Come join my next “Rationally Selfish” webcast! It’s on Sunday morning at 8 am PT / 9 am MT / 10 am CT / 11 am ET. You can watch the webcast and join in the text chat on the web page of Rationally Selfish. Greg Perkins of Objectivist Answers will be my audio co-host once again.

In the webcast, I answer questions on practical ethics and the principles of living well. Each week, I select the most popular and interesting questions from the queue. Please submit your questions, as well as vote and comment on questions that you find interesting. Happily, the question widget on Rationally Selfish is working again, but you can still use the web site of Idea Informer if you prefer that.

Here are the questions that I’ll answer this week:

• What’s wrong with hedonism? What’s the difference between “rational selfishness” and hedonism? What’s wrong with attempting to maximize pleasure over the course of a whole life?
• Which mind-altering or mood-altering substances are rational to take? (alcohol, caffeine, marijuana, etc.) And what principles do you apply in deciding?
• How do you judge people of mixed premises? Many people are of “mixed” premises. How does one develop close and personal friendships or pursue long-term, serious, romantic relationships when many people are not consistently rational or moral? How does one judge such people objectively as to their worthiness for friendship or as a potential romantic interest?
• Suppose you were a rational man in a relationship with a less rational woman, how would you handle your girlfriend’s ever-expanding irrational behavior?
• Is it moral to introduce the idea of Santa Claus to children — and why or why not? Some Objectivists say that introducing Santa or staying silent on the issue to let the child figure it out for himself constitutes deception and lying. Others say it’s a playful and fun game with Santa as a hero standing for justice in a way kiddies can understand.
• From Objectivist Answers: Under what circumstances does it become incumbent to challenge another’s beliefs, especially in a religious context?

Questions that aren’t answered this week will remain in the queue for me to answer in upcoming webcasts. So please go vote on questions that you find interesting — or submit your own question.

You can listen to these webcasts later as NoodleCast audio-only podcasts by subscribing in iTunes to either the enhanced M4A format or the standard MP3 format.

The live webcast is a good bit of fun, so I recommend that you stop by as your schedule permits. I appreciate the immediate feedback — serious comments, funny comments, and follow-up questions — in the text-based chat during the broadcast. It’s a lively get-together!

Also, you can support the Rationally Selfish Webcast (and Podcast) contributing to our tip jar. I suggest $5 per episode, but any amount is appreciated.

If you would prefer to send a check, please send it to “Diana Hsieh; P.O. Box 851; Sedalia, CO 80135.” Please write “RS Webcast” in the memo field. If you’re unable to contribute financially, I’d appreciate your helping me spread the word about this webcast to anyone you think might be interested. You can, for example, “like” the Rationally Selfish Page on Facebook.

See you on Sunday morning!