Hi all, excuse the LONG pause - we've been heads down at Stasher.com and super busy. We did manage to get this episode together and decided that as Ant is appearing on a quiz show and this has likely brought some new people (hi, if that's you!), it'd be great to let people know that the next season is on it's way if very delayed.

In this multi-parter, we discuss happinness and the dissonance of the human condition. The person who lives a meaningful but trying life is in some way happy (certainly they're admired and envied), but so to is the man who lives in his pleasant cottage and learns to appreciate the simple things...how can these 2 very distinct lives be called the same thing? This is what we explore in this series, what are the constituent parts of happiness and why is this term so fragmented anyway. We'll start from a biological and pyschological perspective (this episode) all the way up to a philosophical view in assessing how we should think about happiness and how we may incorporate these perspectives within our lives.

We'll be back with more content soon!

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Old description:

Is the Santa myth just harmless fun, or should we be honest to our kids about Saint Nick?

In this very festive episode, Jake and Ant discuss the morality of lying to children about Santa Claus. They start with a brief history of the character's origins, including Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas and even Odin. Then they go over the origins of the tradition of teaching children of Santa's literal existence and the reasons for doing it.

After that, they discuss the potential benefits of the fiction, as well as the potential harms, before bringing up several philosophical frameworks and what they have to say about lying to children in addition to lying in general. They end the discussion by talking about the lessons that the Santa myth may inadvertently teach children, as well as alternatives to lying to children that don't deprive kids of the fun of the Santa story.

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Old description:

In this episode, Jake and Ant look at the ethics of having children in the context of climate change. Is it ok to birth a child into a doomed circumstance...is this circumstance quite so doomed...even if it wasn't, is it maybe wrong to birth someone without their permission anyway?

This discussion begins by exploring moral considerations around having children with 2 key perspectives, particularly: the way that you may be wronging a baby itself by birthing it, either by dooming it to a struggle with the woes of life (if that's how you view life) or the struggles of climate change, or the way you may be wronging society more widely. After an exploration in this regard we focus more on the practicalities of climate change: is human life actually doomed and is that question relevant? Can we weigh human happiness against humans having a place to live? Can we realistically ask people to not have children and what might a policy look like?

Support the show:

Please leave us a review! Spotify even now let's you do it - see that little star icon - go on, give it a click. Reviews are a great way to help others find the show, and it makes us feel all warm inside.

Know anyone who likes to think about or debate the kind of topics we cover? Spread the word - and you’ll have our gratitude.

Here's the link to our new community whatsapp, where we'll discuss episodes and ask our most engaged listeners what sort of topics/formats they most enjoy.

If you’re a fan of the show, please consider signing up to our Patreon. A small subscription goes a long way towards supporting the show - and it makes us feel all warm inside too.

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Old Description:

In this episode, Jake and Ant look at the ethics of pet care. Is it ok to keep any sentient living being as property, free to be made infertile if their incessant humping annoys us and even to be put down if they become an inconvenience or minor danger.

Part of this discussion will feel familiar from our vegan/vegetarianism episode (how do we compare animal vs human rights?), but the fundamental question is how do we square the very common stance of being anti-livestock/vegan but pro-pets? We do care about our pets, but we also violate what may very reasonably be their rights as sentient creatures in the interest of our enjoyment - and their being happy with the arrangement may not necessarily get us off the hook, just as it doesn't solve the 'benevolent slave owner' argument. Also, to what extent does keeping pets enable negligient or non-benevolent pet owners to cause suffering, and can we even agree what counts as negligient - by some accounts keeping a dog in an inner city apartment is not fair, for example.

Support the show:

Please leave us a review! Spotify even now let's you do it - see that little star icon - go on, give it a click. Reviews are a great way to help others find the show, and it makes us feel all warm inside.

Know anyone who likes to think about or debate the kind of topics we cover? Spread the word - and you’ll have our gratitude.

Here's the link to our new community whatsapp, where we'll discuss episodes and ask our most engaged listeners what sort of topics/formats they most enjoy.

If you’re a fan of the show, please consider signing up to our Patreon. A small subscription goes a long way towards supporting the show - and it makes us feel all warm inside too.

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Old description:

In this episode, Jake and Ant look at the ethics of art. Well, a very small sub-section, enjoying the works of artists who are themselves immoral. In considering this, we consider the difference between art and things that are simply visually/audibly pleasing and how the context of art can (or should) affect how we appreciate it.

Key considerations include whether the 'problematic' context of the artist is literally part of their work, a heavy influence or driver of the work, or totally separate. We also consider whether the issue is consequential, i.e. we should withold our attention to financially harm such artists, or diminish their reputation, or whether it's more to satisfy a personal moral qualm.

Support the show:

Please leave us a review! Spotify even now let's you do it - see that little star icon - go on, give it a click. Reviews are a great way to help others find the show, and it makes us feel all warm inside.

Know anyone who likes to think about or debate the kind of topics we cover? Spread the word - and you’ll have our gratitude.

