Philosophy Talk Starters

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/moral-dilemmas-and-moral-ambiguity

It would be nice if we always knew the morally right thing to do, if our choices and commitments were painted in stark black and white. Unfortunately life is full of gray areas, including situations in which all the choices that confront us seem morally problematic, in which all the people who surround us seem composed of equal parts good and evil. John and Ken explore the extent to which reality confronts us with moral dilemmas and moral ambiguity with Walter Sinnott-Armstrong from Dartmouth College.

It would be nice if we always knew the morally right thing to do, if our choices and commitments were painted in stark black and white. Unfortunately life is full of gray areas, including situations in which all the choices that confront us seem morally problematic, in which all the people who surround us seem composed of equal parts good and evil. John and Ken explore the extent to which reality confronts us with moral dilemmas and moral ambiguity with Walter Sinnott-Armstrong from Dartmouth College.

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/moral-dilemmas-and-moral-ambiguity

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/zen.

What is the sound of one hand clapping? Does Zen Buddhism provide a unique perspective on the world that transcends the wisdom in Western Philosophy? Is there a special kind of Zen logic? Or is it just one more religion? John and Ken welcome Robert Scharf from UC Berkeley.

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/zen.

What is the sound of one hand clapping? Does Zen Buddhism provide a unique perspective on the world that transcends the wisdom in Western Philosophy? Is there a special kind of Zen logic? Or is it just one more religion? John and Ken welcome Robert Scharf from UC Berkeley.

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/global-poverty-and-international-aid

Does a hungry child in a far away land have any less of a demand on your good will and aid than a hungry child from your own family or neighborhood? Does each individual have the duty to give to the worldwide alleviation of poverty up to the point at which further giving would cause his or her own family more harm than it would do good for others? Or is responsibility for others a mostly local affair: take care of your family, look out for those in your community, and the rest of the world will take care of itself? John and Ken welcome Peter Singer to discuss Global Poverty and International Aid.

Does a hungry child in a far away land have any less of a demand on your good will and aid than a hungry child from your own family or neighborhood? Does each individual have the duty to give to the worldwide alleviation of poverty up to the point at which further giving would cause his or her own family more harm than it would do good for others? Or is responsibility for others a mostly local affair: take care of your family, look out for those in your community, and the rest of the world will take care of itself? John and Ken welcome Peter Singer to discuss Global Poverty and International Aid.

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/global-poverty-and-international-aid

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/ethics-identity

What makes me who I am? Is it fair of me, or others, to take my race or ethnicity as part of whom I am? How does the age-old virtue of standing up for kith and kin comport with the demands of fairness as cosmopolitanism? Join John and Ken and Philosophy Talk regular Anthony Appiah from Princeton.

What makes me who I am? Is it fair of me, or others, to take my race or ethnicity as part of whom I am? How does the age-old virtue of standing up for kith and kin comport with the demands of fairness as cosmopolitanism? Join John and Ken and Philosophy Talk regular Anthony Appiah from Princeton.

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/ethics-identity

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/intergenerational-obligations

Parents have duties to their children. But do grown up children have obligations to their parents? More generally, do the younger members of a society have obligations to their elders? Where would such obligations come from? What are their limits? John and Ken investigate the moral ties that bind the generations together with Norm Daniels from Harvard University, author of "From Chance to Choice: Genetics and Justice."

Parents have duties to their children. But do grown up children have obligations to their parents? More generally, do the younger members of a society have obligations to their elders? Where would such obligations come from? What are their limits? John and Ken investigate the moral ties that bind the generations together with Norm Daniels from Harvard University, author of "From Chance to Choice: Genetics and Justice."

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/intergenerational-obligations