Twitter: @PhilosophyWtf (followed by 30 philosophers)
Site: www.podomatic.com/podcasts/philosophywtf
100 episodes
2020 to present
Average episode: 22 minutes
Open in Apple Podcasts • RSS
Categories: Two Hosts
Podcaster's summary: What is Philosophy? Why should we bother with it? Sit down with Danny and Dr. Mike in the comfort of their local pub, as they grapple with the big ideas in a unique and accessible way! Dive into our archive of earlier episodes here: https://castbox.fm/channel/id3766780?country=gb Send us an email: [email protected] Check out our article about the podcast here! Get into Mike and Danny's heads for free! https://blog.apaonline.org/2018/10/03/the-philosophy-wtf-podcast-philosophy-outside-academia/ Discuss our episodes on our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/454227078353259/ Follow us on Twitter: @PhilosophyWtf
| Episodes |
| 2023-Mar-22 • 20 minutes Episode 191: A Chat With Hunter In this week's episode Danny and Mike have a cosy chat with American friend-of-the-pod Hunter Campbell Royall! With a focus on our relationship to the land, Identity and culture we ask who we really are and where did we come from? |
| 2023-Mar-08 • 35 minutes Episode 190: World Tour of Philosophy: Wittgenstein Special! Part 3 With one day left in Austria and with a 'craving for generality' and an 'anthropological turn' Da... |
| 2023-Feb-22 • 26 minutes Episode 189: World Tour of Philosophy: Wittgenstein Special! Part 2 Welcome back dear listeners to our Wittgenstein special in which Danny has been let loose and fanboy gush over his favourite thinker. This week Danny discusses Wittgenstein's lesser known thoughts on religion, ceremonies and rites. We also get an insight into Danny's frame of mind as he talks about a religious experience he once had whilst stuck on a train! All this plus a discussion on the future of academia in the wake of 'Chatgpt'! |
| 2023-Feb-08 • 25 minutes Episode 188: World Tour of Philosophy: Wittgenstein Special! Yes, Danny's moment has finally come! Our travellers have reached Austria and Danny seizes his ch... |
| 2023-Jan-25 • 20 minutes Episode 187: World Tour of Philosophy: On the Road Part 4 Join us this week for the big reunting event as Mike and Danny finally hook up in Germany. Grimace with barely suppressed irritation as you hear Mike, as over excited as an existentialist in dispair, fails to let Danny get a word in edge ways. Be overcome with emotion at their long awaited reunion, gasp in incomprehension at Mike's clear betrayal and his subsequent realisation that Danny has been "thinking away from home". Yes, passions run deep this week, can even Henri Bergson help to calm the such turbul... |
| 2023-Jan-11 • 21 minutes Episode 186: World Tour of Philosophy: On The Road Part 3 As Mike thunders down the autobahn on his way to meet Danny in Germany, our philosophical duo do a good thing and talk Altruism - or are they ultimately being selfish really for doing so? Is there something wrong about feeling good about doing good? Let's set up a hedonic calculus to work this thing out! Tune in this week for another helping of inspiring thought! |
| 2022-Dec-28 • 24 minutes Episode 185: World Tour of Philosophy: On the Road part 2 This week the philosophy podcast is well and truly 'on the road' as the chat is conducted via radio mic. That's right, Mike is racing toward Danny, navigating the European motorways and still managing to bring you high quality philosophy chat on the French philosophers! That's right our dynamic duo can perform high quality philosophical chat even on the move! |
| 2022-Dec-14 • 20 minutes Episode 183: World Tour of Philosophy: On the Road This week our intrepid duo finally catch up! Well almost. Listen in with joy as Mike boots away the kickstand on his Harley to race from France to Germany filling in the blanks of his French experience and all the most difficult to understand (and pronounce) French philosophers. Shift uncomfortably in your seat as Danny then reveals that he may have already covered some of the big German names! Yes listeners the two philosophy friends are well and truly back - nearly!! |
| 2022-Nov-30 • 17 minutes Episode 182: World Tour of Philosophy: Germany Part 6 Once more we head to Germany for a last serving of Nietzsche with Danny and Nesso! Find and follo... |
| 2022-Nov-16 • 19 minutes Episode 181: World Tour of Philosophy: Germany Part 5 Don't feel guilty for listening to this week's episode! Reevaluate all values and listen to Danny... |
| 2022-Nov-02 • 28 minutes Episode 180: World Tour of Philosophy: Germany Part Four Welcome back to Germany as the discussion turns to Nesso's old friend Nietzsche! The man with the difficult to spell name features heavily as the discussion takes in David Bowie, Free spirits and yes, you guessed it... Botany! Sit back and relax as Danny and Nesso talk the Golden Ones and funny plants in today's packed episode. Plus there is an update on Mike's adventure in the back streets of Paris! |
| 2022-Oct-19 • 18 minutes Episode 179: World Tour of Philosophy: Germany Part Three Welcome folks once again as Danny and Nesso will you to take in another serving of German thought! This time Schopenhauer is on the menu along with a side order of Eastern thinking. Sit back and relax as we take you into hitherto unreached corners of your mind and leave our earthly plain only to return to order another beer at the bar. |
| 2022-Oct-05 • 19 minutes Episode 178: World Tour of Philosophy: Germany Part Two Fasten your berets and make sure the means of production have been secured because Venessa and Danny are talking Marx this week! Yes, hitherto Mike, Danny and Venessa have only interpreted the world of philosophy... the point is to change it! Dialectics also feature heavily this episode, especially the negative kind as we include a look at Adorno. Mike is still MIA but hopefully he's still doing his bit for UK and France relations in a Parisian Bar. |
| 2022-Sep-21 • 18 minutes Episode 177: World Tour of Philosophy: Germany As the Philosophy World Tour recommences we find our hosts divided! Danny stumbles his way into Munich, meets up with an old friend to discuss who is the best German philosopher over a tall Oktoberfest beer stein, but where is Mike? How did they split up? All will be revealed as your favourite Philosophy podcast returns! |
| 2022-Aug-10 • 1 minutes Episode 176: Taking a Short Break It looks like Danny and Doctor Mike have had too much fine French Cuisine and have been knocking back too much wine. They'll be resting under some trees for a while to recover. Please join them for more French thinkers when they return! |
