The Uncertainty Podcast

Miles K. Donahue
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Philosophy
  • Weekly

A philosophy Ph.D. student working his way, with the world's leading thinkers, through the problems of philosophy, religion, science, and the existential struggle with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) - similar to Alex O'Connor, but more American. Who wants to come along for the ride? mileskdonahue.substack.com

  1. 4d ago

    #104 Against Angels, Miracles, & Hell: Refuting Bad Theology - Both Sides Brigade

    The brilliant Substacker Both Sides Brigade joins me for a discussion about three hot topics in our corner of the philosophy of religion internet: the omission theodicy, the miracle case for Catholicism, and the doctrine of eternal conscious torment.Check out Brian Cutter and Philip Swenson's defense of the archon abandonment theodicy, as well as Brian Cutter's paper on Hell and justice. Video of this interview is available on YouTube. To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Follow me on X because you’re awesome. EPISODE CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:06:32 The Archon abandonment theodicy explained 00:12:09 Natural evil and the free will defense 00:16:42 The expected costs of Archon failure 00:26:35 Divine foreknowledge and God's failure to intervene 00:34:04 The epistemology of Catholic miracles 00:41:56 Padre Pio's stigmata and carbolic acid 00:46:07 Divine hiddenness and conflicting miracle evidence 00:53:19 The miracle of Calanda and the restored leg 00:59:46 Fátima and the miracle of the sun 01:08:29 Eternal conscious torment and its defenders 01:14:31 Can Catholic miracles justify eternal conscious torment? 01:24:19 The noetic effects of sin and moral skepticism 01:34:09 Can hell be good for those in it? 01:42:05 Can eternal punishment involve finite suffering? Get full access to Miles K. Donahue at mileskdonahue.substack.com/subscribe

    #104 Against Angels, Miracles, & Hell: Refuting Bad Theology - Both Sides Brigade

  2. Oct 23

    #103 Catholicism, Popes, and Homosexuality: A Defense - Noah McKay

    Noah McKay, a philosophy Ph.D. student at Princeton, joins me to discuss his recent conversation to Catholicism, Catholic miracle evidence, whether the Bible predicts a succession of popes, and Catholic sexual ethics. Video of this interview is available on YouTube. To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Follow me on X because you’re awesome. EPISODE CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:53 From Protestantism to Catholicism: the initial case 00:02:24 Craig Keener and the evidence for Christian miracles 00:04:35 Fine-tuning, the resurrection, and other arguments for Christianity 00:05:33 How Joe Schmid helped change his theological views 00:07:13 Marian apparitions, Eucharistic miracles, and Catholicism 00:11:18 Overcoming objections to Catholic theology and history 00:14:26 Why Noah initially rejected the papacy 00:16:24 The biblical case for papal authority 00:22:19 Scripture, tradition, and divine revelation 00:24:21 Does the papacy preserve Christian unity and truth? 00:30:11 Peter, Paul, and the case for apostolic succession 00:48:10 Can the Catholic Church really claim to preserve unity? 01:06:08 How strong is the evidence for Catholic miracles? 01:14:00 Can miracles override moral and philosophical objections? 01:19:07 Catholic sexual ethics, moral intuitions, and disagreement 01:32:37 What philosophical position is Noah most uncertain of? Get full access to Miles K. Donahue at mileskdonahue.substack.com/subscribe

    #103 Catholicism, Popes, and Homosexuality: A Defense - Noah McKay

  3. Oct 15

    #102 An Unheated Discussion on Science, Probability, and Induction - Mike Titelbaum

