ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses a recently prominent philosophical and anthropological distinction; that between 'moral systems (MS)' and 'ethical life (EL)'. It focuses on the utility of approaching moral and ethical talk from another perspective. That perspective focuses on the different kinds of claims that callers make about what the world is like and what should be done about it. It is therefore an approach which assumes that the phone-in callers' moral talk can be understood in a descriptive manner, and it is that assumption which allows for an appreciation of the political function of modest moralising. The political value in modest moralising is the means by which these callers are able to have a say on matters beyond their own experience, to outline political perspectives with scope beyond what they have experienced themselves. In Martha Nussbaum's terms, they are a means by which callers are able to say something about 'political choices that govern one's life'.
