Wednesday, August 18, 2010

What is exploitation - Philosophy Bites

For those who are reluctant to engage in philosophy, I would still recommend to listen to Philosophy Bites. Although philosophy by its essence tends to the abstract and therefore can be so lengthy, vague, boring and seemingly pointless, the podcast does everything to stay concise, clear and to the point. In addition, by looking at the titles as they pop up in the feed one can freely pick and choose. Select the subject that you connect to and Philosophy Bites will not disappoint.
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An example of such a very concrete and clear issue, in my opinion, is the recent chapter in which Nigel Warburton and David Edmonds spoke with Hillel Steiner about exploitation. Here we also see the virtue of philosophy: Steiner makes a very convincing attempt to narrow down and define exploitation in abstract terms. Such a definition then allows for easy identification of exploitation cases in spite of their differences. In addition it serves to explain why exploitation is morally wrong. And eventually it opens up for the theoretic possibilities such as a rich person being exploited.

Maybe it is because I was trained a a legal professional and taught law myself, I am charmed by such an analysis as the one offered by Steiner. I would assume this speaks to everybody as issues of morals touch us all, but even if I am wrong about that point, the point of the first paragraph remains. When you have a subject you are passionate about or have spent some time pondering about, an issue of Philosophy Bites about any relevant point will be a real treat.

More Philosophy Bites:
Morality,
The genocide and the trial,
Dirty Hands,
Understanding decisions,
Nietzsche repossessed.