On Sunday’s episode of Philosophy in Action Radio, Tim Peck and I answered questions on the rights of the severely mentally disabled, the morality of risky sports, Francisco’s slap of Dagny, imitating the ‘rape’ scene in The Fountainhead, accepting unauthorized discounts, buying votes in elections, and more. The podcast of that episode is now available for streaming or downloading.
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Whole Podcast: 29 May 2011
Listen or Download:
- Duration: 1:00:46
- Download: Enhanced M4A File (22.1 MB)
- Download: Standard MP3 File (20.9 MB)
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Podcast Segments: 29 May 2011
You can download or listen to my answers to individual questions from this episode below.
Introduction
My News of the Week: It’s just AtlosCon 2011!
Question 1: The Rights of the Severely Mentally Disabled
Question: What rights do severely mentally disabled people have? If someone is mentally disabled to the extent that he or she will never be able to be rational and/or live independently, does that person have rights? Who should be financially responsible for the care of such people?My Answer, In Brief: A disabled person with some capacity to reason has rights, although may require the guidance and assistance of a guardian. However, humans born without any capacity to reason (such as anencephalics) cannot be said to have rights, since rights protect a person’s capacity to act on his own rational judgment.
Listen or Download:
- Start Time: 2:41
- Duration: 18:50
- Download: MP3 Segment
- Tags: Disability, Ethics, Law, Politics, Rights
To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.
Question 2: The Morality of Risky Sports
Question: Are risky sports immoral? Some people engage in highly risky sports, such as freestyle skiing or snowboarding, mountain climbing in extreme conditions, surfing huge waves, skydiving, free (non-scuba) diving, super-technical mountain biking, and so on. Since life is the standard of value, is it wrong to risk your life (or limbs) in such pursuits? Should a person take pleasure in risks for its own sake? What is the value of such sports, if any?My Answer, In Brief: While the pursuit of risk per se is self-destructive, most extreme athletes have the skills required to safely perform the activity or risk only minor injuries.
Listen or Download:
- Start Time: 21:31
- Duration: 11:45
- Download: MP3 Segment
- Tags: Ethics, Risk, Sports
To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.
Question 3: Francisco’s Slap of Dagny
Question: Was Francisco justified in slapping Dagny? In their teenage years, when Dagny asked Francisco whether she should try to get D’s in order to gain popularity in school, Francisco slapped her. I understand what he meant by the “unspeakable” thing that she said. But couldn’t have he talked it over with her instead of slapping her – and shouldn’t he have done so? Why does he use physical violence – and why does Dagny not just accept but relish in it?My Answer, In Brief: The slap in question was not just deliberately provoked, but necessary in the context of fiction to dramatize the tension and bond between them.
Listen or Download:
- Start Time: 33:16
- Duration: 4:32
- Download: MP3 Segment
- Tags: Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Ethics, Literature, Relationships, Rights, Romance
To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.
Question 4: Imitating the ‘Rape’ Scene in The Fountainhead
Question: Should a man ever act in real life as Howard Roark did in his first sexual encounter with Dominique? In your 24 April 2011 webcast, you said that a person should not act as Howard Roark did in the “rape” scene in The Fountainhead, implying it would be immoral. Could you explain why? Is the problem that you cannot know for certain what the woman wants? I’ve slept with a few women and only once have I ever been 100% certain that she wanted it that way and so I took it without any real permission and I was right. She even told me later she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I understand it is very dangerous to say to guys, “Hey, its okay to do this!” because most people are idiots, but wouldn’t there be rare real-life cases in which a man would be right to act like Roark did?My Answer, In Brief: The “rape” scene is wonderful drama, but to do the same in real life would risk actually raping the woman – which is not merely horrible in and of itself, but also likely to result in years of imprisonment.
Listen or Download:
- Start Time: 37:49
- Duration: 7:10
- Download: MP3 Segment
- Tags: Ayn Rand, Crime, Ethics, Literature, The Fountainhead
Links:
- “Understanding the ‘Rape’ Scene in The Fountainhead” by Andy Berstein in Essays on Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead
To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.
Question 5: Accepting Unauthorized Discounts
Question: Is it moral to accept discounts for products and services when the person giving you the discount isn’t a manager or owner of the business? Is it moral for a person to accept “nice face” discounts? I’ve had people (mostly women) tell me that they’ve received discounts or better service for being nice, dressing in low-cut shirts or short skirts, being cheerful or otherwise friendly to store clerks or employees (usually of the opposite sex). Is it moral to offer or accept such discounts?My Answer, In Brief: Businesses are free to offer discounts to any customers, and you should feel free to accept them. However, if you know that the discount is offered in secret, without the permission of the business owner or manager, you should refuse.
Listen or Download:
- Start Time: 44:58
- Duration: 7:01
- Download: MP3 Segment
- Tags: Business, Ethics, Honesty
To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.
Question 6: Buying Votes in Elections
Question: Should it be legal in a free society to buy votes? It doesn’t seem that the practice would violate anyone’s rights, so shouldn’t it be legal for a person who wants to hold office to pay willing voters to cast their vote for him?My Answer, In Brief: To buy votes in an election would not only be wildly expensive but also likely ensure defeat. It’s not an activity that could or should be banned.
Listen or Download:
- Start Time: 52:00
- Duration: 7:39
- Download: MP3 Segment
- Tags: Corruption, Elections, Free Society, Law, Politics, Voting
To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.
Conclusion
Be sure to check out the topics scheduled for upcoming episodes! Don’t forget to submit and vote on questions for future episodes too!
- Start Time: 59:40
About Philosophy in Action Radio
Philosophy in Action Radio focuses on the application of rational principles to the challenges of real life. It broadcasts live on most Sunday mornings and many Thursday evenings over the internet. For information on upcoming shows, visit the Episodes on Tap. For podcasts of past shows, visit the Show Archives.
