The Examined Life is a philosophy podcast for people who don&#39;t usually listen to philosophy podcasts. Each episode takes one genuinely difficult question about identity, obligation, free will, or what we owe each other and examines it honestly, without pretending to more certainty than the question deserves. No jargon. No gatekeeping. Just the questions themselves, taken seriously.

T.M. Scanlon&#39;s contractualist ethics asks a single question: can you justify your action to other people on terms they could reasonably accept? This episode uses that framework along with Peter Singer&#39;s effective altruism and Aristotle&#39;s virtue ethics to explore what moral obligations we actually have to strangers, how much we owe, and where reasonable disagreement begins.

Peter Singer argued in 1972 that there&#39;s no meaningful moral difference between a drowning child in front of you and a dying child across the world. Most people find the implications either obvious or unbearable. This episode works through Singer&#39;s argument and Scanlon&#39;s contractualist alternative honestly, and arrives at an uncomfortable but defensible conclusion.

What Do We Owe Each Other? A Practical Ethics for Daily Life

The ancient paradox of the Ship of Theseus asks: if every plank of a ship is gradually replaced, is it still the same ship? Extended to personal identity: given that virtually every cell in your body replaces itself, your memories are reconstructed imperfectly, and your values and personality shift significantly over decades are you still the same person you were at 15? The question has implications for memory, relationships, regret, and the stories we tell about who we are.

Every cell in your body replaces itself. Your memories are imperfect reconstructions. Your values shift over decades. The Ship of Theseus paradox asks what, exactly, makes you still you across time. This episode examines three theories of personal identity physical continuity, psychological continuity, and narrative identity and what the answer means for how you hold your past.

The Ship of Theseus Problem: What Makes You Still You?

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THE EXAMINED LIFE is a philosophy podcast for people who don&#39;t usually listen to philosophy podcasts. Each episode takes one genuinely difficult philosophical question one that bears directly on how we live and examines it honestly, without pretending to more certainty than the question deserves. No jargon. No academic gatekeeping. Just the questions themselves, taken seriously.

Thomas Nagel&#39;s concept of moral luck asks a disturbing question: if the circumstances that shaped you were entirely outside your control, how much credit or blame do we really owe each other? This episode examines the free will debate through a practical lens not as abstract philosophy but as a question that changes how we judge ourselves and each other every day.

Free Will, Moral Luck, and the Uncomfortable Truth About Judgment

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The Examined Life is a philosophy podcast for people who don't usually listen to philosophy podcasts. Each episode takes one genuinely difficult question about identity, obligation, free will, or what we owe each other and examines it honestly, without pretending to more certainty than the question deserves. No jargon. No gatekeeping. Just the questions themselves, taken seriously.