Every parent sees their son as a young hero, and their daughter as a darling princess. Yet perhaps it’s no wonder, in an age when parents are under increasing pressue to indulge their kids’ every wish — with fancy parties, expensive toys, designer clothes and a constant stream of verbal praise — that these youngsters are growing up oblivious to the values of chivalry, like patience and helpfulness. With all the best intentions, parents maybe raising a generation of princes and princesses, focused on “me,” instead of knights in shining armor.

Professor Gary Hardcastle, senior editor of the book Monty Python and Philosophy, joins Scott to talk about how the Pythons’ view of King Arthur changed our understanding of chivalry. Also: Dragons, giants and other monsters of chivalry, with English lit. Professor Richard Scott Nokes; and donate to our program for free tickets to the World Invitational Joust.

Such people do not deserve mercy. In my view, they have forfeited any moral right to expect it from us. You and your troops may be sorely tempted to deny them humane treatment as a result. But you must resist that temptation. Treat them humanely even though they don’t deserve it.

Although many of us labor under the romantic illusion that true spirituality is something that only solitary monks sitting lotus-legged in a desert chanting “Om” can cultivate, the fact is that the vast majority of us don’t have the luxury of solitary contemplation.

Often we can achieve a deeper understanding of something by examining its opposite. Our knowledge of the traditional “Seven Virtues,” for instance, is expanded by our awareness of the contrary “Seven Deadly Sins.”

The “seven knightly virtues” were symbolized in a knight’s equipment. The spurs represented courage – the term for becoming a knight is “to win your spurs.”