The Here and Now Podcast

You are an experience machine, everything that has ever happened to you and everything that will ever happen to you is experience. Reflecting on your experience offers a unique insight into the nature of reality and forms the basis for the philosophical methodology of phenomenology. In this episode we explore phenomenology from its inception by Edmund Husserl in the early 20th century, to Martin Heidegger's exploration of being-in-the-world, the embodiment of phenomenology as described by Maurice Merleau-Ponty and its influence on the applied phenomenology of Iris Marion Young's work on femininity.

Show notes
Phenomenology - Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
Edmund Husserl
Martin Heidegger - Being and Time
Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis - Jonathan Smith
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Iris Marion Young - Throwing like a girl

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In this brief reflection, I consider the idea of psychological sanctuary, it's importance and its dangers. 

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The cognitive revolution in psychology began in the mid 20th century and supplanted behaviourism as the dominant theoretical paradigm explaining human cognition and behaviour which continues today. We explore the origins of cognitive psychology, what it has revealed about the workings of the mind, cognitive maps and mental models, why it is like a computer but not like a computer, neural networks, and why despite great advances, it fails to capture the totality of what it means to be human.

Show notes

Cognitive psychology - E. Bruce Goldstein  (2018)
Cognitive psychology and its implications - John Anderson (2020)
A common neural code for similar conscious experiences in different individuals - Naci et al. (2014)
Bang! You're dead - Alfred Hitchcock (1985)
Edward Tolman
George Miller
Donald Broadbent
Kenneth Craik
Saul Sternberg
Acts of meaning - Jerome Bruner (1993)

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Behaviorism is a tradition within the field of psychology which came to prominence during the early to mid 20th century through the work of John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner. It includes the theories of classical and operant conditioning and was considered to explain all of human behavior. It has since been superseded by the cognitive revolution, however the principles of behaviorism can be found throughout modern psychology and society itself which we explore in this episode.

Show notes

Ivan Pavlov
John B. Watson
B. F. Skinner
Edward Thorndike
Albert Bandura
Classical conditioning
Little Albert experiment
Operant conditioning
Pigeon operant conditioning - YouTube
Social Learning Theory
Bobo doll experiment - YouTube
The social dilemma

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The prevailing philosophical paradigm underpinning the physical sciences is materialism, also known as physicalism. Simply, everything that exists is material in some sense. However there are many concepts which seem immaterial so how are these reconciled? In this episode we briefly explore materialism and it’s issues.

Show notes

https://www.britannica.com/topic/On-the-Nature-of-Things-by-Lucretius
https://www.britannica.com/topic/materialism-philosophy
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnint.2013.00065/full

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To kick off the new year I recently spoke with philosopher James Tartaglia, a professor at Keele University, about nihilism and the meaning of life. It turns out, there isn’t one. But all hope is not lost as we also discuss what a modern day philosopher does, what nihilism means for everyday life, how to situate ethics in a meaningless universe, the paradox of absurdism, how to respect the views of others, the difference between evaluative and descriptive statements, the sense of self, and why seeing life as nihilistic is not as bad as it seems.

Show notes

Professor James Tartaliga
Philosophy in a meaningless life: A system of nihilism, consciousness and reality
A defence of nihilism with Tracey Llanera
Philosophy in a technological world: Gods and Titans

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We conclude our brief exploration of existentialism with this final chapter on its darkest philosophical interpretation, nihilism. Nihilism means literally, an ideology of nothing, which has led philosophers to a range of conclusions from the destruction of everything to the, whatever. We briefly consider the implications of nihilism, whether it is really that bad, and finally conclude with a few thoughts on what to fill the emptiness of an meaningless existence with. Happy new year!

Show notes

Macbeth
Nihilism - The internet encyclopaedia of philosophy
A defence of nihilism - J Tartaglia and T Llan

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An area of existentialist philosophy is absurdism which considers the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life and the inability to find these with any certainty. The work of French nobel prize winning writer and philosopher Albert Camus' forms the source material for this episode, specifically his most well known essay The Myth of Sisyphus. 

Show notes

Absurdism
Albert Camus
The myth of Sisyphus – Albert Camus
Band of Brothers hopeless speech

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Existentialism is a philosophy which inquires into the nature of human existence and what it means to live an authentic life. While its concepts can be traced as far back as ancient Greece, it came to prominence during the immediate post second world War period through the work of the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and his partner Simone de Beauvoir. In this episode we explore the key concepts of existentialism and the nature of essence and existence. 

Show notes

Existentialism is a humanism - J P Sartre
Nausea – J P Sartre
Notes from the underground – Dostoyevsky
Existentialism: A very short introduction – Thomas Flynn
Existentialism – Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
Søren Kierkegaard
Jean-Paul Sartre

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Brownnosing, bootlicking, apple polishing and sucking up are among many the synonyms for the term sycophancy. Psychologists also know it as ingratiation. In this episode we explore several types of ingratiation and learn that while true sycophancy requires talent, it may be intrinsic to our social behavior.

Show notes

Ingratiation - A social psychological analysis - Edward E. Jones (1964)
The Slime Effect: Suspicion and Dislike of Likeable Behavior Toward Superiors - Roos Vonk (1998)
Ingratiation and Gratuity: The Effect of Complimenting Customers on Tipping Behavior in Restaurants - John Seiter (2007)

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Libertarianism is a political philosophy based on John Locke's philosophy of natural law, that each is entitled to freedom for oneself and ones property and society should require minimal intervention by government. It is closely associated with individualism but its origins can be traced to ancient China. We explore contemporary principles of libertarianism and offer a brief critical reflection on what is seems to be missing.

