Q&A Radio: Sunday, 13 January 2013
In the live broadcast of Philosophy in Action Radio on Sunday, 13 January 2013, I answered questions on free will and natural law, romance between an atheist and a believer, bringing children into a statist world, and more. Greg Perkins of Objectivist Answers was my co-host.
Remember, Philosophy in Action Radio is available to anyone, free of charge. That's because our goal is to spread rational principles for real life far and wide, as we do every week to thousands of listeners. We love producing every episode, but each requires requires our time, effort, and money – week in and week out. So if you enjoy and value our work, please contribute to our tip jar. We suggest $5 per episode or $20 per month, but any amount is appreciated. You can send your contribution via Dwolla, PayPal, or US Mail.
My News of the Week: I've been SnowCon 2013 and working on the publication of my dssertation. Also, last night I discovered that an awesome picture of me and my shotgun appears in this CNN photoessay (#11).
Listen Now 
- Duration: 1:07:40
Download the Episode
- Download: Enhanced M4A File (24.4 MB)
- Download: Standard MP3 File (23.3 MB)
To automatically download new podcast episodes to your computer, subscribe to the podcast feed of Philosophy in Action:
- Enhanced M4A Feed: Subscribe in iTunes or your RSS reader
- Standard MP3 Feed: Subscribe in iTunes or your RSS reader
Share This Episode
Segments: 13 January 2013
Question 1: Free Will and Natural Law (4:26)
Question: Is free will merely an illusion? While I dislike the idea that we're just puppets of physics and natural law, I wonder whether our seemingly "free" decisions are actually determined by the combination of our biology and our environment. After all, if our brain is merely a physical and chemical system, how could any any decisions be made freely? Wouldn't that violate natural law? In essence, how can our knowledge that the physical universe is deterministic be reconciled with our subjective feeling that we choose our actions?
Answer, In Brief: The evidence for free will is overwhelming, and the attempts to deny that are not scientific but rather based on a dogmatic adherence to reductionistic materialism.
Tags: Causality, Free Will, Introspection, Materialism, Metapysics, Science
Listen or Download 
Relevant Links
Comments
Question 2: Romance Between an Atheist and a Believer (28:26)
Question: Can a romance between an atheist and a religious believer work? What are the major obstacles? Should the atheist attend church or church socials with his spouse? Should they have a religious wedding ceremony? Should they send their children to religious schools? Do the particular beliefs – or strength of beliefs – of the religious person matter?
Answer, In Brief: Religion is a fundamental motivator of values, and so romance between an atheist and a religious believer is possible, but fraught with danger.
Tags: Atheism, Character, Children, Compromise, Ethics, Honesty, Integrity, Marriage, Relationships, Religion, Romance
Listen or Download
Relevant Links
Comments
Question 3: Bringing Children into a Statist World (51:46)
Question: Is it wrong to have children in an increasingly irrational and statist culture? People should think about the long-range effects of their actions, and act based on principles. So if a person thinks that our culture is in decline – and perhaps even slipping into dictatorship – is it wrong for that person to have children? Is such an assessment accurate? Along similar lines, were people wrong to have children in the Soviet Union and other dictatorships?
Answer, In Brief: If you don't want to have children, that's fine, but don't use the ridiculous dogma of secular apocalypticism to justify that decision. Life, particularly for children, is better than ever before.
Tags: Apocalypticism, Children, Culture, Parenting, Politics
Listen or Download
Relevant Links
Comments
Rapid Fire Questions (1:00:41)
- Imagine that you were to be able to trace every event in a person's life back to infancy, such that you would be able to predict all their decisions based on their past experiences? What would the technical term for that be?
- If pedophiles cannot change their sexuality, then is it wrong to simply attempt to suppress that?
- Is it rational to refrain from flying because you object to the policies and actions of the TSA, even though you'd quite enjoy taking a vacation abroad with friends?
Listen or Download
Comments
Conclusion (1:06:29)
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Philosophy in Action Radio! If you enjoyed this episode, please contribute to contribute to our tip jar.
Support Philosophy in Action
Remember, Philosophy in Action Radio is available to anyone, free of charge. That's because our goal is to spread rational principles for real life far and wide, as we do every week to thousands of listeners. We love producing every episode, but each requires requires our time, effort, and money – week in and week out. So if you enjoy and value our work, please contribute to our tip jar. We suggest $5 per episode or $20 per month, but any amount is appreciated. You can send your contribution via Dwolla, PayPal, or US Mail.
Thank you, if you've contributed to Philosophy in Action! You make our work possible every week, and we're so grateful for that!
If you enjoy Philosophy in Action, please help us spread the word about it! Tell your friends about upcoming broadcasts by forwarding our newsletter. Link to episodes or segments from our topics archive. Share our blog posts, podcasts, and events on Facebook and Twitter. Rate and review the podcast in iTunes (M4A and MP3). We appreciate any and all of that!
About Philosophy in Action Radio
I'm Dr. Diana Hsieh. I'm a philosopher specializing the application of rational principles to the challenges of real life. I received my Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2009. My dissertation defended moral responsibility and moral judgment against the doubts raised by Thomas Nagel's "problem of moral luck."
My radio show, Philosophy in Action Radio, broadcasts live over the internet on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. On Sunday mornings, I answer four meaty questions applying rational principles to the challenges of real life in a live hour-long show. Greg Perkins of Objectivist Answers co-hosts the show. On Wednesday evenings, I interview an expert guest about a topic of practical importance.
If you join us for the live broadcasts, you can ask follow-up questions and make comments in the text-based chat. Otherwise, you can listen to the podcast by subscribing to our Podcast RSS Feed. You can also peruse the show archives, where episodes and questions are sorted by date and by topic.
For regular updates, commentary, and humor, read my blog NoodleFood and subscribe to its Blog RSS Feed. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and connect on social media too.
I can be reached via e-mail to [email protected].
Copyright Diana Hsieh | Web | Email | Twitter | Facebook