In Sunday morning’s episode of Philosophy in Action Q&A Radio, I’ll answer questions on the 2012 election results, adopting ideas by default, explaining a break-up, keeping contact with questionable family, and more with Greg Perkins.
- Who: Dr. Diana Hsieh and Greg Perkins
- What: Philosophy in Action Q&A Radio: Election Results, Default Ideas, Break-Ups, and More
- When: Sunday, 11 November 2012, 8 am PT / 9 am MT / 10 am CT / 11 am ET
- Where: Philosophy in Action’s Live Studio
This week’s questions are:
- Question 1: The 2012 Election Results: What should we think of the results of the 2012 election? Many free-market advocates are despairing over the election results, particularly the re-election of President Obama. They claim that America has sunk to a new low in re-electing an openly socialistic and egalitarian hater of America. Do you think that such despair is warranted? Also, how can intellectuals, activists, and others effectively promote individual rights over the next four years?
- Question 2: Adopting Ideas by Default: Should a person allow his ideology to set his default positions? When people adopt a religion, philosophy, or politics as their own, they often don’t think through every issue – or they’ve not done so yet. Does accepting the various positions of that ideology as a kind of default amount to accepting them on faith? Or does the principle of “giving the benefit of the doubt” apply here? What should a person do when uncertain? Is full understanding of and agreement with every position required for a person to be an adherent or proponent of some ideology?
- Question 3: Explaining a Break-Up: Do I owe my boyfriend an explanation for my breaking up with him? I dated my recently-ex-boyfriend for a few months. Over the past few weeks, I realized that some personality and value differences preclude any long-term prospects. When I broke up with him, I didn’t give him any reasons why, and that really upset him. Do I owe him an explanation? Would that help or hurt our chances of a cordial relationship in the future? If I should talk to him about my reasons, what should I say?
- Question 4: Keeping Contact with Questionable Family: Should I keep in contact with my morally questionable and mystical father? Recently, I initiated contact with my father. I’ve not seen or spoken to for most of my life. He left behind him a lot of damage, and I was very hurt by that. I made amends with him, thinking that he was in recovery. However, I recently discovered his eastern mystic philosophy. Also, although he is fully recovered, he still has moral problems. Now I’m second guessing my decision. Would it be immoral for me to break off the contact with him after I’ve made peace with him? Should I preserve the relationship to keep my character intact? Or should I cut ties with him, on the principle that I should only maintain relationships of value to me?
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. If you attend the live show, you can share your thoughts with other listeners and ask me follow-up questions in the text chat.
If you miss the live broadcast, you’ll find the audio from the episode posted here: Q&A Radio: 11 November 2012.
Philosophy in Action Radio broadcasts every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. For information on upcoming shows and more, visit the Episodes on Tap.
I hope that you join us on Sunday morning!
