Diana Hsieh
My Life in Brief
I am a philosopher specializing in practical ethics. I received my Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2009. My primary outlets are my blog NoodleFood and my podcast NoodleCast.
My other active projects include Explore Atlas Shrugged, OLists, and Modern Paleo. In addition, I contribute to Front Range Objectivism, The Coalition for Secular Government, Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine, and Repeal the Amazon Tax.
My husband Paul Hsieh is a physician specializing in orthopedic and emergency radiology. He blogs at GeekPress, and he co-founded Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine (FIRM). We live in Sedalia, Colorado with a a small menagerie of beasts. Paul and I married in 1999, and we moved to Colorado in 2001.
I can be reached at via e-mail to diana@dianahsieh.com.
A Survey of My Projects
NoodleFood is my primary blog. Most of my blogging concerns cultural and political commentary, but I also blog on practical ethics, philosophy, paleo diets and health, classic literature, personal interests, and funny stuff. My husband Paul Hsieh and my friend Greg Perkins are my co-bloggers.
NoodleCast is the central repository for all my podcasting, including for philosophy, practical ethics, and interviews.
Explore Atlas Shrugged hosts my podcasts and discussion questions on Ayn Rand's epic novel Atlas Shrugged. They are intended for any fan of the novel seeking to explore its events, characters, and ideas in depth, as well as for any leader of or participant in an Atlas Shrugged Reading Group.
Modern Paleo hosts writings by myself and other Objectivists on the principles and practice of nutrition, fitness, and health most conducive to human flourishing. We seek the best that modern life has to offer, informed by a broadly paleo approach.
OLists hosts e-mail lists for friendly discussion and information-sharing among advocates of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism based on common values. Non-Objectivist lurkers are welcome on some OLists.
Rationally Selfish collects my work in practical ethics, including my weekly Q&As and podcasts.
PhiloFiles collects my academic work, including my dissertation, graduate papers, teaching resources, and podcasts.
Front Range Objectivism (FRO) is an organization dedicated to understanding and advocating Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism along the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies. I am the overall manager of FRO. I coordinate its projects and groups, and I advise its many dedicated volunteer leaders.
Coalition for Secular Government (CSG) advocates government solely based on secular principles of individual rights. CSG is particularly concerned to fight the religious right's efforts to pass anti-abortion, anti-contraception "personhood" amendments in Colorado. I founded CSG in 2008.
Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine (FIRM) promotes the philosophy of individual rights, personal responsibility, and free market economics in health care. It was founded by Lin Zinser and my husband Paul Hsieh in 2007. I contribute to FIRM as I can.
My Publications
"The 'Personhood' Movement Is Anti-Life: Why It Matters that Rights Begin at Birth, Not Conception" by Ari Armstrong and Diana Hsieh (Coalition for Secular Government Policy Paper, August 31st, 2010).
"Amendment 48 Is Anti-Life: Why It Matters That a Fertilized Egg Is Not a Person" by Ari Armstrong and Diana Hsieh (Coalition for Secular Government Policy Paper, August 19th, 2008).
"Egoism Explained: A Review of Tara Smith's Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist" (The Objective Standard, Spring 2007).
"Dursley Duplicity: The Morality and Psychology of Self-Deception" (Harry Potter and Philosophy, 2004, pg 22-37).
"False Excuses: Honesty, Wrongdoing, and Moral Growth" (Journal of Value Inquiry, 38:2, June 2004, pg 171-185).
My Lectures
"Luck in the Pursuit of Life: The Rational Egoist's Approach to Luck" (OCON 2010, four hour-long lectures).
Many people think of luck as a metaphysical force in the universe: they aim to increase good luck and decrease bad luck. That's wrong -- but how should rational egoists think about luck? After examining two false views of luck, this course shows how we can diminish the influence of luck on our lives by exerting our powers of rational, purposeful control.
My Graduate Writings
My dissertation for my philosophy Ph.D from the University of Colorado at Boulder was entitled "Better Good Than Lucky: An Aristotelian Solution to the Problem of Moral Luck." It concerned moral responsibility and moral judgment, particularly the problem of moral luck. I successfully defended it in June 2009. It was directed by Dr. Michael Huemer. Abstract:
Philosopher Thomas Nagel casts doubt on our ordinary moral judgments of persons by his arguments for the existence of "moral luck." We intuitively accept that moral responsibility requires control, yet we seem to routinely praise and blame people for actions, outcomes, and character substantially shaped by luck. This challenge to moral judgment rests on a faulty view of the conditions for moral responsibility and the process of moral judgment. The morally responsible person must satisfy the control and epistemic conditions originally identified by Aristotle in Book Three of the Nicomachean Ethics. When those conditions are adequately explained and developed, moral responsibility clearly tracks a person's voluntary actions, outcomes, and character. Nagel's questions about whether a person might have done otherwise given better or worse luck are irrelevant to the praise and blame a person deserves for his actual voluntary doings. This account of moral responsibility and moral judgment eliminates the appearance of moral luck in the puzzling cases raised by Nagel and others. We can conclude that our ordinary moral judgments of persons are warranted: they do not depend on luck in any problematic way.
I will make this dissertation available for sale at nominal cost in the near future. My other graduate work, including my course papers, can be found on PhiloFiles.
Contact Me
E-mail: diana@dianahsieh.com
Twitter: @DianaHsieh
Facebook: DianaMertzHsieh
U.S. Mail: P.O. Box 851; Sedalia, CO 80135
