Problem
Watch the two TED Talks and then respond to the following questions.
Behavioral economist Dan Ariely studies the bugs in our moral code: the hidden reasons we think it's OK to cheat or steal (sometimes). Clever studies help make his point that we're predictably irrational -- and can be influenced in ways we can't grasp. [Duration: 00:16:03]
What do you think about the experiments Ariely designed to examine the situations described? Are they well designed social experiments on morality having read the materials for the first two weeks of this course? Do you think the nurses did the right thing?
Sam Harris argues that science can -- and should -- be an authority on moral issues, shaping human values and setting out what constitutes a good life even though questions of good and evil, right and wrong are commonly thought unanswerable by science. [Duration: 00:22:52]
1) Do you think science can answer questions like "What is worth living for?" "What is worth dying for?" "What constitutes a good life?" and that that the separation between science and human values is an illusion?
2) Do you think that in the moral sphere there is no such thing as moral expertise, or moral talent, or moral genius even? Does every opinion have to count?