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Critical Discussions of recent articles in ethics and practical philosophy.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Practical ethics debates • virtue signaling, fanaticism, blame and moral responsibility • AI accountability • veganism and free-riding • moral emotions, grief • Confucian well-being • gamete donation ethics • race, hope, religion, meaningThis podcast features critical discussions of recent work in ethics and practical philosophy, often through interviews with philosophers about journal articles and new books. Across the episodes, the host and guests examine how moral concepts operate in contemporary life and how philosophical theories can clarify everyday ethical conflict, social practices, and public discourse.
A recurring theme is moral responsibility: what it is, what justifies blame, and how practices like resentment and moral appraisal relate to questions about freedom and determinism. These issues are extended into emerging contexts such as harmful outcomes produced by AI systems, where the show explores whether blaming an artificial system makes sense even if it lacks free will or agency in a familiar human sense. Another strand focuses on moral communication and disagreement, including whether labeling others as “virtue signalers” or “grandstanders” undermines moral discourse and can become unfair or unjust.
The podcast also engages with virtue ethics and moral psychology, asking how traits like fanatic devotion, civility, and moral emotions (for example anger, shame, and other reactive attitudes) can be assessed as helpful or harmful in pluralistic societies. Related conversations address what it means to live well and find meaning, including disputes about human nature, the role of spirituality, and whether ethical theories need broader accounts of life’s significance.
Several episodes apply ethical theory to concrete moral problems and social institutions. Topics include obligations surrounding veganism and the wrong of free-riding, as well as reproductive ethics involving gamete donation and the value of genetic knowledge for identity and self-understanding. The show also explores philosophical perspectives on grief, including what grieving is directed at and whether it can be ethically required.
In addition, this podcast incorporates ethical traditions and social philosophy beyond standard contemporary analytic debates, including Confucian approaches to well-being and ritual, and a pragmatist, race-conscious framework for sustaining democratic hope while confronting the history and ongoing reality of racism. Overall, the content emphasizes careful argument, competing views, and how theoretical commitments shape practical moral judgment.
| Episodes: |
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Virtue Signaling, Grandstanding, and Judging Others 2025-Sep-12 64 minutes |
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Should We Blame AI? 2024-Aug-19 45 minutes |
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Fanaticism, Devotion, and Nihilism 2024-May-28 45 minutes |
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Veganism and Free-riding 2024-May-07 42 minutes |
How to Do Things with Emotions: Owen Flanagan2022-Apr-05 55 minutes |
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Confucianism, Morality, and Well-being 2022-Mar-15 63 minutes |
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Ethics of Gamete Donation and the Value of Genetic Knowledge 2022-Feb-16 61 minutes |
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Prophetic Pragmatism: Cornel West, Hope, and the Philosophy of Race 2022-Feb-01 54 minutes |
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Grief: A Philosophic Guide 2022-Jan-13 56 minutes |
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Freedom, Resentment, and the Metaphysics of Morals 2021-Apr-21 67 minutes |
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Religion and Human Development (Jennifer Herdt) 2020-Jul-08 59 minutes |
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Virtue and Meaning -- an Interview with David McPherson 2020-May-05 73 minutes |