Note: Due to my travel schedule, I won’t broadcast on Sunday morning, as usual. Instead, I’ll broadcast on Tuesday, January 28th. After that, we’ll broadcast on Thursday evenings through the end of February. Check out the calendar and episodes on tap for details.
On the next episode of Philosophy in Action Radio, Greg Perkins and I will answer questions on thinking of virtues as duties, overcoming paralyzing indecision, sharia finance, and more. This episode of internet radio airs at 6 pm PT / 7 MT / 8 CT / 9 ET on Tuesday, 28 January 2014, in our live studio. If you can’t listen live, you’ll find the podcast on the episode’s archive page.
This week’s questions are:
- Question 1: Thinking of Virtues as Duties: What’s wrong with thinking about the virtues as duties? My parents taught me ethics in terms of “duties.” So being honest and just was a duty, along with “sharing” and “selflessness.” They were simply “the right way to be,” period. Now, I tend to think of the Objectivist virtues – rationality, productiveness, honesty, justice, independence, integrity, and pride – as duties. I have a duty to myself to act in these ways. Is that right or is that a mistake?
- Question 2: Overcoming Paralyzing Indecision: How can I overcome my paralyzing indecision? I am caught amid some difficult circumstances at present. To make matters worse, I suffer from almost paralyzing indecision about major life decisions, especially with respect to career. As a result of my failure to act decisively, I have stagnated painfully for years, missing many opportunities. How can I break out of this horrible pattern?
- Question 3: Sharia Finance: Sharia Finance – meaning, investments that specifically conform with Islamic law – are growing in popularity and have been adopted by major financial companies like Citi. Should these private businesses be legally permitted to offer whatever their clients want to buy? Or should these investments be banned due to their connection with funding terror, oppressing women, and violating rights in other ways? Morally, should companies offer these investments? Should people protest or boycott companies offering them?
After that, we’ll tackle some impromptu “Rapid Fire Questions.”
To join the live broadcast and its chat, just point your browser to Philosophy in Action’s Live Studio a few minutes before the show is scheduled to start. By listening live, you can share your thoughts with other listeners and ask us follow-up questions in the text chat.
The podcast of this episode will be available shortly after the live broadcast here: Radio Archive: Q&A: Virtues as Duties, Indecision, Sharia Finance, and More. You can automatically download that and other podcasts by subscribing to Philosophy in Action’s Podcast RSS Feed:
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I hope you join us for the live show or enjoy the podcast later. Also, please share this announcement with any friends interested in these topics!
Philosophy in Action Radio applies rational principles to the challenges of real life in live internet radio shows on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. For information on upcoming shows, visit the Episodes on Tap. For podcasts of past shows, visit the Show Archives.
