Episode 124: Dr. Strawson or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Episodic Life

Do you think of your life as a story? Does your life have a narrative structure or form? Do you identify with your past selves and your future selves? If not, can you live a good life, a moral life, an authentic life? Can you feel guilt, regret, and resentment? Plus, speaking of stories, we talk about a new study suggesting that books with anthropomorphic animals can't teach moral lessons to kids.

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Links:

• Larsen, N. E., Lee, K., & Ganea, P. A. (2017). Do storybooks with anthropomorphized animal characters promote prosocial behaviors in young children?. Developmental Science.
• Children's books with humans have greater moral impact than animals, study finds | Books | The Guardian
• Strawson, G. (2004). Against narrativity. Ratio, 17(4), 428-452.
• Strawson, G. (2007). Episodic ethics. Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements, 60, 85-115.
• Parfit, D. (1995). The unimportance of identity.
• I am Not a Story