Ethical Theory Review

19/08/2024

New Podcast Episode on blame, reactive attitudes, and AI with Pamela Hieronymi! Should we blame AI computer systems when they cause harm or unjust outcomes? Does it depend on whether AIs have free will or exhibit morally responsible agency -- whatever it is that makes adults like you and me blame-worthy in ways that babies or animals are not? In ⁠⁠"The Point of Blaming AI Systems⁠⁠" Altehenger and Menges give a case for blaming AI *regardless* of whether AIs are blameworthy. We discuss their argument and counter-arguments.

Should we blame AI computer systems when they cause harm or unjust outcomes? Does it depend on whether AIs have free will or exhibit morally responsible agency -- whatever it is that makes adults like you and me blame-worthy in ways that babies or animals are not? In ⁠"The Point of Blaming AI Syst...

28/05/2024

New Podcast on Fanaticism is out! I discuss fanaticism, devotion, and nihilism with⁠⁠ Paul Katsafanas⁠⁠ of Boston University. We start out from Heather Battaly's argument that fanaticism can be a good thing (in her "⁠Can Fanaticism be a Liberatory Virtue?⁠"). Thanks for the fun dicussion Paul!

Discussion of fanaticism, devotion, and nihilism with⁠ Paul Katsafanas⁠ of Boston University. When someone becomes a fanatic about their worldview is that always a bad thing? Should fanatics moderate themselves to become better and more civil? Or is fanaticism sometimes a good thing, as Heather ...

07/05/2024

Is there a moral obligation to go vegan? Tristram McPherson (Ohio State) and I discuss, with a focus on "Ethical Veganism and Free-riding" by Barrett and Raskoff. Link to article in comments!

Interviews with authors of recent books in ethics and practical philosophy. More information at https://www.ethicaltheoryreview.com

04/05/2024

Are we morally obligated to go Vegan? Podcast discussion of a new article arguing yes coming next week! In a new format I focus on an article with an expert (not the author). For those interested in the ethics of eating meat, here is the article I discuss with Tristram McPherson:

https://jesp.org/index.php/jesp/article/view/2334/407 #:~:text=In%20other%20words%2C%20it%20implies,one%20cares%20about%20animal%20suffering.

05/04/2022

Are our emotional reactions natural or malleable? Which moral emotions are useful in our increasingly secular and multi-cultural environment? What kinds of anger should we give up? Does shame get a bad wrap? https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-do-things-with-emotions-owen-flanagan/id1511817839

‎Show Ethical Theory Review, Ep How to Do Things with Emotions: Owen Flanagan - Apr 5, 2022

15/03/2022

What different views on human nature inform ethical theory in the Confucian tradition? What kinds of rituals do Confucians think we need to engage in to achieve flourishing lives or high levels of well-being? What kinds of rituals today might be inhibiting our flourishing and moral growth?

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/confucianism-morality-and-well-being/id1511817839?i=1000554146618

https://anchor.fm/ethical-theory/episodes/Confucianism--Morality--and-Well-being-e1fp9n9

‎Show Ethical Theory Review, Ep Confucianism, Morality, and Well-being - Mar 15, 2022

16/02/2022

If you conceive a child with a donated egg or s***m (gamete), are you morally required to tell the child how they were conceived? Do children need knowledge of their genetic parents to develop a healthy self-understanding or identity? Or is the desire for such genetic knowledge a reflection of morally suspect cultural norms?
--Interview with Daniel Groll about his new book Conceiving People (OUP, 2021).

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ethics-of-gamete-donation-and-the/id1511817839?i=1000551328993

https://anchor.fm/ethical-theory/episodes/Ethics-of-Gamete-Donation-and-the-Value-of-Genetic-Knowledge-e1egc44

‎Show Ethical Theory Review, Ep Ethics of Gamete Donation and the Value of Genetic Knowledge - Feb 16, 2022

01/02/2022

What is Cornel West's Prophetic Pragmatism? How can we be honest about the legacy of racism in the USA and not lose hope? What role can and should philosophers play in promoting progress and democratic values? Interview with Brad Elliott Stone and Jacob Goodson about their book Introducing Prophetic Pragmatism.
https://anchor.fm/ethical-theory/episodes/Prophetic-Pragmatism-Cornel-West--Hope--and-the-Philosophy-of-Race-e1d31p8

What is Cornel West's Prophetic Pragmatism? How can we be honest about the legacy of racism in the USA and not lose hope? What role can and should philosophers play in promoting progress and democratic values? Interview with Brad Elliott Stone and Jacob Goodson about their book Introducing Prophetic...

15/01/2022

Finally restarted my podcast! More episodes to come regularly this spring. This one is with Michael Cholbi discussing his excellent new book on Grief

https://anchor.fm/ethical-theory/episodes/Grief-A-Philosophic-Guide-e1ctkqs

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780691201795

For whom do we grieve? When we grieve, what are we grieving about? Is there any benefit we should aim to get from grieving? Is grieving sometimes morally required? And what additional questions about grief are philosophers exploring? -- Interview with Michael Cholbi about these questions and his new...

21/04/2021

Listen to Pamela Hieronymi share some of the insights and creative, interesting ideas in her book Freedom, Resentment, and the Metaphysics of Morals!

And thanks so much to David Tamez for his hard work editing and providing a good new intro!!

https://anchor.fm/ethical-theory/episodes/Freedom--Resentment--and-the-Metaphysics-of-Morals-evbmos

Would the discovery that determinism is true undermine moral responsibility? Should it? In this episode I interview Pamela Hieronymi about her new book Freedom, Resentment, and the Metaphysics of Morals, which offers a new interpretation of P.F. Strawson's influential argument that the discovery of....

08/07/2020

Episode 2 is out! Is religion needed for moral and human development? I discuss German enlightenment debates about this with Jennifer Herdt (Yale Divinity).

https://anchor.fm/ethical-theory/episodes/Religion-and-Human-Development-Jennifer-Herdt-egfmsd

Humanists argue that there is something special about human beings and that to live well we must grow up, overcome our childish and brutish temptations, and become fully human. Secular Enlightenment humanists think this is something human beings can and should try to pull off on their own – throug...

14/05/2020

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