Episode #197 - New Atheists and cosmic purpose without God (Zizek, Goff, Nagel)
Episode #197 - New Atheists and cosmic purpose without God (Zizek, Goff, Nagel)
This episode explores how seemingly objective worldviews—particularly scientific materialism—can function as ideologies, just like more overtly religious belief systems. Drawing from the work of Slavoj Žižek, Thomas Nagel, and Philip Goff, it challenges the idea that truth must be limited to what can be empirically verified. It highlights how even the scientific method depends on unprovable philosophical assumptions, such as the rational coherence of the universe or the reliability of induction. By tracing material reductionism’s historical roots and contrasting it with alternative perspectives, like Nagel’s teleological framework or Goff’s value-selection hypothesis, the episode invites listeners to question whether science alone can fully explain consciousness, meaning, and purpose. Rather than rejecting science, it proposes a more reflective approach—one that integrates scientific rigor with a broader philosophical awareness, recognizing that the frameworks we use shape the truths we find.
Further Reading:
The Sublime Object of Ideology by Slavoj Žižek (1989)
Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False by Thomas Nagel (2012)
Why? The Purpose of the Universe by Philip Goff (2023)
See the full transcript here
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