

Philosophers In Space
Aaron Rabinowitz and Callie Wright
Welcome to Philosophers In Space, where the intrepid trekker captain Callie Wright and their questionable Chief Ethics Officer Aaron Rabinowitz explore the weird, gooey world of sci-fi, searching for tantalizing hypotheticals and gear-stripping questions in a space odyssey of meaning and amusement.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 24, 2019 • 38min
0G66: Striking Vipers and Multifaceted Virtual Identities
Sooooo, we introduced someone new into the podcast this week and things got...weird...We're joined by Heath of the PiaT crowd to discuss episode one of Black Mirror's new season. The BM episode is called Striking Vipers, but it really should have been called Mauling Bears. Lotta ursine erotica is what I'm saying. We also squeeze in a little bit of philosophy on the multifaceted nature of identity and how virtual worlds change what is possible and what feels so so right. I think it's fair to say we're willing to go much farther on this issue than Black Mirror was, so if you were also left wanting more, this might help. Virtual Identity vs. IRL identity: https://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/index.php/jvwr/article/view/2150 Scathing Atheist: https://scathingatheist.com/ Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com If you have time, please write us a review on iTunes. It really really helps. Please and thank you! Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Aaron had a great time with the NJ Humanist Network giving a talk on moral realism. Here's a recording of a previous version of the talk if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2zw3ZSSnN4 Come see Aaron at NECSS this Sunday! We're talking mutants! CONTENT PREVIEW: Next week we have already recorded a killer two parter with a special guest on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, so get your hopes so high that there is no way they can ever be met.

Jul 17, 2019 • 39min
0G65: The Evitable Conflict and The Zeroth Law
I built a superintelligent robot to write these show notes, and it just kept repeating the word "meta" over and over and over again. Not sure if it's a feature or a bug. While we sort it out, enjoy our episode on Asimov's The Evitable conflict, where he first describes The Zeroth Law of robotics. We explain the law, the problems it faces, and how they connect to issues like virtue theory and questions about god. This episode is perfectly calibrated to produce the ideal outcome for all beings in the universe, so you're guaranteed to enjoy it. The Evitable Conflict and The Zeroth law of robotics. The evitable conflict can be found here starting on page 122: https://www.ttu.ee/public/m/mart-murdvee/Techno-Psy/Isaac_Asimov_-_I_Robot.pdf Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Aaron had a great time with the NJ Humanist Network giving a talk on moral realism. Here's a recording of a previous version of the talk if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2zw3ZSSnN4 Come see Aaron at NECSS next Sunday! We're talking mutants! CONTENT PREVIEW: Next week we'll hopefully have a special guest to talk Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Jul 10, 2019 • 37min
0G64: I Am Mother and Care Ethics
And now another installment in the deeply caring relationship that is our show. Can caring be shared through podwaves? I like to think so. Feel the care just flow out over you. Try not to think about how this relationship also feels like creepy paternalistic programming. This is all totally normal. This week we're covering I Am Mother, a new piece of sci fi horror by Netflix. There's a lot of good philosophy packed into this middle of the road production, and we set some of it aside to combine with next week's content. For this week we're introducing you, our totally not cloned and weirdly raised listeners, to care ethics. Care Ethics on IEP: https://www.iep.utm.edu/care-eth/ Full Care Ethics book by Held: http://voidnetwork.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/The-Ethics-of-Care-Personal-Political-and-Global-by-Virginia-Held.pdf Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Aaron had a great time with the NJ Humanist Network giving a talk on moral realism. Here's a recording of a previous version of the talk if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2zw3ZSSnN4 Get us invited to more stuff, especially me since I have no kids and lots of random stuff to talk about! CONTENT PREVIEW: Next week we'll be discussing The Evitable Conflict and The Zeroth law of robotics. The evitable conflict can be found here starting on page 122: https://www.ttu.ee/public/m/mart-murdvee/Techno-Psy/Isaac_Asimov_-_I_Robot.pdf

Jul 3, 2019 • 42min
0G63: Fury Road and Ecofeminism
Witness our attempt to gain entry into a post gendered Valhalla! Led by the feminist valkyrie Jamie M. Lombardi (@euthyphro), Professor of philosophy at Bergen Community College, we EXPLODE the feminist symbolism and environmental messaging of Mad Max: Fury Road! ::fire guitar solo:: Seriously, this episode has everything. Top 10 action movie, progressive messaging, a guest who steals the show, and quality malapropisms. Oh what a pod, what a beautiful pod. Warren on Ecofeminism: http://www.cfs-umich.org/EERead/6Warren-PowerPromise.pdf Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Aaron was recently "on" secular soup. It was hilarious. Aaron is giving a talk on the 23rd in Somerset NJ. Come say hi! https://njhn.org/event/june-program-moral-realism-without-god/?fbclid=IwAR2lx0dsuYMw7YVKYwkA1slhfpBcuzHBN86rz1RDGpSp43BeANnTIzKjR2I CONTENT PREVIEW: Next week we're continuing our weapons grade neofeminism with I am Mother and Care Ethics. The future is robowomen.

Jun 26, 2019 • 38min
0G62: One Punch Man and Process vs. Product
Ugh, woe is me. I used to find passion in the challenge of writing these show notes, but now that I've mastered the art of meta show notes-fu, there's no challenge left. I must seek out a show now with content so boring and straightforward that no amount of meta show notes will make it palatable. This is my hero's journey. Also, we're doing One Punch Man and discussing the tension between wanting to reach our goals easily and enjoying the challenges of the journey itself, and lots of other fun related topics. Get totally obliterated with enjoyment! Hedonic Treadmill: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Nothing recent, though ETV is back in action! Hopefully have a few things coming up soon though. Aaron is also going to be on a panel at NECSS this summer in NYC discussing mutant ethics. Come do some nerdcore philosophy! CONTENT PREVIEW: Next week we're finally doing Fury Road. Been wanting to talk Ecofeminism since I taught it this semester and this is the perfect movie for it and we have a wonderful guest joining us to help us avoid dudesplaining the end of life as we know it.

Jun 19, 2019 • 45min
0G61: The Waldo Moment and Politics as Entertainment
After such a meta conversation like this about the intricate relationship of media and information, it's really hard to do a meta writeup without going double meta, so here we are. Some episodes we're very much on the same page, and in many places (partly cause of internet issues) we were not in this episode. And I think that's great! There's a lot of moving parts here and it's hard to slow them all down and I think it's good to see how that process goes. No prepackaged bite sized material here, just a lot of gristle to chew on. For those not familiar The Waldo Moment is from series 2 of Black Mirror. How to Trivialize our culture and politics: https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/5/8/15440292/donald-trump-politics-culture-neil-postman-television-media Infotainment is killing politics: https://blog.politicsmeanspolitics.com/why-infotainment-is-killing-politics-1a1c053885df Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: GAM was fun but we wants to talk to more people! Always more... Aaron is also going to be on a panel at NECSS this summer in NYC discussing mutant ethics. Come do some nerdcore philosophy! CONTENT PREVIEW: Next week we're watching a super meta anime satire called One Punch Man that plays with the idea of attaining one's goal the sadness that might bring. It's on Netflix

Jun 12, 2019 • 41min
0G60: Voyager and Procreation
This week we're bring together a variety of fan favorites: 1. The best Star Trek captain 2. The right to procreate 3. Substrate Chauvanism Hopefully this will be enough fan service to pay off the rage we'll likely incur with next weeks episode. The topic for this week is Voyager season 2, episode 13: Prototype. It's one of many in the constellation of AI reproduction trek episodes and a fun intro to the Voyager crew. Procreation: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/parenthood/ Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: We were on the most recent episode of GAM! It gets graphically sexual, as usual. https://audioboom.com/posts/7266235-gam196-alien-intrusion-unmasking-a-deception Aaron is also going to be on a panel at NECSS this summer in NYC discussing mutant ethics. Come do some nerdcore philosophy! CONTENT PREVIEW: Next week we're back to Black Mirror to celebrate soon to be season 5. We're talking about The Waldo Moment, a personal favorite of Aaron's that everyone seems to hate for some reason, and we're gonna discuss the entertainification of politics and the ethics of playing into that trend.

May 29, 2019 • 40min
0G59: Endgame and Moral Saints
As luck would have it, Mr. Smith, we're in the one and only timeline where you can make a difference. Snap your fingers and you can make the superhero movies go away forever, but only at the cost of never seeing the space babies ever again. Should you be expected to make that snap? This week we're talking Endgame and another famous concept by Susan Wolf, the issue of "moral saints". This topic relates to several others we've mentioned, including the demandingness objection to ethics and the utility pump. As with Infinity Wars, we save all our real gripes for NASA. Moral Saints: http://www.rationalites-contemporaines.paris-sorbonne.fr/IMG/pdf/Wolf1.pdf Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Nothing soon, invite us on your show! Aaron is also going to be on a panel at NECSS this summer in NYC discussing mutant ethics. Come do some nerdcore philosophy! CONTENT PREVIEW: Next week we're covering Star Trek, Voyager ep2.13 Prototype.

May 22, 2019 • 47min
0G58: Runaround and Three Laws of Robotics
Here's my story, it's sad but true, about a bot that I once knew. It took my laws, and then ran around, all the science juice pools in town. This week we're beginning a journey through the robot short stories of Isaac Asimov, beginning with Runaround, the first story where Asimov specifically lays out the three laws of robotics. We discuss the many problems with these laws as well as why they're still important and why it's harder to dismiss them than some might think. AI top down vs bottom up ethics: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225850648_Artificial_Morality_Top-down_Bottom-up_and_Hybrid_Approaches Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Nothing soon, invite us on your show! Aaron is also going to be on a panel at NECSS this summer in NYC discussing mutant ethics. Come do some nerdcore philosophy! CONTENT PREVIEW: ENGAME! We've delayed as long as we could, but the time has come. Obviously we have to actually talk about the thing so go see it if you want zero risk of spoilers.

May 15, 2019 • 46min
0G57: Orphan Black and Human Cloning
Well friends, I'm gonna level with you. We've been doing a little bit of mad sciencing on the side, and it appears some of the clones got loose and recorded an episode on Orphan Black and the Ethics of Cloning. It's a bit all over the place from what I'm told, but we thought it best to honor their plucky ingenuity and share the results with you, so that you can decide if the world is a better place with these strange creatures in it. "Goodbye Dolly": The Ethics of Human Cloning by Harris https://jme.bmj.com/content/23/6/353.short?fbclid=IwAR3E45jciGtPRQZFlw4p_uciuNU8uH3HliEgCdEL9YCBjNDPWUHeh75a0Ds Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/ Email us at: philosophersinspace@gmail.com Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/ Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Recent appearances: Aaron's going to be on an upcoming episode of Podunk Polymath, but the end of the semester is coming and so more time for more appearances! Aaron is also going to be on a panel at NECSS this summer in NYC discussing mutant ethics. Come do some nerdcore philosophy! CONTENT PREVIEW: We're doing a "classics of sci-fi history" next week and reading Runaround by Azimov, the story generally credited as the first time the three laws of robotics are explicitly laid out. We'll discuss the problems with rule based ethics as a way to train AI. Runaround: https://web.williams.edu/Mathematics/sjmiller/public_html/105Sp10/handouts/Runaround.html