Here's the link to our new community whatsapp, where we'll discuss episodes and ask our most engaged listeners what sort of topics/formats they most enjoy.

If you’re a fan of the show, please consider signing up to our Patreon. A small subscription goes a long way towards supporting the show - and it makes us feel all warm inside too.

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Old episode description:

In this episode, Jake and Ant look at the ethics of private education. Education is so important - and so formative - that it's important to ask whether it is fair for some people to access a higher quality education on the basis of wealth. What happens when what is best for society does not line up with what is best for us individually? 

Support the show:

Please leave us a review! Spotify even now let's you do it - see that little star icon - go on, give it a click. Reviews are a great way to help others find the show, and it makes us feel all warm inside.

Know anyone who likes to think about or debate the kind of topics we cover? Spread the word - and you’ll have our gratitude.

Here's the link to our new community whatsapp, where we'll discuss episodes and ask our most engaged listeners what sort of topics/formats they most enjoy.

If you’re a fan of the show, please consider signing up to our Patreon. A small subscription goes a long way towards supporting the show - and it makes us feel all warm inside too.

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Old episdoe description:

In this episode, Jake and Ant explore what it means to be a bad person, briefly revisit the distinction between good/bad and right/wrong and discuss in some more depth why they specifically chose Facebook for this question (rather than BP or Goldman Sachs or Google) and some of the harms and goods it facilitates.

Support the show:

Please leave us a review! Spotify even now let's you do it - see that little star icon - go on, give it a click. Reviews are a great way to help others find the show, and it makes us feel all warm inside.

Know anyone who likes to think about or debate the kind of topics we cover? Spread the word - and you’ll have our gratitude.

Here's the link to our new community whatsapp, where we'll discuss episodes and ask our most engaged listeners what sort of topics/formats they most enjoy.

If you’re a fan of the show, please consider signing up to our Patreon. A small subscription goes a long way towards supporting the show - and it makes us feel all warm inside too.

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Old Description:

In this episode, Jake and Ant consider whether the consumption of meat - and specifically the production and slaughter of animals to that end - is immoral. This includes an exploration of the moral differences between different animals (humans included) and a consideration of whether the crux of the issue lies in the suffering and death involved in production or rather in the specific act of consuming the flesh of another creature. Following this, there's a consideration of the indirect effects of eating meat as part of the wider system of industrial meat farming, including the environmental impact of the industry, poor treatment of workers and the impact on propagating the spread of viruses.

This episode was flatteringly described as "not bad, for carnists".

Support the show:

Please leave us a review! Spotify even now let's you do it - see that little star icon - go on, give it a click. Reviews are a great way to help others find the show, and it makes us feel all warm inside.

Know anyone who likes to think about or debate the kind of topics we cover? Spread the word - and you’ll have our gratitude.

Here's the link to our new community whatsapp, where we'll discuss episodes and ask our most engaged listeners what sort of topics/formats they most enjoy.

If you’re a fan of the show, please consider signing up to our Patreon. A small subscription goes a long way towards supporting the show - and it makes us feel all warm inside too.

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Old Description:

In this second episode, Jake and Ant explore the circumstances in which we may be justified in doing something we'd typically class as wrong. Are we ever justified in using violence, particularly against those who have done or intend to do bad things? Would you be proud if your child punched a bully? Would you lie to an axe-murderer? Can you punch a secret nazi? All this and more discussed in this episode, including a breakdown of the 3 main types of moral frameworks - virtue based ethics, consequentalist and deontological.

Support the show:

Please leave us a review! Spotify even now let's you do it - see that little star icon - go on, give it a click. Reviews are a great way to help others find the show, and it makes us feel all warm inside.

Know anyone who likes to think about or debate the kind of topics we cover? Spread the word - and you’ll have our gratitude.

Here's the link to our new community whatsapp, where we'll discuss episodes and ask our most engaged listeners what sort of topics/formats they most enjoy.

If you’re a fan of the show, please consider signing up to our Patreon. A small subscription goes a long way towards supporting the show - and it makes us feel all warm inside too.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The episode that started it all...Should billionaires exist? We explore classic perspectives from the likes of Nozick and Rawls and give some context on just how much a billion is!

Old description: In this first episode, Jake and Ant explore the moral implications of extreme wealth inequality. Can billionaires co-exist with a population in poverty? When, if ever, is it right to takeaway someone's private property? Do we deserve the cash we inherit any less than the talents we inherit by birth?

Support the show:

Please leave us a review! Spotify even now let's you do it - see that little star icon - go on, give it a click. Reviews are a great way to help others find the show, and it makes us feel all warm inside.

Know anyone who likes to think about or debate the kind of topics we cover? Spread the word - and you’ll have our gratitude.

Here's the link to our new community whatsapp, where we'll discuss episodes and ask our most engaged listeners what sort of topics/formats they most enjoy.

If you’re a fan of the show, please consider signing up to our Patreon. A small subscription goes a long way towards supporting the show - and it makes us feel all warm inside too.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices