Two Hands Philosophy: An Extended Dialectic
Rodrigo Vanegas and I have just launched a new podcast and YouTube channel called Two Hands Philosophy. As you may guess, it is dedicated to philosophy. Rodrigo is one of the best thinkers I know and is earnestly committed to the dialectic way of doing philosophy, as best represented by Plato's dialogues. We’ve been philosophy-chatting pals for some years, and this is an opportunity for me to read more of the classical texts and discuss them with the same person-- as Rodrigo says, a conversation that never ends. Anyone who knows me knows this is the kind of conversation I prefer.
In classical philosophy, dialectic reasoning is a form of reasoning based upon a dialogue of arguments and counter-arguments, advocating propositions and counter-propositions with a hope for a qualitatively improved dialogue. The idea that contradictions and conflicts drive progress and change is central to dialectic philosophy. It should be a dynamic and ongoing process and not get stuck. It is NOT about making points to score points, but rather for each to learn something new.
Rodrigo and I will be delving into some of the topics that have driven our debates and discussions over the years, such as the philosophy of biology. This was one of our early discussions, and I stay close to it, having hosted a biology podcast for thirteen years. What is there to philosophize about with biology? Shouldn’t we leave it to the scientists?
As the philosopher John Dupre told me on the podcast ten years ago, philosophers can hold a mirror up to scientists and help them discover their underlying assumptions. For example, Dupre questioned the “gene” as the core model of biology back in the early 2000s when the genome was first sequenced. The Human Genome Project would launch a generation of federally and privately funded genomics projects. The gene has been at the core of most new biology, from research into the etiology of cancer to understanding the brain. But there is now a movement afoot to move the focus in biology from the gene to the “cell.” Biology is going from 2D to 3D. We will launch the new season of Mendelspod this summer with a series called “The New Biology.”
Rodrigo is sure to push back on this trend. I can feel it.
There has been a flowering of philosophy-oriented shows on YouTube since the heavy days of the pandemic. Isn’t it great? That a single strand of RNA called SARS-CoV2 urged us all to be more mindful of the big questions in life—the questions science doesn’t answer, like who are we and where are we going was a silver lining to the pandemic. Many of the new shows on YouTube are either some dry academics doing a bit of lecturing/preaching, or they are part of the new “Dark Web” underground of pop intellectuals. Who hasn’t loved watching Sam Harris in a match-up with Jordan Peterson? Unfortunately, they both seem more devoted to stardom than the tradition of philosophy. If Sam Harris had read Kant or Peterson had read anyone but Jung and the Bible, they might have reached higher from the “shoulders of giants.”
Please join us for our first episode where Rodrigo lays out the rules of the road and we nail down some early topics for a show that he has been anticipating for some years. Stay along for the ride and get into philosophy of biology with us next on Two Hands Philosophy.