Q&A Webcast Episode: 16 October 2011
In this 16 October 2011 episode of Q&A Webcast, Dr. Diana Hsieh answered four questions on judging young adults, voting with your wallet, the evidence for free will, the morality of armed rebellion, and more in an hour-long broadcast. Greg Perkins of Objectivist Answers was the audio co-host.
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My News of the Week: As usual, I've been tending to Dr. Gimpy. I've also been programming for new web site and implementing design by Tori Press of Red Queen Design Studio. It looks so awesome!
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Segments: 16 October 2011
Question 1: Judging Young Adults (3:22)
In this segment, Dr. Diana Hsieh answered a question on judging young adults.
How should I judge my college-age peers, given the upbringing they've had? I know that we are ultimately responsible for our actions and our character, yet character is also heavily influenced by our culture, education, and upbringing. I was raised roughly the same way as my peers were, and I went through the same standardized, state-school educational system. Yet I did not end up like them – largely due to the fact that I read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. I got to see an alternative to the ideas offered to me, unlike most of my peers. Without that, I could have ended up just like anyone else. Knowing that, I try to treat my peers gently – meaning not taking the bad ideas they hold seriously, showing a benevolent warmth to them, and not focusing too hard on negatively judging their characters. But am I doing right, or should I be harsher in my judgment and treatment of them?
My Answer, In Brief: Judging young people fairly requires taking account of their ignorance as they engage in the process of shaping their own souls. You can be kind and just – if you focus on all the relevant facts about the person's context.
Tags: Culture, Education, Ethics, Judgment, Justice, Moral Wrongs, Young Adults
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Question 2: Voting With Your Wallet (21:24)
In this segment, Dr. Diana Hsieh answered a question on voting with your wallet.
Is it wrong to "vote with your wallet"? A liberal friend of mine recently said that he won't vote for political candidates based on his own economic interests – for example, that Candidate A promises to raise taxes on his income bracket, while Candidate B promises to cut taxes for that bracket. He votes based on his agreement with the total political program, not its effects on his paycheck. What's right or wrong with his approach?
My Answer, In Brief: To speak of "voting with your wallet" is a horrible package-deal that conflates violations of rights with the protection of rights. A person should vote for politicians based on their in-practice commitment to individual rights.
Tags: Economics, Elections, Ethics, Politics
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Question 3: The Evidence for Free Will (30:02)
In this segment, Dr. Diana Hsieh answered a question on the evidence for free will.
Is there objective evidence for free will? After doing some research on free will and determinism, the existence of free will seems pretty unlikely to me – even though the thought of free will is comforting. An argument often used to refute determinism is that the determinist says that we should accept determinism, since on his view, he only advocates determinism because he's determined. That seems unsatisfying, however, since that doesn't prove the existence of free will. Also, even if each person can say of himself, "I have free will," how do you determine whether others have free will? How would you know whether a toddler, a teenager, a person with a brain tumor, or a person with dementia has free will or not?
My Answer, In Brief: Free will is an inescapable fact about our experience, and claims of determinism are incoherent.
Tags: Free Will, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Science
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Question 4: The Morality of Armed Rebellion (48:11)
In this segment, Dr. Diana Hsieh answered a question on the morality of armed rebellion.
When is a person (or group) justified in taking up arms against the government? In other words, how despotic must a government be for violent revolution to be morally justified? Before that point, is a person just engaged in "terrorism"?
My Answer, In Brief: Armed rebellion would be immoral and impractical at present, given that peaceful political change is still possible.
Tags: Ethics, Law, Politics, Statism, War
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Conclusion (1:03:45)
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About Philosophy in Action Q&A Webcast
Every Sunday morning, philosopher Dr. Diana Hsieh answers four meaty questions applying rational principles to the challenges of real life in her live hour-long internet radio show, Philosophy in Action Advice Radio. Greg Perkins of Objectivist Answers co-hosts the show. The audience can ask follow-up questions and make comments in the text-based chat.
You can listen to Philosophy in Action broadcasts as podcasts by subscribing to the Philosophy in Action's Podcast RSS Feeds. Be sure to sign up for the Newsletter and connect on social media.
You can also peruse the show archives, listening to whole episodes or just selected segments. The show archives are sorted by date and by topic.
For regular updates, commentary, and humor from Dr. Diana Hsieh, visit her blog NoodleFood, and subscribe to its rss feed.
Dr. Diana Hsieh is a philosopher specializing in practical ethics. She received her Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2009. Her dissertation argued that Thomas Nagel's "problem of moral luck" can be resolved by an Aristotelian theory of moral responsibility. She began podcasting in 2009, then webcasting in 2010.
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