Philosophy Weekend: News from Philosophy in Action

Every Saturday, I post the news of the week from my primary work, Philosophy in Action, where I apply rational principles to the challenges of real life. Here's this week's update.

Upcoming Radio Shows

Philosophy in Action Radio broadcasts live over the internet on most Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Below are the episodes upcoming this week. I hope that you join us! More upcoming episodes can be found here: Episodes on Tap.

Thursday evening, 6 February 2014: Q&A on Feeling Unproductive, Horror Movies, and More

I'll answer these four questions on the live broadcast of Philosophy in Action Radio on Thursday evening, 6 February 2014.

• Question 1: Feeling Unproductive: How can I overcome feeling like a slacker? I am a very productive person, with multiple projects going on simultaneously, both personal and professional. Generally, I handle juggling things pretty well, and accomplish quite a bit. I can usually attain most of my goals, and I like that about myself. (I'm also a pretty ambitious person so I have many big goals.) However, I also often feel like a complete slacker. I can see all of the things I accomplish, but I often feel like I could be doing more--one more thing, one more project. Sometimes, when I look at the things I've accomplished, all I can see are the things I wasn't able to do and it can be easy to feel defeated and negative about that. How can I reconcile the gap here? How can I get better at feeling the sense of accomplishment I think I should--and deserve--to feel? Do you have any ideas for getting rid of this mantle of slackerness I've saddled myself with – unfairly, I think? I've been making some changes that have helped, such as writing down my accomplishments each day, but I'm looking for more ideas.
• Question 2: The Value of Horror Movies: Do horror movies or books have any redeeming value? In The Romantic Manifesto, Ayn Rand argued that horror was the worst genre of art, "belonging more to psychopathology than to esthetics." Is that right? Might a rational person find some value in a horror film or book? Don't some horror movies have heroic characters – such as Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator?

The live broadcast begins at 6 pm PT / 7 MT / 8 CT / 9 ET on Thursday, 6 February 2014. The podcast will be posted later that day. For more details, check out the episode page.

Recent Podcasts

The podcasts of last week's radio shows are now available. Check out the full collection of past radio shows in the archives, sorted by date or by topic. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast RSS feed too.

28 January 2014: Q&A on Virtues as Duties, Indecision, Sharia Finance, and More

I answered these questions on Tuesday's Philosophy in Action Radio:

What's wrong with thinking about the virtues as duties? How can I overcome my paralyzing indecision? Should financial companies be permitted to offer financial products consistent with sharia law?

You can listen to or download the podcast below, and visit the episode's page for more, including audio files for individual questions.

• Duration: 1:03:26
• Download: Enhanced M4A File (22.8 MB) or Standard MP3 File (21.8 MB)
• Tags: Business, Context, Decision-Making, Deliberation, Duty, Duty Ethics, Emotions, Ethics, Finance, Islam, Law, Meta-Ethics, Motivation, Personality, Psychology, Purpose, Religion, Values, Virtue

Recent Blog Posts

Here are last week's posts to Philosophy in Action's blog NoodleFood, ordered from oldest to newest. Don't miss a post: subscribe to NoodleFood's RSS Feed.

• January 25: Lila Versus the Trailer
• January 27: Activism Recap
• January 29: Paul Hsieh Forbes Column: How ObamaCare Creates Ethical Conflicts For Physicians
• January 29: NoodleCast #268: Virtues as Duties, Indecision, Sharia Finance, and More

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