Ep10 Lachlan Green

Lachlan Green Takes Us Down a Philosophy Rabbit Hole: Empowering Us to Age with Less Fear in the Face of Ageism

Join us in this philosophical journey as we delve deep into the topic of aging with philosopher Lachlan Green. In this episode, we explore the question of whether it's morally wrong to get old and the implications of society's negative views on aging. Lachlan shares his insights on why society views older people as burdens and the stigma and misconceptions that contribute to this perception. We also discuss the prevailing social attitude towards aged care and why many are reluctant to seek it out. Lachlan, who has worked in the aged care sector for many years, completed a philosophy degree and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in bioethics. His research focuses on empowering social and ecological justice in aged care settings, with the aim of improving experiences for people as they age. Since starting as an Assistant-in-Nursing, Lachie Green has worked in the aged care sector for many years in a wide variety of roles. While working in the sector he completed a philosophy degree and began a Ph.D. candidature in bioethics. In his studies, Lachie was curious that, even though it’s a common human experience, there was limited focus on aging in philosophy. Since then, he’s done a lot of philosophical thinking on the topic! Lachie’s current research is focused on empowering social and ecological justice in aged care settings. His goal is to shift societal opinions on aged care and improve experiences for people as they age.

Discussion

• POINT 1 The rights and wrongs of aging – is it morally wrong to get old?

• Why does society think about older people as burdens, from economics-driven mindsets through to the more psychological factors

• Built on stigma and misconceptions that have stuck

• POINT 2 What are the realistic implications of seeing old age as morally wrong?

• How have the prevailing views impacted

• And what can we do about it?

• POINT 3 Is aged care bad? If it’s not, why are we so scared of it?

• Why does the prevailing social attitude to aged care seem to be ‘I’d rather die than live in aged care

• Deeper than any identified poor quality of care sector, misconceptions that all aged care is in homes, reluctance to be vulnerable