Socrates Exchange

May 24, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.   Please join Laura Knoy and guest Max Latona for a special live audience event as a part of the series "NH's Immigration Story".  They will be discussing the next question in the Socrates Exchange series:

Who is American?

Socrates Exchange is an ongoing statewide conversation exploring issues, ethics and ideas online and on the air. For each Socrates Echange, NHPR picks a particular topic, poses a question online and continues the conversation on The Exchange.  You become part of the Socratic dialogue by posting comments online, calling in during the show or  participating during the live event.

Program starts promptly at 9:00 a.m. (sorry, no late admittance.)

The Socrates Exchange returns today after a long haitus. For our show, we ask the question, "What is Progress?"

What makes someone a true friend?  We use the term friend in so many different ways to refer to so many different kinds of relationships and people: we friend hundreds of people on Facebook; spouses, children, parents are all supposed to be our friends now; we have bffs, friends with benefits, and frenemies.  On the one hand, when we use the term so widely we risk emptying it of all meaning.  On the other hand, we use it so widely because we value friendship so highly.  How can we cut through all the confusion and find our real friends?  What does genuine friendship entail?  Can we foster genuine friendships while spending so much time and energy on all of our other “friends”?

Guest

Why should we punish?  To “balance the scales of justice”?  To exact revenge?  To deter crime?  To remove the offender from free society?  To reform the offender? Is punishment a moral act, or is it simply a form of social control? Is punishing children different from punishing criminal offenders? Is there a difference between torture and punishment? Is death ever justifiable punishment? Does punishment strip the punished of her dignity? Which rights should prisoners loose?  The right to vote?  The right to privacy?  The right to be a parent? Should convicts have the option of paying a fine rather than serving time? Should corporate crimes resulting in death carry punishments similar to those for murder?

Guest

Throughout American history we have underlined the ideals of ‘equality’  The Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech have all declared  that all men are created equal, but are they really?  In the past people of color, new immigrants and women have been less equal. Gays still fight for equal rights.  Those of a privileged class may have the same rights as the poor, but still enjoy some benefits that the poor can’t. Does that make them better?   Are some people ‘better’ at a job than others due to their sex, education level, physical fitness?  What are we talking about when we say ‘better’ anyway... better than what, better than whom? Who determines what ‘better’ means?

Guest

When we look at the nightly news or study history we might easily come to this conclusion. We have armies and police forces, lawyers and judges, in order to protect us from each other. Is all of this violence a result of something inherent in human nature or the human condition? Or is violence exacerbated by society, for example through violent entertainment or by encouraging competition in all aspects of life? Is it possible to imagine a world without violence? But, is violence always a bad thing? Think of all the examples where it seems that violence was instrumental in bringing about something positive: the American Revolution, the Civil War, or the Allied fight against the Nazis.

Every year during the holidays we spend our time, energy, and money in the search for the perfect gifts for friends and family. But sometimes it feels like we are going through the motions or worse that we are just doing what is expected of us, not something that comes from the heart. Why do we go through this? Is it possible to give in a more genuine way? But there is any even more troubling problem. A true gift should be something that we give freely without any thought of our own benefit and that makes no demand on the recipient. But we all know that this is not how gift-giving actually works. I give you a gift and enjoy the satisfaction of having done so. You receive the gift and recognize that you owe me a gift in return, at the very least a gift of gratitude.

Experiencing gratitude and appreciating various things seems essential to happiness and a good life. Why is this? What exactly is gratitude? Is it an emotion that we cannot control or is it a cognitive realization that I should express gratitude? If I do not “feel grateful” when someone gives me a gift I do not care for, should I expressed gratitude anyway? Why do we teach our children to say “thank you” when we feed them or otherwise give them something they deserve? Should I be grateful when a teller returns correct change? I should probably experience gratitude if someone cooks me a nice meal in her home, but what if the meal is prepared in a restaurant and I pay for it? Should paying for something alter our sense of gratitude for it?

We often hear of people suffering from “information overload.” To what exactly are we referring? Is it just that our brains are too slow to process the information now available? Does more information necessarily lead to more truth? Does more truth necessarily lead to a better world? What are the existential ramifications of living in a world where all information is always immediately available? Are there reasons to slow down our development of information technology? Is slowing down even possible given competitive global markets? Must we adopt the technology or get left behind by those who use smarter machines? Where is all of this taking us? Who is in the driver’s seat? Should we resist?

Guest

Do the ends ever justify the means? Assuming, for example, that lying, torturing, stealing, and murder are wrong, are such actions justified in rare instances in order to avoid some terrible consequence, or to achieve some great good? If so, how far does this go? Are all actions potentially justified, so long as the benefit is sufficiently great? Or are some actions so horrible that they are never justified, no matter what the consequences? What makes actions right or wrong in the first place-the consequences, or something else?

Guest

• Max Latona, Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. Anselm College

Our next Socrates Exchange discussion begins! This time we ask we ask “are there ethical limits to biotechnology?” From aspirin to artificial limbs many of us enjoy the benefits of biotechnology, but is there a point where it crosses the ethical line... steroids in sports, cloning or choosing the genetic makeup of your child? Post your thoughts below and respond to other postings.

Guest

• Nick Smith, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Hampshire, Advisor to the Socratic Society at UNH and Project Advisor to the Socrates Exchange

Background Reading

Are there some forms of expression that are simply too crude or too offensive to be allowed to be disseminated? What kinds of things, if any, should be censored? Who should do the censoring?

Guest

• Max Latona, Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. Anselm College

Background Reading 

Citizens have a role to elect their representatives in, but then what is the role of the representative? Where should federal power end and state power begin? And in the end, who is really in charge, the citizen, the representative or the courts? The country, the state, the town or the citizen?

Guest

• Max Latona, Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. Anselm College

Background Reading 

Are non-human animals merely a natural resource for human use? Do we have a responsibility to treat animals with dignity or to consider their suffering? Are we justified killing mosquitoes or pigs while pampering our pets? Do "smarter" creatures deserve more rights? If an animal is more intelligent than a cognitively disabled human, does the animal deserve more rights? Post your thoughts below and respond to other postings.

Guest

• Nick Smith, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Hampshire, Advisor to the Socratic Society at UNH and Project Advisor to the Socrates Exchange