Epicureanism and the Problem of Premature Death (Audio Essay)

06/02/19 • -1 min

This audio essay looks at the Epicurean philosophy of death, focusing specifically on how they addressed the problem of premature death. The Epicureans believe that premature death is not a tragedy, provided it occurs after a person has attained the right state of pleasure. If you enjoy listening to these audio essays, and the other podcast episodes, you might consider rating and/or reviewing them on your preferred podcasting service.
You can listen below or download here. You can also subscribe on Apple, Stitcher or a range of other services (the RSS feed is here).
I've written lots about the philosophy of death over the years. Here are some relevant links if you would like to do further reading on the topic:

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Previous Episode

#60 - Véliz on How to Improve Online Speech with Pseudonymity

In this episode I talk to Carissa Véliz. Carissa is a Research Fellow at the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities at the University of Oxford. She works on digital ethics, practical ethics more generally, political philosophy, and public policy. She is also the Director of the research programme 'Data, Privacy, and the Individual' at the IE's Center for the Governance of Change'. We talk about the problems with online speech and how to use pseudonymity to address them.
You can download the episode here or listen below. You can also subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and a variety of other podcasting services (the RSS feed is here).

Show Notes

0:00 - Introduction
1:25 - The problems with online speech
4:55 - Anonymity vs Identifiability
9:10 - The benefits of anonymous speech
16:12 - The costs of anonymous speech - The online Ring of Gyges
23:20 - How digital platforms mediate speech and make things worse
28:00 - Is speech more trustworthy when the speaker is identifiable?
30:50 - Solutions that don't work
35:46 - How pseudonymity could address the problems with online speech
41:15 - Three forms of pseudonymity and how they should be used
44:00 - Do we need an organisation to manage online pseudonyms?
49:00 - Thoughts on the Journal of Controversial Ideas
54:00 - Will people use pseudonyms to deceive us?
57:30 - How pseudonyms could address the issues with un-PC speech
1:02:04 - Should we be optimistic or pessimistic about the future of online speech?

Relevant Links

Carissa's Webpage
"Online Masquerade: Redesigning the Internet for Free Speech Through the Use of Pseudonyms" by Carissa
"Why you might want to think twice about surrendering online privacy for the sake of convenience" by Carissa
"What If Banks Were the Main Protectors of Customers’ Private Data?" by Carissa
The Secret Barrister
Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger
Mill's Argument for Free Speech: A Guide
'Here Comes the Journal of Controversial Ideas. Cue the Outcry' by Bartlett

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Next Episode

#61 - Yampolskiy on Machine Consciousness and AI Welfare

In this episode I talk to Roman Yampolskiy. Roman is a Tenured Associate Professor in the department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science at the Speed School of Engineering, University of Louisville. He is the founding and current director of the Cyber Security Lab and an author of many books and papers on AI security and ethics, including Artificial Superintelligence: a Futuristic Approach. We talk about how you might test for machine consciousness and the first steps towards a science of AI welfare.
You can listen below or download here. You can also subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Stitcher and a variety of other podcasting services (the RSS feed is here).