On Sunday’s episode of Philosophy in Action Radio, Greg Perkins and I answered questions on public displays of body dysmorphia, licensing parents, responsibility for a sibling, and more. The podcast of that episode is now available for streaming or downloading.

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Whole Podcast: 4 May 2014

Listen or Download:

• Duration: 1:13:48
• Download: Enhanced M4A File (26.5 MB)
• Download: Standard MP3 File (25.4 MB)

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Podcast Segments: 4 May 2014

You can download or listen to my answers to individual questions from this episode below.

Introduction

My News of the Week: I’ve been very busy creating the print-on-demand book of study questions for Explore Atlas Shrugged. The updated and revised questions, podcasts, and other resources, are available for purchase for $20.

Question 1: Public Displays of Body Dysmorphia

Question: What should I do when a friend exhibits severe body dysmorphia on social media? At several points in my life, I had a valued friend who seemed otherwise rational and grounded, but who also exhibited dangerous body dysmorphia on social media. In these cases, the friend would first go through a several-month phase of confessing to several psychological problems, such as fantasizing about suicide and of cutting herself with a blade. This friend would then sternly add that she has since recovered, but would admit to still feeling that her natural physical features are ugly and deformed. Then, months later, the friend would go into another phase. On social media, in front of many other people, she would make brazen gestures indicating body dysmorphia, such as uploading photoshopped pictures of herself as a corpse ready for burial or saying that she planned to starve herself to achieve her ideal of being skeletally thin. A major problem was the reaction from our online mutual acquaintances. Some admitted that they saw these problems, yet they acted like the friend was behaving normally. Others outright complimented the dysmorphic imagery and statements. In these cases, I think that my friend knew that her body dysmorphia was dangerous. She put it on display so that others would normalize her pathology, because then she could more easily rationalize her behavior as harmless. That seems really dangerous, but what is the proper alternative? How should people respond when a person puts his pathological self-destruction on display?

My Answer, In Brief: This girl is in the grips of a very serious and deeply-embedded pathology: she needs professional help. You might encourage her to get that, but mostly, you need to extract yourself from a miserable situation about which you can do nothing.

Listen or Download:

• Start Time: 7:16
• Duration: 20:36
• Download: MP3 Segment
• Tags: Benevolence, Body Dysmorphia, Body Image, Communication, Egoism, Ethics, Health, Psychology, Relationships, Self-Esteem, Social Media

To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.

Question 2: Licensing Parents

Question: Should parents be licensed? Given the cost to society of parents shirking their obligations to their children, to entrust children to just anyone able to bear that child seems negligent. The state does, after all, forbid chronic drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel again. On the other hand, to give discretionary power to the state over such a personal matter seems very dangerous. Is there any middle ground that would better protect kids from abusive or neglectful parents and protect society from the growing scourge of poor parenting?

My Answer, In Brief: Parental licensing is a terrible idea. Without preventing child abuse and neglect, the bureaucracy would be costly, arbitrary, and unjust. Any such scheme would violate the rights of prospective parents. However, the courts could – and sometimes should – order people convicted of serious abuse and neglect not to procreate and order any new children produced to be placed for adoption.

Listen or Download:

• Start Time: 27:53
• Duration: 23:30
• Download: MP3 Segment
• Tags: Child Abuse, Children, Crime, Government, Law, Parenting, Regulation, Rights, Rule of Law

Links:

• What Kind of Background Check is Required to Adopt a Child?
• California was sterilizing its female prisoners as late as 2010

To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.

Question 3: Responsibility for a Sibling

Question: Is a person responsible for his incapable sibling? Imagine that your brother (or sister) is not capable of taking care of himself: he makes poor choices, he has poor work habits, and he is emotionally immature. Are you thereby responsible for him? Should you try to help as much as possible, so long as you don’t drag yourself down? Or should you refuse to help on the principle of “tough love,” even though that won’t help him take care of himself? If you take the latter approach, doesn’t that mean that you’re foisting the care for your sibling on society? Wouldn’t that be shirking your responsibilities as a sibling? Also, does your responsibility depend on whether your brother is incapable due to his own choices, as opposed to merely bad luck?

My Answer, In Brief: You do not have a moral duty to help a sibling – ever. You might want to (and sometimes ought to) help a beloved sibling suffering from the effects of bad luck or from an honest mistake, as an expression of your caring for them. You should not help a self-destructive sibling if that’s a sacrifice to you – particularly not when your help will just enable more self-destructive behavior.

Listen or Download:

• Start Time: 51:23
• Duration: 11:52
• Download: MP3 Segment
• Tags: Benevolence, Duty Ethics, Egoism, Ethics, Family, Finances, Obligation, Responsibility, Rights, Sacrifice, Self-Sacrifice, Siblings, Welfare

To comment on this question or my answer, visit its comment thread.

Rapid Fire Questions

Questions:

• If someone in a shop gives you too much change, should you tell them or just pocket it?
• Is “LOL” a lie if I didn’t really laugh out loud?

Listen or Download:

• Start Time: 1:03:15
• Duration: 6:14
• Download: MP3 Segment

To comment on these questions or my answers, 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: 1:09:30

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.