
The Be Better Club
An informal ethics discussion group
Our “Be Better Club” is an informal but informed bi-weekly discussion group. Students, faculty, and staff interested in contemporary ethical issues are welcome to participate. Topics are chosen by community interest and driven by your thinking.
Discussions are held by Zoom and are open to everyone. Join us at https://ucf.zoom.us/j/92600469259 Code: 674696
Current Schedule
Theme: To Give or Not To Give: Understanding Altruism, Its (Possible) Limits, and (Alleged) Costs of Trying to Do Good for Others
This term’s theme is giving and altruism. we’ll start exploring whether something like altruism is possible and what it’s origins might be. We’ll explore these questions at an individual and interpersonal level as well as the intersections of giving and political questions before considering a purely political kind of giving as it relates to foreign aid. As the term progresses we’ll shift from wondering “what is altruism?” and “is altruism possible?” to exploring the costs of giving and altruism with questions like “can philanthropy be bad for democracy?” and “does foreign aid rectify injustice or deepen it?” We hope — perhaps altruistically — that you’ll enjoy these discussions as much as we do!
February 19, 2025
In this discussion we’ll consider a possible obligation toward altruism that is at the foundation of the ‘effective altruism’ movement. The associated podcast episode has guests who support and reject some of the basic claims that motivates some people to devote large portions of their time, money, or expertise to doing good. We’ll ask, do we have an obligation to give more than me do? If so, how much? If not, why not? We’ll also explore whether effective altruism in particular is the right answer to some of these puzzles about altruism and obligation.
Framing podcast: Effective Altruism and its Critics (1:01:48), Hi-Phi Nation Season 6, Episode 5. Hosts: Barry Lam, Michael McCullough and guests Richard Yetter-Chappell, Savannah Pearlman, Shakeel Hashim, and Seth Lazar.
March 5, 2025
In today’s discussion we will begin our turn toward exploring whether there might be a downside to giving. The episode involves a discussion with Rob Reich a political scientist who has argued that philanthropy has a deleterious effect on democracy. The interviewing host has effective altruist sensibilities and the discussion focuses on some of the political effects of individual giving. We’ll ask ourselves whether the costs of such giving do imply philanthropy is a problem that warrants a restriction on altruistic giving.
Framing podcast: Is Philanthropy Bad for Democracy? (47:12)Rationally Speaking Podcast Episode 221. Host Julia Galef and Guest Rob Reich.
April 2, 2025
Our final discussion of the spring term takes a political and international turn and turns our attention to giving at the international level. The conversation considers what justifies foreign aid — is it an obligatory responses to past injustice or perhaps based on a duty to aid those in need? The discussion will also explore whether such aid might have costs that undermine its purposes much like we’ve considered in past episodes about individual giving.
Framing podcast: Foreign Aid — or Injury (50:43), Philosophy Talk: Hosts: Ken Taylor, Debra Satz and Guest: John Welborn
Previous Discussions
February 5, 2025
This session will use a case of seemingly extraordinary altruistic behavior — the giving of a kidney to an unknown person — to dig deeper into what altruism and giving means. This episode takes an even more philosophical turn on the sorts of questions already raised last session. Do cases like unknown organ donors give support to the claim that radical altruism is possible? Are there moral lessons we can learn from these sorts of case? Is altruism of some degree an obligation?
Framing podcast: The Selfless Kidney Donor (45:43), Hi-Phi Nation, Season 5, Episode 5. Barry Lam, Michael McCullough and guests Penny Lane, Keiran Setiya.
Review on YouTubehttps://youtu.be/QyyaoBdpXD4
January 22, 2025
In this discussion we’ll base our conversation off an episode the Radiolab hosts explore altruism. The story centers an evolutionary story about giving. We’ll think about the possible origin of altruistic behavior. The episode is story-driven but it explores questions about the very possibility of altruism — understood as non-self-interested giving. This session will form a foundation for many of the discussions to come this term. We’ll ask what might explain our human capacity (tendency?) to give things to others? Is it possible to give in a truly altruistic way?
Framing podcast: The Good Show (1:05:41) Radiolab (2010) episode with Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich.
