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Ask Rivka Anything: Submit Questions Today!

The Daily Ant is thrilled to announce that we will be conducting a video interview with none other than Dr. Rivka Weinberg (Scripps College) for our popular Philosophy Phridays series! Weinberg (no relation to Justin Weinberg) has agreed to take questions from our many readers, even including “unfair questions”. So, please let us know any question you have by writing in the Comments section of this post or by emailing your query directly to us! The ant-ier the better!

Weinberg’s work focuses on procreative ethics, moral obligation, and the metaphysics of birth and death. Her recent book, The Risk of a Lifetime: How, When, and Why Procreation Might be Permissible, presents intriguing moral challenges to the act of procreation, arguing in favor of expanding our view of procreation beyond welfare risks to include serious moral risks. How much of a moral burden do procreative parents carry? Are gametes hazardous material? What do ants have to do with this? These are just some of our questions, but we want to hear yours, too!

RivkaWeinberg

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13 responses to “Ask Rivka Anything: Submit Questions Today!”

  1. drex1980 Avatar
    drex1980

    “What is your favorite thing about ants?”

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  2. drex1980 Avatar
    drex1980

    “What is your favorite formic themed film, and why?”

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  3. drex1980 Avatar
    drex1980

    “Can you remember the first time you ever contemplated ants, and why?”

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  4. Boshua J'lanchard Avatar
    Boshua J’lanchard

    To what extent does the opportunity to help, support, and protect the dignity of fellow human beings mitigate the absurdity (and badness) of life?

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  5. Boshua J'lanchard Avatar
    Boshua J’lanchard

    You have argued that the longevity of human life may make a difference to the absurdity of life, provided that the length of life is well-suited to human purposes and the like. Do you think that the existence of God would make a difference to the absurdity of life (in a way that is distinct from affecting its longevity)?

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  6. Robert Gressis Avatar
    Robert Gressis

    How do you figure out whether to dismiss whole subfields as not worth reading? (E.g., critical theory and evolutionary psychology are all examples that people often reject without reading much of.)

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  7. rgressis Avatar
    rgressis

    In virtue of what would compatibilism or incompatibilism be true? In virtue of how people use the term, “free will”? Are we just trying to figure out facts about linguistic usage?

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  8. rgressis Avatar
    rgressis

    I’m not a good philosopher, and even if I were, I’m not a great one. Why should I do philosophy? (Don’t mention teaching; I just mean the research part.)

    Liked by 2 people

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  9. Boshua J'lanchard Avatar
    Boshua J’lanchard

    I want to know why Gressis first commented without his WordPress account, and then commented with it.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Robert Gressis Avatar
      Robert Gressis

      Unfortunately, I don’t remember why. It was probably something like “I first used my phone and then I used my computer.”

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  10. No Avatar
    No

    The ant world seems inextricably wed do hierarchy. Humans also seem to set up social and political hierarchies, albeit much more arbitrary ones. Hierarchies create inequalities. Are they ever defensible? If not, how might we do away with them?

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  11. No Avatar
    No

    Sorry ‘wed *to* hierarchy.

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  12. Mini-Heap - Daily Nous Avatar
    Mini-Heap – Daily Nous

    […] “Everybody is somebody’s fault…” — ask the ever-interesting philosopher Rivka Weinberg anything, even “unfair questions” […]

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