Rationally speaking is a presentation of New York City skeptics dedicated to promoting critical thinking, skeptical inquiry, and science education.

For more information, please visit us at NYC Skeptics.org.

Welcome to Rationally Speaking, the podcast where we explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense.

I'm your host, Massimo Pilucci, and with me as always is my co-host, Julia Galev.

Julia, what are we going to talk about today?

Massimo, today we've got a great guest joining us remotely.

Stephen Asma is a professor of philosophy at Columbia College in Chicago and a fellow

there at the research group in mind, science, and culture. He's published a bunch of books now

about philosophy and culture and Buddhism. And his most recent book, which we're going to talk about

today, is called Against Fairness in Favor of Favoritism. Intriguing title. Welcome, Stephen. Oh, thanks for having me. So, Stephen,

what is it about fairness? It seems like fairness these days is something that nobody questions,

at least not in philosophy. I shouldn't say nobody. What are you against motherhood and apple pie

too? Puppies?

Want to kick some puppies?

Yeah, that's what I think the editor was worried that this was like the most unbuyable book ever.

But I think there are some real critiques of fairness, but they're sort of under the veneer of politeness. And sort of our

picture of ourself is always, you know, the most positive and ethically upright. But I think

there's a lot of problems with fairness. Perhaps most obviously the word is used to mean almost

anything and everything. And while I'm against fairness,

in terms of its sort of conceptual incoherence, I'm very much for justice. And it's interesting,

some people have sort of read me as being just against all ethics. And I must just be like a Nazi

in disguise or something.

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