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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2 votes Vote

What is the difference between familiarity and intimacy?

In a recent Facebook post, you wrote: "Lately, I've been thinking about the difference between mere familiarity with another person and the intimacy of a deep connection. By familiarity, I mean that each person knows what the other is up to, how...
Anonymous, 28.07.2015, 13:00
0 comments
1 vote Vote

How can a person use accountabilibuddies to be more productive?

Lately, you've mentioned using accountabilibuddies to help break bad habits, cultivate new habits, get more done, or eliminate procrastination. How does that work? What kind of person do you want as you accountabilibuddy? What do you do for...
Anonymous, 28.07.2015, 12:57
0 comments
2 votes Vote

Did Hank Rearden really threaten to beat up Lillian Rearden in Atlas Shrugged?

Consider the following quote from Atlas Shrugged: "'Lillian,' he said, in an unstressed voice that did not grant her even the honor of anger, 'you are not to speak of her to me. If you ever do it again, I will answer you as I would answer a...
NathanSmith, 15.07.2015, 13:12
0 comments
3 votes Vote

Is collecting and selling organs from aborted fetuses morally abhorrent?

A controversial story about abortion recently arose after some undercover reporters published a video online (https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=273&v=jjxwVuozMnU). The reporters were pretending to be businesspeople seeking to collect organs from...
NathanSmith, 15.07.2015, 12:41
0 comments
3 votes Vote

How can I counter the effects of ghosting in dating?

Ghosting is when one person disappears from a relationship -- suddenly cutting off all contact -- without rhyme or reason or explanation of any kind. How does that affect the ghoster and the ghostee? Personally, when I go on dates, it does not...
Daniel Golliher, 13.07.2015, 23:12
0 comments
4 votes Vote

Do doctors deserve our trust?

It seems that the majority of doctors are extremely second-handed today. Their attitudes toward medicine revolve around what they were taught in school and the edicts of the FDA.They have almost no intellectual independence and would be paralyzed...
Brian Gates, 08.07.2015, 18:05
0 comments
1 vote Vote

How do we keep good ideas from becoming trite?

Individualism is a big part of American culture, so much so that I think certain aspects of it have become trite. I know that as a kid I would always roll my eyes at such cliches as "be yourself" and "follow your dreams." Even though on reflection...
Eric Nunley, 02.07.2015, 20:07
0 comments
1 vote Vote

Is loving and excelling at the process of the work enough for a career?

In your June 14th, 2015 discussing of choosing a career, you said that a person should love the day-to-day process of doing the work, not merely the effects it creates. What about the reserve problem -- meaning that you enjoy the day-to-day work...
Peter M., 21.06.2015, 04:58
0 comments
1 vote Vote

Is it wrong for a woman not to report a sexual assault?

I harshly judge grown women who do not report or otherwise address sexual assault. (I say "address" because I'm super picky about bringing in the police on questionable matters, but saying something about it to mutual contacts often might be...
Michelle Fire Eater, 19.06.2015, 09:03
0 comments
2 votes Vote

Do my parents have a right to force me to take a paternity test?

My parents' marriage has always been rocky, with doubts about my mother's faithfulness pervading their relationship despite the fact that her infidelity has never been proven. About a year ago, my parents approached me out of the blue about...
Erin M, 14.06.2015, 21:18
0 comments
3 votes Vote

Why do you think men have dominated societies throughout most of history?

The obvious answer to that question is that men are physically stronger, therefore they have been able to take and keep political and intellectual control. But I wonder if there other factors that have also contributed, such as psychological...
NathanSmith, 09.06.2015, 22:37
0 comments
1 vote Vote

How do altruists cope with their own moral hypocrisy?

Since learning about the egoism of the Objectivist ethics, I've been fascinated by how often morally righteous altruists -- who live with their ideas and push them on others -- are able to maintain a seemingly high level of psychological strength,...
Patrik, 05.06.2015, 11:11
0 comments
2 votes Vote

Why are there so many popular songs idealizing women who don't know they are beautiful?

I've noticed that there are lots of pop songs that glorify women who don't know they're physically attractive. Here's an example: "You don't know you're beautiful, That's what makes you beautiful." Does this indicate something about what men want?...
Anonymous, 29.05.2015, 07:19
0 comments
3 votes Vote

What is the harm of granting unearned forgiveness?

Some people are too forgiving. For example, some religions preach that people should forgive a cheating or abusive spouse or forgive a deadbeat sibling who has stolen money from the family -- and many people do just that. I have even seen some...
Carrie, 29.04.2015, 11:54
0 comments
3 votes Vote

Can I help my family deal with their grief over the death of my nephew?

My teenage nephew passed away six months ago. He was murdered at a party by someone who crashed it, someone who he had never met before. It was unexpected, and there are a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of anger towards the boy who did it....
Anonymous, 12.04.2015, 18:49
0 comments
4 votes Vote

Should I respond to an "Earth Hour" company email?