| 2022-Jul-27 • 16 minutes Episode 175: Philosophy World Tour: France Part 5 This week join Danny and Mike as they get down and dirty with Diderot. Listen as they risk the wr... |
| 2022-Jul-13 • 15 minutes Episode 174: Philosophy World Tour: France Part 5 This week join us for Rousseau style selfies by the river and manipulate your image for the sake of social success and recognition. But what is the cost to our innocence as we abandon the state of nature for the hurly burly of social interaction? Yes, society, who will save us from its corrupting influence? Will it be the Social Contract? Can everyone really have a say in every decision that needs to be made? I mean, I can’t even decide what to have for breakfast. Are we only free one our voices are unmedia... |
| 2022-Jun-29 • 20 minutes Episode 173: World Tour of Philosophy: France Part 4 This week, join Mike and Danny as they discuss beards and public perception. Yes, we are still in France and Montaigne and the crew are living large. Extreme philosophy is the name of the game and the French philosophes take no prisoners - it's Bastille or exile for out fearless thinkers. Tolerance and freedom are front and centre but who do we tolerate? Do we tolerate the intolerant? Can we educate people to make appropriate choices or do we have to censor those that don’t agree with us? Voltaire certainly... |
| 2022-Jun-15 • 15 minutes Episode 172: World Tour of Philosophy: France part 3 This week join Danny and Mike as they tuck in to a baguette packed with succulent slices proto-phenomenological goodness. Yes, it’s not even lunch time in France and we are already 2 bottles of merlot down and have started on the pastis. Listen in as we move between the front room (where we encounter the world) and the back room where we reflect on what we encounter in the front room - and where we can safely sit around in our pants and play on our XBoite. Yes, we are still in France and we are loving it. I... |
| 2022-Jun-01 • 17 minutes Episode 171: World Tour of Philosophy: France Part 2 This week join Mike and Danny as they settle into cafe society and sip red wine on the banks of the Seine. Yes in France they philosophise on main street, he said ruefully. So, adjust your berets, order some moules-frite and get le garcon de cafe to leave the bottle as we introduce Michel Eyquem de Montaigne - essayist, sceptic, anecdotalist and all round renaissance thinker - but don't call him a philosopher for gods sake, he won't like it. Montaigne, the man who summed up philosophy in four words, "what d... |
| 2022-May-18 • 15 minutes Episode 170: World Tour of Philosophy: France This week join Mike and Danny as they unlimber their accordions, put on their berets and pour themselves a large glass of Calvados. Yes, we have made it to France and you can feel the angst literally rolling out of every cafe, bar and literary salon along the banks of the Seine. This, my friends, is where the merde gets real and philosophy is found on the very street corners of life. Not for the French the comfortable abstraction of philosophical reflection sequestered within the dreaming spires of some uni... |
| 2022-May-04 • 26 minutes Episode 169: World Tour of Philosophy: Italy Part 5 This week, feel the clammy hand of dread upon your shoulders as we suggest the inconceivable noti... |
| 2022-Apr-20 • 28 minutes Episode 168: World Tour of Philosophy:Italy Part 4 This week join Danny, Nesso and Dr Mike as they explore patronage, the nature of art and the melting point of ice cream. Yes, we are on the prowl looking for sweet, sweet patronage. Let’s face it, why should artists get all the cash and the rock n roll life style? Surely Philosophers deserve a slice of the good life?? But what is the cost of “working for the man”? Was the Renaissance art world the better for it support from wealthy fat cats such as the Medici family? Status, better working conditions, expen... |
| 2022-Apr-06 • 18 minutes Episode 167: World Tour of Philosophy: Italy Part 3 This week join us as we plot each other's downfall with...with...I don't know, some sort of devious political strategy designed to gain support by unscrupulous means while, and at the same time, disposing of our enemies with cold, calculating dispassion. You know, there ought to be a word for that. Anyway, listen in as Danny tries to convince us that he is modeled after Michelangelo's David and Nesso puts up a frankly ludicrous argument for why Australia represents the Renaissance ideal. Oh yes, we also tal... |
| 2022-Mar-23 • 21 minutes Episode 166: World Tour of Philosophy: Italy part 2 This week, join Mike, Danny and Nesso amongst the smell of burning libraries and the acrid taste of scorched scrolls. Alexandria, Constantinople, the local high street, what exactly is lost when a library bites the dust? Wither the bespectacled and cardigan clad librarian of yesteryear? Who are the gatekeepers of todays knowledge archives? Does it matter if the knowledge comes to us or we go in search of the knowledge? Is a Renaissance even possible anymore? Listen in as Nesso invites Machiavelli to a dinne... |
| 2022-Mar-09 • 19 minutes Episode 165: World Tour of Philosophy: Italy This week join Mike and Danny as they jump aboard their lambrettas and say “ciao” to the rebirth of Classical Greek antiquity. Yes, over the next few weeks follow our instructions and list of ingredients carefully and you too can create your own Renaissance: First take one act of warlike aggression, then sprinkle in a goodly amount of scorched library and burned books. Next fold in a liberal quantity of refugees fleeing into Europe, add diseased rats to taste and let the whole thing brew until you produce a... |
| 2022-Feb-23 • 32 minutes Episode 164: World Tour of Philosophy: Leaving Greece This week join Mike and Danny as they take a final bus tour of philosophical Greece. Yes friends, this is the big one, for a mere €100 each we hit the road and take in the authentic sights of ancient Hellenistic culture - no well trodden and shabby tourists traps for us, this is the real thing! We are talking Socrates’ wine bar, THE original cave that Plato spoke of and Aristotles Lyceum. Seriously folks, you are either on the bus or off the bus, it is time to go further. I for one am hugely excited about t... |
| 2022-Feb-16 • 23 minutes Episode 163: World Tour of Philosophy: Greece Part 4 This week join Mike and Danny in duty free as they stock up on cheap booze and last minute tacky gifts and souvenirs. Danny picks up a rather jolly statuette of Apollo made entirely out of shells while Mike settles for a plastic image of Dionysus that vomits when you press its head. Yes, it’s class all the way with WTF on tour as we wave goodbye to the birthplace of philosophy and take our leave of Nesso, the itinerant antipodean philosopher. Seriously though, don’t hang about waiting in the departure loung... |
| 2022-Feb-09 • 20 minutes Episode 162: World Tour of Philosophy: Greece Part 3 This week, knowledge is power, ignorance is bliss and the truth will set you free. Let’s face it, who knows? Clearly Mike, Danny and Vanessa have no clue. Yes, we are still in Greece meeting with those kings of tragedy Euripides and Sophocles. We all know that, according to Aristotle tragedy engages us in catharsis and catharsis is a blend of pity and fear but aren’t we really just talking about high minded voyeurism here? The spectacle of other peoples misery with a chorus chanting out "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry... |
| 2022-Feb-02 • 17 minutes Episode 161: World Tour of Philosophy: Greece Part 2 Ok, we get it, it's not your fault. You're getting on with your life, right? You stumble across this podcast, you have no idea about its character or background, you have very limited information, we totally get that. The chances of you bumping into this podcast in this place at this time? Well, it's all in the hands of the fates and the ample laps of the gods. Who could foresee the tragic consequences of your listening to Mike and Danny this week? As for Nesso, how could you know that she was even going to... |
| 2022-Jan-26 • 26 minutes Episode 160: World Tour of Philosophy: Greece This week, join Mike and Danny in shock and surprise as we, entirely by accident, and with no forward planning, bump into Nesso the Australian philosopher, wine drinker and all round top Sheila. Yes it is time to confront the tragic nature of human existence so settle back, pour yourselves a glass of retsina and enjoy this weeks exploration into accidents and misunderstandings that litter our lives. Just how much control do we really have over our own existences? Once the gods have finished messing with us ... |
| 2022-Jan-19 • 7 minutes Episode 159: World Tour of Philosophy Trailer This week join Mike and Danny as they take to the skies on the start of their much anticipated world tour. Yes, come fly with us, let's fly, let’s fly away. If you can use some exotic philosophy come and join us on Wednesday. Come fly with us, let’s fly, let’s fly away. I’m not going to lie to you, we know each other far to well for that now, but quite honestly, I think Danny has gone a bit funny. He’s put all our funds in a duffle bag, along with his 12 copies of the Tractatus, and mumbled something about ... |
| 2021-Dec-29 • 32 minutes Episode 158: Essence and Identity Part 6 Ok, it’s the last cast of the year, you all know the drill, I’m not sure I can be bothered this week so I’m just going to phone this one in if that’s ok with the rest of you? Right, so welcome, it’s Danny and Mike, listen to us talk about stuff. Sit in amazed silence as this happens, then that, then some other stuff, possibly about social construction, possibly about Luce Irigaray, to be honest I can’t rightly remember, we are just on the other side of Christmas here, cut us some slack for pity sake. I thin... |
| 2021-Dec-22 • 25 minutes Episode 156: Essence and Identity Part 5 This week, as we approach that festive time of the year, join Mike and Danny as they invite a few... |
| 2021-Dec-15 • 18 minutes Episode 155: Essence and Identity Part 4 This week, join Mike and Danny here in our bodies where we feel safest of all, we can lock all the doors, it’s the only way to live in bodies… or is it? Certainly Merleau Ponty would agree. Yes, it’s time for the physical body to not only take centre stage but to actually become the stage upon which we strut and fret and access the world. Bet you wish you’d kept it in better shape now don’t you? But don’t worry, Mike and Danny are on hand to socially reconstruct your entire reality. Gather round as they sen... |
| 2021-Dec-08 • 20 minutes Episode 154: Essence and Identity Part 3 This week Mike confuses Danny with someone else, after all, how is Danny to be distinguished from anyone else? One needs to be tolerant of each other, right? Or perhaps, as Popper tells us, the tolerant society can only be tolerant by not tolerating the intolerant. To secure the essence of humanity what must we deny? How do we police our fundamental identity? What are we prepared to go to the stake for? Human dignity? Human freedom? Gender distinctions? Pineapple on pizza?? Where do we draw the line and wha... |
| 2021-Dec-01 • 20 minutes Episode 153: Essence and Identity Part 2 This week Mike and Danny get down to essentials but where do they take us? What is a good Danny? ... |
| 2021-Nov-24 • 18 minutes Episode 152: Essence and Identity This week join Mike and Danny in the Philosopher’s Kitchen as they seek to impress the judges with their philo-culinary delights. Will the guest diners enjoy Danny’s Wittgenstein soufflé or will it collapse at the last minute proving to be insubstantial and nothing more than hot air? Will Mike’s Platonic pie flavoured with 'essence of human form' and served with a side of totalitarian taurine pique palates or send people scurrying to the toilet? As our conceptual cooks round off the evening with a desert co... |
| 2021-Oct-20 • 28 minutes Episode 147: Philosophy is Where You Find it! Part 6 This week join Mike and Danny as they attempt to build a scale model of Danny from bits of information gleaned by rummaging through his bins during the hours of darkness. Is it possible to create an accurate scale model of the world using nothing but words and statistics? Develop a new found respect for data analytics as we identify Danny’s perfect partner by noting his preference for whisky, Wittgenstein and women and concluding from this that he is ideally paired with a drunken Scottish lady who likes to ... |
| 2021-Oct-13 • 15 minutes Episode 146: Philosophy is Where You Find it! Part 5 This week, who knows what’s going on because we certainly don’t. Danny has been struck down by the virus (he’s fine and recovering so don’t pander to him, he’s just looking for attention) and Mike can’t recall what they talked about when this cast was recorded. All we can say with any certainty is that the whole thing will be its usual mixture of insight and delight - which is more than most of use deserve. I think we talk about a couple of films, oh yes, and a book … or was it a cat? No, I remember now, we... |
| 2021-Sep-29 • 17 minutes Episode 145: Philosophy Is Where You Find It! Part 4 This week join Mike and Danny as they get just what they deserve. Yes, who are you and what do you want? Is there an ontology behind consumerism? What do we need to own in order to be complete? Join us as we ride into town on the mule of philosophy and play what we deserve off against what we lack. Yes, it’s an anthropological showdown with everything to play for if we get caught. What are we being told about ourselves when the marketplace tells us what we need to be truly complete? If money can’t buy you h... |
