When Doing Good Feels Pointless: For People Worn Out by Their Own Conscience - with Philosopher Travis Rieder

https://eggshelltherapy.com/podcast-blog/2026/08/27/travis/

Many intense people have a high level of moral sensitivity. I wrote about this elsewhere before, but basically, they see something cruel or careless and cannot just move on from it the way other people seem to. They often lie awake thinking about whether they are doing enough, whether what they are doing even counts, and whether there is any point in trying when the world does not seem to care whether they try or not. They hold themselves to standards that others think are too high, and when they fall short, they feel extremely guilty. They try to honour their values, but then they watch the news and have to hold themselves back from despair. After long enough, they start to wonder whether the whole thing is a trap they built for themselves.

In this conversation, I want us to see what we can learn from a moral philosopher who has spent his career working out how ordinary humans like us can try to do good even when it seems pointless at times. 

Travis Rieder teaches bioethics at Johns Hopkins and wrote a book called Catastrophe Ethics.  He holds that some people are purists;  once they find out they are part of something harmful, they get themselves out of it. Others are nihilists, and they think that when the problem is this big, nothing they do counts, so there is nothing they owe anybody. Travis has watched many students come in as purists, wear themselves out, and leave as nihilists. 

We also talk about the role of religion in all of this.  Travis says that if God could have commanded torture and that would have made torture right, the commands are not worth much, and if God commands things because they are already right, then you can work out what is right without him. 

Travis's thesis is that you have no duty to cut your carbon footprint, but you have good reasons to.

What he leaves us with is this: sit down every so often and work out where our time and our money and our energy should go, because that is what gives our lives meaning.

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Trigger Warning: This episode may cover sensitive topics including but not limited to suicide, abuse, violence, severe mental illnesses, relationship challenges, sex, drugs, alcohol addiction, psychedelics, and the use of plant medicines. You are advised to refrain from watching or listening to the YouTube Channel or Podcast if you are likely to be offended or adversely impacted by any of these topics.

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