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Episode 77: On the Moral Nature of Nazis, Jerks, and Ethicists (with Eric Schwitzgebel)

Very Bad Wizards

The Secret Joke of Kant's Soul

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Kant thought it was wrong to be a bastard. He argues that some bastard children are born outside of the law. And so they don't have the protection of the law, and so it's okay to kill them. So I got to give then shit to Tamler because Tamler is a self-avowed hater of any theories.

Special guest Eric Schwitzgebel joins David and Tamler to discuss the moral behavior (or lack thereof) of ethicists. Does moral reflection make us better people, or does it just give us better excuses to be immoral? Who's more right about human nature--Mencius or Xun Zi? What did Kant have against bastards and masturbating? Plus, we talk about jerks, robot cars, and killing baby Hitler. (Godwin's Law within 1:42--might be a new record for us).

Links

Eric Schwitzgebel publications. (Has links to all the discussed papers).
Why Self-Driving Cars Must be Programmed to Kill [technologyreview.com]
Bonnefon, J. F., Shariff, A., & Rahwan, I. (2015). Autonomous Vehicles Need Experimental Ethics: Are We Ready for Utilitarian Cars? [arxiv.org]
Mencius [wikipedia.org]
Xun Zi [wikipedia.org]
"The Philosophical Problem of Killing Baby Hitler." [vox.com]
Why it's Unethical to Go Back in Time and Kill Baby Hitler. [forbes.com]

Special Guest: Eric Schwitzgebel.

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