Why We Should (Not?) Think About Weird Things

In this episode, Megan and Frank reflect on the mission of Philosophy on the Fringes. Why think about "fringe" topics, such as near-death experiences, aliens, and past life memories? Are these topics any weirder than what passes for respectable in mainstream academic philosophy? And most important, does taking fringe topics seriously make one a crank? 

To investigate some of these questions, this episode contains a guest interview with Dr. Joshua Blanchard (Oakland University). Dr. Blanchard joins the podcast to discuss the "problem of unwelcome epistemic company", the problem of finding yourself in agreement with some morally or intellectually suspect sources.

Hosts' Websites:

Megan J Fritts (google.com)

Frank J. Cabrera (google.com)

Email: philosophyonthefringes@gmail.com

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Bibliography:

From Aliens to Bigfoot: A Philosopher's Guide to the Strange Audiobook by Frank Cabrera, Megan Fritts, The Great Courses

Joshua Blanchard, The Problem of Unwelcome Epistemic Company

Neil Levy, When Is Company Unwelcome?

Adam Piovarchy, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Ignore Unwelcome Epistemic Company

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Cover Artwork by Logan Fritts

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Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/simon-folwar/neon-signs

License code: JY4SF4CQFTHS951X