| 2021-Sep-22 • 17 minutes Episode 144: Philosophy is Where You Find it! Part 3 This week join us as Mike and Danny bunk off school to hide behind the bike sheds and talk lifestyles. Yes, you heard right, we’re bucking the system and biting the very hand that feeds us. Listen in mute disbelief as your two cheeky chappies from the lower 6th sass their teachers and serve up shade to their betters. What do you mean you don’t want to take your place in the market? You can’t fly kites and feed birds all day! Stay after school and write 1000 times “I must not question the status quo and mist... |
| 2021-Sep-15 • 13 minutes Episode 143: Philosophy is Where You Find It! Part 2 This week, join Mike and Danny as they delve into the depths of the fridge, behind the the milk, cheese and other fresh dairy products to rummage amongst the fetid remains of dinners past. Yes, stand amazed, and slightly nauseated as your two ragged philosophical gastronauts engage in the thinking persons equivalent of coming home late from the pub and prodding at dangerously out of date pizza in the hope that it is just this side of toxic. Is the best philosophy conducted by poking around at things that we... |
| 2021-Sep-08 • 18 minutes Episode 142: Philosophy is Where You Find It! Introduction This week join Mike and Danny as they scavenge through the philosophical skips and bins in search of discarded gold. Yes, we are up-cycling preowned and well used ideas that others have simply thrown out. I mean really, senseless waste. Look at this passing phrase from a 1940’s film - still plenty of good ontological wear in that. And here, see that? A sentence from Jane Austin that with a little invisible mending will continue to do solid epistemic service. It’s a disgrace what people chuck out these days,... |
| 2021-Sep-01 • 18 minutes Episode 141: How to Build a Philosophy Part 7 This week join Mike and Danny simply because they tell you too. Yes, that’s right, you can trust us, we’re reliable, when have we ever steered you wrong? I mean, who else are you going to believe? After all, what do you really know? A handful of shabby first hand experiences mediated through highly questionable sense organs and the rest is all hearsay, am I right? So, who ya gonna trust? Wikipedia? The evening news? The government? Dave from down the pub (he seems to know everything). No, you stick with Dan... |
| 2021-Aug-25 • 15 minutes Episode 140: How to build a Philosophy Part 6 This week join Mike and Danny as they question your life style, yes YOURS! After all, who are you people to come in here with your uniqueness, strutting your difference around like it was no thing? I mean, it’s taken us ages to sort things out and to figure out the how and why of things and then in you people trot with your thinking and opinions and various sexualities and throw the whole delicate edifice into jeopardy. You people sicken me, why can’t you be like us? Why rock the boat with your … your… ways... |
| 2021-Aug-18 • 16 minutes Episode 139: How to Build a Philosophy Part 5 This week; being here, being there, being neither one thing or another, being in, being out, being real, being fake. To be, or not to be and bebop a Lula, she's my baby. Yes, it's ontology week at WTF mansions where Mike and Danny are being themselves and loving it. Existence is very much as you find it and we find it everywhere but what is it? Do things exist because we perceive them and stop when we aren't looking. Do trees ever really fall in the forest? Questions like this, and others, must be left for ... |
| 2021-Aug-11 • 16 minutes Episode 138: How to Build a Philosophy Part 4 This week join Mike and Danny as they dare to tug at the knicker elastic that alone holds up the ... |
| 2021-Aug-04 • 17 minutes Episode 137: How to Build a Philosophy Part 3 This week, join Mike and Danny as they examine the very foundations of reality because it looks like there are some nasty cracks appearing in your plaster work. What’s it all built on, eh? What sort of cowboy builders did you get in to do the original work? Listen in as your two philosophical construction workers don their hard hats and high vis vest and go at it with pneumatic drills to see what lies beneath the surface. When your philosophical pipes burst who ya gonna call? When your very ontology begins ... |
| 2021-Jul-28 • 15 minutes Episode 136: How to Build a Philosophy Part 2 This week join Mike and Danny, back in the lab again, as they tentatively extract dangerous metaphysic from the safety of its lead lined container. Have they instituted all necessary safety protocols or are they being recklessly cavalier with this most dangerous of philosophical substances? Catch your breath as Danny dons a protective suit and attempts to hold the highly volatile raw metaphysic stable using nothing but a pair of bbq tongs as Mike seeks to guide it into the Philoso-genorator (TM). Surely the... |
| 2021-Jul-21 • 17 minutes Episode 135: How to Build a Philosophy. This week join Mike and Danny as they lay out their tools and scavenged resources and commence construction. Yes, what, exactly is required to build a philosophy? The toe bone's connected to the heel bone, the heel bone's connected to the foot bone, the foot bone's connected to the leg bone, the leg bone's connected to the knee bone… but what is the ontology connected to and where are the Allen keys clearly indicated as present in the instructions? So, by all means join us as we begin or exploration into th... |
| 2021-Jul-14 • 3 minutes Episode 134: Coming up. This week something unnatural stalks the corridors of WTF Mansions. Join Mike and Danny as they s... |
| 2021-Jul-07 • 24 minutes Episode 133: A Well-earned Break This week, take your pick and join Danny down in the WTF mines digging for pure philosophy or leave your pick behind and take your leave with Mike by the seaside. Yes, it's Morlocks and Eloi at WTF Mansions today as we continue to explore the masks we wear. As Danny slaves beneath the earth Mike labours to engage with true human identity behind a succession of masked automata whose only wish is to provide him with beer, food and other services. The struggle is real. |
