Can ethics, literature, and storytelling offer knowledge as vital and grounded as scientific facts? What do we lose when we believe that only science reveals what is real, and how can re-centering the humanities shift our understanding of what it means to be human?

Our guest today is Dr. Rachael Wiseman, a British philosopher and Reader in Philosophy at the University of Liverpool. Known for her work in ethics, philosophy of mind, and 20th-century analytic philosophy, Rachael is a leading voice in advocating for the inclusion of overlooked thinkers—particularly women—in philosophical discourse. She co-authored Metaphysical Animals and spearheaded the "Women in Parentheses" project, which celebrates the profound contributions of Elizabeth Anscombe, Iris Murdoch, Philippa Foot, and Mary Midgley.

In this episode, Rachael helps us unpack deep tensions between scientism and the humanities. We explore the dominance of reductionist thinking in contemporary culture and ask what gets excluded when human experience is understood solely through material or scientific frameworks. She introduces concepts like “imaginative attention” and explains Iris Murdoch’s distinction between fantasy and true imagination—urging us to turn our minds outward rather than inward. Together, we navigate how literature and philosophy can illuminate truths that scientific methods cannot capture, such as the meaning of courage, the value of belief, or the reality of other people’s inner lives.

This dialogue is a rich invitation to reimagine how we learn, perceive, and build knowledge—not only in classrooms, but in our daily lives. Rachael's reflections challenge us to reconsider where truth lives, and how our culture might change if we allowed art and ethics to guide our pursuit of meaning alongside science.