Philosophy In Action

Every Sunday morning, philosopher Dr. Diana Hsieh answers your questions on the principles for living a happy, virtuous, and free life in her live Philosophy In Action Webcast. It's at 8 am PT / 9 am MT / 10 am CT / 11 am ET at http://www.PhilosophyInAction.com. Submit your questions here!

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8 votes Vote

Is accepting voluntary sacrifices from others moral?

Imagine that someone offers you a way to increase your wealth, lengthen your lifespan, or achieve your goals at great personal cost to and even sacrifice of himself. Is it wrong to accept that? What if you've tried setting them straight and...

Eric Nunley, 25.06.2014, 17:28

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8 votes Vote

Does resiliency as an adult require enduring hardship as a child?

Many people assume that having faced great hardship is a necessary part of having resiliency -- meaning: the ability to withstand great challenges in the future. These people think that if you have faced less-than-average hardship in your youth,...

legendre007, 27.06.2014, 07:44

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8 votes Vote

Was John Galt evil, or at least a jerk, for not commercializing his motor?

In "Atlas Shrugged," John Galt went on strike when the world seemed only a little worse off than today politically in America. Things got really bad so fast because Galt dismantled everything. If, instead of going on strike, he had quit the...

Joshua Job, 10.07.2014, 14:19

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8 votes Vote

How can I motivate myself to act to further my goals despite my overwhelming lethargy?

I struggle with motivating myself to do what I know I should. I'm not inclined to do wrong, but I just find it hard to act to further my goals in life. I'm 26 and I live with my dad while I (slowly) finish my degree. I want to become financially...

Jackethan, 16.10.2014, 10:34

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8 votes Vote

What is the value of "political correctness"?

I used to be a fairly typical 'right-winger' who would regularly cry out 'political correctness has gone mad!' While I still come across politically correct ideas that I find ridiculous (e.g. the ban bossy campaign), I'm finding myself more...

MTobias, 17.11.2014, 18:33

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7 votes Vote

How do I ask my neighbor not to take liberties with my driveway?

I work out of my office on the ground floor of our home overlooking the street with partial view of our driveway. Every day, several times a day, a neighbor uses our driveway as a turnaround instead of using the intersection one house down, or...

TammyPerkins, 12.05.2011, 14:42

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7 votes Vote

Are people who abuse their pets immoral?

Should we think ill of someone for neglecting or abusing their pets? If so, why?

Anonymous, 19.11.2010, 15:28

0 comments

7 votes Vote

Is toleration (or tolerance) a virtue?

(This question was asked in the NoodleFood comments by someone identified only as "Michael," and I thought it worth answering.)

DianaHsieh, 23.11.2010, 11:46

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7 votes Vote

Should people give up their guns when they have kids?

Many people think that having guns in the house with kids is terribly risky, if not child endangerment, They say that the kids might get to the guns, even if locked away, and injure or even kill themselves in an accidental discharge. Is that...

Anonymous, 06.05.2011, 11:02

1 comment

7 votes Vote

Should a married couple ever separate temporarily for the sake of their respective careers?

This question is a follow-up to the discussion of long-distance relationships in your May 1st webcast. There, you said that long-distance relationships are inherently problematic because the people are living separate lives due to the physical...

Anonymous, 06.05.2011, 11:06

1 comment

7 votes Vote

How should I respond when people disparage their work?

Often, people often make comments about the great burden that work is -- not in the sense that they're unhappy with their current job, but that they resent the need to work at all. These are the kinds of people who live for weekends and...

Anonymous, 06.05.2011, 11:39

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7 votes Vote

Should a waitress upsell a customer without warning when given an ambiguous order?

At the restaurant where I work, we sell wine. Customers often ask for "just a red/white wine, whatever." Many servers take that as an opportunity to sell them the most expensive wine. Is that moral and/or wise? (Personally, if the customer gives...

Miranda, 21.08.2011, 11:46

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7 votes Vote

Doesn't everyone need to have faith in something greater than themselves?

Most people have faith in something greater than themselves -- whether God, their community, the state, the environment. Doesn't everyone need that, to help steer them in life? Or do you think that's unnecessary or even wrong?

Anonymous, 24.10.2011, 10:06

0 comments

7 votes Vote

Should pensions to government employees be guaranteed?

Many cities and states are running into fiscal trouble and are reneging on promises to pay pensions to retired government employees, such as policemen. Should those promised payments be guaranteed, even if that means raising taxes or cutting back...

Anonymous, 05.11.2011, 15:44

0 comments

7 votes Vote

Do "blue laws" violate rights?

