We discuss the biggest questions: "what's real?", "who matters?" and "how to make a better world?" with scientists, celebrities, activists, writers and philosophers. The Sentientism worldview is "evidence, reason and compassion for all sentient beings." It's a simple, yet radical, philosophy that's grounded in reality (naturalistic epistemology) and has compassion for all sentient beings (mostly human and non-human animals). Naturalism & sentiocentrism combined.
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcast | Website | Spotify | RSS
Philip is a writer from Aotearoa New Zealand, of Pākehā (NZ European) & Māori (Ngāi Tahu) descent. He is a PhD candidate at the Uni of Sydney, affiliated with the Sydney Environment Institute. He holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy from The Uni of Auckland & diplomas in te reo Māori (the Māori language) from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Philip has written for publications such as the Guardian, Newsroom, & Takahē. His book, Love Notes: for a Politics of Love, is published by Lantern Books. In 2018, he co-organised ‘The Politics of Love: A Conference’ at All Souls College, Oxford. Philip was also kaiwhakatipu (editor) of He Ika Haehae Kupenga.
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.” The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.
We discuss:
00:00 Welcome
01:54 Philip’s Intro
– Writing on animals, Maori issues & “The Politics of Love”
03:10 What’s Real?
– Neither parent very religious so grew up agnostic?
– Anglican Christian high school
– Sermons talked more about love than god
– Confirmed at 14 yrs… “ridiculous… what do 14 yr olds know?”
– “A lot of the metaphysical background was smuggled in”
– Anglicanism to comparative religion to philosophy
– Turning from metaphysical to normative/ethics/politics
– “The final nature of reality is unknowable to us & we just have to proceed on our senses”
– Albert Camus
– The risk of being distracted by esoteric philosophical questions… instead “We need to be engaged in work that tried to bring about a better world in the light of obvious suffering”
– “I do believe there is something transcendent that is true… spiritual… love”
– “Communing with the spiritual… but through a critical filter”
– “Prophets of love… Martin Luther King Jr & Te Whiti O Rongomai”
– God, purpose, meaning, spirit, love… “Our attempts to name it… project our own interpretations on to it… prevent us from fully understanding…”
– Ethical risks from religious or spiritual epistemologies (unchallengeable, unknowable, incommunicable, obedience, higher purposes, constrained/conditional compassion)
– Old, new testaments, “what would the next step be?… Something like love?… a more mature ethical outlook.”
– Is something missing from a purely naturalistic ethics? “Not necessarily… we should & can find reasons for acting in a loving way independently from this spirituality I have described.”
26:30 What Matters?
– “I understand ethics in relation to love & relationship”
– Constructing & affirming the morality we want to see in the world
– “We are living in an absurd world… we need to determine & assert our own values… try to act lovingly”
…and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info.
Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our “I’m a Sentientist” wall via this simple form.
Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!
Thanks Graham.
Ana Bradley is Executive Director of Sentient Media. Sentient Media is a non-profit journalism outlet aimed at making transparent the suffering that goes on in our food systems and inspiring readers to think more about the implications of what we …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 30 June 2022
Tom Cledwyn describes himself as the “chief emailer” at Drop Dead Generous (he’s actually the co-founder). Inspired by Chris Anderson’s (of TED) book, “Infectious Generosity”, Tom and his co-founder John Sweeney set up DDG as an experiment in sparking creative, …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 21 September 2025
Jack Waverley is a senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Manchester. He uses marketing and consumer research to protect and promote the interests of all animals, including humans. Jack teaches on a range of BSc and MSc courses …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 6 September 2025
