
The Philosophy of Crime
Unravel the complexities of true crime through the insightful lens of "The Philosophy of Crime," an annual podcast series expertly hosted by James Renner, a distinguished journalist and acclaimed author renowned for his deep dives into the enigmatic world of unsolved mysteries. This podcast stands at the crossroads of classical philosophy and the compelling questions that fuel our fascination with true crime. Across six thought-provoking episodes released once a year, James explores the fundamental inquiries haunting the human psyche: What drives our obsession with true crime stories? Are lie detectors a reliable tool in the quest for truth? How does diplomatic immunity intersect with justice?"The Philosophy of Crime" is more than a podcast; it's a philosophical exploration that seeks to illuminate the darkest aspects of human curiosity and societal norms. Each season, James Renner blends philosophical theories with real-world cases, offering listeners a unique perspective on the moral dilemmas and ethical questions that lurk behind the headlines. From the effectiveness of lie detection to the intricacies of legal exemptions and the nature of obsession, this podcast is an essential listen for anyone intrigued by the philosophical dimensions of crime and justice.Tune in to "The Philosophy of Crime" for a yearly dose of compelling narratives and enlightening discussions that promise to challenge your views, provoke thought, and deepen your understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of true crime.#truecrimepodcast #jamesrenner #philosophypodcast #philosophyofcrime Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Latest episodes

May 4, 2021 • 24min
401: Do Serial Killers Ever Really Have Mulitple Personalities?
We see it in thrillers like SPLIT, but does it ever happen in real life? Are there people in this world with multiple personalities? And if so, what does it take to fracture a mind?Covered Topics: Dissociative Identity Disorder, Multiple Personalities, Alters, Billy Milligan, Zoo Man of Knoxville, David Chalmers, Hard Problem of Consciousness, Douglas Hofstadter, Panpsychism, Thales of Miletus, Joseph DeAngeloFurther Reading: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/could-multiple-personality-disorder-explain-life-the-universe-and-everything/https://www.thecut.com/2015/11/blind-woman-had-10-personalities-some-could-see.htmlhttps://www.mentalfloss.com/article/91244/5-criminals-who-claimed-have-multiple-personalities.https://www.oxygen.com/true-crime-buzz/crazy-not-insane-did-ted-bundy-have-multiple-personalityhttps://www.dispatch.com/article/20071028/NEWS/310289729https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAPPzmRb4r0https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shadow-boxing/202005/the-zoo-man-murdershttps://murderpedia.org/male.H/h/huskey-thomas.htmhttps://ndpr.nd.edu/news/philosophy-of-personal-identity-and-multiple-personality/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-07/david-chalmers-and-the-puzzle-of-consciousness/8679884 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 30, 2020 • 25min
306: What Really Happened at Kent State?
50 years ago this week, 4 students were killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State. But nobody can agree on who fired first. And the only man who knows the truth is a car salesmen who lives on a mountain. Covered Topics: Kent State, Terry Norman, National Guard, Kent State Shootings, My Lai Massacre, Vietnam, Pontius Pilate, Objective Truth, Friedrich Nietzsche, Eugene Wigner, Massimiliano Proietti, Perspectivism, Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, William SchroederFurther Reading:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y5cftds7-8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN7PUy8ZrQEhttps://www.sciencealert.com/watch-how-repetition-creates-an-illusion-of-truthhttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth/https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40129https://web.archive.org/web/20080516080032/http://www.tbo.com/life/kentstate.htmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Normanhttps://dks.library.kent.edu/cgi-bin/kentstate?a=d&d=dks20101116-01.2.2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R9QROhm1Sk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 29, 2020 • 31min
305: How to Interview a Victim After They’re Dead
When I was a reporter, I got the chance to talk to a man after he died. If you're close enough to someone, perhaps you're carrying a little piece of them inside you. Jump in and let's get weird.Covered Topics: Joe Kupchik, Optography, Wilhelm Kuhne, Erhard Reif, Elva Heaster, Douglas Hofstadter, Godel, Escher, Bach, Recursion, Edgar Allan Poe, Maura MurrayFurther Reading:https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/oh-joseph-kupchik-19-cleveland-12-feb-2006.113513/https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/30608/elva-zona-heaster-ghost-who-helped-solve-her-own-murderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jReX7qKU2ychttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-consciousness/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Hofstadterhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201912/how-our-loved-ones-live-after-deathhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWZ2Bz0tS-s Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 23, 2020 • 30min
304: Is Reasonable Doubt Reasonable?
What is reasonable doubt? Can it be defined? Who does it really help?Covered topics: Caylee Anthony, Reasonable Doubt, Standard of Proof, William Blackstone, Victor V. Nebraska, Rene Descartes, Cartesian DoubtFurther Reading:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvIdgW74LCkhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-crime-anthony-reaction/anthony-verdict-a-victory-for-reasonable-doubt-experts-say-idUSTRE7646U820110705http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2011/07/nancy_grace_explains_what_the.htmlhttps://abcnews.go.com/US/casey_anthony_trial/casey-anthony-juror-jury-sick-stomach-guilty-verdict/story?id=14005609https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD3rqRwPPckhttps://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/10/supreme-court-nonunanimous-juries-oral-argument.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/15/magazine/split-jurors.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 22, 2020 • 34min
303: Is It Still Possible to Disappear Without A Trace And Start A New Life?
Not all those who wander are lost. Most of us fantasize about started a new life somewhere. Few of us succeed.Covered Topics: Maura Murray, John List, Patrick McDermott, John J. Nazarian, Evan Ratliff, Alan Watts, Ken Lay, Plato, David HumeFurther Reading:https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-personal/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trqDnLNRuSc&t=312shttps://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-18-mn-3671-story.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Listhttps://murderpedia.org/male.L/l/list-john-emil.htmhttp://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2009445_2009447_2009502,00.htmlhttps://medium.com/@ephromjosine/after-the-death-of-jeffery-epstein-its-time-we-revisit-ken-lay-69ea22f41545https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2006/07/07/225351/-Ken-Lay-escapes-life-conviction-by-faking-his-deathhttps://www.wired.com/2009/11/ff-vanish2/https://www.wired.com/2009/08/gone-forever-what-does-it-take-to-really-disappear/https://www.alanwatts.org/life-of-alan-watts/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Wattshttps://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/08/24/alan-watts-this-is-it/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7ufX3VaTJc Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 16, 2020 • 26min
302: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Or Is It?
Learn about the "Mean World Syndrome" and how the world is actually safer than you think.Topics: Mean World Syndrome, George Gerbner, Logical Fallacies, Aristotle, Serial Killer's ApprenticeFurther reading:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_world_syndromehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gerbnerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-0E4qHqZ5ohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacyhttps://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/relationships/the-rise-of-mean-world-syndrome-in-social-media/article21481089/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/oscars-la-la-land-moonlight-arab-muslim-actor-audition-terrorist-i-am-done-a7595261.htmlhttps://www.cleveland.com/metro/2010/01/gun_bullets_knives_pulled_from.htmlhttps://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/05/the-man-who-counts-the-killings/376850/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/03/obituaries/george-gerbner-86-researcher-who-studied-violence-on-tv-is-dead.htmlhttps://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-citys-murder-rate-hit-new-low-in-2018-11546559793https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/17/facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/https://www.txstate.edu/philosophy/resources/fallacy-definitions/Equivocation.htmlhttps://www2.palomar.edu/users/bthompson/Secundum%20Quid.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qb-h0sXkH4 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 15, 2020 • 40min
301: Why Do Some Crimes Have a Statute of Limitations?
When a crime is committed, a clock begins to tick. If you're not charged before time runs out, you can never be prosecuted. But why?Topics Covered: Ted Conrad, Demosthenes, Statute of Limitations, Phormion, Bill Cosby, Andrea Constand, John Demjanjuk, Amnesty, Thirty Tyrants, Critias, Emmanuel Levinas, Hannah Arendt, Charles Griswold, Amy MihaljevicFurther Reading:https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1107&context=facpubshttps://www.cleveland.com/metro/2008/01/theodore_john_conrad_the_fbi_h.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlT5Ez_Hfaohttps://people.com/crime/who-is-andrea-constand-bill-cosby-accuser/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/forgiveness/https://www.cleveland.com/crime/2019/10/east-cleveland-event-gives-job-seeking-residents-convicted-of-non-violent-crimes-chance-to-apply-for-amnesty-or-expungement.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 15, 2019 • 55min
206: The Ethics of Familial DNA
The world has changed. A new tool has been created to solve the coldest cases. And if we're not careful, it'll be taken away from us in a heartbeat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 15, 2019 • 32min
205: Psychics and Crime
On the record, police rarely admit to using psychics to solve crimes. But a surprising number of detectives often consult with soothsayers to discover new leads. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 15, 2019 • 40min
204: Why Do We Still Have the Death Penalty?
In the United States, we still execute prisoners for a variety of crimes. We are one of the last civilized societies to do so. Why is capital punishment so popular, here? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts
Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.