Philosophy

On this bonus content for episode 2, Ian Fishback and Mike Robillard, our subjects from the episode, talk about the early days of their first deployments during the wars, and Robillard raises the question of how to balance civil liberties with wartime aims during counterinsurgency efforts.

Episode 2: (Bonus) Counterinsurgency and Civil Liberties

When one Army soldier discovered the propagation of torture tactics during the Iraq war, he engaged in a one-man mission inside the organization to learn about their origins, and the effect they had on lower-level soldiers who were implementing them. From there, he took on the Bush administration. Years later, he is training to be a philosopher.

As a new U.S. administration takes hold, with talk of military action against ISIS and the reinstatement of Bush-era torture policies, we embark on a two-week exploration of the philosophy of war. We follow the story of soldier philosophers, the first generation who served in a large-scale American war since Vietnam,  returning to bring new thinking about the morality of warfare. On this episode, we look at the side-effects of moral decision-making on the soldiers who are asked to carry-out a President's orders.

Episode 2: Moral Exploitation (Released Jan. 31, 2017)

Major Ian Fishback discusses the frustrations he faced with the military hierarchy and commander-selection process, and talks about the lessons he imparted to his cadets from his wartime experiences. He then turns to an on-the-ground analysis concerning the origins of ISIS coming from the last days of his deployment.

Episode 3: (Bonus) Yes men, Presidential Administrations, and ISIS.

For some reason, when people kill others in wars, we do not judge them morally and legally in the same way as we judge them when they kill in civilian life. Is there a justification for this difference, or is it only a convenient myth? We go to West Point to see what soldiers themselves think and teach about the morality of killing in war. Just as the US winds down two major unconventional wars, philosophers, including many soldier philosophers, are trying to revise hundreds of years of thinking about the morality of warfare. Guest voices include Ian Fishback, Jeff McMahan, Helen Frowe, Steve Woodside, Graham Parsons, Scott Parsons, Courtney Morris, Timothy Leone, and Saythala Phonexyaphova.

Episode 3: The Morality of War (Released Feb. 7th, 2017)

With a small gesture of good will toward Syrian refugees, one woman incurred the wrath of evangelical Christians on social media. The resulting chaos helped write the next chapter in a thousand year-old controversy concerning Christianity, Islam, their shared origins, and the nature of God. Guest voices include Larycia Hawkins, Michael Mangis, Karly Bothman, Paul Griffiths, and Amir Hussain.

Episode 4: The Name of God (Released Feb. 14, 2017)

Barry sits down with Steve Stein to talk through the entire Lesson 1 and Lesson 4 mixes from 1983 and 1986.

Episode 5: (Bonus) Steinski's Lesson 1 and Lesson 4

Hi-Phi Nation is a philosophy podcast that turns stories into ideas. We begin with a story, from ordinary life, law, science, or culture, and then transform it into an examination of philosophical ideas.

Episode 5: (Bonus) Steinski's Lesson 1 and Lesson 4

HiPhiNation