After Dinner Conversation - Interpersonal Ethics

Philosophy | Ethics Short Story Fiction

By: Jacob Orlando, Vickie Fang, Laura Mullen, Taylor Lawritson, Julia Meinwald, Darcy Alvey, J.G. Alderburke, Steve Parker, C.S. Griffel, E. B. Ratcliffe

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Ranked Top 10 "Best Lit Mags of 2023, 2024" by Chill Subs

Synopsis: Carefully curated stories from our monthly magazine to create a themed short story book about the philosophy and ethics of interpersonal relationships. Perfect for classrooms and book clubs, each story is 1,500-7,000 words and comes with five suggested discussion questions. Edition Editor: Kate Bocassi

• Corporate Head: A man embraces his submissive desires while navigating the corporate world.
• Eleven Things I Have Left Now That My Daughter Is Gone: Promise leaves her drug-addicted prostitute mother behind so she can go to college.
• On Ice: A woman's ex-boyfriend asks to use the embryos they froze together years earlier with his new love interest.
• Junk: Grieved by the loss of her father, in a house overflowing with sentimental clutter, a woman's chance encounter forces her to consider a new beginning.
• Disconnect: A woman whose job it is to "pilot" other people's dates meets her crush.
• Emancipation: A 50-something woman leaves her loveless marriage to join an archaeological dig in Montana.
• Lies I Tell My Father: A child visits her father with Alzheimer, so her mother can get a break.
• Q-Tip Options: The narrator befriends Abby and Robert, the homeless couple living by her house.
• Visions of Midwives: A midwife in training learns the midwife secret, that at the moment of birth each midwife is able to see the future of the newly born child.
• Evening Star: Two bullied school children decide to reveal their true selves to their classmates and suffer the consequences.

Reviews ★★★★★
“With Science fiction we can explore other galaxies and alien conflicts, but with philosophical fiction we can explore other minds and ethical conflicts. Let this book take you on a Phi-Fi adventure.”
— William Irwin, Ph.D. - Philosophy Professor, King's College

“After Dinner Conversation has taken up the initiative to write themed collections of short stories that fit focused ethics courses – say, a course on bioethics, AI ethics, Tech ethics etc. These collections can offer a spine for such courses or individual stories could be added to a course as illustrative material to stimulate discussion. The stories are lively and engaging and followed by a set of questions to start classroom discussion. Also, outside of educational contexts, the stories will work nicely to stimulate conversation in families, elder hostels, youth clubs, or book groups.”
— Luc Bovens, Ph.D. - Philosophy Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill