Sun, Mar 6, 2016
Crash Course and host Hank Green begins with a brief synopsis of the The Matrix (1999) and connects it to the work of the early modern philosopher Rene Descartes. He examines Cartesian skepticism and the effort to call into question all of one's beliefs. He addresses Russel's illustration of global doubt with the thesis that the world was created five minutes ago. He then discusses the Cogito, "I exist", which cannot be called into question and Descartes's account of clear and distinct ideas.
Sun, Feb 7, 2016
Crash Course and host Hank Green begins its look at philosophy. He first discusses the origins of philosophy in Ancient Greece and how it grew out "the love of wisdom". It examines how philosophy can be distinguished from science in how it is focuses on the big questions like what is the nature of reality. It also distinguishes between metaphysics, epistemology, value theory (ethics and aesthetics), and logic.
Sun, Feb 21, 2016
Crash Course and host Hank Green discusses inductive and abductive arguments. Inductive arguments involves the use of past experience to make predictions about the future. Inductive arguments are very common in everyday life and science though they are based on the assumption that the future will be like the past. They provide probability not certainty. He discusses Nelson Goodman's new riddle of induction. He also discusses abduction which involves drawing a conclusion based on the best explanation of a state of affairs. He also looks at how philosophers offer arguments and counterarguments and examines the Socratic method.
Mon, Mar 14, 2016
Crash Course and host Hank Green discusses empiricism which is the view that sense-experience is the most reliable source of knowledge. He distinguishes empiricism from rationalism. He looks at John Locke's conception of the mind as a Tabula Rasa at birth. He then discusses Locke's theory of primary and secondary qualities. He examines the work of George Berkeley who rejected this distinction in favor of idealism which hold that to be is to be perceived.
Sun, Mar 20, 2016
Crash Course and host Hank Green discuss the meaning of knowledge. He distinguishes between assertion (linguistic act with truth value) and proposition (the content of your assertion). He then examines the traditional definition of knowledge as justified true belief. He then discusses Edmund Gettier attack on the traditional definition of knowledge.
Sun, Apr 3, 2016
Crash Course and host Hank Green discuss the distinction between theology (which assumes God's existence) and the philosophy of religion (which does not). He examines the ontological argument of Anselm of Canterbury who claims that God must exist because God is that than which no greater being can be conceived. He looks at the criticism of Gaunilo of Marmoutiers and Immanuel Kant. He also discusses the Parable of the Invisible Gardener.
Sun, Jun 5, 2016
Crash Course and host Hank Green discuss the meaning of life and existentialism. He discusses essence which is a certain set of core properties that are necessary for a thing to be what it is. He, then, discusses Jean-Paul Sartre's view that existence precedes essence. That is, out existence comes first and our choices to live create our essence. He discusses absurdity, freedom, and authenticity.
Sun, Aug 14, 2016
Crash Course and host Hank Green opens with a discussion of Oedipus and free will. He examines the theories of libertarian free will (that some acts are freely chosen) and hard determinism (that all events are caused by past events and that nothing other than what does occur can occur). The problem, however, is that these two theories seem incompatible. He distinguishes between events causation and agent causation. He discusses the determinism of Baron D'Holbach and whether the feeling of freedom could be explained away. He, then, discusses the implications of determinism.
Sun, Feb 28, 2016
Crash Course and host Hank Green discusses the nature of reality and the Leonardo DiCaprio film Inception (2010). He considers the question of whether it is possible that you current reality isn't real at all. He examines Plato view of reality and discusses the Allegory of the Cave and examines the relationship between appearance and reality.
Mon, Feb 15, 2016
Crash Course and host Hank Green discusses philosophical argument and what amounts to a good rational argument. He looks at Plato's conception of the tripartite soul which includes rational (truth-seeking), spiritual (emotion fueling action), and appetitive (physical desires and base sentiments) parts. He discusses Russell's Barber paradox and the structure and typology of arguments focusing on deductive arguments.