Why Universal Skepticism Is Philosophy's Greatest Deception

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

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.

As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe

Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com

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

Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/SpotifyTOE

Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos):

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join

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

Support TOE on Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt

Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs

#science

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices