Philosophy Playdate

Children's impossible questions addressed by the greatest minds in philosophy. With jokes.Hosted by philosopher Christabel Cane and comedian Steve Cross.

Philosophy Playdate is a society podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 29 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts Philosophy Playdate, a society show with 29 episodes published.

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  Episode #31

  Episode 31 - "Is dobbing bad?"

  Sep 28, 202652 minS1

  In this episode, Steve and Christabel answer Steve’s son’s question “Is dobbing bad?” To get the skinny on snitching, Christabel revisits friend of the podcast, Immanuel Kant. She also draws on the Kantian scholarship of Helga Varden, Mary J. Gregor, James Mahon and Annette Baier (not to name names). We learn about the sneaky trick the father of deontology played on King Frederick William II, Steve tells us of his own real-life ‘murderer at the door’ case, and Christabel expresses her great relief at the fact that Kant remained a lifelong bachelor. The duo then drop in on ancient China get the straight dope on the Confucian conception of dobbing. They find out what Confucius thought of sheep rustling, and what Mencius – the second sage of Confucianism – thought it was permissible to do to get your dad out of a bind. They survey Liu Qingping’s critical approach to Confucian emphasis on the virtue of filial piety, and William Sin’s ‘liberal’ reading of these philosophers. In the process Steve reveals the link between esoteric philosophy and Ted Baker’s corporate management strategy, Christabel relays what Pierre Ladot thought about Socratic dialogue, and we are made privy to some genius-level medical marketing. So go ahead and give it a listen. But if anyone asks, you didn’t learn anything from us… Email us the impossible questions children ask you at philosophyplaydate@gmail.com Find Steve at https://drstevecross.squarespace.com Find Christabel at https://christabelcane.com/ Philosophy Playdate theme by Piers Cane

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  Episode #30

  Episode 30 - "Is infinity a number?"

  Sep 21, 202646 minS1

  This week, Steve and Christabel answer Mylo’s question: ‘Is infinity a number?’ They enlist the help of the Milesians; Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes (who were Presocratic philosophers, and NOT Pokémon) and long-serving friend of the podcast Heraclitus. Unfortunately Pythagoras comes along and spoils the fun with his weirdly loaded takes on infinity (and women, rectangles and even numbers) and Aristotle banishes Zeno’s concept of the infinitesimally small to the realm of merely hypothetical mathematics. Steve reveals why Pythagoras feared the eternal, and Christabel draws on the work of Annemarrie Schimmel, Elaine Howes, Bill Rosenthal and Rudy Rucker to conjecture that this ancient prejudice against the concept of infinity might have just been weak men expressing their misogyny all along. Steve takes this opportunity to inform other strong feminists of the proper etiquette to follow when called upon to open tightly-lidded jars for friends. Christabel quietly reflects on the fact no one has ever solicited her with such a request. But if the Pythagoreans were so offended by the infinite, then they shouldn’t have offered such enjoyable proofs of its existence: next up is Archytas of Tarentum (and his philosophical reflections on poking sticks into places they don’t belong). Archytas’ paradoxical conception of The Endless Void is compared with Margret Cavendish’s views on the matter, and Steve recounts a conversation with his son about the size of the universe that Christabel suspects these philosophers would have loved to butt in on. The episode wraps up on a more practical note with Brian Rotman’s concerns about the implications of infinitude for embodied counters, and Penelope Maddy’s observations as tohow children learn to construct both long numbers and long sentences. But the close of the episode serves as proof that all finite things must come to an end – until next week, that is! Email us the impossible questions children ask you at philosophyplaydate@gmail.com Find Steve at https://drstevecross.squarespace.com Find Christabel at https://christabelcane.com/ Philosophy Playdate theme by Piers Cane

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  Episode #29

  Episode 29 - "Are numbers real?"

  Sep 14, 202659 minS1

  Steve and Christabel venture forth from Plato’s cave on this week’s quest, which is to find out whether numbers are real. On the way, Christabel learns a surprising amount about football, Steve confesses to some light Twitter fraud, and we all learn how a cult leader should choose their favourite numbers. The episode begins in Ancient Greece with Pythagorean mathematician, astronomer and cosmologist (who was definitely NOT an extraterrestrial) Theano of Croton, and with her golden ratio and her theorem of the harmony of numbers. Steve points out that according to his extensive knowledge of Numberblocks lore, the relationships between the number characters is sometimes anything but harmonious. Christabel compares mathematical Platonism with Aristotle’s extensional account of numbers with particular reference to Joan Kung’s analysis of The Third Man Argument. The duo then skip forward to the mid-sixties and to Linda Wetzel’s critique of Paul Benaceraf’s structuralist take on numbers. The episode ends on Penelope Maddy’s metametaphysical stance that questioning the reality of numbers is beside the point. So long as we can agree on facts like ‘two plus two equals four’ it doesn’t really matter whether these numbers are concretely real, ghostly abstract objects, or convenient fictions. Christabel concludes that even if she finds it hard to walk away from metaphysical puzzles like these, rejecting the question is an extremely chic position to take. Email us the impossible questions children ask you at philosophyplaydate@gmail.com Find Steve at https://drstevecross.squarespace.com Find Christabel at https://christabelcane.com/ Philosophy Playdate theme by Piers Cane

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  Episode #28

  Episode 28 - "Are horses important to the world? Part 2"

  Sep 7, 202653 minS1

  Ready to get back in the saddle? Good! Because it’s part 2 of Steve and Christabel’s double-episode extravaganza answering Lowen’s question “Are horses important to the world?” In this second offering, Christabel expounds upon the symbolic significance of horses within ancient metaphysics. The duo begin in ancient India with the Rigveda, the oldest written work in the Vedic tradition. She reveals the unfortunate position wild stallions held within ritual sacrifice, and tells us what the Daoists agreed that metaphysicians and butchers have in common. Ever the champion of vegetarianism, Steve offers some parallel meat-free examples of his own. Our hosts then engage in some microcosm-macrocosm reasoning with Thales of Miletus, Hippocrates, and the authors of the Upanishads. Steve entertains the Stoic’s idea that tidal patterns are the Earth breathing in and out, but he stops short of endorsing the analogy of the cosmic horse (and the restorative powers of its seed – which can apparently be identified with the ancient Indian drink of soma). Steve takes this opportunity to wax lyrical about Chocomel, the soma of his household. This is a welcome palate cleanser for all. But Christabel doesn’t let us get too comfortable. She launches into an analysis of charioteer analogies, the first of which being Plato’s chariot-based symbolism within his depiction of lust within the Phaedrus. We learn some tips about what NOT to say to the object of your affections, and move swiftly on. Steve alludes to the time that he disproved heterosexual intercourse using magnets, and launches into a tirade against Channel 4. The second charioteer analogy comes from the Sāṅkhya tradition, and it explains the distinction between self (or puruṣa) and nature (or prakṛti). Thus ends our round trip across equine philosophy right back where we started in ancient India. Email us the impossible questions children ask you at philosophyplaydate@gmail.com Find Steve at https://drstevecross.squarespace.com and watch him disprove magnetism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJMHzesJSgo Find Christabel at https://christabelcane.com/ Philosophy Playdate theme by Piers Cane

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  Episode #27

  Episode 27 - "Are horses important to the world? Part 1"

  Aug 31, 202635 minS1

  This fortnight, Steve and Christabel embark on a double-episode stint to answer Lowen’s question, “Are horses important to the world?” This is part 1, and it’s jam-packed fuller with equine content than a Findus lasagne. The duo start off in Turin in 1889 to bear witness to Nietzsche’s last cogent conversation (it was admittedly a little one-sided, given that his final interlocutor was a poor cab-driver’s horse). Christabel dabbles in a little chaos theory, and Steve lets us in on how to procure Arthur Morgan the most badass steed in Red Dead Redemption II. They then take a quick pit stop in 479–221 B.C.E. China to check in on the ‘School of Names’ philosophers. Gongsun Long is of particular interest, as is his famous (and maddeningly enigmatic) claim that “White horse is not horse”. Steve takes us back to elementary school for a lesson on colour mixing for pigments versus lights, and then treats us to an infinitely superior mnemonic for recalling the planets in our solar system. The episode closes in ancient Greece, and with the centuries-old logic joke that was tragically left out of Christopher Nolan’s adaption of The Odyssey. Steve points out that we shouldn’t be too disappointed, as the movie does deliver an Ithacan Batman – Spiderman crossover (reminiscent of a certain early YouTube viral classic). Our hosts grapple with cyclopes, Pegasi, alicorns and talking donkeys, but will they definitively answer Lowen’s question? Tune in next week for part 2! Email us the impossible questions children ask you at philosophyplaydate@gmail.com Find Steve at https://drstevecross.squarespace.com Find Christabel at https://christabelcane.com/ Philosophy Playdate theme by Piers Cane

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