Every year my company's HR department sends out an email telling us to turn everything off and share stories about "the amazing things... (we)... get up to... saving the planet." I feel like I should respond -- to at least offer an alternative...
Jonathan, 24.03.2015, 20:24
1 comment
6 votes Vote

Should blackmail be illegal?

Recently, a UK man received seven years in prison after pleading guilty of blackmailing two men he had anonymous sex with at a park in Worcester, England. Is that just? In these cases, the blackmailed men were lying to their spouses, and laws...
Trey, 11.03.2015, 20:46
3 comments
5 votes Vote

Should it be illegal to smoke around children?

A recently introduced bill in New Mexico would forbid smoking with kids in the car. With all the research related to the dangers of second-hand smoke, does smoking with a child strapped in the back seat really amount to a form of child abuse or...
Gregory Mullen, 28.01.2015, 13:02
0 comments
4 votes Vote

What's the value of hierarchical organizations?

One of the main goals of socialists is to abolish hierarchy. They seek to do this by abolishing capitalism, which they see as inherently hierarchical. Advocates of free markets have pointed out, however, that it is perfectly possible for a...
Adam, 28.01.2015, 03:20
0 comments
3 votes Vote

Are the religious freedoms of Christian bakers being infringed?

Over the past year, the news has been inundated with stories about Christian bakery owners refusing to bake cakes for gay weddings. These bakers are defended by the Christian right for exercising their "religious liberty" and decried by the...
Zak Szalewski, 26.01.2015, 09:50
0 comments
3 votes Vote

Is the existence of a prison system congruent with a free and just society?

Prisons are seen as a kind of "criminal holiday resort" by some and by others as a sort of criminal "training center." Prisons help criminals network, harden their character, and learn new crime skills. In addition, the prison system has grown up...
Adam, 20.01.2015, 02:23
0 comments
3 votes Vote

Should I trust the medical profession more?

I suffer from a serious chronic disease. I have become extremely dismayed both at how limited medicine is in its ability to help me and how consistently wrong the doctors I've consulted have been about everything they've ever said. I have come to...
Brian Gates, 12.01.2015, 20:00
0 comments
2 votes Vote

Are people living in a free society obliged to contribute to its government?

Given that each person benefits hugely from the protection of his and others' individual rights by the government of a free society, does each person have an obligation to contribute to that government in some fashion? If so, is that obligation...
Michael, 11.01.2015, 18:23
0 comments
3 votes Vote

Is it hypocritical to manufacture products based on wrong ideas?

I work in CNC manufacturing (computer numerical control), and I recently purchased one of our machines in order to start a side business as a craftsman. Many immediate family members, for instance, would be interested in personalized home...
Ryan Babcock, 11.01.2015, 09:12
0 comments
2 votes Vote

Is it wrong to contribute to a podcaster with odious political views?

I listen regularly to about a dozen different podcasts and I try to contribute financially to those that request listener contributions (with the exception of those produced by NPR). I generally feel that if I am getting some value from a service...
Ben Doublett, 24.12.2014, 12:58
0 comments
1 vote Vote

Is it wrong to live tweet conversations between strangers that you overhear?

A woman recently live tweeted a date between two people who met on Tinder. Based on her tweets, the date was pretty awful. Lots of people found what she wrote funny, and her tweets were widely circulated. But was what she did wrong? Would it...
Trey, 13.11.2014, 12:22
1 comment
1 vote Vote

Is suicide a wrong choice for a person with terminal illness?

In early November 2014, Brittany Maynard ended her life by choice. She was suffering from terminal brain cancer and probably wouldn't have survived till 2015. The story was highly publicized and elicited a lot of reactions. Some people asserted...
Zak Szalewski, 13.11.2014, 10:23
0 comments
1 vote Vote

Should a political candidate deceive voters in the service of protecting rights?

Telling a lie is perfectly moral, even obligatory, if it is done to protect your rights. But can this idea be extended to the realm of politics? Imagine that the majority of the electorate in a democratic society is opposed to free markets. The...
Adam, 11.11.2014, 01:35
0 comments
4 votes Vote

Why do socialists hate the market yet use it for their needs?

Socialists have to eat, wear clothes, stay warm in the winter, use transportation, etc., like everyone else. They could live in public housing, use public transit, and get health care supplied by the state. But for their other goods and services,...
Mark Plus, 31.10.2014, 09:12
1 comment
4 votes Vote

What counts as a fair book review?

Independent authors who publish their books on their own to Amazon owe much of their success or lack thereof to the star ratings given on their work. Higher average star ratings make their work appear in featured areas of the site and appear...
Trey, 28.10.2014, 10:11
0 comments

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