In this episode we tackle the philosophical question “Is it morally right to quit a road race?”. For help in understanding the question en route to an answer, we call about the great minds of Professor Richard Dawkins, Immanuel Kant, Socrates, and Aristotle.
Dawkins says that, as human beings with a cultural history: we have evolved to accept a common morality…and Kant says that morality is derived not from our cultural evolution, but from a sense of duty; what he calls a categorical imperative to do what is considered moral…so the question we really need to ask is this:
As runners, do we have a categorical imperative to finish what we've started?
From Dawkin’s perspective, is finishing a road race morally superior to quitting?
Is there some other consideration we need to consider with respect to the morality of quitting?
From Dawkin’s perspective, is finishing a road race morally superior to quitting?
Is there some other consideration we need to consider with respect to the morality of quitting?
I can’t promise you that we’ll come up with an answer to these questions, but I know that we won’t quit searching for one!
Links:
More of what I’m up to: http://steverunnerblog.com
The song “I Quit” was by Todd Lerner from Michigan, Check out all of his great and free music at http://www.songforfree.com