Philosophy 247

Alex Douglas on the Philosophy of Debt

Holly Lawford Smith

Your life chances are determined, to a large degree, by the circumstances into which you're born, such as your race, or class. But do people lucky enough to have been raised in middle class families, owe obligations to those less fortunate? Holly Lawford Smith teaches at the University of Sheffield.

Anders Sandberg : If you drink a couple of beers, you'll notice various changes to your outlook on life. You may, for example, find that a person you previously found unappealing has miraculously morphed into somebody considerably more attractive. Anders Sandberg, of Oxford University's Future of Humanity Institute, has been reflecting on the neurobiology of love and attraction – he wonders whether, in the future, we might consider popping love pills.