| 2021-Jun-30 • 12 minutes Episode 132: Philosophy and Theatre p5 This week join Mike and Danny - but not the same Mike and Danny as you joined last week by any means - as they grow a beard, change their look and adopt posher accents. Yes, it's time to flip the script and change costume as we ask the question, "wtf do you think you are?" As we all intermingle at the grand masquerade of life what have you come as? Who is the dude in the gorilla suit? When the clock chimes midnight and the masks come off who will we appear to be? Will there just be another mask underneath t... |
| 2021-Jun-23 • 18 minutes Episode 131: Philosophy and Theatre Part 4 This week Danny tells us about Wittgenstein’s penchant for gumshoe detective magazines and films. Join Mike and Danny on a dark and stormy night as they hit the streets playing the hunches and collecting 50 bucks a week plus expenses. Listen in as Sherlock Holmes pits his abstract intellect against Marlow's gut in an attempt to figure out which of the Vienna Circle killed British philosophy. Whose pipe is that still smouldering in the ashtray? Is that a size 10 boot print by the window?? What do these signs... |
| 2021-Jun-16 • 16 minutes Episode 130: Philosophy and Theatre Part 3 Saturday night at the movies, who cares what picture you see? Yes, Mike and Danny are talking too loudly in the cinema again and pissing everybody off. Join us this week as we plot spoil and comment through every scene while checking our podcast stats on our phones and kicking the seats in front. Listen in as Danny covertly accuses Mike of dissing the romantic novel. Yes, life is a cathartic performance and there is always someone sat in front of you wearing a big hat. If theatre allow us to conduct thought... |
| 2021-Jun-09 • 17 minutes Episode 129: Philosophy and Theatre Part 2 This week listen in as Mike and Danny order up a mess of popcorn and broccoli and head to the movies. But who do we find protesting outside? Yes it’s Plato waving a “Down with This Sort of Thing” placard. Yes, once again Plato shines his torch into the dark corners of the cave which is theatre and tells us to stop doing that. Do theatre and the arts hold a mirror up to nature or lead us further away from the ideal forms? Is all of existence nothing more than a series of performances for specific audiences i... |
| 2021-Jun-02 • 16 minutes Episode 128: Philosophy and Theatre There’s no business like show business, there’s no business I know! Yes, this week listen in as Mike and Danny strut and fret their hour upon the stage. Are we nothing but wastrels, slatterns and ne'er-do-wells or glittering celebrities admired and envied by the masses? If all the world really is a stage then are we constantly pretending to be who we are simply to be what we are? Yes, the pressure to perform weighs heavily upon us all but who writes the script and provides the costumes? Are there awards? Ha... |
| 2021-May-26 • 30 minutes Episode 127: Aristotle Eudaimonia and Virtue p4 This week you say potato and I say er...potato (no it doesn't really work when written down does it?). Yes, who is to say which one of us is right? This week Danny and Mike pitch their stall in the WTF farmers market and seek to tempt you with there virtuous produce. Lovely juicy honesty, ripe courage, only £1 a scoop, plump self-sacrifice picked fresh today! But what's this? Another stall has pitched up trying to undercut us with their over ripe greed and past its best self serving duplicity, what a cheek!... |
| 2021-May-19 • 27 minutes Episode 126: Aristotle, Eudaimonia and Virtue p.3 This week listen in as Mike and Danny give up and simply do what works. Yes, it’s enlightened self interest time here where what is right plays second fiddle to what happens to do the job. Yes, it’s big fish verses bigger fish in the turbulent waters of ethical theory as we carefully avoid gobbling up the tiny clown fish just in case it happens to be good friends with a gang of whale sharks. I mean, where are the gods when you genuinely need someone around to make an absolute judgement about something? Ever... |
| 2021-May-12 • 27 minutes Episode 125: Aristotle, Eudaimonia and Virtue Part 2 Join us as Danny presents his virtue for all to see. Go on, have a good long look, take a photo, it will last longer. Meanwhile, and across town, Mike is prepared to settle for simply appearing virtuous. As long as people consider us to be “good people” does it matter if we actually are? Why do even bastards prefer not to be seen as bastards? Why do politicians still make the effort to appear to be decent human beings rather than just own their sleazy and duplicitous characters? Yes, this week listen in as ... |
| 2021-May-05 • 21 minutes Episode 124: Ep.136 Aristotle, Eudaimonia and Virtue. This week, listen in as Mike finally confesses to delusions of godhood and his complicity in a slew of failed student relationships. How many cooks does it really take to spoil the broth? Who actually still eats broth these days?? Yes, the recipe for the perfect life, too much salt and the whole thing goes straight into the bin. Join us as we work through the spice rack of virtue - a little bit of honesty, a smidge of courage and the merest soupçon of temperance. Ok, now little it simmer gently for a few… G... |
| 2021-Apr-28 • 2 minutes Episode 123: A Small Interval This week join Mike and Danny as they ... well, just hang out, nothing more than that really. I mean, Danny pops down the shops for a few bits but other than that nothing much to see this week. Seriously, we've decided to take it easy for the week, you'll need to make your own entertainment. Alternatively, you could join us both as we scream into the void, probably sometime after lunch idk |
| 2021-Apr-21 • 25 minutes Episode 122: Ep. 135 Permanence and Change p5 This week join Mike and Danny as they throw their past selves under the bus. No, that’s not me, it might look vaguely reminiscent (apart from the hair) but other than that I have never set eyes on ether of those guys before. Can we ever go home again? How does Mike's mum still recognise him? Do all of Danny's former romantic partners look on in horror at what he has become and utter that well known phrase, “what WAS I thinking??” Yes, at the existential school reunion who actually attends? All of this and P... |
| 2021-Apr-14 • 24 minutes Episode 121: Ep.134 Permanence and Change p.4 This week, what happens when worlds collide? Do they both erupt in twin fire balls spinning off into the void as a sleek silver space ship cuts its way through the darkness on its way to a new home and a fresh start? Does encounter with otherness and difference inevitably lead to a diminution of the very essence of who and what we are? I mean, you said you wouldn’t try to change me but here we are, years down the line with your curtain fabric and furnishings throughout the house and all my stuff boxed up an... |