November 13, 2024
Review on YouTubehttps://youtu.be/NhChFj5hB_0
October 30, 2024
One sometimes hears the claim that too many stupid people are voting for stupid things and that’s why we face so many political problems. In this episode of Hi-Phi Nation the hosts explore two proposed fixes to democracy. The first mandates voting to diminish the power of the ignorant while the second disenfranchises the misinformed voter. Might either be a solution to some of our ills?
Review on YouTubehttps://youtu.be/tVt3MlHOLC4
October 9, 2024
Democracy as an idea has often focused on the government of the city, state, or nation. However, some proponents of democracy have a wider set of situations in mind and advocate for ‘cooperatives’ in a variety of forms. Should there be more democracy at work? Does justice demand workers have a say in the companies where they work? Are worker cooperatives a natural extension of or bedrock to realizing democracy?
September 25, 2024
One Person, One Vote and the Idea of Majority Rule
Is realizing the idea of ‘one person, one vote’ a simple means of securing democracy? Is this idea of majority rule a necessity for a democratic system? Do issues like gerrymandering, voter purging, senate representation undermine democracy? Is the electoral college undemocratic because it allows the president to lose the popular vote?
Review on YouTubehttps://youtu.be/9bsIKuB0Mks
April 10, 2024
The Ethics of College Admissions
Is college campus speech free? Should university students be more tolerant of different perspectives and opinions? Is academic freedom under threat? This conversation will address the state of free speech on college campuses and its relation to central democratic values like autonomy and liberty.
Review on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhERM5peIJk
March 27, 2024
Decolonizing Higher Ed
What is the legacy of colonialism in higher education? This conversation will address whether universities have an ethical obligation to decolonize, who is responsible for taking action in that direction, and more.
Review on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D15s5tMXptE
March 06, 2024
Campus Speech
Is college campus speech free? Should university students be more tolerant of different perspectives and opinions? Is academic freedom under threat? This conversation will address the state of free speech on college campuses and its relation to central democratic values like autonomy and liberty.
Review on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvaQUVtZI00
February 21, 2024
Teaching Divisive Concepts
What are “divisive concepts” and what makes them divisive?
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/Rxcy8T5QEag
February 7, 2024
Ethics Education for Computer Science
How should we teach ethics to computer science students to ensure responsible design of AI?
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/nNReyxeNquw
January 24 2024
Teaching in the Age of AI
How do the possibilities of AI change the nature of teaching in higher education?
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/9EvyN62E2DU
September 2023
AI and Data Privacy
We used to worry about privacy. Do we still? Should we? Thinking AI challenges to data privacy will drive this conversation.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/9EvyN62E2DU
March 31, 2023
Thought Experiments in Ethics
Thought experiments are designed by ethicists to support arguments. But how helpful are they?
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/p9BxhuKN2Mk
February 28, 2023
Wealth and Inequality
Wealth tax, universal basic income, automation and technology. What makes wealth distribution a justice issue?
FRAMING PODCAST: 15 October 2023. Wealth Inequality Escalation. Stats & Stories.
January 31, 2023
Water Scarcity and Ethical Access to Resources
When natural resources become threatened, how do we share ethically? We’ll talk tragic commons and changing climates.
FRAMING PODCAST: Baraka. 28 March 2022. A Drowning World: Kenya’s Quiet Slide Underwater. The Long Read.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/wO6Z_ekff6k
November 29, 2022
Critical R* Theory and FL HB7
Some concepts become politicized. We’ll discuss tensions between politics, policy, and power.
FRAMING PODCAST: Hayes. 15 June 2022. Understanding ‘How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics’ with Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò. Why is This Happening?
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/_ofn7J1mnXM
October 25, 2022
Public/Private Partnerships
Do we make moral exceptions to otherwise tricky ethical issues during crises? Should we?
FRAMING PODCAST: Marks, J. 11 March 2022. The Perils of Partnership. UCF Ethically Speaking.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/XUym03B1PrQ
September 27, 2022
Extraterrestrial Environmentalism
What do we do about space trash, off-planet pollutants, and interplanetary invasive species? What is an environmental ethics of space?
