Motivated reasoning and metaethical disputes

Keegan Kjeldson of the Untimely Reflections YouTube channel returns to the podcast to discuss the merits of continental philosophy. While he is largely in favor and I am not, we both agree that Hegel is abysmally obscure.

Video of this interview is available on YouTube.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:18 Hegel vs Plantinga: obscurity and clarity

00:03:07 Keegan’s defense of continental philosophy

00:08:38 Why continental philosophy feels impenetrable

00:11:15 Spinoza and intuitive knowledge

00:14:25 Nietzsche, style, and philosophical insight

00:18:07 Logical positivism and ethics

00:22:21 What is metaethics?

00:27:17 Utilitarianism and moral intuitions

00:30:17 Do arguments bottom out in intuition?

00:36:39 What is philosophy for?

00:44:41 Moral realism and objective moral truth

00:48:59 Judith Butler and the charge of gibberish

00:54:10 Clear continental thinkers

00:55:57 Heidegger and justified obscurity

01:02:00 Is clarity always a virtue?

01:06:49 Can poetry give us rational grounds?

01:12:52 Moral knowledge vs moral persuasion

01:15:29 Motivated reasoning in ethics

01:25:21 Ethics, emotion, and objectivity

01:28:14 The Nazi example and moral realism

01:32:26 Abortion, personhood, and moral disagreement

01:38:44 Objective truth in morality and science

01:41:17 Has humanity made moral progress?