| 2021-Apr-07 • 25 minutes Episode 120: Ep.133 Permanence and Change P.3 "What kind of fool do you think I am? You think I know nothing of the modern world? Well, this week, let Danny and Mike prove you wrong! Join us as we ask the question - do we really need to change? What’s the matter with the old ways? Why can’t we ever be content with things as thy are. What is baby and what is bathwater? Is it your kids, Marty? Are our progeny the capsules into which we pour the essential, unchangeable aspects of our reality and fire them off into the future? Say what you like ‘cause I do... |
| 2021-Mar-31 • 24 minutes Episode 119: Ep. 132 Permanence and Change part 2 This week, what have the gods ever done for us? Join Mike and Danny in Thales hot tub where everything is water but full of bubbles and not always the good kind. Yes, it’s time to get back to basics, strip away the unnecessary and discover the very foundations of reality. Will you do the necessary prep work, sand down, clean and fill all those annoying little holes and cracks or will you simply slap a coat of paint on over the dirt and hope for the best? We, of course, plan to build our city on rock n roll ... |
| 2021-Mar-24 • 22 minutes Episode 118: Ep.131 The Pre-Socratics: Permanence and Change This week everything changes, or does it? Is change inevitable? What do we build on that might provide a solid foundation for our identity and understanding of the world? Join Mike and Danny as they turn and face the strain. Enjoy a relaxing trip through Miletus noting, as we go, Thales and the Pre-Scratics on our left. You know what? This time we are going to stop and get out, actually spend some time with these guys, grab a glass of wine and chill. After all, what else have we got to do? |
| 2021-Mar-17 • 27 minutes Episode 117: Ep.130 Alternative Lifestyles Part 4 This week we are just never satisfied are we? There is always some itch that needs scratching, some desire yet to be fulfilled, some patch of grass just ever so slightly more green. Never fear, join Mike and Danny as they seek out new vistas - this time it will work, this time we will discover the promised land, settle down with our partner(s) of choice, grow goats and herd root vegetables. What do you mean “what’s the wifi like?”??? No, there won’t be Netflix and it won’t be a convenient walk to the neares... |
| 2021-Mar-10 • 24 minutes Episode 116: Ep129 Alternative Lifestyles P.3 This week join Danny and Mike. That’s it, just join Danny and Mike, nothing more, just hangout in the world we have carved out for ourselves. Sacrifices will have to be made, you will have to ditch some of your baggage and adapt to our way of life but it’s a small price to pay for the sense of belonging we offer. Of course some of you will find it difficult to adjust, some of you might even nurse a rebellious spirit, perhaps even have some ideas of your own. No matter, everybody has to learn, a few days alo... |
| 2021-Mar-03 • 24 minutes Episode 115: Ep. 128 Alternative Lifestyles P2 This week, what is our ultimate destination? Join Mike and Danny as they set out along the path of natural order to identify our individual fate. But wait, who says we can’t stop and smell the roses? In fact, why don’t we turn off destiny highway and follow this rough unbeaten track to gods know where? Yes, once again Mike and Danny reveal their penchant for flared jeans, reasonably priced, if not free, love and the sounds of the Grateful Dead. Don’t harsh our buzz man, we are sticking it to the essentialis... |
| 2021-Feb-24 • 25 minutes Episode 114: p. 127 Alternative Lifestyles This week Danny is fed up and miserable but the sun is starting to shine and a new day is dawning! Tune in and join Mike and Danny, the merry philosonauts, on a magical mystery through the realms of possibility. Yes, this week we are talking revolution… or are we? Is it time to re-engage with normality or are we on the frontiers of the new normal? What, exactly, IS the normal way to be? What are the standards for identifying normal human existence? Is it essence or is it existence? Where is our instruction ... |
| 2021-Feb-17 • 24 minutes Episode 113: Ep. 126 Family Part 5 This week, join Mike and Danny, after a year of lockdown, as they stare into the face of the other and ask “who the hell are you people?” Yes, what do we do with the other after so long with only the Cartesian cogito for company? Will we finally emerge from pandamic isolation desperate for human contact or having developed an antipathy for human connection? Has all this time, huddled with our families, simply rendered us intensely tribal to the detriment of the body politic? Perhaps it’s time to explore alt... |
| 2021-Feb-10 • 33 minutes Episode 112: EP. 125 Family Part 4 This week we are family, I got all my siblings with me! Yes join Mike and Danny as they continue their exploration into the murky depths of family life. Should Danny beat his children? Would this contribute to the dialectical development of the universal spirit? Do philosophers give us the families their philosophies deserve? Just how natural is the family? Does “speaking as a parent” give one greater access to epistemic certainty or simply render as opinionated elitists? Can any one person or group provide... |
| 2021-Feb-03 • 26 minutes Episode 111: Ep.124 Family Part 3 This week, we didn’t ask to be born, right? Who is responsible for dragging us into this whole situation? Listen with mounting existential dread as Mike and Danny inform you that this is not your fault but your are stuck with it, there is nothing you can do about it, you just have to suck it up. Be dumbfounded with the revelation that as a parent you are empowered to grab the epistemic crayons and scrawl all over your children psyche. Yes! Go ahead! knock yourselves out and join in the pedagogic graffiti fe... |
| 2021-Jan-27 • 19 minutes Episode 110: Ep. 123 Family Part 2 This week listen in as Mike and Danny tell you that you aren’t bringing your kids up properly. Yes, in this offensive episode we upset both parents and the entire education industry by suggesting that one doesn’t know what it’s doing and the other is simply in it for the money. That’s right folks, here at WTF we play no favourites and know no fear in our quest to usher in a glorious utopian future. We built this city, we built this city on ideal forms and not on children reared on TV, celebrity gossip or ev... |
| 2021-Jan-20 • 22 minutes Episode 109: Ep. 122 Philosophy and Family It’s 2021 and we are back to bring philosophy to the masses! Join Mike and Danny as they emerge blinking from the darkness of 2020 bloated with the excesses of the festive season. Listen in with mild disappointment as Mike stuffs his face with leftover Christmas cake and Danny confesses, to his enduring shame, that he consumes sell-by mince pies behind closed doors to the everlasting embarrassment of his family and amidst the sound of his crying children. Yes, families, what are they for exactly? You can c... |
