The Examined Life Video Presentation

Thanks for the presentations this morning. Very interesting and enjoyable...and I like this video!

Well done all.

Ethics Bites

Now available, on Open2. net, the first of fourteen podcasts on applied ethics, presented by Nigel Warburton. Including interviews with high profile contemporary ethicists, including Peter Singer, Michael Sandel, Thomas Scanlon, Mary Warnock, and Roger Scruton
This is available FREE on the web. There are also other resources available.

Malmesbury School Visit

Another week - another visit. This time I was in Malmesbury, to visit some year 12 and 13 students to talk about applying moral theory to dilemmas.

I talked about the Omelas short story, and the Runaway Trolley Car, and other moral problems. There is a list of some more of these types of moral dilemmas at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4954856.stm - and what we noted was the none od us had actually ever faced these decisions at all (yet). We then went on to try and think of dilemmas and difficult choices that we had faced, and whether moral theories such as Utilitarianism were of any help...

The session was lively - and I enjoyed myself - and I think I learned some things - I hope the class did to. So thanks to Mr Shaw for inviting me - and those who were there (or indeed those who weren't) are welcome to comment here on the usefulness (or not) of moral theory for really facing up to genuine moral problems in life.

New Year's Resolutions

According to an article I read today, the practice of making New Year's Resolutions dates back to Babylonian times:

Four thousand years ago in Babylonian times, resolutions were made with the
intention that what was done on the first day of the New Year would be reflected
in the remaining days of the year. Incidentally, the Babylonian New Year
was celebrated in March to coincide with the planting of the spring crops.
The Babylonians were in touch with the rhythms of the seasons and farming.

Well, maybe: You can read some philosophical musings on the topic at http://theologica.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-years-resolutions-guest-post-by.html

Is it true that the making of resolutions, as the post linked to here suggests, reflect "a sensed need for moral reformation". I guess the two extremes are seeing Resolutions in this serious, moral sense, and the view that they are petty, trivial and to do with a banal self-obssessive expression of dissatisfaction and self-disgust. I guess the two might be not so far away from each other as they seem.

Me? I think 'returning essays to students on time' does not seem exceptionally moral as a goal - but may be a popular one...

Any philosophical resolutions from readers of the blog?
Happy New Year, Dave