Activism Recap
May 292011
This week on We Stand FIRM, the blog of FIRM (Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine):
- 23 May 2011: John Lewis Lecture-Webcast Tomorrow by Paul Hsieh, MD
- 24 May 2011: FDA vs. Freedom by Paul Hsieh, MD
- 25 May 2011: Quick Links: IBD, Turner, EMTALA by Paul Hsieh, MD
- 26 May 2011: Quick Links: Lewis Video, Barone, Neerhof by Paul Hsieh, MD
- 27 May 2011: Drug Innovation Continues—For Now by Paul Hsieh, MD
This week on Mother of Exiles:
- 25 May 2011: Quote About Immigration by Kelly McNulty Valenzuela
- 26 May 2011: Bye, Bye Property Rights by Kelly McNulty Valenzuela
This week on the blog of Modern Paleo:
- 23 May 2011: On Buying a Quarter Cow by Diana Hsieh
- 24 May 2011: Paleo for kids by Kate Yoak
- 25 May 2011: oaxacan yellow mole by Julie
- 26 May 2011: fennel and zucchini soup by Julie
- 27 May 2011: Question of the Week & Open Thread #062 by Diana Hsieh
- 27 May 2011: The Paleo Rodeo #062 by Diana Hsieh
- 28 May 2011: The Objectivist Roundup & Rationally Selfish Webcast by Diana Hsieh
Open Thread #272
May 292011
For anyone wishing to ask a question, make a observation, or share a link with NoodleFood readers, I hereby open up the comments on this post to any respectable topic. As always, please refrain from posting inappropriate comments such as personal attacks, pornographic material, copyrighted material, and commercial solicitations.
NoodleFood’s Wednesday and Sunday Open Threads feature creative commons photographs from Flickr that I find interesting. I hope that you enjoy them!
Real Cream
May 282011
In mid-May, I sent the following letter to “Darigold,” the manufacturer of the cream that’s now sold in our local Costco stores.
Hi,I used to routinely buy the half gallons of “Country Classic” whipping cream from my local Costco stores in south Denver. It was only pasteurized, not homogenized, and didn’t contain any additives. It was just cream — and wow, it was stellar. It was the closest thing to raw cream (which I used to get) that I’d ever found. I liked it so much that I’d rather go without than buy ordinary cream from the grocery store. I wasn’t alone: visitors often remarked that my cream tasted so much better than anything they’d ever bought.
However, now that Darigold has bought Country Classic, that fantastic product is gone. Costco only sells your Darigold cream, but that’s the same barely tolerable product that’s sold in regular grocery stores. I’m just not interested in that, and I won’t buy it. I want the old Country Classic!
So please please please… bring it back! You had a great product!
– Diana Hsieh
Modern Paleo : http://www.modernpaleo.com
I sent the same basic letter to Costco. Alas, I didn’t get much in reply, but perhaps a few more letters from other unhappy customers would make a difference! If you’re such a customer, then you can write Darigold here and write Costco here.
Objectivist Roundup
May 262011
The Objectivist Roundup is a weekly blog carnival for Objectivists. Contributors must be Objectivists, but posts on any topic are welcome.
Try Reason! hosted this week’s Objectivist Roundup. Go take a look!
You can submit your blog article to the next edition of The Objectivist Roundup using this submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found here. If you’re an Objectivist blogger, you can get weekly reminders to submit to the carnival by subscribing to OBloggers @ OList.com.
Hsieh Cited in IBD on Medicare Rationing
May 262011
The May 16th Investor’s Business Daily quoted me in their article, “Will Congress Kill ‘Death Panel 2.0′?” Here’s the relevent excerpt:
While IPAB defenders say the law specifically bars rationing, critics argue that cutting provider payments would have that effect.They say IPAB-imposed payment cuts could accelerate doctors’ exodus from Medicare, restricting seniors’ access to care. In 2009, 13% of family doctors said they didn’t participate in Medicare, up from 6% in 2004, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.
“Its power to set payments to doctors and hospitals would give it de facto rationing power,” Paul Hsieh, a Denver-based physician, noted in his IPAB analysis.
(Read the full text of “Will Congress Kill ‘Death Panel 2.0′?“)
The “IPAB analysis” they are referring to is my PajamasMedia piece from 4/22/2011, “We Call It ‘Rationing,’ Obama Calls It ‘Medicare Independent Payment Advisory Board’“.
I’m honored and delighted to be cited by such a high-profile outlet as Investor’s Business Daily, and I’d like to thank PajamasMedia (including editors David Steinberg and Aaron Hanscom) for providing such a friendly outlet for my work.
(See the full list of my PajamasMedia writings.)
Open Thread #271
May 252011
For anyone wishing to ask a question, make a observation, or share a link with NoodleFood readers, I hereby open up the comments on this post to any respectable topic. As always, please refrain from posting inappropriate comments such as personal attacks, pornographic material, copyrighted material, and commercial solicitations.
NoodleFood’s Wednesday and Sunday Open Threads feature creative commons photographs from Flickr that I find interesting. I hope that you enjoy them!
May 252011
In Sunday’s Rationally Selfish Webcast, I answered the following question about wealth and responsibility from Objectivist Answers:
Doesn’t greater wealth entail greater responsibility? If you have amassed a great fortune, don’t you also have to shoulder a greater responsibility to society and your fellow man than others? After all, success in business doesn’t occur in a vacuum: it always depends on the community to some extent. People like Michael Bloomberg or George Lucas know that they would not be where they are today without some pretty significant assistance from others. So shouldn’t they assume more responsibility for their fellow man than others?
Here’s my brief answer, now posted to YouTube:
May 242011
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