| 2020-Dec-09 • 22 minutes Episode 104: Ep. 121 Humanity Part 5 This week join Mike and Danny as they seek to establish their unique identities in the world. Marvel as Mike admits to bizarre restaurant based existential choices. Is anything enough for Danny? Does existence precede essence? Does the chicken precede the egg? Some of these questions and more will be on the agenda this week as our gift to you. But hang on, there is more! Yes, let Mike and Danny unfold the instructions to human existence and search in vain for the allen key that will allow them to put it all... |
| 2020-Dec-02 • 19 minutes Episode 103: Ep. 120 Humanity Part 4 This week join Mike and Danny as they strip humanity down to its boxers to see what is left of its identity. Are we nothing more than the sum of our memories and if that is true what effect does it have when I forget where I put my key? What happens when the JPEG that is humanity has too many pixels removed for the picture to be clearly seen? When we get to the point where we start singing “daisy, daisy, give me your answer do” has the essence of what we are been lost? Listen in as Mike and Danny skilfully ... |
| 2020-Nov-25 • 30 minutes Episode 102: Ep. 119 Humanity Part 3 This week join Danny and Mike as they subject subjectivity to the subjective gaze. Is one person's meat really another’s poison? Is there no accounting for taste? Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Is humanity really something absolute that establishes us as unique and inviolable or is it a sliding scale? A moveable feast of ingredients that is endlessly variable? Wrinkle your nose up in mild disgust as Mike brings dog poo to the table - is it really, objectively less lovely than, say, Marilyn Monroe, o... |
| 2020-Nov-18 • 27 minutes Ep. 118 Humanity Part 2 This week join Mike and Danny as they play "Plato’s Republic the Role Playing Game”! Yes, join in the fun and excitement of living in a utopian society but first you need to roll a character. Grab your dice and see what you end up with - will you be a leader, a philosopher king? Perhaps the dice will not fall exactly in your favour and you end up with high organisational stats and have to settle for the somewhat less exciting life of an administrator or military leader. If you really suck at this you might ... |
| 2020-Nov-11 • 27 minutes Ep. 117 Humanity Part 1 This week join Danny and Mike as they indulge their animal appetites to see just how far they can go before compromising their essential humanity. What, exactly, is a human being? Are you one? How do you know? Don’t give me that! Oh, we can all SAY that we are human beings but talk is cheap - unless of course you are Wittgenstein. Is humanity something that happens to us or do we in some way make it happen? Is it passive or active? When does protection of an essential human characteristic become a violation... |
| 2020-Oct-14 • 23 minutes Ep.113 Knowledge Wars Part 4 This week join our know-it-all podcast as Mike and Danny once more don the vestments of the epistemological priesthood and lead you, but only if you are truly repentant, into the light of clear and certain understanding. Bow in veneration at the combined feet of your gurus as we, the custodians of all that is true and real, weigh you in the balance. Will you be found wanting or will you pass into blessed enlightenment? Is your salvation dependent upon the sum total of all your experiences? Is knowledge of A... |
| 2020-Oct-07 • 29 minutes Ep.112 Knowledge Wars Part 3 This week listen in as Mike provides entirely the wrong blurb for this episode! Blink in disbelief and confusion as that blurb mysteriously vanishes to be replaced by this one. Did the original blurb ever truly exist? If it did, where is it now and ought you to receive immediate therapy? Perception, can it really be trusted to provide you with an accurate account of reality or is reality merely what we perceive and are some of you still tenaciously clinging to the original blurb? Join us for adventures into... |
| 2020-Sep-30 • 30 minutes Ep.111 Knowledge Wars Part 2 This week join Mike and Danny as they draw data from the physical world thus challenging the gods themselves! Listen in as they assault the very heavens armed with nothing more than a doughnut and their 5 senses. Yes knowledge, what does it taste like? how do we gain it? What do we do with it when we have it? Is there big knowledge and small knowledge? Knowledge is power but ignorance is bliss - place your bets ladies and gentlemen! Let Mike and Danny be your gatekeeper to the secret knowledge after all the... |
| 2020-Sep-23 • 27 minutes Ep.110 Knowledge Wars Part 1 This week, knowing me, knowing you! Listen in as Mike and Danny ask the question “Do you know enough?” Look on in mild amusement as we feverishly search for the instruction manual to the thrownness of being. Encounter rising panic as Danny freezes up creating a period of embarrassing dead air around about 10:18. Are we born with enough knowledge to find our extremities with both hands? Can we walk in a straight line or do we need to be taught? Do we need words to form knowledge? What if “the bird” really is... |
| 2020-Sep-16 • 27 minutes Ep.109 Kant Vs. Bentham The Final This week we come to the end of the Kant/Bentham rumble. Who will be judged victorious and who will have to swallow the bitter dregs of defeat? Listen in as Kant delivers his signature “categorical smack down’ move. Will Bentham’s "hedonic round house” be sufficient to counter the Crusher from Konigsberg? Bow your heads in reverence and let Mike and Danny root out the evils of the world and join them as they punch it on the nose and teach it a righteous lesson. Is a straightforward list of do's and don’t pr... |
| 2020-Sep-09 • 27 minutes Ep. 108. Kant Vs. Bentham Part 4 This week - do we really want the truth? What would we do with it? Better a comfortable lie, right? Consider, if you will, the existential anguish of the “extensive menu” - do we get incapacitated by indecision the more options we are given? What would you prefer, Mike’s Spam Egg & Chips, Spam and Chips or just plain Spam OR will you go for Danny’s 150 dish tasting menu with a selection of starters and deserts? Will you be lusting after what other people have ordered once the food arrives anyway? Is ethics ... |
