Bad Philosophy

At any given moment thousands of people around the world are praying (and since it’s Easter today you can probably tack a few more zeroes onto that estimate). Whether it’s praying for the destruction of sinful local businesses or just a little tsunami from God to show the world He’s still awake at the control board, people pray for stuff constantly. But there are a few philosophical problems with this practice, beyond the fact that it feels really, really good for some reason. Here to take us through these conundrums are the venerable Dr. Mark Webb from good ol’ Texas Tech University, alongside the indomitable Kiki Canon. Careful what you pray for! Have a listen…

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This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “Gambler’s Prayer” by Jonathan Coulton

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Aperture Science, ASMR, Buddha, Buddhism, Catholicism, Christianity, consequentialism, deontology, Dr. Webb, Eleanor Stump, existentialism, God, harm, incest, Islam, J. Crew, Jeopardy!, Judaism, Kiki, Leisure Suit Larry, mantra, meditation, memes, nature, nurture, personality, philosophy of religion, placebo effect, prayer, problem of petitionary prayer, religion, Repent Amarillo, Richard Dawkins, science, Socrates, Stephen, synesthesia, Texas Tech University, The Daily Show, worship, Zagzebsky