On "Formalism in Ethics and Non-Formal Ethics of Values" (1916), Ch. 6 "Formalism and Person," sec. 3, "Person and Act."
While you may want to listen to part one, we're more or less starting fresh, as parts one and two (the latter only available to paying supporters at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy), were mostly about how Scheler rejects Kant's idea of t ... Show More
Jul 22
Peter Railton's "Moral Realism" (Part Four)
What? Part Four? Yes, we're jumping back into a 1984 paper that we began a couple of years ago in light of our recent PEL activity on contemporary ethics. You should be fine just starting here, but all three previous parts have been made public on our Patreon page, which is where ... Show More
1h 2m
Jul 2
H.A. Prichard on Ethics (Part One)
On "Does Moral Philosophy Rest on a Mistake?" (1912). Prichard claims that we feel certain actions to be obligatory, and that we have no justification for doubting those raw intuitions. The situation, he claims, is comparable to epistemology: We have no grounds for doubting globa ... Show More
58m 23s
Jun 2
Ep. 368: Hume on Reason in Ethics (Part One)
We talk a bit more about David Hume's An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751), and add some parts of A Treatise of Human Nature (1739): sec. 3 "Of the Influencing Motives of the Will" within the third part of Book II, "Of the Passions," and the first two sections of ... Show More
44m 56s
Apr 2021
Five: Prof Will MacAskill on moral uncertainty, utilitarianism & how to avoid being a moral monster
Immanuel Kant is a profoundly influential figure in modern philosophy, and was one of the earliest proponents for universal democracy and international cooperation. He also thought that women have no place in civil society, that it was okay to kill illegitimate children, and that ... Show More
1h 52m
Mar 2025
How Environment Shapes Moral Progress (Meditation 3.9)
This episode explores Meditations 3.9, where Marcus Aurelius urges us to revere our rational faculty. In Stoicism, rationality is our greatest gift—it’s the tool that allows us to pursue Virtue, shape our moral character, and ultimately live in accordance with Nature. But how do ... Show More
29m 1s
Sep 2023
The good, the bad and the ignored | Peter Singer, Julian Baggini, Sophie Scott-Brown
Is human agency a fantasy?Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesWe may not always agree on questions of morality, but whatever standards we adopt we apply them to human action. We are less inclined to take a moral stance on human inact ... Show More
42m 5s
Oct 2021
16: The Congenital Defect of All Philosophers
Philosophers have a birth defect. They are cursed, destined to philosophize without a historical sense. Even without realizing it, we take for granted the moral prejudices of our own times. For better or worse, language and the cultural software we inherit both play a role in sha ... Show More
1h 12m
Sep 2024
Making morally just decisions (Meditations 2.6)
In this episode, I explore Meditation 6 from Book 2 of Meditations, where Marcus Aurelius reflects on how we often fail to honor our own well-being, instead placing it in the hands of others. I dive into the Stoic concept of violence, explaining that true violence, in Stoic terms ... Show More
27m 39s