Right v. Wrong

In a new History of Ideas series, BBC  Radio 4's Melvyn Bragg is joined by four guests to discuss the question of how we can tell right from wrong. The guests include neuro-psychologist Paul Broks, philosopher Angie Hobbs, theologian Giles Fraser criminal lawyer Harry Potter. The general presentation is 12 min 23 sec, no transcript. There are also short (± 1 min, 30 sec) animations accompanying the discussion  - the Trolley Problem , Kant's Axe , the Life You Can Save , and the Is/Ought Problem  plus a longer presentation (11  min) on morality and the law by Potter which talks about the famous case of R. v. Dudley and Stephens.

More on the trolley problems and Universal Moral Grammar

David Evans, author of Would You Kill the Fat Man?, is interviewed on Philosophy Bites ("podcasts of top philosophers interviewed on bite-sized topics…") about the problem - is it ever morally acceptable to kill one person to save five? 17 min, no transcript, but you can read an article by the author on the subject.

Is Eating People Wrong?

In a 2011 interview, Canadian law professor Allan Hutchinson talks about his new book, Is Eating People Wrong?, which presents groundbreaking legal cases and how they shaped the common law world. The question in the title of Hutchinson's book refers to the famous English criminal case of R. v. Dudley and Stephens which involved the killing and eating of the cabin boy by shipwrecked sailors in 1884.

John Mikhail on Universal Moral Grammar

The blog Philosophy Bites (podcasts of top philosophers interviewed on bite-sized topics...) has just posted (June 4) an interview with Georgetown law professor John Mikhail on Universal Moral Grammar. One of the questions treated was "Do children have an innate pre-disposition to make certain sorts of moral judgement?" Mikhail's new book, Elements of Moral Cognition: Rawls' Linguistic Analogy and the Cognitive Science of Moral and Legal Judgment, was published in May, 2011.
20 min. no transcript

Is Morality Universal and Should the Law Care? Brooklyn Law School September 26, 2008 The workshop program is here. Flash video, three 2-2.5 hour parts. No transcript. part 1 part 2 part 3