Episode #040 ... Superstition

Philosophize This!

Stephen West

Philosophy, Society & Culture, Education

4.8 • 17.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 October 2014

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this episode of the podcast, we explore superstition in its various forms and examine the ways Berkeley and Voltaire tried to eliminate it in their work. First, we think about the superstitions we subscribe to in our everyday lives, whether it’s “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” or “the key to happiness is buying lots and lots of stuff.” Next, we learn why Berkeley wanted to throw out the notion that true reality lies behind the veil of perception and find out his answer to that cliché question about a tree falling in the forest. Finally, we begin our discussion of Voltaire and find out why he called Christianity "the most ridiculous, the most absurd and the most bloody religion which has ever infected this world.” All this and more on the latest episode of Philosophize This! Thank you so much for listening! Could never do this without your help. Website: https://www.philosophizethis.org/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philosophizethis Social: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philosophizethispodcast X: https://twitter.com/iamstephenwest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philosophizethisshow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	For more information about this or any episode of the podcast, check out the website at
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0:31.3	It may just be a click for you, but every little bit adds up.
0:34.3	Thank you for wanting to know more today than you did yesterday, and I hope you love the
0:37.7	show.
0:40.0	The theme of today's episode is superstition.
0:44.3	What is superstition?
0:45.3	When we think about superstitious people in modern times, what typically comes to mind
0:49.8	are visions of people, you know, walking under ladders or a black cat crossing your path
0:54.8	at night.
0:56.0	We usually think about really extreme silly forms of superstition.
0:59.8	You know, people say something like today is Friday the 13th, and something really bad
1:04.8	happened to me today.
1:06.0	So therefore, the reason why something bad happened to me is because it's Friday the
1:10.1	13th.
	...

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