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David Edmonds interviews leading philosophers about moral issues that affect us 24/7.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ applied moral philosophy interviews • responsibility, justice, autonomy in healthcare • discrimination, microaggressions, lookism • privacy, surveillance, AI/robots • democracy, citizenship, reparations • human–animal ethics • love, meaning, aggressionThis podcast features interviews with prominent philosophers about everyday moral and political questions—issues that arise “24/7” in contemporary life. Across the conversations, the show uses philosophical tools to clarify concepts, examine competing values, and test arguments about what we owe to others and how societies should be organised.
A major theme is responsibility: how blame, credit, and obligation should be assigned in contexts such as health and healthcare, lifestyle-related illness, addiction, effort, and justice. Related discussions explore autonomy and paternalism in public health, as well as the role of personal conscience in professional duties, especially in medicine. The podcast also repeatedly returns to questions of fairness and discrimination, including subtle or indirect forms, microaggressions, appearance-based bias, profiling, and how social standards (for instance around beauty) shape harms and expectations.
Political philosophy and civic life are another core focus. Episodes probe why democratic societies fracture over “facts,” what can sustain or undermine democracy, and when political unrest or rioting might be justified. The boundaries of political membership are examined through issues like immigration, citizenship tests, and who counts as part of the community, alongside broader debates about human rights, reparations for historical injustice, class privilege, and the morality of debt.
The show also engages with technology and the future: privacy in an era of pervasive data collection, automation and the prospect of a world with less work, and the ethical and social implications of increasingly capable AI—ranging from responsibility and punishment to “superintelligence.” Bioethics and human enhancement appear through questions about genetic modification, as do ethical issues around animals, cooperation in evolution, and what it means to relate responsibly to non-human creatures.
Interpersonal life is treated philosophically too, including love, attraction, passive aggression, and the psychology of disagreement and intellectual arrogance. Overall, the podcast connects abstract ethical theory to practical dilemmas involving conflict, culture, tradition, and rapid social change.