| 2020-Sep-02 • 21 minutes Ep.107 Kant Vs. Bentham Part 3 This week, if you’re happy and you know it please contact Mike and Danny with details. Yes, it’s the greatest happiness for the greatest number folks. Join Mike and Danny as they decide on the minimum amount of happiness required for them to get up in the morning. What, exactly, do we have a right too? Are we really “worth it”? Listen in as Danny all but admits to speeding at 2 o’clock in the morning because, what harm can it do, right? Nod in sage wisdom as Mike shakes his head in smug condemnation. Are h... |
| 2020-Aug-26 • 24 minutes Ep.106 Kant Vs. Bentham Part 2 This week join Dr Mike as he gives a mad axeman Danny’s exact postal address and contact details, just in case. Listen carefully and take extensive notes as Mike and Danny consider what the untestable beliefs are that ground their understanding of reality. Do we have to assume an absolute judge in order to be good guys or can we work it out as we go along? Just how fast can nonsense travel on stilts? Settle back and lightly oil yourselves down as Bentham argues for an ethic based on the happy ending princi... |
| 2020-Aug-19 • 21 minutes Ep. 105 Philosopher Cage Fight! Kant Vs. Bentham Part 1 Join Mike and Danny this week as they pull up at the traffic lights and start revving the engine to show off to their mates. Stick with them as the lights change, they drop the clutch, release the breaks and the philosophical wheels start to spin. Gaze on in uncritical adoration as they screech away burning philosophical rubber to play chicken with Kant and Bentham. Who will blink first, how far will this go? Squeeze up onto the back seat, jump on the running board and live dangerously as Mike and Danny beg... |
| 2020-Jun-03 • 29 minutes Ep. 94 Postmodernism Part 4 This week listen in with all due deference as Danny and Mike … no, hang on, I’m not doing this. Why should I impose a narrative on you? The cast is out there now, you make of it what you will. Look, I’ll even leave you space to construct your own blurb, enough of this authorial priority, you go to it. I’ll just sit here and watch. Away you go then. [ ] There, see, not as easy as it looks is it? Oh yes, we all want to march to the beat of our own drum and throw away the rule book but then what? I’ll tel... |
| 2020-May-27 • 25 minutes Ep. 93 Postmodernism Part 3 Pst, hey, kids, do you want some po-mo? Don’t sweat it brah, this is the good stuff won’t make you go blind or nothing. No this is quality stuff and the best of it is the first hit is absolute free. Yeah, you heard us, Danny and Mike are hooking you up with the real deal and it will set…you,,,free! No more living in a world that’s already written oh no, with our high grade po-mo you can play by your own rules like it weren’t no damn thing. That’s right, it’s the hottest thing on the streets and we mean terr... |
| 2020-May-20 • 25 minutes Ep. 91 Postmodernism Part 2 This week, Mike succumbs to the pressures of the time and mentions Wittgenstein before Danny does. Listen in with mounting disappointment as Danny makes the obvious Lyotard gag - low hanging fruit bro, low hanging fruit. What is the condition of postmodernity? Who was the irritating student who suggested that the movement following postmodernism should be called post-postmodernism? Guess at the kind of grade they received for their final philosophy exam, go on, guess! Yes this week, as with every week, perc... |
| 2020-May-13 • 23 minutes Ep. 90 Postmodernism This week the pressures of lockdown start to get to Danny and Mike. Listen in as their narratives begin to unravel and they appear to waffle on about anything that comes into their heads under the pretext of a postmodern disposition. Join them in their new stories or are these just the old stories seen from a different perspective? Are they absolutely right in abandoning their previous absolute convictions? Are scones and jam part of an imperialist metanarrative? Were the Tracy family philanthropists or glo... |
| 2020-May-06 • 31 minutes Ep. 89 Wittgenstein Part 4 This week listen with your head cocked to one side, in a bemused and slightly suspicious way, as Mike confesses that while he loves fish and chips he has no desire to sleep with them. Raise your hand and fan you face in the wake of Danny’s confession that he built his daughter out of leftover body parts - he says that, right? Yes, wacky Wittgenstein is at it again, taking the words and phrases we love so well and making them perform for us in a Renaissance ruff while riding a unicycle. In this final episode... |
| 2020-Apr-29 • 20 minutes Ep. 88 Wittgenstein Part 3 This week join us as Wittgenstein kicks over his Tractatus and storms out of the room declaring that he doesn't want to play that stupid game any more because it's dumb and we are all stupid and dumb. Listen in as Dr Mike responds by informing Wittgenstein that he's the stupid one and also that he smells like farts. Be amazed as Wittgenstein goes on to elaborate that sticks and stones may break his bones but words are thoughts so probably have the power to do more damage and maybe he ought to have thought t... |
| 2020-Apr-22 • 28 minutes Ep. 87 Wittgenstein Part 2 This week agonise with Danny as he tries to get to the end of the Tractatus without interruptions. Do Mike and Danny LOOK like they have meaning but in actual fact make no logical sense? Are we simply talking nonsense? Does the sentence “Mike and Danny are exemplary Star Fleet Officers” carry any real meaning in spite of its grammatical legitimacy (even though we know it to be 100% true)? Should we all give up on philosophy and take up gardening? Tune in this week, it’s all nonsense of course. Subscribe to... |
| 2020-Apr-15 • 33 minutes Ep. 86 Wittgenstein Part 1 This week, listen in slack jawed amazement as Danny talks about the Tractatus for over 30 mins without mentioning Wittgenstein once. That’s right, not once but a gazillion times! This is it folks, Danny goes proposition crazy as his time finally comes and he gets to use the W word without let or hindrance. Reel back in stupefied awe as the podcast ladder is kicked away leaving Dr Mike hanging precipitously from something overhanging that may or may not be the case. Strain your ears as Mike and Danny pass ov... |
| 2020-Apr-08 • 32 minutes Ep. 85 Phenomenology Part 6 This week FREEDOM! But do we really want it? Listen with care as Sartre warns us that freedom can make us a little queasy. Do we always have choices? Can I choose to have Sugar Puffs for breakfast tomorrow even though I don't have any in the house? What would Sartre have? Our guess is croissants. Enjoy the spectacle of Jean-Paul and Che Guevara having a beret-off. Don't be concerned as Danny and Mike gaze at you in a peculiar way, we aren't trying to objectify you, really we aren't ... really...we...aren't ... |