Ethics and absolutes in the classroom

FromPhilosopher's Zone

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Ethics and absolutes in the classroom

FromPhilosopher's Zone

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25 minutes

Released:

Aug 19, 2018

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Podcast episode

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The trouble with morality is that reasonable people keep disagreeing on what’s right and wrong. The science, as they say, isn’t settled. So that being the case, how can we argue for fixed moral standards to which everyone should sign up? And how should we introduce kids to this vexed field of inquiry?

Released:

Aug 19, 2018

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

The simplest questions often have the most complex answers. The Philosopher's Zone is your guide through the strange thickets of logic, metaphysics and ethics.

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Animals and the philosophy of friendship: Some of our best friends are animals. So where does that leave some humans we know? by Philosopher's Zone
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Autonomy, self, and substances: Substance abuse lets you say ‘it wasn’t me’. Then who was it? by Philosopher's Zone
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Fuelling free will: Alfred Mele spent four years and four million dollars trying to get to the bottom of free will. He learnt that it was like petrol. by Philosopher's Zone
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Envy has its reasons: One of the seven deadly sins—which is sometimes excusable. by Philosopher's Zone
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Robot dogs dream of consciousness: What makes the human mind so distinctive? Perhaps the answer is in your dreams. by Philosopher's Zone
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Getting stuck: The midlife mess: Your midlife crisis: it’s more than you think. by Philosopher's Zone
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Ethics and absolutes in the classroom: The trouble with morality is that reasonable people keep disagreeing on what’s right and wrong. The science, as they say, isn’t settled. So that being the case, how can we argue for fixed moral standards to which everyone should sign up? And how should we by Philosopher's Zone
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Bots, bankers and big brother: Would you trust a killer robot more than a banker? This philosopher does, and has his reasons. by Philosopher's Zone
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Parental guidance recommended: The nature of Family could be more than a Christmas puzzle. by Philosopher's Zone
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Stones rolling and the joy of ordinary objects: The structure of the universe is written in stone—maybe. by Philosopher's Zone
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African philosophy and the West: How do you articulate African philosophy in a Western academic environment? And what gets lost in the project of “translating” the former into the categories of the latter? by Philosopher's Zone
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On the way: John Kaag is a philosopher who travelled to the Swiss Alps with the aim of putting into practice some of Nietzsche's recommendations for "becoming who you are". In his memoir Hiking With Nietzsche, what he finds is that following in the footsteps of the g by Philosopher's Zone
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The Reformation: What's not to like?: Is it just a coincidence that the five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation falls on the same year that Britain is trying to 'Brexit'? by Philosopher's Zone
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Existentialism and crisis: Existentialism entered the popular consciousness after World War 2, and for many it still has a mid-century ring to it. But how does it look look today, especially in an age where the unfolding environmental crisis calls for something more than radical hu by Philosopher's Zone
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Martin Luther King: political philosopher: We don’t routinely think of political figures as philosophers, but when but comes to Martin Luther King maybe we should. King was a deep thinker with a remarkably coherent vision of the moral life and a bracing take on some of the fundamental questions of political philosophy. by Philosopher's Zone
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Proof and beauty: Mathematicians routinely refer to complex proofs in aesthetic terms, citing their 'elegance' or 'beauty'. This has partly to do with the social aspect of such proofs—far from being a hermetic or exclusively cerebral practice, mathematics has never strayed by Philosopher's Zone
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A tale of two universes: Philosophy and modern physics: a case of the irrelevant versus the impractical? by Philosopher's Zone
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Carlo Rovelli and his quantum problem: Carlo Rovelli on the desperate need for some conceptual engineering to dig quantum thinking out of a deep black hole. by Philosopher's Zone
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The freedom of the City: May 1968 was a watershed moment in political philosophy, and we follow the long trajectory of that time via the work of pioneering feminist Luce Irigaray, through to the 'New Municipalism' that’s transforming the political and social landscapes of cities today. by Philosopher's Zone
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Devotion, democracy and Duterte: Is religious language incompatible with democratic politics, as philosopher Richard Rorty believed? Not in the Philippines, where religion and democracy are working together as close allies—with troubling implications for justice and human rights. by Philosopher's Zone
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Enid Blyton—the moral of the story: She might not be in vogue these days, but for one Cambridge philosopher Enid Blyton is serious moral business. by Philosopher's Zone
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The philosophy of parenting—part 4: An authentic life will risk heartbreak for the highs. That sounds like a job description for parenting. Matt Beard presents his final foray into the bewildering modern world of children, parents, and families. by Philosopher's Zone
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Extended minds, predictive processes, and Andy Clark: Andy Clark is a big name in what’s known as embodied and extended cognition. The theory positions the mind beyond the brain. If accurate, his ideas will have radical practical consequences well beyond the philosophy of mind. by Philosopher's Zone
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The philosophy of parenting—part 1: Should you have kids? Don’t look for sage advice—part 1 of a 4-part series. by Philosopher's Zone
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The shadow of eugenics: Eugenics is a science that seems to belong back in the darkest days of the 20th century. But today, 'newgenics' has people worried, as reproductive technologies make it more possible to filter out certain genetic disorders. Does this colour our notion of what constitutes a 'desirable' or 'undesirable' human subject? by Philosopher's Zone
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Rewilding: Most of us feel the itch of the primitive from time to time—to run without shoes, try a paleo diet, or just ditch the smartphone. The primitivist ideal exerts a seductive pull in tech-obsessed contemporary western society, but is the ideal based on a highly questionable set of philosophical assumptions? by Philosopher's Zone
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Thinking small: Understanding the human condition has been the province of many disciplines, but you wouldn’t necessarily expect microbiology to be among them. Think again! by Philosopher's Zone
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The philosophy of parenting—part 2: Brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and those weird second cousins you never talk to… how might we define family—and why it matters. by Philosopher's Zone
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The value of thought experiments: Drop those test tubes, take off your lab coat, pull up a comfy chair and think your way to scientific truth. by Philosopher's Zone
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Guilty or not guilty: Second in a two-part series on Indian philosophy. Buddhism teaches that the self is an illusion—so what do we do with self-conscious emotions like guilt and shame? The answer lies in an ancient series of Indian Buddhist texts: the Abhidharma. by Philosopher's Zone
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The phenomenology of love: There’s a venerable philosophical tradition devoted to explaining what love is, and it stretches back to the ancient Greeks. What philosophy hasn’t had so much to say about is the phenomenology of love – the question of what love feels like. This week we’re getting inside the experience. by Philosopher's Zone
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Ethics and absolutes in the classroom

Ethics and absolutes in the classroom

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from Philosopher's Zone

Related podcast episodes