<p>Justin Khoo, an associate professor of Philosophy at MIT, begins this episode with the assertion that philosophy asks the most fundamental questions we can possibly articulate—but this assertion is not innocent. Asking the most fundamental questions we can possibly articulate may come at the cost of undermining conceptual, schematic, ideological, and often disciplinary frameworks upon which scientific findings are predicated. Through discussion of code speech, political speech, philosophy of language, aesthetic objects, hypothetical epistemic advantages, and the foundations of our current political (dis)order, this episode draws attention to stubborn frameworks and axioms, not necessarily undermining them, but questioning their validity and utility. </p><p>This episode at times historicizes, allegorizes, analytically analyzes, narrativizes, and outright complains about the objects we're discussing—be it the referents of language or a film or a quote by Trump or the blind-spots of a discipline. The very fact of our discussion of the so-upheld "distinctions" between various methodologies and ideological orientations demonstrates the apparent need for a division among academic disciplines—but why? </p><p>If there's a degree of meta-discourse throughout this episode, it's in reference to our frightening political climate. Parts of the world are literally on fire and yet we pontificate about Trump's contradictions and the subversive strategy of code speech. I want to acknowledge this tension, and optimistically suggest that perhaps exposing contradictions or calling out hypocrisy is a small act of resistance, even if it does project the frame of rationality on completely irrational actions. </p><p><a href="https://www.justinkhoo.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Justin's Website </a></p><p><a href="https://www.3-16am.co.uk/articles/disagreement?c=end-times-archive" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">3am interview </a></p><p><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/le6icmx66muxhhcy5fucl/Judging-PPR-Revised-2-October-2024.pdf?rlkey=hectno9ivyy3rvfzppxvm30qo&e=1&dl=0" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Judging for Ourselves</a></p><p><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/t5e2kmlqzwqz7v7eaz2b7/A-Philosophical-Exploration-of-Coded-Speech.pdf?rlkey=c5vl322tkzg0tdqfipxz5np1w&e=1&dl=0" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Political and Coded Speech </a></p><p><a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/quine/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Willard Van Orman Quine </a>; <a href="https://www.theologie.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:ffffffff-fbd6-1538-0000-000070cf64bc/Quine51.pdf" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Two Dogmas of Empiricism</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_van_Inwagen" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Peter Van Inwagen</a></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/opinion/sunday/trump-truth-and-the-power-of-contradiction.html" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Michael Lynch: Trump, Truth, and the Power of Contradiction</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/12/democracy-and-the-demagogue/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Jason Stanley: Democracy and the Demagogue</a></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/us/politics/trump-third-term-gaza-contradictions.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c&pvid=4D34ED48-7394-4FED-87A9-A1F2CFDA374F" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">‘You Can’t Pin Him Down’: Trump’s Contradictions Are His Ultimate Cover</a><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41329450?seq=1" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"> </a></p><p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41329450?seq=1" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Jennifer Lackey: Acting on Knowledge</a></p><p><a href="https://cowspod.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Justin's podcast: Cows in the Field </a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_Report_(film)" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Minority Report </a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shining_(film)" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">The Shining </a></p><p><br></p><p>Artwork: <a href="https://mishevska.myportfolio.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Maja Mishevska,</a> Brown '27 </p>
