TrueSciPhi

Podcast Profile: Walter Veit Podcast

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54 episodes
2023 to 2026
Median: 40 minutes
Collection: Philosophy

Description (podcaster-provided):

Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):

This podcast, hosted by philosopher Walter Veit, centers on conversations and essay-style talks at the intersection of philosophy and the sciences. Across the episodes, Veit returns to a broadly naturalistic outlook: philosophical questions are approached as continuous with scientific inquiry rather than as purely conceptual or linguistic projects. A recurring topic is consciousness—especially how it might be studied empirically, how it could have evolved, and how Darwinian perspectives reshape debates about minds, agency, and the boundaries of sentience across species. Several discussions focus on animal cognition and experience (including birds and other nonhuman animals), combining philosophical framing with findings from ethology, cognitive science, and welfare research.

Another major thread concerns evolution and biological theory more generally, including issues like natural selection and the evolution of multicellularity. The podcast also engages with philosophical methodology and the state of the discipline, with critique of styles of analytic philosophy that prioritize conceptual analysis, and exploration of alternative approaches such as “synthetic” or science-integrated philosophy.

Ethics and applied philosophy appear throughout, particularly around animal welfare, effective altruism, and the moral psychology of altruistic motivation. Related episodes cover enhancement technologies—cognitive enhancement, genetic enhancement, and their implications for inequality and feminist perspectives—along with occasional discussion of how values, politics, and social motivations can influence scientific practice and public debate.

Interviews with researchers and philosophers are mixed with readings or audio versions of academic papers, public talks, and book-related material, making the feed a blend of scholarly exposition and dialogue oriented toward philosophy of science, mind, and biology.

Episodes:

A Flaw of Analytic Philosophy 2026-Feb-13 12 minutes

What to do with a meaningless life? 2026-Feb-19 6 minutes

Why Effective Altruists (And Everyone Else) Should Become Nihilists 2026-Feb-03 11 minutes

What’s it like being a raven or a crow? 2026-Feb-02 7 minutes

Panpsychism is a New Form of Creationism 2026-Jan-26 9 minutes

What is consciousness? 2026-Jan-12 8 minutes

Possums and the Evolution of Consciousness 2025-Dec-31 8 minutes

Why Consciousness Science Needs Darwin 2025-Dec-30 8 minutes

#46 - Scaffolding Natural Selection (Part 2) 2025-Jun-19 64 minutes

#45 - Scaffolding Natural Selection (Part 1) 2025-Jun-10 21 minutes

#44 - Feminism and Enhancement 2025-May-22 40 minutes

#43 - Recognizing the Diversity of Cognitive Enhancements 2025-May-21 18 minutes

#42 - ESEB Talk: Evolution of Multicellularity 2024-Nov-20 13 minutes

#41 - Eric Schliesser: On Synthetic Philosophy 2024-Nov-19 68 minutes

#40 - Cory Clark: Is there Political Bias and Censorship in Science? 2024-Nov-18 85 minutes

#39 - Why is Health? 2024-Nov-17 15 minutes

#38 - Elizabeth Paul: Animal Consciousness and Welfare 2024-Nov-16 94 minutes

#37 - Carolyn A Ristau: A Biography of Donald Griffin - Discoverer of Bat Echolocation 2024-Nov-15 88 minutes

#36 - Toward an Ethological Science of Animal Consciousness 2024-Nov-14 19 minutes

#35 - Guest Podcast Sentientist Conversations "Animal Consciousness" 2024-Nov-13 108 minutes

#34 - Guest Podcast Episode: The NonSequitur Show Genetic Engineering Dr Sy Garte & Walter Veit 2024-Nov-12 83 minutes

#33 - Guest Podcast Sentientist Conversations "Maybe moral systems are harmful!" + Deleted Scenes 2024-Nov-11 95 minutes

#32 - AI Conversation: A Philosophy for the Science of Animal Consciousness 2024-Oct-05 9 minutes

#31 - AI Discussion: Procreative Beneficence and Genetic Enhancement 2024-Oct-02 12 minutes

#30 - Modeling Morality - PART 2 2024-Oct-02 21 minutes

#29 - Modeling Morality - PART 1 2024-Sep-30 36 minutes

#28 - Peter Singer: Retirement, Effective Altruism, Animal Rights, Zoos 2024-Sep-07 65 minutes

#27 - MA by Research in Philosophy at the University of Reading 2024-Aug-28 29 minutes

#26 - Evolution of multicellularity: cheating done right - PART 2 2024-Aug-28 27 minutes

#25 - Evolution of multicellularity: cheating done right - PART 1 2024-May-20 42 minutes

#24 - Existential Nihilism: The Only Really Serious Philosophical Problem 2024-May-15 67 minutes

#23 - Daniel C. Dennett Tribute 2024-Apr-23 17 minutes

#22 - Cognitive Enhancement and the Threat of Inequality 2024-Apr-09 44 minutes

#21 - Eric Helms: Is Bodybuilding a Sport? 2024-Apr-05 85 minutes

#20 - Drawing the boundaries of animal sentience 2024-Mar-30 14 minutes

#19 - Matti Wilks: On the Psychology of Moral Motivations and Effective Altruism 2024-Mar-13 64 minutes

#18 - Improving Invertebrate Welfare 2024-Mar-03 14 minutes

#17 - Alex Rosenberg: On Science, Philosophy, and Meaning 2024-Feb-22 55 minutes

#16 - Modeling Morality 2024-Feb-14 70 minutes

#15 - Nicola Clayton: Animal Cognition, Magic, Corvids, Dance, Embodiment 2024-Feb-07 58 minutes

#14 - Enhancement Technologies and Inequality 2024-Jan-29 20 minutes

#13 - Richard Yetter Chappell: Why Not Effective Altruism? 2024-Jan-19 79 minutes

#12 - Procreative Beneficence and Genetic Enhancement 2024-Jan-14 60 minutes

#11 - Kristin Andrews: Animal Minds, Animal Culture, Orangutans, Philosophy 2024-Jan-09 68 minutes

#10 - Princeton Panel on the Ethics of AI in Farming 2024-Jan-04 33 minutes

#9 - Princeton: Artificial intelligence, animal welfare, and the ethics of smart farming 2023-Dec-29 41 minutes

#8 - Kevin Mitchell: Free Will, Evolution of Agency, Control, Consciousness 2023-Dec-23 71 minutes

#7 - Dalai Lama Conference in India: Animal Consciousness 2023-Dec-18 47 minutes

#6 - Eva Jablonka: Epigenetics, Evolution, Consciousness, Israel and Palestine 2023-Dec-12 93 minutes

#5 - Chapter 1 of A Philosophy for the Science of Animal Consciousness 2023-Dec-05 79 minutes

#4 - Preview for A Philosophy for the Science of Animal Consciousness 2023-Nov-29 40 minutes

#3 - Heather Browning: Zookeeping, Philosophy, Sentience, Animal Welfare, and AI 2023-Nov-25 73 minutes

#2 - Why start a podcast? 2023-Nov-22 5 minutes

#1 - Daniel C. Dennett: Consciousness, AI, Free Will, Evolution, & Religion 2023-Nov-15 81 minutes