expression 40:51 The Bidirectional Relationship of Cells and Genes 41:34 The Limits of Natural Selection 42:55 Love as a Scientific Concept 47:06 Evolutionary Algorithms and Their Shortcomings 50:00 The Evolution of Cooperation and Individuality 54:09 The Role of Love in Evolution 59:25 The Dance of Relationships and Resonance 01:07:33 The Creative Process of Evolution 01:18:01 The Balance of Love and Fear Richard Watson What's Love Got To Do with It Support the show Please rate and review with love. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Substack.

    1h 22m

  7. JAN 23

    Trust, Games and Sculpting Agency with C. Thi Nguyen (new edit from the archive)

    Send a love message Trust, Agency, and the Art of Games with C. Thi Nguyen Revisting a conversation from late 2023 with philosopher C Thi Nguyen. The discussion delves into the philosophical aspects of games, how they shape our agency, and the profound impact they have on our cognition and perception of reality. Thi explores the intersection of love, trust, and philosophical inquiry, highlighting the intricate ways games influence our societal interactions and personal experiences. The episode also touches on how games can be a lens for understanding broader human behaviors and the nature of agency itself. Join us as we navigate these complex ideas and reflect on the role of games in our lives. 00:00 Introduction to Love and Philosophy 00:54 Navigational Mind and Upcoming Conversations 01:36 Revisiting the Conversation with C Thi Nguyen 01:49 Games and Sculpted Agency 03:03 Trust and Agency in Games 07:39 Philosophy, Writing, and Personal Journey 21:16 Games as Art and Medium of Agency 30:57 Art, Porn, and Sentimental Art 36:08 The Role of Games and Art in Emotional Release 36:29 Aesthetic Approaches and Viewer Attitudes 37:10 Games as Tools for Different Experiences 38:02 Personal Reflections on Sports and Dance 39:46 Agency and Game Design 41:10 The Power and Danger of Games 45:06 Virtual Reality and Games 46:58 The Concept of Play vs. Games 56:08 Games and Trust 59:09 The Impact of Games on Perception and Behavior 01:04:04 Final Thoughts and Reflections 01:05:17 Support and Farewell Trust and Anti-trust Games, Agency as Art The Score Support the show Please rate and review with love. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Substack.

    1h 6m

  8. JAN 1

    #80 Pure Consciousness with Thomas Metzinger

    Send a love message AI, Suffering, Remedy and Love as the voluntary suspension of habitual responses into awareness: This episode is with philosopher and cognitive scientist Thomas Metzinger, a Professor Emeritus at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and a member of the German National Academy Leopoldina. He has worked mainly in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and applied ethics, particularly focusing on neurotechnology, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. The conversation explores a wide range of topics including the critical intersection of philosophy, neuroscience, meditation, and artificial intelligence. Metzinger shares his skepticism about separating deep philosophical inquiries from meditation and psychedelics, and the dialogue touches upon the impact of AI on human cognition, the concept of suffering in both humans and machines, and the responsibility of philosophers in an age of epistemic crisis. The discussion underscores the need for a balanced and multifaceted approach to understanding consciousness and suggests that new paradigms may emerge from current technological and philosophical shifts. This episode aims to foster an expansive and hopeful outlook as we move into the new year. The idea of pure consciousness as used in phenomenology via Husserl is to be discussed later. 00:00 Introduction to Fundamental Issues and Meditation 00:44 Epistemic Crisis and AI Concerns 01:15 Buddhism and Suffering 02:09 Philosophical Insights on Suffering and Awareness 04:47 Welcome to Love and Philosophy 05:43 Introducing Thomas Metzinger 07:43 Thomas Metzinger's Contributions to Philosophy and AI 09:53 Exploring Minimal Phenomenal Experience (MPE) 13:49 Narrative and Pure Awareness 22:09 Philosophical and Scientific Exploration of Consciousness 29:30 Thomas Metzinger's Personal Journey in Philosophy 56:11 Criticism and Meditation 56:55 Epistemic Authority and Consciousness 59:27 Embodiment in AI and Philosophy 01:01:52 Challenges in Academia 01:05:31 AI, Critical Thinking, and Future Concerns 01:15:29 The Nature of Suffering 01:22:50 Compassion and Love 01:44:12 Closing Thoughts and Reflections 01:44:30 A Poetic Farewell Thomas Metzinger phenomenology of 'pure' consciousness Link to Elephant and the Blind full book New book Bewusstseinkultur MPE discussion mentioned in Intro MPE project Philosophy Babble conversations Beyond Nondual Thomas Metzinger (*1958 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany) was Full Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universitä Support the show Please rate and review with love. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Substack.

    1h 43m
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About

It's reasonable to care. Exploring philosophical, scientific, technological & poetic spaces beyond either/or bounds. From the heart. Deeply researched. Mostly unscripted. Hosted by philosopher and cognitive scientist Andrea Hiott. A project with Making Ways.

Information

  • Creator
    Beyond Dichotomy | Andrea Hiott
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    96
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Love & Philosophy
  • Show Website
    Love & Philosophy

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