As the year closes, we chose to venture into the realm of armchair philosophy. This is a freewheeling session, where we try to figure out whether certainty about our expiration date would change how we live. Although outlandish thought experiments can reek of sophomoric bloviation, we felt this was generative and worthwhile to explore. We also hope that it would prompt listeners to engage in conversation with us and with those in their family about these philosophical ideas.
In the second half of the podcast, we jump to a discussion of some existing philosophical ideas that have emerged from more recent branches of Utilitarianism, including Population Ethics and Effective Altruism. There are a number of popular thought experiments and debates that have attended the increased awareness of these philosophical ideas. We provide some very superficial coverage of them.
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Referenced/Quoted Substack Article
Ethan Hunt - Not a Utilitarian by Paul Bloom
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