Luke (lukeroelofs.com & Majestic Equality) is a philosopher of mind at the Centre for Mind, Brain & Consciousness at New York University. Although Luke works primarily on philosophy of mind & metaphysics, their areas of interest include ethics, social & political philosophy, early modern philosophy and philosophy of gender & sexuality. Their book, "Reason, Empathy, and the Minds of Others" is under contract with Oxford University Press.
In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”
Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." As well as the video above the audio is on our Podcast here on Apple and here on the other platforms.
We discuss:
0:00 Welcome
1:32 Luke's Intro - Philosophy of Mind

Linking epistemology (how can we know) and ethics
Empathy
Consciousness as "the state that we're in whenever we're aware of anything… and any possible variation… of states like that"

3:41 What's Real?

Growing up fairly non-religious, but not anti-religious
Talking to "modern" Christians who focused on "the spirit of Jesus' ethos"
Seeking out more forthright religious perspectives
Being a fairly convinced atheist since 14 yrs
"There's very little evidential weight in the specific claims of religious revelation"
The idea the universe was contrived by a benevolent being… doesn't seem supported by the very morally mixed character of existence
"The great majority of existence is neither good nor bad - it's just dust in space"
Mysterious ways & ineffability
Theodicies as reminiscent of the excuses humans make for abuse
The "Just World" bias leads us to make excuses for suffering
Faith as belief without evidence or faith as trust in & loyalty to your group

14:00 What (and Who) Matters?

Going vegan at 13-14 to spite an annoying person who pointed out the logical inconsistency of being vegetarian
"Fine… just to spite you I'm going to be vegan"

... and much more. Full show notes on Sentientism.info.
Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at sentientism.info. Join Luke on our "I'm a Sentientist" wall using this simple form.
Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us!
Thanks Graham for the post-production.