Episode 94: Buttery Friendships

Dave and Tamler don't agree about much, but one thing they do share is an affinity for character-based approaches to ethics. Using Tamler's interview with Georgetown Philosopher Nancy Sherman as their guide (link to chapter included), they discuss two ancient perspectives on how to develop good character and live happy, virtuous lives: Aristotle's and that of the Stoics. Why did Aristotle focus so much on friendship and what happens when those friendships get too "watery"? Are emotions crucial for developing virtues or are they "so much mist on the windshield?" Are the stoics right that we shouldn't get attached to things that are beyond our control? Plus, a new Twitter account has David and Tamler polishing their CVs, and a request for listener suggestions for our 100th episode.

Note: We recorded this episode after the police shootings in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis but before the shootings of the police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge. We talk a bit about the violence, but not about what happened after Minneapolis.

Links

• Very Bad Wizards No Context (@vbw_no_context)
• Effective altruism [wikipedia.org]
• Nancy Sherman Homepage [nanycsherman.com]
• Nancy Sherman "Navigating our Moral World." In Sommers, T. (2016). A Very Bad Wizard: Morality behind the curtain. Routledge. [verybadwizards.com]

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