Idle Talk 14 10 12 “Call me a sceptic…”

Our topic this week is, ” does the external world exist?”. How do you know that you are really situated in a physical world?  We start by discussing the early sceptics such as Phyrrho (they don’t believe in nothing!), and then attempt to tackle Descarts daemon. We then ask how do you know you are not dreaming? We try to combat sceptical doubt with the pragmatists response. We also unveil a new philosophical feature, “the problem box”. Two callers are locked in a metaphysical box and asked a philosophical problem. The only way they can escape is to “think outside the box!” This weeks question is “how do you know you are not just a brain in a vat?”

freelance illustrator Nicola is cohost. @nicola_patten

Also on the show: A lot of nonsense, Itunes reviews(please write us some!), Nicola apparently finds the whole show boring, she then loses her earrings but finds a ticket to the Olympics, Phyrrho the amazing sceptic, the Emperor’s new Clothes, Rhodders 200th show on 1Radio, contextualism, can you trust your senses?, the argument from dreaming, how do you know you are not dreaming now? sceptical doubt,The Problem Box, Brains in Vats.

“call me a sceptic”