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 Thursday evenings. Below are the episodes upcoming this week. I hope that you join us! More upcoming episodes can be found here: Episodes on Tap.

Sunday morning, 23 November 2014: Q&A on Veganism and Vegetarianism, Courage, Ungrateful People, and More

I'll answer these questions on the live broadcast of Philosophy in Action Radio on Sunday morning, 23 November 2014.

• Question 1: The Moral Arguments for Veganism and Vegetarianism: Are the moral arguments for veganism (and vegetarianism) rational? People often argue for vegetarianism on the grounds that a person can (and perhaps should) regard the lives of animals to be a higher value than the advantages to eating meat such as taste or nutrition. Is this a rational moral outlook, consistent with rational egoism?
• Question 2: Courage as a Struggle Against Fear: Does the virtue of courage require struggling against the temptation to succumb to fear? In your September 16th show, you argued that "it is far better for a person to cultivate a virtuous moral character so that right actions are easy for him, rather than constantly struggling against temptation." How does this apply to the virtue of courage? The common understanding of courage is that it requires acting rightly in spite of fear. So the courageous person struggles to do the right thing in face of the temptation to retreat in fear. Is this a correct formulation? If so, wouldn't that mean that a courageous person must constantly struggle against fear, not overcome it? If this view of courage is wrong, how would you define the virtue and its relation to fear?
• Question 3: Ungrateful People: Why aren't people grateful for what others do for them? I volunteer a lot, and I try to be very generous with my time and efforts in the groups that I'm involved with. Mostly, I just want people to express thanks and gratitude for what I've done for them. Mostly though, they don't thank me – or their thanks just seem perfunctory. Why is that? Am I wrong to want a little gratitude? Right now, I feel taken advantage of, and I want to tell everyone to go to hell. Is that wrong?

The live broadcast begins at 8 am PT / 9 MT / 10 CT / 11 ET on Sunday, 23 November 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 podcast archives, sorted by date or by topic. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast RSS feed too.

19 November 2014: Podcast on "The Cultivation of Character"

I podcast on "The Cultivation of Character" on Wednesday's Philosophy in Action Radio:

"In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle speaks of cultivating virtues by repeatedly doing certain actions in certain ways. However, he never clearly explains the relationship between a person's thoughts, emotions, actions, and character. So, we must ask: What is character? How is a person's character formed? And what is the role of character in a person's life? This lecture draws on my dissertation, now published as Responsibility & Luck: A Defense of Praise and Blame, to answer these criticial practical questions of ethics. This lecture was originally given at SnowCon in March 2011, then re-recorded in April 2011."

You can listen to or download the podcast below, and visit the episode's page for more.

• Duration: 1:09:35
• Tags: Aristotle, Character, Emotions, Ethics, Free Will, Moral Habits, Rationality, Virtues

20 November 2014: Podcast on "Ayn Rand's Philosophy: Myth Versus Reality"

I podcast on "Ayn Rand's Philosophy: Myth Versus Reality" on Thursday's Philosophy in Action Radio:

"What are some common confusions about Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism? In this talk, I briefly survey Ayn Rand's basic principles, then explore six common but false views about her, namely: (1) Ayn Rand was primarily concerned with politics. (2) Ayn Rand was an elitist: she despised everyone except super-high achievers. (3) Ayn Rand's ethics tells people to do whatever the heck they feel like doing. (4) Ayn Rand supported charity: she just thought it should be voluntary. (5) Ayn Rand's advocacy of reason and logic excludes any concern for emotions. (6) Ayn Rand's ideas are compatible with belief in God and Christianity. This talk was given to the Free Minds Film Festival on 8 October 2011."

You can listen to or download the podcast below, and visit the episode's page for more.

• Duration: 46:52
• Tags: Charity, Christianity, Elitism, Epistemology, Ethics, Hedonism, Metaphysics, Objectivism, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Subjectivism

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.

• November 19: Preview: Sunday Radio: Veganism and Vegetarianism, Courage, Ungrateful People, and More
• November 20: Pink: Acrobatics

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