Why Atheism is not Nihilistic

Head to https://squarespace.com/unsolicitedadvice to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code UNSOLICITEDADVICEUploaded 17-12-25Gavin Ortlund (@TruthUnites) has recently argued that atheism as a philosophical position implies despair and nihilism. I disagree with him on this point, and would like to say a few words as to why.Support me on Patreon here (you lovely person): https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkSubscribe to my Substack here for more of my writings: https://josephfolley.substack.com/00:00 Is Atheism Unliveable?13:22 Christians have a point!22:09 Atheism Strikes Back38:31 Reconstructing the Argument Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aren't statistics wonderful things. If used correctly they can provide profound illumination on how the world is. But let's say you didn't want to do that. How would you use every trick in the book to manipulate, fool, and lie to people with statistics to believe whatever you want them to. Well, that is just what we are going to look at today.Uploaded 04-06-24Support me on Patreon here: https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkSign up to my email list for more philosophy to improve your life: https://forms.gle/YYfaCaiQw9r6YfkN7Article on Correlation and Causation: https://www.nature.com/articles/nmeth.358700:00 Fantastic Statistics and Where to Find Them02:04 Devious definitions04:48 Strange inferences07:47 Samples and Representativeness12:01 The Average Joe16:17 The Buttery Biscuit Base Rate Neglect19:26 The Abuse of Proportions23:03 Correlation and Causation26:59 Causation and Attribution Errors29:30 The Dazzle of StatisticsStandard Deviation Curve example: By Ajay Raavi MD JD - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=116977508Spurious correlations website: https://tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Head to https://squarespace.com/unsolicitedadvice to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code UNSOLICITEDADVICEUploaded 10-06-26I love a hot takes video. We have done a few about philosophy, but I am interested to see your hottest takes on literature, and books more generally. There are some really spicy ones here, and I'm looking forward to reading them.Support me on Patreon here (you lovely person): https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkSubscribe to my Substack here for more of my writings: https://josephfolley.substack.com/00:00 Literature is Just Content10:31 Audiobooks Don't Count15:11 Intention and Interpretation26:50 Movies are Better than Books34:42 Modern Books are Bad38:35 We care too much about relatability Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are few philosophy books as iconic as Plato's Republic. It is simultaneously an examination of what "goodness" is, a metaphysical treatise, and a political manifesto. And today we are going to look at this wonderful ancient text, and ask whether its insights are applicable to our own time. And how, just maybe, we might be able to fix politics.Uploaded 25-05-24Support me on Patreon here: https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkSign up to my email list for more philosophy to improve your life: https://forms.gle/YYfaCaiQw9r6YfkN700:00 Politics and Philosophy01:44 The New Metallic Order08:01 Educating a State13:50 The Rule of Wisdom19:28 The Failed States Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Sophists are potentially the most hated philosophers in history. But as far as I can tell, this is based on a series of misunderstandings and misrepresentations. When we look at the existing evidence in more detail, what is instead revealed are a group of interesting and original thinkers. So here is my sophist apologia. I hope you enjoy it.Uploaded 04-06-26Support me on Patreon here (you lovely person): https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkSubscribe to my Substack here for more of my writings: https://josephfolley.substack.com/00:00 The Villainous Sophist07:50 Arguments Leading Nowhere24:27 Corrupting the Youth36:30 Man is the Measure of All Things45:00 What to do about the Sophists Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George Orwell's 1984 is one of the most famous and infamous books in history. But for all its fame and glory we rarely stop to ask what the underlying philosophical messages are. But here we will unpack Orwell's masterpiece to uncover the political, philosophical, and existential horrors that lie beneath.Uploaded 30-03-24Support me on Patreon here: https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkSign up to my email list for more philosophy to improve your life: https://forms.gle/YYfaCaiQw9r6YfkN700:00 Orwell's Nightmare01:26 1984: A Brief Synopsis07:31 The Impersistence of Memory12:50 Language and Thought18:41 Punishing Passions24:46 The Abolition of Privacy31:01 The Deathless Drive37:51 Empty Joy or Painful Truth45:38 Helplessness and Hopelessness52:38 What's the Point of 1984? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Go to https://ground.news/unsolicited to understand how different perspectives shape our worldview. Save 40% on the Ground News unlimited access Vantage plan with my link.Uploaded 23-12-25The Great Gatsby is one of the most famous novels of all time. And while many analyses focus on its sociological insight, I wanted to do something slightly different. I want to read The Great Gatsby as an extended meditation on the nature of failure, and the impossibility of human satisfaction. I hope you enjoy.Support me on Patreon here (you lovely person): https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkSubscribe to my Substack here for more of my writings: https://josephfolley.substack.com/00:00:00 The Great Gatsby00:14:16 Deceit and Desire00:27:31 Abandoning the Present00:41:31 You Can't Handle The Truth00:55:57 Beauty and Power01:12:10 The Master of Failure Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It has become almost cliche to observe that the internet often seems to bring out the worst in us. Yet the question of why remains elusive. So today we are going to check out a number of philosophers who, in my view, can help us understand our current internet predicament, and hopefully try to solve it.Uploaded 22-06-26Support me on Patreon here (you lovely person): https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkSubscribe to my Substack here for more of my writings: https://josephfolley.substack.com/00:00 The Dehumanizing Human15:04 Echo Chambers and Rationality29:06 Anonymity and Manners40:18 The Task of Love and the Future of The Internet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why is it that every wellness guru seems to cite neuroscience? Is it relevant, or is it all just misleading bunk? I am woefully unfit to answer such questions, but Tommy Blanchard most certainly is not! And here I sit down with him and ask how we can avoid BS neuroscience.Uploaded 10-02-26You can find Tommy on Substack here: https://substack.com/@tommyblanchardTommy's YouTube is here: https://www.youtube.com/@TommyBlanchardableSupport me on Patreon here (you lovely person): https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkSubscribe to my Substack here for more of my writings: https://josephfolley.substack.com/00:00 Why can't neuroscience give you wellness advice?13:45 What are the limits of our neuroscience knowledge?26:30 How do findings get misrepresented?36:35 How can we spot neuroscience garnish?47:05 Our current way of understanding the mind is weird54:18 Where does philosophy go wrong in thinking about Neuroscience?1:15:12 How Neuroscience can teach us about the mind1:37:30 Shifting our vocabulary around consciousness1:45:34 How can philosophy and science work together? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An Existential Crisis is a uniquely painful experience. It robs all the joy out of life and leaves us a heaping mess on the floor. But luckily, we can turn to some of the greatest minds in history to guide us through. And foremost among these is Tolstoy's Confession, where he outlines how he fell into existential despair, and how he eventually started to dig himself out of it.Uploaded 14-07-24Support me on Patreon here (you wonderful person): https://patreon.com/UnsolicitedAdvice701?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkSign up to my email list for more (occasional) philosophy to improve your life: https://forms.gle/YYfaCaiQw9r6YfkN700:00 Tolstoy's Existential Crisis01:34 The Brutality of Nihilism08:13 Four Futile Paths14:27 Faith, Reason, and Conflict20:57 Finding Normativity: An Open Challenge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices