Podcasts by The Minefield
Further podcasts by ABC Radio
Podcast on the topic Philosophie
All episodes
Purification and the Moral Life: The Ethics of Hunger and Eating from 2022-04-28T14:00
Few of life’s activities are as morally complicated as eating. If food has become, in our time, a source of nourishment for what Iris Murdoch calls the “fat relentless ego”, what might it mean to t...
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Purification and the Moral Life: Disciplining the Eyes from 2022-04-21T14:00
There are habits of seeing which can corrupt our moral lives, or clutter our vision, or defile our imaginations. Just as there is a “contemptuous gaze”, as Iris Murdoch puts it, there are also “eye...
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Purification and the Moral Life: Chastening Speech from 2022-04-14T14:00
Of all the ways we interact with the world and with the moral reality of other persons, none is as fundamental as speech. In a time when we are saturated with words, what might it mean to purify ou...
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Purification and the Moral Life: Transforming Desire from 2022-04-07T14:00
What if the impediments to moral growth are not purely or even primarily external to us? During the month of Ramadan, we explore the inner tension between our tendency toward egotism, craving, and ...
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Is anger corrosive to the moral life? A conversation with Christos Tsiolkas from 2022-03-31T14:00
There is no doubt that emotions like anger can be a proper response to the persistence of injustice or inequality or prejudice or cruelty in the world. But it can also be exhausting and insatiable ...
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Live from WOMADelaide: Should children get the vote? from 2022-03-24T14:00
The question of whether the franchise should be extended to children has become an increasingly pressing topic in political theory. But why would we want them to vote? Is it in the interests of pol...
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What’s at stake in the conflict in Ukraine? from 2022-03-17T14:00
It is hardly surprising that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been met by fierce, swift, and unified opposition on the part of the West and their allies — who have offered strategic support to the ...
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What’s worse in politics — lying or hypocrisy? from 2022-03-10T14:00
Lying has become so commonplace in politics that it has almost become expected — if not quite accepted. Many politicians who are notoriously promiscuous with the truth even remain relatively popula...
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“Succession” — A Theatre of Cruelty from 2022-03-03T14:00
Works of art, both high and low, can inform and inflect a moral vision of the world. It makes sense to approach works of art with an attentiveness to the light they shed on our lives and our life t...
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Does Australia have a concept of “solidarity”? from 2022-02-24T14:00
Two years ago Scott Morrison raised the drawbridge, effectively sealing “Fortress Australia” off from the rest of the world. What effect has the act of separating Australian citizens and residents ...
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Was the Religious Discrimination Bill destined to fail? from 2022-02-17T14:00
The debate over the Religious Discrimination Bill has exposed a tension at the heart of the liberal vision of a pluralistic society, in which citizens commit to living together despite their profou...
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How essential is compulsory voting to Australia’s democratic culture? from 2022-02-10T14:00
The practice of compulsory voting, along with the two other pillars of Australia’s electoral system — preferential voting and non-partisan election administration — have kept Australian democracy r...
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Are we suffering from too much moral language? from 2022-02-03T14:00
The misuse of moral language in public debate is nothing new. But in our social-media saturated age, this misuse has taken on a distinct and rather perfidious form. Morally weighted language is reg...
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Novak and Boris — why have they elicited such strong public emotions? from 2022-01-27T14:00
Over the past two months, the conduct of two prominent figures have evoked fierce expressions of public emotion. What explains the intensity of feeling? Have these emotions distorted the public’s j...
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“Prestige television” and the moral life from 2021-12-16T14:00
One of the most notable cultural changes to have taken place over the past two decades is the emergence of “prestige television” — which is to say, television as the visual equivalent of literature...
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Should wealthy nations be procuring booster doses? from 2021-12-09T14:00
Now that vaccines are enjoying widespread coverage among wealthy nations, and with the recent emergence of the Omicron variant and rapidly rising rates of infection in the United States and through...
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The ethics of “sh*t-stirring” from 2021-12-02T14:00
In a time when so many opinions are clamouring for views in our debauched attention economy, “sh*t-stirring” has become an irresistible strategy to get oneself noticed. But it does so at a cost, no...
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Melbourne’s protests — last gasp or harbinger of things to come? from 2021-11-25T14:00
Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen a new wave public protests grow in both size and palpable anger in Victoria. With politicians already trying to make the most of these demonstrations in the lead...
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The ethics of political U-turns from 2021-11-18T14:00
How much leeway should we give politicians to change, if not their minds, then at least their positions? Under what circumstances are political “U-turns” not liable to condemnation or censure? When...
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Why don’t we talk more about class? from 2021-11-11T14:00
It’s become a sad commonplace in our time to hear the lines along which democratic societies are now divided. What is often absent, however, is mention of class. Why? Do Korean films like Bong Joon...
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Should we enjoy sports that ruin athletes’ lives? from 2021-11-04T14:00
Every so often, fans are forced to reckon with the high price that sports can exact on the lives of athletes. In such moments, we are compelled to ask: Is our enjoyment worth the cost?
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What are we doing when we “quote”? from 2021-10-28T14:00
How might we avoid bad faith quotations, served up in vain interests, and locate ourselves, our hearers, our readers, in a community of mutual interest and intellectual wonder — not so much using q...
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How much should we care about climate change? from 2021-10-21T14:00
There is a growing evidence that people have accepted the reality of climate change and the need for action. But there is significant divergence in attitudes toward the salience of the problem — wh...
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Persuasion — is it possible, or even desirable? from 2021-10-14T14:00
Far too much debate today is more like a play of competing monologues, or forms of self-promotion designed to perform for one’s tribe. Should we give up on the fantasy of persuasion through argumen...
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Has the pandemic shown the unassailability of utilitarianism — or its inherent limitations? from 2021-10-07T14:00
As the philosopher Bernard Williams anticipated, utilitarianism has largely disappeared from public view, not because it is no longer adhered to, but because it has become the “operating system” th...
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Has democratic politics become too contemptuous of everyday life? from 2021-09-30T14:00
In modern politics and moral philosophy, what is most meaningfully human is regularly ignored in the interests of solving “real problems”. While this is often understandable, it also points to a ce...
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Should we avoid humiliating the unvaccinated? from 2021-09-23T14:00
If levels of strident “vaccine hesitancy” in Australia are extremely low, and the push to help the population reach the necessary vaccination threshold is more logistical than it is ideological, sh...
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PRESENTS — This Much Is True from 2021-09-17T14:00:43
Even in a scientifically enlightened, media-savvy age, conspiracy theories have proven strangely resilient. They just don’t seem to want to go away, and many people seemingly can’t get their fill. ...
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From Abu Ghraib to Nakhon Sawan — why does torture persist? from 2021-09-16T14:00
The events of 9/11 are inseparable from the horrors of what was subsequently revealed about the use of torture against detainees in locations like Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay. What does the persi...
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Australian politics – is the divide geographical, not ideological? from 2021-09-09T14:00
In the face of the latest COVID-19 outbreaks, there is little that has differentiated the governing strategies of Liberal and Labor state governments — certainly not at the level of practice. Are w...
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Should journalists stay away from social media? from 2021-09-02T14:00
Over the last year, there have been a number of high-profile cases where journalists have either landed themselves in legal trouble, or have sparked fierce backlash, due to their conduct on social ...
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Was US failure in Afghanistan inevitable? from 2021-08-26T14:00
Does the swift collapse of the US-backed Afghan government suggest that places like Afghanistan are ungovernable by anything other than brute force and unimpeded corruption — or does it suggest tha...
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The ethics of dobbing from 2021-08-19T14:00
Snitching, ratting, dobbing, grassing — these are all words for behaviour that we are taught, at a very young age, to find reprehensible. Is our reticence to “dob” an expression of a worrying dispo...
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How much dissent is permissible in a public health emergency? from 2021-08-12T14:00
The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a wave of “emergency politics”, in which the normal processes of democratic deliberation and public accountability have been suspended. In a public health crisi...
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Can national shame lead to political change? from 2021-08-05T14:00
Could the full acknowledgement of the extent of our complicity in the injustices of the past, constitute a galvanising principle, the basis upon which a new political community is formed? Is shame ...
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The ethics of space tourism from 2021-07-29T14:00
A new “space race” is underway – except this time, it’s not between the United States and Russia, or even China and India. Instead, billionaires Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson are spear...
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Myanmar — what are the limits of political violence? from 2021-07-22T14:00
The military coup, which overturned the results of last November’s national election, has plunged Myanmar into a cycle of escalating violence. This poses quite specific questions about the legitima...
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Is COVID-19 bringing the worst out of Australian politics? from 2021-07-15T14:00
What is the prolonged experience of the pandemic showing us about the nature of Australian politics, the limits of executive power, the role of experts in the administration of public life, and the...
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Is nihilism compatible with the moral life? from 2021-07-08T14:00
In moral philosophy and mass culture alike, “nihilism” has a bad name. And little wonder. It is most often associated with meaninglessness, pessimism, and amoralism. At its heart, nihilism is a vie...
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Has justice been done to George Floyd? from 2021-07-01T14:00
Is the conviction and sentencing of Derek Chauvin something to be celebrated as an indication of moral progress? Can the shared horror over George Floyd’s murder, and the solidarity that followed i...
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What’s so bad about laughter? from 2021-06-24T14:00
Philosophy’s concern with laughter is as old as philosophy itself. The association of laughter with derision and contempt runs through the concerns of philosophers from Plato and Aristotle to Hobbe...
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What are we doing when we make promises? from 2021-06-17T14:00
Should we be bound by the constraints of our former self, and the promises we have made in the past? Is moral progress a matter of consistency with one’s previous self, away from one’s previous sel...
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Are there ethical limits to vaccination incentives? from 2021-06-10T14:00
Should certain privileges be afforded to those who have received a COVID-19 vaccine (from international travel to attending sports venues and restaurants)? Could such privileges act as incentives (...
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Aged care: How do we honour our obligations to the elderly? from 2021-06-03T14:30
The Royal Commission into Aged Care and the ravages of COVID-19 within aged care facilities have thrown a spotlight on the adequacy, the ethics and the dignity of our ongoing care of the elderly. T...
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Is it ever OK to abandon your team? from 2021-05-27T14:00
Attachment to sporting clubs is one of our deepest and most emotionally charged forms of prejudice. But what about those moments when a fan decides she can no longer support her team? Has she betra...
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What are the conditions of co-existence in Israel-Palestine? from 2021-05-20T14:00
The incommensurability of the claims in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict produces a kind of moral absolutism, whereby one side is entirely to blame and another is entirely justified. But are there ...
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Fatigue – the emotional cost of the moral life? from 2021-05-13T14:00
Fatigue is a fascinating moral phenomenon. It can be a consequence of attentiveness, a willingness to face the realities of the world. But it can also be a form of avoidance, of “moral laziness”, t...
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Neglected Practices: Solitude from 2021-05-06T14:00
How do we practice solitude in a time rich with distractions and which exhibits peculiar aversion to (and fear of) loneliness? And when we are alone with ourselves, how do we avoid the dangers of s...
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Neglected Practices: Fasting from 2021-04-29T14:00
While fasting is an observance associated with Ramadan, versions the practice are broadly familiar to us — from the forms of “self-restraint” that are bound up with physical fitness, to advice comm...
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Neglected Practices: Not-Knowing from 2021-04-22T14:00
One of the defining features of our time is the overproduction of what could be called “useless knowledge” — ranging from gossip and empty speculation, to undeniably important “news” which makes no...
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Neglected Practices: Attentiveness from 2021-04-15T14:00
With the proliferation of digital distractions and addictive technologies, many of us live in a state of perpetual half-attention. We tend to move from one “sugar-hit” to the next — stimuli which e...
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What should become of the office? from 2021-04-08T14:00
Will the experience of working-from-home make employees reluctant to resume the daily struggle with traffic or public transportation, or to put up with irritating co-workers and unproductive work e...
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Can politics bring about the change women are demanding? from 2021-04-01T14:00:05
It’s understandable that so much anger should be directed at the federal government, and that the federal government’s numerous missteps and failures to respond appropriately to what this moment de...
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Has COVID-19 undermined our commitment to civility? from 2021-03-25T14:05
One of the perhaps underappreciated aspects of COVID-19 is the way the pandemic has dealt a blow to these daily interactions which reinforce our commitment to a common life. What is ‘civility’? Wha...
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Does climate change challenge our concept of moral responsibility? from 2021-03-18T14:05
Does our limited conception of moral responsibility stem from a profound failure to recognise our interconnectedness, the extent to which our lives are implicated in the suffering and wellbeing of ...
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What “justice” can an independent inquiry deliver? from 2021-03-11T14:00:55
In the absence of a police investigation into an historical allegation of sexual assault against the Attorney-General, many Australians have pinned their hopes on an independent, arms-length, confi...
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Emojis: Universal language, or harbinger of an age of moral illiteracy? from 2021-03-04T14:05
They seem innocuous, but since their invention more than two decades ago, emojis have come to permeate our forms of online communication. Indeed, they are the perfect expression of what communicati...
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Facebook and the news: should the divorce be permanent? from 2021-02-25T14:05
The measures Facebook has taken over the past week have precipitated a long-overdue reckoning. Now that the “social network” has lifted the veil on its ambitions and civic disdain, how can news med...
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What can our experience of art tell us about the moral life? from 2021-02-18T14:05
Professor Rita Felski joins Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens to explore whether a better understanding of the nature of aesthetic experience – of what art does to us, and why – can give us a better se...
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What democracy needs to survive from 2021-02-11T14:05
Do Republicans have an obligation to convict and impeach Trump, for the sake of the health of the body politic? Can democracy itself survive when each “side” casts its electoral success as necessar...
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Is “opinion” doing more harm than good? from 2021-02-04T14:05
Opinion writing plays a disproportionate role in our media eco-system: it drives online traffic, fuels emotion, feeds the forces of polarisation, and promotes an incapacity to understand one anothe...
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Was Twitter right to suspend Trump? from 2021-01-28T14:05
Perhaps the most consequential event over the last two months was decision of social media companies to ban Donald Trump — permanently or indefinitely — from their platforms “due to the risk of fur...
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The “great audit”: Taking stock of 2020 from 2020-12-16T11:30
This is a year that has thrown up a sometimes dizzying series of crises and moral conundrums. On this, our last show of 2020, we try to take stock of the major events and try to discern the underly...
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Woke politics: The power of the disempowered? from 2020-12-09T11:30
Is "woke politics" really a form of moral judgment, or is it merely a brand of moralism that seeks to side-step the hard work needed for genuine moral and political transformation?
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How much should we care about political corruption? from 2020-12-02T11:30
Have we come to accept a degree of corruption as part of the price we pay for democracy? Is administrative competence more important to us than political incorruptibility?
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War crimes, moral responsibility, and moral injury from 2020-11-25T11:30
The Brereton Report compels us to reflect on what it might mean to say that soldiers express a nation’s “values and laws” – which is to say, that soldiers and civilians belong to the same moral com...
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Can America’s post-election divisions be overcome? from 2020-11-18T11:30
While Trump’s conduct, cruelty, and incompetence disqualified him in the eyes of a majority of Americans, very nearly half of the nation voted for and remain fiercely devoted to the president. Amer...
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Can Aboriginal political philosophy and political liberalism be reconciled? from 2020-11-11T11:30
Should we think about the story of Australia’s halting “recognition” of its First Peoples as an expression of the ongoing conflict between political philosophies and conceptions of what properly co...
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Has Trump revealed democracy’s fragility or resilience? from 2020-11-04T11:30
During the week in which American voters cast their verdict on Trump’s term in office, it makes sense to ask: To what extent is Trump to blame for America’s political malaise? In what ways might Jo...
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What is AI doing to the moral life? from 2020-10-28T11:30
It is the nature of technology to insinuate itself into our daily lives, and to convince us that it is both benevolent by design and utterly indispensable. Little wonder that we have invited digita...
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Could COVID-19 make inequality worse? from 2020-10-21T11:30
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed, rather than alleviated, the nature and extent of inequality in many modern societies. As the recent federal budget demonstrated, Australia is a case in point. ...
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The ethics of second chances from 2020-10-14T11:30
We have become increasingly interpersonally punitive and unforgiving, believing this to be a sign of our moral seriousness or our commitment to justice. But perhaps Shakespeare’s late plays — espec...
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Should we rejoice that Trump has COVID-19? from 2020-10-07T11:30
What should our reaction be to the news of that Trump tested positive to COVID-19? It is wrong to feel glad, or to hope that he experiences severe symptoms, or that he dies?
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Should we attempt to escape from “politics”? from 2020-09-30T11:30
“Politics” is, it seems, inescapable. Christos Tsiolkas joins Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens to discuss whether we should preserve ways — in literature, in art, in comedy, in sport — to escape the l...
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How far should courts push societies to change? from 2020-09-23T11:30
The conflict and partisan positioning that followed the recent death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reflects the role played by the US Supreme Court in adjudicating matters of intense social and po...
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Is it wrong to respond to arguments with allegations? from 2020-09-16T11:30
Disagreements these days are often met with claims that an argument is “offensive, harmful, unhelpful, or divisive.” What consideration should be given to the likely consequences of an argument? Ho...
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Why does COVID-19 attract conspiracy theories? from 2020-09-09T11:34
The COVID-19 pandemic has proven particularly conducive for those intent on discerning an insidious plot behind both the emergence of the virus and the political response. To what extent are these ...
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US president as"sufferer in chief"? from 2020-09-02T11:30
Joe Biden has presented himself as a person who knows pain and loss, a tragic figure of uncommon empathy and compassion. Does this tell us anything about how political leadership may be changing u...
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Should a COVID-19 vaccine be mandatory? from 2020-08-26T11:30
Before walking it back, Scott Morrison said he expected a COVID-19 vaccine "to be as mandatory as you can possibly make [it]". The Prime Minister thereby brought to the fore a series of complicated...
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What if COVID-19 doesn’t go away? from 2020-08-19T11:34
What if the hoped for COVID-19 vaccine is delayed by months – or years? Do we have the emotional and interpersonal resources to bear up under the strain? Alda Balthrop-Lewis joins Waleed Aly and Sc...
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Ordinary vices: Ingratitude from 2020-08-12T11:30
Many of us are prone to express our sense of having hardship inflicted upon us by the COVID-19 pandemic — only to be reminded that someone else, somewhere else, has it much worse than we do. Waleed...
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What is the “value” of philosophy? from 2020-08-05T11:30
The fee changes to university degrees announced by the federal government are designed to produce “job ready graduates” by funnelling students into “job-relevant” courses — but at the expense of th...
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Is there a moral imperative to wear masks? from 2020-07-29T11:30
The COVID-19 pandemic presents us with an all-too concrete situation in which seemingly minor, individual actions can have dire consequences for thousands of others. Is the pandemic an extreme situ...
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Is COVID-19 the end of globalisation? from 2020-07-22T11:30
COVID-19 has reversed the dynamics and inner-logic of globalisation. As we begin imagining a world after COVID-19, will things go back to “normal”? Should things go back to “normal”
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Is"cancel culture"really constricting free speech? from 2020-07-15T11:30
How does liberal democracy manage incommensurable disagreement? Do the moral and political demands for justice and inclusion trump the principles of free expression and open debate? What is the mor...
