Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Examining Ethics is an ethics podcast produced by The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University. Everybody wrestles with questions about ethics. Some of those questions are easy to figure out. Should I murder someone? No! But other questions are more difficult to answer. Examining Ethics doesn’t provide answers to these ethical dilemmas, but instead leaves listeners with tools and ideas from some of the biggest names in moral philosophy and ethics. Academic philosophy and ethics can sometimes be difficult to understand, and our accessible, open-minded content bridges the gap between scholars and everyone else. Examining Ethics is hosted and produced by Christiane Wisehart.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Applied moral philosophy tools • rules vs discretion, obedience, civil disobedience • democracy, deliberation, equality, policing, victims’ rights, immigration • climate justice, wildlife recovery • tech bias, AI, transparency, trust, misinformation • race, gender, disability, reproduction, care • emotions, forgiveness, offense, swearing, comedy • ethics education, intellectual virtues, Ethics BowlThis podcast uses conversations with philosophers, researchers, and public-facing experts to unpack ethical questions that arise in everyday life and in major social institutions. Rather than offering definitive answers, it introduces concepts and argumentative tools from moral philosophy, political theory, and applied ethics in an accessible format, often anchored in guests’ recent books or current research.
Across the episodes, recurring themes include how rules and social norms shape moral behavior and fairness, and when discretion, disobedience, or taking offense might be ethically justified. The show frequently examines democracy and civic life—touching on deliberation, political polarization, public spaces, philanthropy’s influence, and the ethics of policing and victims’ rights. It also returns to questions of justice and power, including racial injustice, colonialism, reproductive justice, immigration ethics, gender norms, disability, and the moral significance of whiteness.
Another thread focuses on technology and knowledge: algorithmic bias, trust in digital systems, transparency versus surveillance, and how misinformation and attention affect what people believe and how they reason. Environmental and climate ethics appear both at the level of personal responsibility and global injustice, alongside discussions of wildlife conservation and moral obligations to future beings.
The podcast also explores moral psychology and the inner life, considering forgiveness, negative emotions, rumination, and how studying philosophy might cultivate intellectual virtues. Finally, it regularly broadens the scope of moral concern by asking who counts morally—extending discussion to nonhuman animals and potentially artificial agents—while also reflecting on how ethics is taught through activities like Ethics Bowl and educational games.