FRAMING PODCAST:Adkins. 9 December 2021. Space Environmentalism. Celestial Citizen.
August 30, 2022
Rights and Personhood
What sorts of things have rights? How do we decide? We’ll talk babies, cephalopods, and artificial agents.
FRAMING PODCAST: Peña-Guzmán and Anderson. 7 June 2022. Animal Personhood. Overthink.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/KsXS_95kmjY
April 27, 2022
Humans, Inhumans, and the In-Between
Chatbots push us down the hill into uncanny valleys, but also might help us connect. UCF Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Stevie Carnell will join us to talk about her cutting-edge work on teh Ethics of Conversational User Interfaces.
FRAMING PODCAST: 5 May 2019. The Ethics of Chatbots. The Conversologist, Ep2..
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/UfTeshLHfQ8
March 30, 2022
Baby Xenobots and Other Potential Horrors
So xenobots procreated. We’ll talk implications, both positive and negative, of the rise of artificial life.
FRAMING PODCAST: Levin, M. 12 October 2021. Synthetic Living Organisms. UCF’s Ethically Speaking.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/luoCdohmcnY
March 16, 2022
Facial Recognition, AI, and You
Like the old western, there’s good, bad, and ugly here. We’ll talk them through and see where you stand.
FRAMING PODCAST:MIT. 12 October 2021. How AI is Destroying Our Moral and Civil Efficacy. Bold Stories. Future Focused.
February 28, 2022
Rise of the Robots
As robotics become more advanced, robots play a bigger and bigger role in tasks that humans traditionally have done. What are the ethical limits, if any, to their rise?
FRAMING PODCAST: Beard, M. 25 December 2020. Should Robots Replace Humans? Short and Curly.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/joGlW5V4DBc
February 14, 2022
Morally Neutral or Morally Neutered?
The volume is up in the critique against perceived political bias in higher education. What gives? What does the future look like?
FRAMING PODCAST: Coaston, J. 8 December 2021. Can a New University Really Fix Academia’s Free Speech Problem? The Argument.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/g0qEUnOw634
November 9, 2021
Data Scraping and the IRB
What are the ethically relevant differences between data scraped from online social media and other human subjects data?
FRAMING PODCAST: Rodebaugh, T. and Leary, M. September 2014. More than meets the IRB – Social media research ethics: Considering the Facebook “emotional contagion” study. HRPO Podcasts.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/joGlW5V4DBc
October 26, 2021
AI and Autonomous Vehicles
Autonomous systems challenge views of responsibility, blame, and agency. What should a future of ethical AI look like?
FRAMING PODCAST: Burnley, M. 01 April 2021. “A.I. in the Driver’s Seat.” A.I. Nation.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/KeeQTvwwYh0
October 12, 2021
Online Learning, Choice, and Equity
Cameras on or off? Attending live or listening later? How do we balance engagement, privacy, and choice for students learning online?
FRAMING PODCAST: Stommel, J. July 29, 2020. How to Be Together in Learning Online. Teaching in Higher Ed.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/_qTwoEaDnGo
September 28, 2021
Intellectual Property, Ownership, and Theft
What are the ethical concerns around intellectual property? What are their implications in new FL legislation like FL HB 7017 and 1523?
FRAMING PODCAST: Aronczyk, A. 26 June 2020. Seed Spy. Planet Money. After Dinner Conversation.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/rvLWgwOLSA0
September 14, 2021
Free Speech, Intellectual Diversity, and HB 233
What’s the relationship between intellectual diversity and free speech in academic contexts?
FRAMING PODCAST: Gladstone, B. 04 June 2021. There is No ‘Cancel Culture’. On The Media.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/phmqcB_6wbM
August 31, 2021
Vaccines, Variants, and Uncertainty
As we negotiate viral variants, what’s the right thing to do? How do we deal with ongoing uncertainty about a changing risk landscape?
FRAMING PODCAST: Baker and Maxmen. 04 June 2021. Coronapod: Uncertainty and COVID ‘lab-leak’ theory.
Review on YouTube https://youtu.be/ZYAloMFnlgI