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Can you enjoy sport without crowd noise? from 2020-07-08T11:30
Teams across codes and countries are facing the prospects of competing in empty or largely empty stadiums. Whatever that might mean for the players themselves, the lack of crowd noise is proving to...
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Should the police be abolished? from 2020-07-01T11:30
Following the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, there are serious calls to defund or even "abolish" the police in the United States. It’s a serious proposal, and it deserv...
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How to acknowledge the debt of historical injustice? from 2020-06-24T11:30
What does it mean for a nation - whether it be the United States, Germany, or Australia - fully to acknowledge the truth of its past, to drag its moral debts into the light of day? Should a sense o...
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Democratic politics is being challenged, but is it changing? from 2020-06-17T11:34
What are we to make of the fact that, in a time when democratic politics is being radically challenged by a series of seismic shocks, and when ideas or options once thought impossible are now squar...
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Ordinary vices: Impatience from 2020-06-10T11:34
The vice of impatience reflects a particular relationship to time: the notion that time is a finite commodity that ‘must be made the most of’, not an opportunity for encounter or an invitation to a...
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After the death of George Floyd from 2020-06-03T11:34
The death of 46-year-old George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police was both shocking and sickeningly familiar. What are the protesters communicating about the moral content of the police-kill...
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Ramadan and the reality of interdependence from 2020-05-20T11:34
Much like the month of Ramadan, the COVID-19 pandemic presents an intense reminder of a reality we most often ignore: the fact of the limits we inhabit, and our dependence on others.
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Is there a moral case against the COVID-19 “shutdown”? from 2020-05-13T11:34
Calls are mounting for an end to the “shutdown” that has been imposed by governments throughout the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic – including from some highly regarded philosophers. Ar...
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Is COVID-19 bringing the best, or worst, out of our politics? from 2020-05-06T11:30
Is the pandemic having a chastening effect on our politics, bringing voters back to the real-world consequences of political decisions, or is the pandemic in fact playing right into the hands of po...
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Is it time to end simulated sex on television and film? from 2020-04-29T11:34
Why, in the light of the #MeToo movement, have we not questioned the aesthetic, much less moral, justification for the disproportionate amount of nudity and simulated sex required of female actors?...
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Ordinary vices: Is pride an affront to, or the basis of, dignity? from 2020-04-22T11:34
Can pride be ‘redeemed’, and form the basis of human dignity, or is pride as such a form of moral corruption, a debased form of moral vision?
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Can we avoid cruelty in the face of COVID-19? from 2020-04-15T11:30
As societies, we are having to grapple with the question of whether some will be made to bear a disproportionate amount of the cost of our collective response to COVID-19.
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How can we live with coronavirus uncertainty? from 2020-04-08T11:30
In little more than a month, the coronavirus has exploded the sense of certainty, confidence, optimism and control on which so much of modern life, the economy and politics are predicated. Were the...
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Can we cultivate social solidarity in a time of physical distancing? from 2020-04-01T11:30
Any meaningful recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will require imagination, risk, solidarity and vulnerability; it will mean refusing to ‘free-ride’ and a willingness to sacrifice. How can we cult...
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What (new) forms of living might the coronavirus produce? from 2020-03-25T11:30
What new forms of life together — of modesty, prudence, simplicity, mutuality, sociality and cooperation — might we discover under the conditions of scarcity and social isolation imposed by the cor...
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What does the coronavirus reveal about us? from 2020-03-18T11:30
Is there a way of responding to the coronavirus that is both effective and ethical? That contributes to the tasks of social cohesion and mutual concern?
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Is capitalism inimical to ethics? from 2020-03-11T11:30
Does capitalism cultivate an ethos, an understanding of the nature of social relations and mutual obligation that is inimical to what might be called the demands of "democratic morality"?
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International Women’s Day – cause for celebration, or commiseration? from 2020-03-04T11:30
The corporate rebranding of International Women’s Day (IWD) couldn’t be further from the day’s revolutionary roots, or any meaningful discussion of women’s liberation. It negates any discussion of ...
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Why do we want celebrities to be'authentic'? from 2020-02-26T11:30
Why it is that we want to know the 'truth' about celebrities? What happens when the very promise of transparency, of authenticity — of intimacy, even — becomes part of the carefully cultivated appe...
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Ordinary vices: What’s wrong with lying? from 2020-02-19T11:30
This week on The Minefield, we explore what Montaigne referred to as "that accursed vice" — the most corrupt and all-corrupting of them all: lying.
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Why does democracy demand transparency? from 2020-02-12T11:30
Does representative democracy depend on practices of public scrutiny, or exercises of 'popular sovereignty' between elections?
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In the aftermath of the Iowa caucus … from 2020-02-05T11:30
Every four years, a disproportionate amount of attention is focused on the unlikely midwestern state of Iowa. In a very real way, the Iowa caucuses encapsulate the profound political and ethical ch...
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After the fires, are we invited to moral community with trees? from 2020-01-29T11:30
Over the summer months, Australia has witnessed the devastation of forests and the immolation of wildlife on an unimaginable scale. The emotional or even the tragic content of the bushfires has bee...
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2020 — why does the future look so much like the past? from 2020-01-22T11:30
Back in 2008, newly elected prime minister Kevin Rudd convened a summit of Australia’s "best and brightest" to discuss what kind of nation they wanted Australia to be in 2020. Now that we’re here, ...
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2019 — the year where nothing really mattered? from 2019-12-11T11:30
What stands out to you about 2019? This week, for the last show of 2019, Waleed and Scott discuss the year that was, what it all meant, and what it means for the future of our common life.
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The dangers of'clipification' from 2019-12-04T11:30
The media has always been in the business of isolating and mass circulating 'newsworthy' pieces or slivers of reality. But we are living in an age of 'clipification', where reality itself is broken...
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What’s wrong with swearing? from 2019-11-27T11:30
These days, mass culture, movies, commercial television, music, novels are awash with language that once would have been deemed beyond the pale. Does it still make sense to speak of 'obscene langua...
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False necessities: Is economic growth a moral good? from 2019-11-20T11:30
Is economic growth a virtuous circle or a Faustian treadmill that benefits some and immiserates others (human and not)?
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Does"calling-out"do more harm than good? from 2019-11-13T11:30
What is it about "calling-out" someone online or "cancelling" someone guilty of an egregious wrong, that is problematic? Does moral seriousness, in a time of incommensurable disagreement, necessari...
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What happened when the Berlin Wall came down? from 2019-11-06T11:30
The fall of the Berlin Wall thirty years ago is celebrated across the Western world as a world-historical moment: the triumph of freedom over tyranny, of democracy over communism. But is this justi...
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What moral obligations does feminism impose on men? from 2019-10-30T11:30
Feminism is undeniably one of the most significant political movements of the last century. So what does feminism demand of men? Meagan Tyler joins Scott and Waleed to discuss whether men can be "...
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Does democracy have a problem with conspiracies? from 2019-10-23T11:30
If conspiracism is the consequence of particular conceptions of truth, knowledge, agency, power in democratic politics, is it a problem that can be solved? Professor Sophia Rosenfeld joins us to di...
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Was betrayal inevitable? from 2019-10-16T11:30
What obligations does the United States have to the Kurds, and indeed, to the region as a whole? Professor Nader Hashemi from the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver joins us...
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Is optimism dangerous for democratic politics? from 2019-10-09T11:30
Modern democratic politics have taken what could be called an 'optimistic turn': a kind of hyperbolic cheeriness in the face of a purported threat; an assurance that the future will be bright, and ...
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Should Donald Trump be impeached? (take two) from 2019-10-02T11:30
Is the damage that Trump is inflicting on US political culture and the office of the executive so egregious that legislative sanction is more important than electoral advantage? We explore the norm...
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Free riding: Why act, when acting is likely to make no difference? from 2019-09-25T11:30
Are there reasons to act in a particular way, to willingly make some sacrifice, do something which may be good, and which we may even be committed to, when our actions (or lack of action) are likel...
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National security or xenophobic conspiracy? from 2019-09-18T11:30
Is the Australian media’s coverage of China having the effect of both alienating Chinese Australians and promoting a kind of countervailing pro-China nationalism? Professor Wanning Sun joins us to ...
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Has virtue become irrelevant to democratic politics? from 2019-09-11T11:30
If liberal democracies are now ailing, maybe even failing, what might a recovery of a politics of virtue look like? We explore the politicisation of morality with guest, Adrian Pabst.
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Where's the threat to democracy: Boris Johnson or the British Parliament? from 2019-09-04T11:30
In some ways the peculiarities of the Brexit debacle are just the latest manifestation of a much older political tension between democracy and representation. Tim Lynch joins us to discuss whether ...
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Can climate science be communicated without compromising the science? from 2019-08-28T11:30
There is undoubtedly a great need for climate science research to be communicated to the public in a manner that is clear, compelling and that cannot readily be captured, let alone dismissed, by pa...
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Can democracy survive the rise of surveillance capitalism? from 2019-08-21T11:30
Advertising has always been about creating desires, not just appealing to an existing demand. And the tension between capitalism and democratic culture is as old as capitalism itself. Soshana Zubof...
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What does it mean to be'good'? from 2019-08-14T11:30
Is 'goodness’ still a term that we should be using? Is there a difference between the 'good' and the 'virtuous' character? What is the relationship between action and intention, between the inner a...
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Facebook’s cryptocurrency — not such a bad idea after all? from 2019-08-07T11:30
The introduction of the Libra would undoubtedly increase Facebook’s power and would certainly disrupt our existing financial systems. But if it diminishes Facebook’s untrammelled sway over news dis...
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Should children be given the vote? from 2019-07-31T11:30
Cambridge historian and host of the Talking Politics podcast, David Runciman, has put forward a radical proposal to extend the vote to children as young as six. Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens discus...
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Can we overcome terminal disagreement in our politics and morality? from 2019-07-24T11:30
If the recent glut of "democracy in crisis" books is anything to go by, there is a sense that something has gone wrong in our common life. Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has diagnosed the incr...
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Can Hong Kong’s democratic protests succeed? from 2019-07-17T11:30
Was the extradition bill the 'last straw' around which a torrent of popular discontent in Hong Kong has gathered? Political scientist Ngok Ma discusses whether these protests are aimed at a complet...
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Bonus - The world in a different light: Iris Murdoch’s philosophical vision from 2019-07-15T11:30
In a century that produced a dizzying array of philosophers and philosophical approaches, few philosophers were as distinctive, and stood out quite so conspicuously, as Iris Murdoch (1919-1999).
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Voice, Treaty, Truth: What would it mean to truly listen to the First Nations'call for justice? from 2019-07-10T11:30
The invitation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart is to set off on a journey of mutual attentiveness, of truth-telling and peace-making, without a clear sense of the shared destination. Marcia L...
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How do you solve a problem like Israel Folau? from 2019-07-03T11:30
Is the controversy surrounding Israel Folau just one more example of the tension between incommensurable rights claims: freedom of expression; freedom of religion; freedom from discrimination on th...
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Is democracy an impediment to addressing climate change? from 2019-06-26T11:30
Given democracy’s tendency to prioritise the short-term and appeal to voter self-interest, and given its inherent anthropocentrism, does our ecological crisis warrant bypassing democratic procedure...
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What if the greatest threat to a free media was from within? from 2019-06-19T11:30
Our lives are saturated with 'news'; but far from creating informed citizens, this is producing forgetful, inattentive citizens. Megan Le Masurier joins us to discuss whether "slow journalism" coul...
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A free press, sure, but free from what? And free for what? from 2019-06-12T11:30
The media plays a vital role in a representative democracy by acting as a check on political power and powerful interests. But is it enough for the free press to provide scrutiny and surveillance? ...
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Is technology killing democracy? from 2019-06-05T11:30
What if social media and democratic politics serve radically different goals? Tech investor Raina Kumra joins us to discuss whether social media is undermining the conditions of healthy democratic ...
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Needs of the Soul: Home from 2019-05-29T11:30
As we wrap up this year’s Ramadan series, we turn to the importance of having a place to be and a people to be among. How does 'love of country' square with our collective failure to address the wa...
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Needs of the Soul: Hardship from 2019-05-22T11:30
Is there a danger in seeing hardship as something that simply needs to be overcome, and which can be overcome given the right technologies or policies, rather than something that is intrinsic to life?
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Needs of the Soul: Conversation from 2019-05-15T11:30
What is 'good' conversation? What are its preconditions? What is its goal? And why is it so important to the moral life?
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Needs of the Soul: Silence from 2019-05-08T11:30
During Ramadan, we’re giving concerted attention to what makes for a healthy moral life. In a time characterised by clamour and empty chatter, it’s never been more important — or more difficult — t...
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Would Donald Trump’s impeachment be devastating to America’s democratic culture? from 2019-05-01T11:30
Has the weight of expectation on the findings of the Mueller Report foreclosed serious reflection on whether Trump should be impeached?
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Social media: promoter of democratic participation or purveyor of violence? from 2019-04-24T11:30
Can social media platforms be anything other than purveyors of violence in countries with deep and long-standing histories of ethnic-religious tensions?
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False necessities: Is'taste'enough to morally justify the mass slaughter of animals? from 2019-04-17T11:30
Is our culinary enjoyment enough to justify a complicity in cruelty which our fellow citizens find reprehensible?
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What are the limits of Australia’s obligations to its citizens? from 2019-04-10T11:30
Do modern nation-states have persistent obligations to their citizens, even when those citizens engage in behaviour that seems to deny their membership to that political community?
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Is literary fiction necessary for the moral life? from 2019-04-03T11:30
What does a society lose when it neglects the moral discipline of reading literary fiction?
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Why does antisemitism cut across the political spectrum? from 2019-03-27T11:30
Why is it that most other forms of racist contempt can find a place in the diseased branches of antisemitism?
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What does the Christchurch shooting demand of us? from 2019-03-20T11:30
Why has it taken the sound of bullets fired and the sight of blood spilled to get some to see Muslims as fully human, as capable of placing demands on our attention or claims for our respect?
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Would it be wrong to'rape'a sex robot? from 2019-03-13T11:30
Does ethics have anything to say to the prospect that some of the sexual fantasies enacted on sex robots will, undoubtedly, include 'rape'?
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Do we have an obligation to pity the guilty? from 2019-03-06T11:30
Does the moral life demand of us a fuller range of emotions beyond anger and contempt?
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False necessities: Is it time to leave two-party politics behind? from 2019-02-27T11:30
Should we place a premium on the political virtue of compromise instead of the zero-sum game of the two-party contest?
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What are the dangers of declaring political'emergencies'? from 2019-02-20T11:30
Does the invocation of a political 'emergency' have corrosive effects on the moral health of a political community?
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What should politicians do with'expert advice'? from 2019-02-13T11:30
What is the nature and what are the limits of political decision-making? Just how important — how final — is ministerial responsibility?
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Bonus: What does it mean to age well? from 2019-02-11T11:30
What are the ethics and obligations of ageing?
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What do we owe those in need? from 2019-02-06T11:30
What is the nature, and what are the limits, of our responsibility for others? When can we say we've discharged our obligation?
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Illegal drug use — does ethics have anything to say? from 2019-01-30T11:30
How best to respond to the prevalence, use and associated dangers of illicit drugs presents particular challenges to political decision-making and ethical judgment alike.
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Should prisons be abolished? from 2019-01-23T11:30
Have prisons outlived their political and moral usefulness? Can we find a moral equivalent to incarceration?
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Was 2018 the year of living undemocratically? from 2018-12-12T11:30
Is there reason to remain hopeful in democracy as a form of peaceful, pluralistic, ethically defensible way of life?
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Is moral philosophy being killed by hypothetical cases? from 2018-12-05T11:30
Why have hypothetical scenarios come to dominate moral reflection over the last century? Is it time for moral philosophy to abandon its preoccupation with hypothetical cases?
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Francis Fukuyama and the problem of identity politics from 2018-11-28T11:30
Does the resurgence of notions of “identity” represent a problem to be solved, or does it present an invitation to rediscover a deeper understanding of solidarity?
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What can fans do when sport becomes ethically intolerable? from 2018-11-21T11:30
Do fans have particular moral responsibilities when it comes to their consumption of, and participation in, professional sport?
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America after the mid-terms: Just how divided can a democracy become, and survive? from 2018-11-14T11:30
When the conditions of political friendship seem no longer to exist, what democratic resources remain that might begin healing this civic wound?
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Political interference in university research: What are the limits of'intellectual freedom'? from 2018-11-07T11:30
Can the ends, the goal, the telos of humanities research be articulated in a way that both demonstrates public benefit and welcomes scrutiny?
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Why did it take the murder of Jamal Khashoggi to make us re-evaluate Saudi Arabia? from 2018-10-31T11:30
Does the fact that international alarm has flared up so quickly mean that the lividity of concern will fade just as quickly? What would a stance toward the Middle East that is at once informed, rea...
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Freedom from discrimination: What is its ethical basis? What is its goal? from 2018-10-24T11:30
Does anti-discrimination legislation present a limit, a countervailing claim, to the right to religious freedom? Can they both be reconciled within a common moral framework?
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Freedom of religion: What’s being protected? What are its limits? from 2018-10-17T11:30
What happens when two fundamental rights claims — religious freedom and freedom from discrimination — clash with one another?
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Can, or should, international aid be separated from national interests? from 2018-10-10T11:30
What is the ethical basis for — and what are the limits of — foreign aid?
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The Kavanaugh hearings: Who, or what, is on trial? from 2018-10-03T11:30
The moral questions that emerge from the competing testimonies of Kavanaugh and Blasey Ford are both profound and far-reaching.
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Can the Humanities Survive in the Modern University? Can Democracy Survive without the Humanities? from 2018-09-26T11:30
What form should tertiary education take if it is to cultivate virtuous citizens?
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Sympathy, hypocrisy, responsibility: Who’s to blame for climate change? from 2018-09-19T11:30
What is the nature of moral responsibility when confronted with a problem as complex as climate change?
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Resisting Trump from within: Civil disobedience, moral vanity or democratic betrayal? from 2018-09-12T11:30
If there are indeed White House officials actively impeding the wishes of a democratically-elected president, on what grounds can they do so? Is there any other way of classifying such behaviour th...
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Does democracy stand a chance against neoliberalism? from 2018-09-05T11:30
What are the democratic practices and forms of organisation that need to be recovered in order to provide meaningful resistance to neoliberalism’s decades-long assault on our common life?
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What’s wrong with Australian democracy? from 2018-08-29T11:30
Is the way that Australia practices parliamentary democracy broken? Or is there something more perfidious about the fracturing of the political parties themselves that leaves little motivation for ...
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Must public discourse be persuasive? from 2018-08-22T11:30
What are the limits of 'public deliberation'? When is one permitted to pronounce a fellow citizen/member of a political community, 'beyond the pale' or beyond the reach of political communion?
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How important is truth in democratic politics? from 2018-08-15T11:30
In a democracy, the denial of shared facts also denies the possibility of a shared world in which we can deliberate together.
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The tragedy of Emma Husar and the ethics of BuzzFeed: What’s in the public interest? from 2018-08-08T11:30
Was the publication of the allegations against the federal Labor MP Emma Husar in 'the public interest'? Or has its haste to scoop its rivals caused BuzzFeed to abandon the temperance and care with...
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Can we still enjoy the labours of morally ‘tainted’ artists? from 2018-08-01T11:30
Can we still learn from, use, enjoy or legitimately benefit from the work of people who have committed egregious moral wrongs or who themselves hold morally repugnant beliefs?
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Does multiculturalism pose a threat to national identity? from 2018-07-25T11:30
The choice between nationalism and multiculturalism is becoming increasingly stark in our time. But what if that choice is a false one?
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Migration: Do prosperous nations have a moral right to exclude? from 2018-07-18T11:30
Increasingly, prosperous states like Australia are seeking to limit their migrant intake. When do states have a right to exclude migrants in need? Is there a case for 'open borders'?
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Constitutional Recognition: A Wicked Problem? from 2018-07-11T11:30
Why has constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples proven to be an impossible 'problem' to solve? And why does it elicit fear among so many Australians?
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Taxes or Wages: How Best to Address Inequality? from 2018-07-04T11:30
Is taxation overvalued as a way of addressing inequality? Or does taxation have a crucial role in maintaining residual forms of social solidarity and mutual concern in a predominantly neoliberal age?
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Is Satire an Ethical Form of Speech? from 2018-06-27T11:30
Public and political discourse have grown increasingly intemperate over the past decade. Can satire, in times like these, be an ethical form of speech? Or is it just a progressive variation of 'hat...
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Is Humility a Virtue, Unfashionable or Not? from 2018-06-20T11:30
It is one quality that undergirds all others; it constitutes their ground, their condition of possibility. But is humility the virtue of all virtues?
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Unfashionable Virtues: Steadfastness from 2018-06-13T11:30
In the ancient world, steadfastness is bound up with personal integrity and interpersonal loyalty. Today, can it provide the basis for dynamic political friendship?
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Unfashionable Virtues: Frankness from 2018-06-06T11:30
Is frankness the preference of truth over 'opinion' or does it go beyond that? Is it the willingness to place oneself in a position of vulnerability?
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Unfashionable Virtues: Forbearance from 2018-05-30T11:30
Should forbearance still be considered a virtue? Or is forbearance ultimately an undesirable response to a hideously unjust world?
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Is Restraint an Unfashionable Virtue? from 2018-05-23T11:30
Is self-restraint a good in itself or is it open to corruption and distortion?
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What Makes Torture Wrong? from 2018-05-16T11:30
Is torture morally unconscionable because it is an unreliable means of extracting information? Or is it morally wrong regardless of the quality of information it elicits?
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Love-Labour: Is there a moral imperative to do housework? from 2018-05-09T11:30
Have we lost something essential to the moral life – something beyond monetary value – in our pursuit of convenience?
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Bad Banks: Can Financial Services be Ethical? from 2018-05-02T11:30
What does the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry say about the nature of money?
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Anzac Day: Can Australia handle the truth? from 2018-04-25T11:30
Can critical reflection on a nation’s history be cultivated without a sense of national identity and coherence thereby being undermined?
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Is the ‘gig economy’ just capitalism’s latest form of exploitation? from 2018-04-18T11:30
The ‘gig economy’ promises unparalleled autonomy and flexibility for its workers. But the workers themselves become both capital and labour. Are there conditions under which the ‘gig economy’ might...
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Can the ‘Sensible Centre’ Survive an Era of Ideological Extremes? from 2018-04-11T11:30
It has long been part of our received political wisdom that Australia is a nation of centrists, but these are not centrist times. What are the political implications in this age of extremes?
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Martin Luther King, Jr.: Political Saint or Moral Philosopher? from 2018-04-04T11:30
Can Martin Luther King Jr.’s true moral challenge only be heard once he is freed from the theatricalised struggle for civil rights in the South?
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What does one generation owe another? Tax and social obligation from 2018-03-28T11:30
Modern democratic politics runs up against its limit in the form of the problem of intergenerational justice: How to secure electoral support for just policies, whose benefit will accrue to future ...
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Should you #DeleteFacebook? The perils of platform capitalism from 2018-03-21T11:30
The steady stream of revelations since the 2016 Presidential election reveal that Facebook is simply not interested in democratic participation, but the degree to which it can convert citizens into...
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Should Culture be Saved from Becoming too'Political'? from 2018-03-14T11:30
When serious political issues are subordinated to the commercial logic that governs the production of movies, television, etc., isn't there an irresistible temptation just to give consumers what th...
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Has #MeToo Gone Too Far, or Not Far Enough? from 2018-03-07T11:30
Can #MeToo bring about a cultural reformation? Can it maintain its passion while also maintaining a commitment to due process?
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Gun Control: After Florida, Could Change Finally Be Within Reach? from 2018-02-28T11:30
If there is anything more sickening than the gratuitous displays of gun violence that tear at America’s civic fabric, it is the ritualised excuses and political alibis that follow in their wake. Bu...
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Should Private Lives be Subject to Public Scrutiny? from 2018-02-21T11:30
What is perhaps most alarming in the Barnaby Joyce affair is the lack of basic agreement on some fundamental questions: Should the ‘private lives’ of public figures be the objects of scrutiny? Shou...
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What Good Did the Apology Do? from 2018-02-14T11:30
The historic Apology to the Stolen Generations was a potentially transformative step towards the righting of egregious wrongs. But were there dynamics at play that conspired to undermine its moral ...
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Can Politics Be Freed from the Banality of Mass Culture? from 2018-02-07T11:30
In our current media-saturated age, content has become incidental to the real story, which is the entertainment-value of the political spectacle itself. Have politics and mass culture become too in...
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Are Private Schools Morally Justified? from 2018-01-31T11:30
What is the purpose of education? What goods are schools supposed to serve? On what grounds could a parent, justifiably, opt out of the public schooling system?
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Is There a Morally Credible Case for Not Changing the Date of Australia Day? from 2018-01-24T11:30
As the intensity of the Australia Day protests has grown, so too has the push-back from those who want to keep 26 January as a day of particular patriotic sentiment. But can such counter-arguments ...
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Is it possible to take an ethical holiday? from 2017-12-20T11:30
What are holidays for? What ethical considerations ought to constrain trips to remote and overseas communities? Is tourism just the latest manifestation of the colonial impulse?
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2017: The Year That Politics Died? from 2017-12-13T11:30
Given the seismic events that shook Western politics in 2016 – most notably, Brexit and the election of Donald Trump – what is most remarkable about 2017 has been its tedium. Politics has become de...
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Unspeakable Harm: Can Pornography be Understood as a Form of Hate Speech? from 2017-12-06T11:30
Should pornography be considered an expression of hate speech rather than free speech?
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The ‘Weinstein Effect’: What Dangers Are Lurking Within This Cultural Moment? from 2017-11-29T11:30
What has come to be known as the ‘Weinstein effect’ may well prove the defining moment of 2017. But the fact that it took allegations of this severity to achieve such a cultural groundswell says so...
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Do Hospitals Have A Duty To Provide Treatment At Any Cost? from 2017-11-22T11:30
It is becoming increasingly difficult for public hospitals to balance the health and wellbeing of the patient with the stark reality of limited public funds.
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The Same-Sex Marriage Debate: Are We Better For It? from 2017-11-15T11:30
Has the same-sex marriage debate made the disagreement between both sides more intractable than it was before?
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From Uluru to Manus: Has Australia Lost its Moral Legitimacy? from 2017-11-08T11:30
The Federal Government’s response to asylum seekers on Manus Island and to the claims of the First Nations are underwritten by contradictory political logics, but is there a deeper malaise that dri...
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Can There be a Place for Robots within the Human Community? from 2017-11-01T11:30
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made the rather startling move of conferring citizenship onto a robot named Sophia. Is our faith in artificial intelligence misplaced?
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The Politics of Gender: Can We Resolve the Tension between Identity, Biology and Power? from 2017-10-25T11:30
Does the moral claim for recognition on the part of trans women challenge what it now means to be a ‘woman’? Does it redefine our understanding of the relationship between gender and biology?
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Wrong to be ‘White’: Is Racism a Moral Problem? from 2017-10-18T11:30
Is ‘Whiteness’ best understood as a political-historical category, or is there a dimension to the experience of being ‘White’ that can only be registered in moral terms?
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Is Hollywood’s fashionable politics just a screen for its lack of moral substance? from 2017-10-11T11:30
Can Hollywood films really provide occasions for genuine moral reflection and philosophical insight?
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Bleeding Las Vegas: Why are tighter U.S. gun laws beyond reach? from 2017-10-04T11:30
Las Vegas joins a long and growing list of American cities to have been ravaged by mass gun violence. There is, it seems, a national mythos that puts gun possession beyond the reach of critical scr...
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The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat: Why Does Sport Matter So Much to Us? from 2017-09-27T11:30
Why should something so seemingly trivial, whose consequences are fleeting if not nugatory, command the passions the way sporting contests do?
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Housing (un)affordability: Is social housing a moral imperative? from 2017-09-20T11:30
In a time of gross unaffordability, is the presumption of home ownership a thing of the past?
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Ethnic Cleansing in Myanmar: Was the world’s faith in Aung San Suu Kyi misplaced? from 2017-09-13T11:30
The violence in Myanmar is an urgent reminder of problem of political idol-worship, a warning of the inherent dangers of democratic reform, and a spur to reflect on what is needed to effect thoroug...
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Disasters and the media: Why must emotion trump understanding? from 2017-09-06T11:30
Is the only time we can discuss the truly ‘big issues’ when no one is paying attention?
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The ethics of presidential pardons from 2017-08-30T11:30
Is legalism the right response to abuses of executive power, or are mercy and discretion vital for the proper functioning of justice?
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What are the limits of religious freedom in liberal democracies? from 2017-08-23T11:30
Does Australia need a positive statement of religious freedom as a basic right?
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No Success Like Failure: Why Politicians are Bound to Disappoint Us from 2017-08-16T11:30
Why are political idealism and unprincipled opportunism equally dangers to the wellbeing of the body politic?
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Addressing Homelessness: When Did Our Social Sensitivities Take Precedence Over Our Sense of Justice? from 2017-08-09T11:30
There’s no minimising how complex the problem of homelessness is. But perhaps the place to begin is by addressing our own sense of disdain and distaste.
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Dual Citizenship: What is Gained? What is Lost? from 2017-08-02T11:30
Is dual citizenship now a kind of way-station between nationalism and cosmopolitanism?
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Who Bears Responsibility for Vast Inequality? from 2017-07-26T11:30
Inequality is the defining social and economic reality of our time. But who should bear responsibility when poverty itself becomes moralised?
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Organ and Blood Donation: Can We Overcome our Reticence to Give of Our ‘Selves’? from 2017-07-19T11:30
How do we overcome the gap between our attitude and behaviour towards organ and blood donation?
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Bonus - The Politics of Superheroes: Comics and the Real World from 2017-07-13T12:30
The world of superheroes has long been intertwined with the political and social realities of our world.
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Have Political Parties Had Their Day? from 2017-07-12T11:30
Are political parties both a source and the nexus of the modern political malaise?
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Australian Cricket: The Latest Front in the Stand-Off between Capital and Labour? from 2017-07-05T11:30
Australian cricket has struck out into unchartered territory. Has the current pay dispute eroded the trust that is central to a mutually dependent relationship?
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Is perfectibility flawed? from 2017-06-28T11:30
How important is imperfectability in democratic politics?
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Is Ignorance a Virtue in a Media-Saturated Age? from 2017-06-21T11:30
Do we have a problem with knowledge? Does an exposure to too much information diminish our capacity for moral attention?
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Is Speed Worth the Moral Cost? from 2017-06-14T11:30
In a time of speed, the integrity and intelligibility of our moral lives may well hinge on our capacity to remember that slower is most often best....
Can We Do Without Trust? from 2017-06-07T11:30
Unless we cultivate the capacity to trust, are we condemning ourselves to morally emaciated existences defined by fear, envy and mutual disdain?
Beyond recognition: When does justice trump the ‘politics of the possible’? from 2017-05-31T11:30
Can the deliberative process which led to the Uluru Statement from the Heart be replicated in the wider Australian community?
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Do we have Trump to thank for a renewal of democratic virtues? from 2017-05-24T11:30
Should we be grateful that Donald Trump has upset our complacency and reminded us that democratic politics represent an inherently ethical vocation...
Milestones and the measure of the moral life from 2017-05-17T11:30
Humans have a seemingly insatiable need to measure their lives. What role do milestones play in the formation of the moral life?
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