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Examining Ethics is an ethics podcast produced by The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University. Everybody wrestles with questions about ethics. Some of those questions are easy to figure out. Should I murder someone? No! But other questions are more difficult to answer. Examining Ethics doesn’t provide answers to these ethical dilemmas, but instead leaves listeners with tools and ideas from some of the biggest names in moral philosophy and ethics. Academic philosophy and ethics can sometimes be difficult to understand, and our accessible, open-minded content bridges the gap between scholars and everyone else. Examining Ethics is hosted and produced by Christiane Wisehart.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ moral philosophy tools • applied ethics dilemmas • rules, discretion, obedience • democracy, civic life, disobedience • technology bias, transparency, trust, misinformation • climate justice, wildlife, environment • race, gender, disability, immigration, reproductive justice • emotion, forgiveness, offense, swearing, comedy • philanthropy, giving, care, institutions • ethics education, ethics bowlThis podcast explores ethical questions through conversations with philosophers, scholars, and practitioners, aiming to make academic ideas in moral philosophy accessible to a general audience. Across the episodes, the show uses real-world dilemmas as entry points for examining how people reason about right and wrong, what we owe to others, and how moral ideals collide with messy social realities. Rather than presenting definitive solutions, it emphasizes concepts and frameworks—such as discretion versus rule-following, accountability, and the role of moral psychology in shaping judgment.
A major theme is ethics in public life: democracy and deliberation, civic trust, the impact of philanthropy, the moral dimensions of lawbreaking in unjust societies, and institutional questions about care, justice, and victims’ rights. The podcast also considers technology and contemporary information environments, including algorithmic bias, surveillance and transparency, misinformation, and the kinds of trust people place in tools and systems.
Many episodes address identity, power, and social justice, engaging topics like race, whiteness, colonialism, reproductive justice, disability, gender norms, and immigration. Environmental ethics and climate justice recur as well, including questions about personal demandingness, collective responsibility, and the moral status of nonhuman animals and other beings.
Alongside these societal concerns, the show examines interpersonal and everyday moral life—offense, forgiveness, swearing, humor, attention and rumination, and the ethical significance of negative emotions. It also highlights ethics education and how philosophical practice can be cultivated in classrooms and public-facing activities.