What is a person? What is a thing? And what difference does that difference make?

Although we tend to use the terms "person" and "human being" interchangeably, it hasn't always been the case that all human beings were considered (moral or legal) persons, nor is the case today that all persons are human beings. Here in the United States, corporations are considered legal persons, and in several countries across the world, natural beings (like rivers, lakes, and ecosystems) have also been granted "personhood" status. Many people treat their pets as moral persons. Even when we don't call out cats and dogs "persons," we certainly distinguish them from other things (like a toaster!).

Social robots and generative AI have only amplified our confusion about "personhood" recently. Do we need more categories to adequately distinguish our moral and legal obligations to the beings with which we share our world?

Full episode notes available at this link:
https://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-138-personhood
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If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe and submit a rating/review! Better yet, you can support this podcast by signing up to be one of our Patrons at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions!

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What's so special about originality?

Today, originality is being challenged in so many ways: comedians “stealing” jokes, cultural appropriation, remixes, not to mention the myriad ways that generative artificial intelligence has made plagiarism of all kinds possible. We value originality over imitation, creativity over copying, and novelty over the “same old, same old.” But, why is originality such a cherished value? Is it even possible, or is everything just a remix or a copy?

We bring new, never before heard, insights to the topic of originality this week!

Full episode notes available at this link:
https://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-136-originality

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If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe and submit a rating/review! Better yet, you can support this podcast by signing up to be one of our Patrons at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions!

Follow us on Twitter/X @hotelbarpodcast, on Facebook, on TikTok, and subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Michael Norton explains why “Joe Versus the Volcano” is the perfect existentialist film.

Continuing our tradition of going to the movies for the first episode of teach new season, we watch the 1990 film Joe vs. The Volcano with Michael Norton from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. Michael has an argument that the movie is the perfect existentialist film. Is he right?

Full episode notes available at this link:
https://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/hbs-goes-to-the-movies-joe-versus-the-volcano-1990/

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If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe and submit a rating/review! Better yet, you can support this podcast by signing up to be one of our Patrons at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions!

Follow us on Twitter/X @hotelbarpodcast, on Facebook, on TikTok, and subscribe to our YouTube channel!