#533 Alexander Rosenberg: Scientism, Nihilism, and Atheism
RECORDED ON JUNE 29th 2021.
Dr. Alexander Rosenberg is the R. Taylor Cole Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Duke University. He has been a visiting professor and fellow at the Center for the Philosophy of Science, at the University of Minnesota, as well as the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Oxford University, and a visiting fellow of the Philosophy Department at the Research School of Social Science, of the Australian National University. In 2016 he was the Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professor at the University of Bristol. He has held fellowships from the National Science Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. In 1993, Dr. Rosenberg received the Lakatos Award in the philosophy of science. In 2006-2007 he held a fellowship at the National Humanities Center. He was also the Phi Beta Kappa-Romanell Lecturer for 2006-2007. He’s the author of both fictional and non-fictional literature, including The Atheist’s Guide to Reality, The Girl from Krakow, and How History Gets Things Wrong.
In this episode, we talk about scientism. We start by defining scientism, and its relationship to science. We go through many different questions like “What is reality?”, the evolution of human psychology, purpose and meaning, belief, consciousness, free will, God, the nature of morality, and moral progress. We talk about nihilism, and its relationship with scientism. Finally, we discuss how scientism could apply to the social sciences, how to deal with the humanities, and atheism.
Time Links:
Intro
What is scientism?
Reality, evolution, human psychology, purpose and meaning
Consciousness, belief, free will, God, and morality
Scientism and nihilism
Scientism, the social sciences and the humanities
Atheism
Follow Dr. Rosenberg’s work!
Follow Dr. Rosenberg’s work:
Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/ydby3b5f
Website: http://www.alexrose46.com/
Books: https://tinyurl.com/yag2n2fn
The Atheist’s Guide to Reality: https://amzn.to/3dr7Hf7
How History Gets Things Wrong: https://amzn.to/3qCy5rN