PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: The COVID-19 pandemic has raised a hornet’s nest of issues, ranging from public health matters to politics to the question of what the longer-term societal consequences of this might be. Some of these […]
The Ethics of Emergencies
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: I write this in the midst of a global pandemic. As a life-threatening virus goes around the world, institutions and businesses have closed their doors, people including myself are working from home, “social […]
Post-Ethics
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: The prefix “post” remains in vogue, so here’s a new term for you. I’ve written about “post-truth,” “post-common sense,” and “post-news” already. Here’s something even hotter off the press: post-ethics. It seems wrong […]
Judging Philosophers You Haven’t Read
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: Surely no philosopher, or professor of philosophy, would ever do this, you would think. It’s common sense that you can’t judge a book or an author you haven’t read, and surely no intelligent […]
When Should Canada Intervene?
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: Canada is no military superpower and never will be, but a question that arises from time to time in our country is under what circumstances should Canada become involved militarily in any of […]
Post-News
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: Where are you getting your information? Or your ideas generally? How much do you know about what’s happening in the world, or in your own country? I’m not asking about what you believe […]
Why Our Daughter is in Private School
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: When our daughter was born, my wife and I were assuming that when she came to be of school age we’d enrol her in public school. We live in a city where the […]
Public Intellectuals
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: I can think of about a dozen reasons why you wouldn’t want to be a public intellectual. Here are just a few. Do you remember Socrates? He was a public intellectual. He went […]
The Art of Living in Questionable Times
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: One of the oldest and most central questions of philosophy is, how should we live? What is the good life for human beings? Another has to do with understanding the times: what is […]
Read Philosophers’ Biographies
PODCAST: TRANSCRIPT: I once spent three and a half months reading the complete works of John Dewey, pretty much all day every day. He was an extremely prolific writer; his […]
