The last few years have been topsy-turvy as far as human moral evolution is concerned. The global pandemic and civil unrest in many countries around the world have given rise to more questions than answers. Society’s moral fabric was torn politically and at the same time mended philosophically as we came to understand our interdependence. In the US, we took to our tribes, during the worst and the best of times. To discover the positives and negatives of our going tribal and how we might gain a better understanding of our place in the world, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two Philosophy professors and authors. Allen Buchanan recounts key chapters from his book, Our Moral Fate: Evolution and the Escape from Tribalism and discusses the shaky ground on which democracy sits. Simon Critchley shares philosophical takeaways from his book, Bald: 35 Philosophical Short Cuts, and what he thinks humans gained and lost during the pandemic, philosophically speaking. 

About Lisa’s guests:

Allen Edward Buchanan is a Professor of philosophy at the University of Arizona and also a professor of the Philosophy of International Law at the Dickson Poon School of Law at King's College, London. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1975. He now researches at The University of Arizona.

Book: Our Moral Fate: Evolution and the Escape from Tribalism

Simon Critchley is the Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research and the moderator of the New York Times’ Stone column. He is the author or editor of many books, including the recent book, Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us; a novella, Memory Theatre; a book-length essay, Notes on Suicide; and studies of David Bowie and association football.

Book: Bald: 35 Philosophical Short Cuts

This episode of Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio is sponsored by:

Prose — Makes custom hair care using natural ingredients that are tailored to your needs with proven results. If hormonal changes are giving you bad hair days, try Prose. Prose is a carbon-neutral certified B-corp that sustainably collects ingredients for its products. Take your free in-depth hair consultation and get 15% off your first order of custom-blended hair care plan at Prose.com/Happiness. They will take the products back if you are not 100% positive about your purchase.