Scott Hershovitz on Law and Morality

Which physical characteristics does a woman have to have to be considered beautiful? Are there many different cultural variations on this? Heather Widdows, author of Perfect Me, thinks that today there is a single set of charactestics and that pressure to conform with these has p ... Show More

We blame people, and sometimes we blame institutions. Miranda Fricker investigates the nature of blame and its functions, draws some important distinctions, and considers the metaphysical implications of this practice. 

There is a long tradition of caste in South Asia. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Nilanjan Das discusses a pre-modern philosophical critic of the whole system, and particularly of its underlying metaphysical assumptions. This episode was supported by the Ideas Wor ... Show More

Scott Hershovitz is the Thomas G. and Mabel Long Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan. He directs the University’s Law and Ethics Program and he co-edits Legal Theory.  Scott writes about law and philosophy. His academic work has appeared in ... Show More

Moral and Political Philosophy: how should we live? What constitutes a just state? 

On this episode of the podcast, we continue our discussion of Kant, this time focusing on ethics. We begin with a thought experiment that calls into question whether or not lying is morally justifiable if it results in preserving human life. Next, we discuss the nature of moralit ... Show More

In this episode, Tim Keller explores questions around morality. What is the basis for moral judgements? Can there be moral absolutes? Aren’t right and wrong just common sense? This talk was recorded before a live audience on April 4, 2019 in New York City. 

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sam Harris speaks with Martha C. Nussbaum about her philosophical work. They discuss the relevance of philosophy to personal and political problems, the influence of religion, the problem of dogmatism, the importance of Greek and Roman philosoph ... Show More

Michael Shermer and Jeff Sebo explore moral philosophy, focusing on animal rights, sentience, and consciousness. They discuss the definitions of morality, ethical pluralism, and the divide between consequentialism and deontology. The conversation examines who belongs in our moral ... Show More

Here's an idea from one of my group classes - laws and justice. I think it's a really interesting topic to discuss. Are there any laws we shouldn't be following?What laws would you make?What laws would you abolish?We also look at a few good and relevant expressions here. Hope you ... Show More

In this episode, we discuss The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt, which explores questions of morality. We take a look at the three principles about morality that form the basis of the book and why people have different understandings of right and wrong. We also briefly talk abou ... Show More