Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Moral Minority is a podcast on moral philosophy and the problem of moral foundations. Why does morality matter? What grounds the moral principles to which we appeal when making judgments about right and wrong, justice and injustice? Do we have good grounds for making the judgments we do make–in our everyday lives, our relationships, our work, or in politics? And if not, where does that leave us?Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ moral philosophy foundations • normativity and moral judgment • existentialism and phenomenology (Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Sartre) • metaethics, virtue ethics, moral responsibility • Marxism/critical theory, fascism, antisemitism • ethics–aesthetics in literature, film, mediaThis podcast explores moral philosophy with a recurring focus on the “problem of moral foundations”: why moral claims matter, what (if anything) justifies them, and how moral concepts function in everyday life and in political conflict. Across episodes, the hosts and guests treat morality not only as a set of rules but as a web of commitments shaped by history, social practices, and competing accounts of human agency and flourishing. A persistent question is what becomes of ethical judgment when older sources of authority—religious, metaphysical, or supposedly self-evident norms—are challenged or no longer persuasive.
A significant portion of the show is devoted to close readings of major works in modern philosophy and social theory. Existentialism and phenomenology appear as resources for thinking about selfhood, freedom, responsibility, and how our relations with other people—being seen, evaluated, and socially situated—shape moral experience. Other discussions examine how Enlightenment ideals of reason and progress can entangle with domination, conformity, and modern forms of rationalized control, including analyses of fascism and antisemitism. The show also engages debates within Marxism and critical theory about ideology, culture, class struggle, and the relationship between theory and political practice, alongside attempts to articulate the normative or ethical dimensions of Marx’s project.
The podcast regularly bridges philosophy with literature, film, and criticism, using novels, autobiographical writing, poetry, and avant-garde cinema to examine ethical life, aesthetic form, and political sensibility. These conversations treat artistic genres and interpretive methods as carrying implicit moral and social assumptions, and they investigate how mass media and cultural production influence attention, desire, and dissent. Along the way, listeners encounter metaethical questions about objectivity, realism, and the rational grounding of moral obligation, as well as broader inquiries into responsibility, luck, vocation, and the meaning of moral seriousness in modernity.
| Episodes: |
|
Contemporary Conversations: Jonathan B. Fine on Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and the German Enlightenment 2026-Feb-06 90 minutes |
|
Nota Bene: The Moral Passion of David Foster Wallace's The Pale King with Hannah Smart Episode 2026-Jan-09 99 minutes |
|
Contemporary Conversations: Eleanor Russell on Simone Weil's Gravity & Grace 2026-Jan-01 91 minutes |
|
Contemporary Conversations: A.V. Marraccini on Susan Sontag’s Fascinating Fascism & Notes on Camp 2025-Nov-20 123 minutes |
|
Content of the Form: Grace Byron on Annie Ernaux’s The Years & Herculine 2025-Nov-05 68 minutes |
|
Moral of the Story: Sebastian Castillo on Fresh, Green Life 2025-Oct-28 65 minutes |
|
Contemporary Conversations: Ross Wolfe on Domenico Losurdo's Neo-Stalinist Revival and the Future of Marxism 2025-Oct-22 112 minutes |
|
Contemporary Conversations: Alina Stefanescu on Derrida's The Politics of Friendship and My Heresies 2025-Jul-04 116 minutes |
|
Being & Nothingness, Part 2 2025-May-10 137 minutes |
|
Nota Bene: The Metaphysics and Moral Vision of David Lynch with Jon Repetti 2025-Apr-02 163 minutes |
|
Contemporary Conversations: Matt McManus on The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism 2024-Dec-24 85 minutes |
|
Contemporary Conversations: Ryan Ruby on Fredric Jameson's The Political Unconscious and Context Collapse 2024-Nov-28 121 minutes |
|
Being & Nothingness, Part 1 2024-Nov-23 101 minutes |
|
Repetition 2024-Sep-27 93 minutes |
|
Contemporary Conversations: Vanessa Christina Wills on Marx's Ethical Vision 2024-Sep-10 119 minutes |
|
Fear and Trembling 2024-Aug-22 104 minutes |
|
Dialectic of Enlightenment, Part 3: The Culture Industry 2024-Jul-22 104 minutes |
|
Dialectic of Enlightenment, Part 2 2024-Jun-19 89 minutes |
|
Dialectic of Enlightenment, Part 1 2024-May-14 75 minutes |
|
Vocation Lectures 2024-Apr-04 83 minutes |
|
Shame & Necessity 2024-Mar-09 75 minutes |
|
Sources of Normativity 2024-Feb-26 74 minutes |
|
After Virtue 2024-Feb-18 88 minutes |
|
Moral Realism 2024-Feb-06 86 minutes |
Dawn2024-Jan-30 95 minutes |