    Mike Titelbaum, author of the two-volume "Fundamentals of Bayesian Epistemology," dissects the use of probability in philosophy, philosophy of religion, science, and everyday life. We do, of course, discuss my recent discussion with John Norton and the material theory of induction. Video of this interview is available on YouTube. To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Follow me on X because you’re awesome. EPISODE CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:11 What is Bayesianism? 00:05:21 Must credences have precise numerical values? 00:07:16 Imprecise credence and comparative confidence 00:14:27 Bayesianism and Norton’s material theory of induction 00:20:02 Can we assign probabilities to the universe’s initial conditions? 00:28:57 Fine-tuning and the principle of indifference 00:35:13 Objective versus subjective Bayesianism 00:39:20 Must rational beliefs obey the probability axioms? 00:47:01 Incommensurability and alternative models of credence 00:55:06 Can Bayesianism evaluate evidence for God? 00:59:08 How probability theory illuminates evidential support 01:03:03 Everyday probability versus mathematical probability 01:07:55 Does subjective Bayesianism entail skepticism? 01:19:46 What is Titelbaum most uncertain about? Get full access to Miles K. Donahue at mileskdonahue.substack.com/subscribe

    #102 An Unheated Discussion on Science, Probability, and Induction - Mike Titelbaum

  4. Oct 2

    #101 We Must Save Science from Quantum Mechanics - Emily Adlam

    Emily Adlam discusses the problems facing several interpretations of quantum mechanics: principal among them, the probability problem. Prepare for discussion of self-locating credences, branch-counting, and whether a mechanism deposits consciousness throughout the branching wavefunction of the universe. Video of this interview is available on YouTube. To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Follow me on X because you’re awesome. EPISODE CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:52 The problem of recovering empirical confirmation 00:04:47 The many-worlds interpretation 00:07:01 The measurement problem 00:08:42 The probability problem in many-worlds 00:12:06 The decision-theoretic approach to probability 00:16:33 Self-locating evidence and Everettian quantum mechanics 00:19:20 Pure vs. superficial self-locating credence 00:25:08 Can the Born rule constrain self-locating credence? 00:30:15 Interpretations vs. theories of quantum mechanics 00:34:51 Can we save science from quantum mechanics? 00:44:30 What happened to the Copenhagen interpretation? 00:46:45 What do physicists believe about quantum mechanics? 00:48:27 The anthropic argument for God 00:56:22 Multiverses, fine-tuning, and self-locating evidence Get full access to Miles K. Donahue at mileskdonahue.substack.com/subscribe

    #101 We Must Save Science from Quantum Mechanics - Emily Adlam

  5. Sep 24

    #100 A Heated Discussion on Science, Probability, and Induction - John Norton

    In the hundredth episode of this podcast, I discuss the use, and misuse, of probability in science and philosophy with John Norton. Prepare for a contentious conversation about fundamental issues in probability theory, induction, and cosmic fine-tuning. This one does not disappoint. Video of this interview is available on YouTube. To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Follow me on X because you’re awesome. EPISODE CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:30 Formal vs. material theories of induction 00:04:58 Does material induction make induction redundant? 00:11:15 Bayesianism vs. the material theory 00:16:47 Can we say evolution is “probably” true? 00:19:23 Evidential support without probabilities 00:23:16 Can Bayesianism capture inference to the best explanation? 00:25:00 The outcome space dispute 00:29:47 Probability and the danger of false precision 00:31:03 The simulation argument and misapplied probability 00:35:39 The doomsday argument and self-locating evidence 00:38:33 Objective vs. subjective Bayesianism 00:43:36 The bootstrapping problem for probability 00:50:53 Probability in cosmology and the multiverse 00:57:59 Does inflation make our universe more probable? 01:00:19 What is John Norton most uncertain about? Get full access to Miles K. Donahue at mileskdonahue.substack.com/subscribe

