Morality is not a recipe for a happy and trouble-free life: Interview with Zygmunt Bauman and Aleksandra Jasińska-Kania

The following text is a transcript of a conversation I had with Prof. Zygmunt Bauman and Prof. Aleksandra Jasińska-Kania in the spring of 2014. At that time I was finishing writing my doctoral dissertation on Karl Popper’s social theory. I was just grappling with one of the most serious objections raised against it when – quite by accident – I came across Bauman’s Liquid Modernity and quickly realized that a number of arguments formulated in it by Bauman, could be used in defense of Popper’s theory. Without thinking too much, I wrote a letter to Professor Bauman asking whether my intuitions were correct. Just a few hours later, I received a comprehensive reply, along with an invitation to the professor’s home in Leeds for an interview, a transcript of which I present below. During the conversation we discussed topics including moral choice, the relationship between freedom and safety, distinction between ethics and morality and animal rights. Although almost a decade has passed since the following conversation was conducted, I firmly believe that the thoughts contained in this talk are of such a universal nature that they will interest the reader also, and perhaps especially today. El siguiente texto es la transcripción de una conversación que mantuve con el profesor Zygmunt Bauman y la profesora Aleksandra Jasińska-Kania en la primavera de 2014. Por aquel entonces estaba terminando de escribir mi tesis doctoral sobre la teoría social de Karl Popper. Estaba lidiando con una de las objeciones más serias planteadas en contra de ella cuando –casualmente– me encontré con Modernidad líquida de Bauman y rápidamente me di cuenta de que una serie de argumentos formulados en ella por Bauman, podrían ser utilizados en defensa de la teoría de Popper. Sin pensarlo demasiado, escribí una carta al profesor Bauman preguntándole si mis intuiciones eran correctas. Apenas unas horas después, recibí una exhaustiva respuesta, junto con una invitación a la casa del profesor en Leeds para una entrevista, cuya transcripción presento a ...