Most Recent Shows

  • Freedom, Blame, and Resentment

    Week of: 
    May 13, 2012
    Published: 
    February 25, 2012
    Tags: 
    Free Will
    Freedom
    Determinism
    Emotions
    Responsibility
    Resentment
    Blame
    What is it: 

    When someone acts without regard for our feelings or needs, a natural response is to feel resentment toward that person. But is that a rational response? What if there's no such thing as free will? Is blame still appropriate in a deterministic universe? Or are we simply genetically programmed to respond emotionally to perceived injuries? John and Ken talk freely with Pamela Hieronymi from UCLA, author of "The Will as Reason."

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    Pamela Hieronymi, Professor of Philosophy, UCLA

  • What Are Human Rights?

    Week of: 
    May 06, 2012
    First Aired: 
    June 27, 2010
    Published: 
    February 28, 2012
    Tags: 
    Rights
    Human Rights
    Society
    Culture
    Law
    Justice
    Constitution
    What is it: 

    According to the Declaration of Independence, the basic human rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are God-given. Whatever the role of God, rights must be recognized by the society in which one lives to be of any use. Are rights universal? God given? Philosophically justified? Or a matter of custom and culture? John and Ken welcome back Helen Stacy, author of Human Rights For the 21st Century: Sovereignty, Civil Society, Culture.

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    Helen Stacy, Senior Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Stanford Law School

John Perry and Ken Taylor

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