    #100 A Heated Discussion on Science, Probability, and Induction - John Norton

  6. Sep 10

    #99 An Oxford Philosopher Investigates the Meaning of Life - Tim Mawson

    Tim Mawson, professor of philosophy at Oxford, discusses the contours of the newly emerging philosophical investigation into the meaning of life. What does it mean to say that life's meaning is subjective versus objective? Would life be meaningful if we were immortal? And what difference does God make, and not make, to whether life means anything? Video of this interview is available on YouTube. To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Follow me on X because you’re awesome. EPISODE CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:55 Open theism and God's relationship to time 00:11:09 Returning to the meaning of life 00:12:06 Why philosophers neglected the meaning of life 00:15:48 What does it mean for life to have meaning? 00:19:20 Objectivism, subjectivism and hybrid theories 00:28:23 Objective meaning, subjective states and purpose 00:35:00 Can there be no meaning to life? 00:39:47 What can God add to life's meaning? 00:43:25 Vocation, purpose and meaningfulness 00:50:50 Does God give some people more meaningful lives? 00:59:20 Death, immortality and the meaning of life 01:00:25 Would eternal life become unbearably boring? 01:07:48 Does infinite time destroy urgency? 01:13:23 Would praising God forever become boring? 01:18:14 What God cannot add to life's meaning 01:21:55 Can God's existence make a life less meaningful? 01:24:18 What is the meaning of life? Get full access to Miles K. Donahue at mileskdonahue.substack.com/subscribe

    #99 An Oxford Philosopher Investigates the Meaning of Life - Tim Mawson

  7. Sep 3

    #98 Every Argument for God, Refuted - Kevin Scharp

    Kevin Scharp comes back on the podcast to discuss William Lane Craig’s eight-part case for the existence of God: contingency, cosmology, mathematics, fine-tuning, consciousness, morality, miracles, and experience. Video of this interview is available on YouTube. To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Follow me on X because you’re awesome. EPISODE CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:20 Behind the scenes: Kevin vs. William Lane Craig 00:14:11 Craig on probability & inference to the best explanation 00:23:07 Divine psychology and fine-tuning 00:27:06 Argument #1 - Contingency 00:43:30 Does everything need an explanation? 00:49:48 Argument #2 - Kalam cosmological argument 00:51:35 Actual infinity and Hilbert’s Hotel 01:03:06 Argument #3 - Fine-tuning 01:09:53 What does the Big Bang actually tell us? 01:11:53 Divine psychology 01:27:08 Argument #4 - Applicability of mathematics 01:35:08 Argument #5 - Consciousness 01:40:47 Does consciousness really get us to God? 01:45:41 Argument #6 - Morality 01:54:43 Argument #7 - The resurrection of Jesus 01:58:27 Miracles and the laws of nature 02:08:25 Argument #8 - Experience of God Get full access to Miles K. Donahue at mileskdonahue.substack.com/subscribe

    #98 Every Argument for God, Refuted - Kevin Scharp

  8. Aug 27

    #97 Why Belief in the Soul Makes Sense - Ralph Stefan Weir

    Ralph Weir answers all my questions about the mind-body problem, how we define "physical," whether I can conceive of philosophical zombies, and where panpsychism fits into all this. Video of this interview is available on YouTube. To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Follow me on X because you’re awesome. EPISODE CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:35 How Ralph got into philosophy of mind 00:05:52 Eliminativism: do mental states exist? 00:09:00 What is illusionism? 00:10:56 What is phenomenal consciousness? 00:17:53 What are qualia? 00:21:33 What does “physical” actually mean? 00:29:03 Is panpsychism a form of physicalism? 00:35:45 Mapping the mind-body problem 00:45:16 Property dualism vs. substance dualism 00:53:10 What is the strongest case against physicalism? 01:00:32 Philosophical zombies and modal skepticism 01:10:23 Can science settle the mind-body problem? 01:18:20 Mental causation and physical anomalies 01:22:31 Does the evidence favor physicalism? 01:34:07 Which philosophical view is Ralph most uncertain about? Get full access to Miles K. Donahue at mileskdonahue.substack.com/subscribe

    #97 Why Belief in the Soul Makes Sense - Ralph Stefan Weir
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About

A philosophy Ph.D. student working his way, with the world's leading thinkers, through the problems of philosophy, religion, science, and the existential struggle with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) - similar to Alex O'Connor, but more American. Who wants to come along for the ride? mileskdonahue.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Miles K. Donahue
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    103
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Miles Donahue
  • Show Website
    The Uncertainty Podcast

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