Many communities have "blue laws" -- such as prohibitions on selling liquor, or even cars or other goods, on Sundays. Are these laws violations of the separation of church and state?

wind_river, 05.12.2011, 03:58

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7 votes Vote

Are there moral limits to romanticizing historical figures in art?

For example, a writer might romanticize Robin Hood as the Ragnar Danneskjöld of the Middle Ages. If this is proper, is there an ethical limit as to what kinds of persons one may or may not romanticize, or as to how far one may stretch the...

Fabian Bollinger, 05.12.2011, 14:39

0 comments

7 votes Vote

Should a person seek to create a stylized life?

In "The Romantic Manifesto," Ayn Rand said that "An artist does not fake reality—he stylizes it. He selects those aspects of existence which he regards as metaphysically significant—and by isolating and stressing them, by omitting the...

Anonymous, 19.11.2013, 21:10

1 comment

7 votes Vote

Is it wrong to skip over advertisements?

Many people use plug-ins that block advertisements on web sites, and many more people skip advertisements on television by recording shows with the DVR. Is this moral? Is it a failure to act as a trader?

Graeme, 17.01.2012, 15:44

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7 votes Vote

Should an employer have to explain and justify his firing of an employee?

Should an employer be able to fire an employee for some alleged misconduct, even though the employer never bothered to verify the misconduct, nor even asked the employee for his side of the story? For example, suppose that when the employee shows...

Denis Gotlib, 27.01.2012, 09:44

2 comments

7 votes Vote

Does individualistic egoism imply atomism and isolation?

Many critics of Ayn Rand argue that Objectivism's view of human nature is soul-less and love-less, leading to isolated atomistic individualism. Moreover, many on the left and the right claim that Objectivism denies the importance of family and...

B. Wasterman, 27.01.2012, 10:22

0 comments

7 votes Vote

Should "stealing valor" be a crime?

A man was arrested by the FBI in Houston recently and charged with "stolen valor." (See http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7261240 ) This is the charge made against someone who falsely poses as a decorated soldier. Is it...

Trey Peden, 10.02.2012, 14:37

1 comment

7 votes Vote

What is the difference between "investment" and "sacrifice"?

In your February 26, 2012 webcast, you indicated that you don't regard sacrifices as something very different from investments. But doesn't sacrifice just mean giving up something? In that case, don't investments in the future require sacrifice...

Silvia Hayakawa, 28.02.2012, 09:00

1 comment

7 votes Vote

Why are older people less likely to change their core beliefs?

Recently, I had a conversation with a long-time committed leftist who "blinked" when confronted with the fact that collectivism always fails, and it fails because the underlying theory is wrong in principle. Many people, particularly older people,...

SteveByron, 27.05.2012, 08:52

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7 votes Vote

Should I keep contact with my morally questionable and mystical father?

Recently, I initiated contact with my father. I've not seen or spoken to for most of my life. He left behind him a lot of damage, and I was very hurt by that. I made amends with him, thinking that he was in recovery. However, I recently discovered...

i_amjohngalt, 18.08.2012, 18:21

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7 votes Vote

Do I owe my boyfriend an explanation for my breaking up with him?

I dated my recently-ex-boyfriend for a few months. Over the past few weeks, I realized that some personality and value differences preclude any long-term prospects. When I broke up with him, I didn't give him any reasons why, and that really...

Anonymous, 11.10.2012, 08:44

0 comments

7 votes Vote

Should parents be licensed?

Given the cost to society of parents shirking their obligations to their children, to entrust children to just anyone able to bear that child seems negligent. The state does, after all, forbid chronic drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel...

Erin Mastrantonio, 20.01.2013, 00:06

0 comments

7 votes Vote

Is atheism just another form of religion?

I often hear that religious people that atheism is just another form of religion -- and just as much based on faith as Christianity and the like. Is that right or wrong?

Anonymous, 27.12.2012, 20:12

2 comments

7 votes Vote

If a person isn't doing anything wrong, should he care to protect his privacy?

Defenders of intrusive government programs (and other forms of meddling) often assume that only guilty people would object to granting others access to their private information. What, after all, does an honest and decent person have to hide? Or...

Trey Peden, 08.01.2013, 08:35

1 comment

7 votes Vote

How can an atheist teenager maintain his integrity in a religious school?

A few years ago, I read Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged" for the first time. After a year of struggling between faith and reason, I chose reason. Unfortunately, I am a teenager, and I am forced to attend church and a religious school. For a...

Drew, 24.01.2013, 14:13

-1 comment

7 votes Vote

Is multigenerational space travel immoral?

According to a panel at SETICon 2012, the designs for multi-generational space ships are already in the works. However are there ethical problems with people bearing children who will never see Earth, and likely never set foot on a planet? Would...

SelfMadeSoul, 04.03.2013, 14:35

1 comment

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