Rules with Lorraine Daston

Abstract

Overview & Shownotes

Lorraine Daston is Director emerita of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, and a visiting professor in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. On today’s episode of Examining Ethics, we’re discussing her new book Rules: A Short History of What We Live By . She explains that regulations that seem to have little to do with morality–like spelling rules–are often tied to deep-seated values in a society.

For the episode transcript, download a copy or read it below.

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Links to people and ideas mentioned in the show

1. Lorraine Daston , Rules: A Short History of What We Live By
2. Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
3. Ludwig Wittgenstein on rule following
4. Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperatives
5. 1908 National Spelling Bee

Credits

Thanks to Evelyn Brosius for our logo. Music featured in the show:

“ Gin Boheme ” by Blue Dot Sessions

“ Songe d’Automne ” by Latché Swing from the Free Music Archive. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 FR