Show notes

Libertarianism: A Primer – David Boaz
Libertarianism - Wikipedia
Libertarianism.org
Key concepts of libertarianism

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In this reflective episode I discuss something that bugs me - the always or never fallacy. We often exaggerated and use hyperbole to emphasis our stories, but society is often a reflection of our complacency at recognising the things that make us unique and the grey areas of life most of us inhabit. We consider Kenneth Feinberg's unenviable role in the aftermath of 9/11 and how recognising the nuance that makes us unique is in conflict with the need to generalise.

Show notes

What if life worth? The unprecedented effort to compensate the victims of 9/11 - Kenneth Feinberg

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David Latchman is a science communicator and host of the Science Bloggers Podcast. He trained as a physicist before becoming a full time science journalist and freelance science writer. He is passionate about sharing ideas from science with a general audience and making the STEM fields a more diverse and inclusive space for minorities and people of colour. We talk a little about his background and work as a science communicator, some of the issues surrounding a lack of diversity in science and how these can be addressed. 

Show Notes

The Science Bloggers Podcast
David Latchman on Twitter

It might feel like you are a distinct and continuous identity, but the theory of the dialogical self asserts that you inhabit many different I-positions that represent different aspects of You. In this episode, we briefly explore the origins of dialogical self theory and how the person you are is manifest both internally and externally through many voices engaged in continual dialogue.

Remember, you can get in touch on Facebook or at emailthehereandnow@gmail.com

Show notes

The dialogical self - Wikipedia
William James - Stanford  Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
Hubert Hermans

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Utilitarianism is a principle of ethical philosophy which considers that the most morally correct action is one that produces the most good. This idea was first tackled seriously by 18th century philosopher Jeremy Bentham, however it is not without complications. In this episode we explore utilitarianism and consider how it can be applied to making both everyday decisions and ones of crucial social importance ones as well.

Show Notes

Utilitarianism
The felicific calculus
Jeremy Bentham at UCL

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The concept of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) has been growing in popularity so I decided to explore it for a recent research project. I began as a sceptic but after considering a variety of social justice arguments I now believe a UBI should be an policy goal for societies who wish to reduce inequality and achiever greater social justice.  But UBI is not just about helping those worst off, it can benefit everyone in a range of ways which we explore in this episode.

Show Notes

Basic Income Network
Basic income – A guide for the open minded – Guy Standing
Results of Finland’s basic income experiment
Spain UBI project
Everywhere basic income has been tried in one map
Public equity and tax benefit reform – Keith Rankin
UBI: A policy for social justice – D Monds

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Societal and community psychologist Professor Darrin Hodgetts joins me to discuss his work with marginalised communities most affected by social injustice and structural violence.  Prof Hodgetts is a highly respected figure in New Zealand community psychology circles having advanced ethnographic and action oriented research to engage directly with those most affected by urban poverty, homelessness, and other social issues. We discuss structural violence, equality of opportunity and outcome, why resolving inequalities benefits all members of society, and how applied psychologists tackle social justice issues and help to shape policy that improves well-being across society.

Show notes

Professor Darrin Hodgetts - Massey University profile
Professor Hodgetts - Nga Pae Ote Bio (NZ Maori centre of research excellence)

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In this episode we consider the limits of wealth distribution in society, inherent inequalities to life and the role of luck. We also explore the economic ideas of the commons and public goods and the role these play in free market and state capitalist societies. We also take a look at the social protection floor and why it is often conceptualised by society as something to be ashamed of. This leads us to consider the tight coupling of labour and income and the subsequent vulnerability of those without a job or in casual work, a class known as the precariat. All of this leads us to question social justice in wealth distribution and ask the question; could be another way to smooth the edges of income precarity?

Show notes

Inequality in nature and society – Scheffer et al. 2017
Iron & steel industry in Middlesbrough’s history
Teesside Steel Works - Wikipedia
Plunder of the commons – Guy Standing
We’re all state capitalists now – Niall Ferguson, Foreign Policy
The Precariat: A dangerous new class – Guy Standing

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In this episode we explore social justice, namely: what is it, why is it so contested, and why are you probably sick of hearing about. It has taken a while to write this episode, largely because it is a challenging topic which introduces politics and confronts our worldviews.  It is not meant to be divisive or inflammatory, its purpose is to open minds and approach social justice issues with compassion and rationality.  This episode also draws together a few threads to set the stage for the next episodes which will cover social justice issues more fully. 

Show Notes

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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What is the role of government? Should it exist to provide safety and security for its citizens or to maintain order because humans are fundamentally selfish? Is an equitable society possible? What would such a society look like? Episode 73 is the first of a mini-series on social justice in which we consider the social contract that exists between a state and its people according to the divergent views of four political philosophers.

We Explore
The United States Declaration of Independence
The natural state and natural law
Social Contract Theory according to Hobbes and Leviathan
Locke's second treatise of government
The Social Contract according to Rousseau
A theory of justice by Rawls

Show Notes

Episode 45 - Moral relativism
Leviathan – Thomas Hobbes
Two Treatises of Government – John Locke
The Social Contract – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rosseau and Locke on Property and the State – Matt Schrage
A Theory of Justice – John Rawls

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