Episode 220 :: Massimo Pigliucci :: Secular Buddhism and Neo Stoicism

By Ted Meissner | March 21, 2015

Massimo Pigliucci Science philosopher Massimo Pigliucci joins us to speak about his experiences with stoicism, and we discuss some similarities with secular Buddhism. Hi, everyone. Before we get started with today’s episode, I want to remind the listeners that we’ve started a new podcast which may also interest you. It’s called Present Moment: Mindfulness Practice…

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On Conventional and Ultimate Truth

By Doug Smith | March 12, 2015

One of the most famous Buddhist tropes is the distinction between “conventional truth” and “ultimate truth”. While these terms never appear in the Nikāyas, and so cannot be traced back to the Buddha himself, they do trace to the abhidhamma period, perhaps as a potential explanation for the copious and problematic use of “self” talk…

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Escaping Dispute

By Doug Smith | March 5, 2015

The Gratification of Dispute How often do you engage in disputes over your views and opinions? Dispute and argument are an integral part of many secular philosophies, maybe even their most prized practice. Science itself functions around the adversarial methods of dispute, debate, and peer review. The difference between “natural philosophy” and what we consider the science of today…

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