We continue discussing Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, focusing on the relationship between the individual, rational being and the Commonwealth or "World City".   This week we will be approaching the topic from the lens of self-interest.   How does Marcus Aurelius' view of a Commonwealth of rational beings connect with notions of self-interest?  Further, how do Marcus Aurelius' exhortations to rid ourselves of anger and promote tolerance and patience connect with one's self-interest?  These are some of the questions on which we will focus for this week's episode of EthicsTalk.

In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius repeatedly affirms that human beings are both reasonable and social.  And in Book X, Verse 2, he appears to identify a deep connection between aspects of human nature when he claims “what is reasonable is consequently also social”.   In this show, we will explore the meaning of this connection.  What is the nature of relationship between the reasonable and the social?  Do human beings possess the natural capacity for reason to serve the social?  Or are human beings social so that their rational natures can be developed?  Or perhaps the reasonable and the social are inter-entailing and ‘co-dependent’ in some way.  The objective of the show is to gain a better understand Marcus Aurelius’ view of the relationship between the ‘reasonable’ and ‘social’ aspects of human nature and how this facet of Marcus Aurelius’ philosophy connects with his metaphysical views about the nature of the universe and the ‘human commonwealth’

In this show, we sit down with Caitlin Cheevers (President) and Randi Shaffer (Promotional Manager) of the Central Michigan University Chapter of Invisible Children.  Caitlin and Randi will discuss the hugely successful KONY 2012 campaign from the inside.  Our objective is to provide our listeners with a deeper understanding of the Kony 2012 campaign - its overall aims, and the challenges it has faced.  Additionally, both Caitlin and Randi will talk about how this campaign has changed the nature of their leadership positions (both have been working with Invisible Children for a number of years, well before KONY 2012 put Invisible Children on the radars of young people).   If you are intrigued by Invisible Children and the Kony 2012 campaign, tune in!

Article 26(2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that  "Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms".  In this show, we discuss this article, focusing on the "development" clause.  What might "full development of the human personality" look like?" and why is education aimed at "full development" so important as to be classified as a human right?  In order to shed light on some possible answers to these questions, we will turn to Elizabeth Cady Stanton's 1892 address to the U.S. Judiciary, The Solitude of Self.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly as both a response to World War 2 atrocities and a means to "reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person".  In this show, we explore this document by focusing not only on some of its articles, but also by discussing how it connects to global justice and the rule of law.

This week we will continue our discussion of violence, focusing specifically on violence used for so called “humanitarian efforts”. We will consider whether or not there are circumstances in which violence is acceptable. We will also discuss a phenomenon known as the “silent majority” and its implications for international conflicts. Lastly, we will address current “tools” available to governments to enforce humanitarian standards on states.

Next Show:

September 18, 2011, 7:00 pm NYC Time

In this week's show, we discuss Andrew Carnegie's work "The Gospel of Wealth".  In our own day, billionaires such as Warren Buffet and Bill & Melinda Gates have not only pledged to donate the majority of their wealth to charity, but also encourage their billionare colleagues to do the same.  We will not only discuss the extent to which today's billionaire philanthropists are following the Carnegie gospel, but will also focus on how The Carnegie Gospel connects to Carnegie's peace activism at the end of his life.

"Travaux Prepartories" is a term used to refer to the "preparatory works", specifically the preliminary works leading up to a treaty.   Sometimes the Travaux are used to determine the intent and purpose of a treaty.  Don't worry, this is not a show on the law of treaties!  Rather five students reflect on their first week of an intensive course on the International Criminal Court (ICC), which will soon be transported from our classroom in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan to The Hague, Netherlands.  While in the Hague, students will attend trial proceedings at the ICC and interact with scholars and personnel from the ICC, in the end learning about the court as a "human rights" operation.   In this show, we will engage in a substantive discussion about what we have all learned about international criminal law.  Additionally, we will discuss our expectations for the time that we will soon spend abroad.  This show is entitled "travaux preparatories" because it is also functioning as a preparatory show for the shows that we will be broadcasting from The Hague in the weeks to come!

Slaves to Passion: The Sequel

Two weeks ago, we attempted to discuss the extent to which liberty is, in fact, related to the body and one's physical confinement.  The leading question was: can one still be a a slave although one is not subject to external constraints?  We turned to some passages from Sartre, Hume, Aristotle and Plato (see the PDF in our 'show resources' page).We had a rich philosophical discussion about the role that consciousness, interpretation and culture are related to freedom.  This week, we take a second pass at this topic and those passages.  The guiding questions are these:  1) can one be enslaved by one's own body and bodily passions; and 2) to what extent does culture and society affect one's freedom.  Big questions indeed, but, following Sartre, "nothing ventured, nothing gained".

Article 7 of the Rome Statute (the governing document of the International Criminal Court) identifies "severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law" as a crime against humanity.   In last week's show, we explore the extent to which slavery may NOT involve a "severe deprivation of physical liberty."  Can one to be a slave to one's passions?  If so, does this imply that others have a duty to help us guard against such "affective slavery"?   To focus our discussion, we will concentrate on some passages from both Plato and Aristotle that are available in the "show resources" section of our website.