{"id":17327,"date":"2016-09-06T13:14:28","date_gmt":"2016-09-06T17:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/?p=17327"},"modified":"2016-09-06T13:14:28","modified_gmt":"2016-09-06T17:14:28","slug":"my-introduction-to-philosophy-seminar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/?p=17327","title":{"rendered":"my Introduction to Philosophy seminar"},"content":{"rendered":"

I will be teaching Intro to Philosophy at Tufts this semester, starting tomorrow. This course can be taught in several different ways: for instance, with a chronological sequence of major works, with a focus on one large issue, or with an array of excellent but accessible recent articles that\u00a0give a flavor of the current discipline. I’ve opted to emphasize one of the great philosophical questions: \u201cHow should I live?\u201d I’ve tried to select authors who represent reasonably diverse cultural traditions; it was while planning the syllabus that I wrote a piece for Aeon<\/em> entitled “The lack of diversity in philosophy is blocking its progress<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

The readings will specifically consider whether truthfulness, happiness, and justice are important aspects of a good life. Some of the assigned\u00a0authors will argue that these three goods fit together neatly, for to be happy requires being truthful and just. But some of our authors will dispute that premise.<\/p>\n

I paste the reading assignments\u00a0below.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Syllabus: Subject to Change<\/u><\/p>\n

Sept. 7: Overview and introduction<\/p>\n

I. Truthfulness<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Is there an obligation to seek the truth? To say or teach the truth to others? How does truthfulness relate to happiness and justice? Can we know truths about ethics?<\/p>\n

Sept. 12: Plato, Apology<\/a>, <\/em>sections \u00a717-35. <\/em>Also Justin P. McBrayer, \u201c Why Our Children Don\u2019t Think There are Moral Facts <\/a>,\u201d The New York Times<\/em>, March 2, 2015. Or in this PDF<\/a> if you have trouble reading it on the NY Times site.<\/p>\n

Sept. 14: Plato, Apology <\/em>\u00a735-42<\/em><\/p>\n

Sept. 19: Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil<\/em><\/a>, aphorisms \u00a71-12<\/p>\n

Sept. 21: Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil<\/em>, aphorisms \u00a713-32<\/p>\n

First paper due. Describe a situation in which it’s problematic\u00a0whether to be truthful or not. Argue in favor of being truthful or not being truthful in this situation. Define what you mean by the term “truthful.” Give reasons for your position and explain and counter good reasons against it. Cite at least one relevant passage\u00a0from Plato or Nietzsche.<\/p>\n

II. Happiness<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

What is happiness? What are the best paths to happiness? Do we have a right to pursue our own happiness? Can we make others happy?<\/p>\n

Sept. 26: Epicurus, \u201cLetter to Menoeceus<\/a>\u201d (We will also discuss Socrates\u2019 remarks about happiness in the \u201cApology,\u201d already assigned.)<\/p>\n

Sept. 28: \u201cBuddha<\/a>,\u201d in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (entry by Mark Siderits)<\/p>\n

Oct. 3: \u201cBuddha\u201d (continued)<\/p>\n

Oct. 5. Emerson, \u201cSelf-Reliance\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Oct 10: No class (Columbus Day)<\/p>\n

Oct. 12: More discussion of the \u201chappiness\u201d readings.<\/p>\n

Second paper due. Assignment TBA<\/p>\n

III. Justice Toward Others<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

What are principles of justice? Which principles of justice are binding on whom? How do they relate to each other?<\/p>\n

A. Welfare<\/strong><\/p>\n

We discussed happiness in the previous section. Could maximizing the happiness of all human beings–or something similar to that–be the main principle of justice?<\/p>\n

Oct. 17: Mill, Utilitarianism<\/em>, chapter 2 (\u201cWhat Utilitarianism Is<\/a>\u201d) and chapter 5 (\u201cOn the Connection Between Justice and Utility<\/a>\u201d)<\/p>\n

Oct. 19: Rawls, A Theory of Justice<\/em><\/a>, Part I, chapter 1, \u00a75 (versus utilitarianism)<\/p>\n

Oct. 24: More discussion of welfare.<\/p>\n

B. Liberty<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oct 26: Milton and Rose Friedman, Free to Choose<\/em><\/a>, Introduction and chapter 6 (\u201cWhat\u2019s Wrong With Our Schools?\u201d)<\/p>\n

Oct 31: Friedrich Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty<\/em>, Chapters 1, 4 and Postscript (pp. 11-21<\/a>, 54-70<\/a>, 397-411<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Nov. 2: John Rawls, A Theory of Justice<\/em>, Part I, 1 \u00a71-4, 2 \u00a711-17, and 3 \u00a724<\/p>\n

Nov. 7: Discussion of Rawls continues.<\/p>\n

Nov. 9: Isaiah Berlin, \u201cTwo Concepts of Liberty<\/a>\u201d (1958), in Isaiah Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty<\/em> (1969)<\/p>\n

Third paper due. Assignment TBA<\/p>\n

B. Equality<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nov. 14: Tim Scanlon, “When Does Equality Matter?<\/a>”<\/p>\n

Nov. 16: Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia<\/em><\/a>, pp. 149-177<\/p>\n

Nov. 21: Bayard Rustin, \u201cFrom Protest to Politics: Future of the Civil Rights Movement<\/a>,\u201d Commentary<\/em> (February, 1965)<\/p>\n

Nov. 23: More discussion of the \u201cequality\u201d readings. Fourth paper due.<\/p>\n

D. Democracy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nov. 28: Robert A. Dahl, Democracy and its Critics<\/em><\/a>, pp. 106-52<\/p>\n

Nov. 30: Kwasi Wiredu, “Democracy and Consensus in Traditional African Politics” (http:\/\/them.polylog.org\/2\/fwk-en.htm<\/a>) and Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze, “Democracy or Consensus?” ( http:\/\/them.polylog.org\/2\/fee-en.htm<\/a>)<\/p>\n

E. Identity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nov. 30: Audre Lorde, \u201c The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House <\/a>\u201d and Steve Biko, \u201cBlack Consciousness and the Quest for True Humanity<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

Dec. 5: Todd Gitlin, \u201cThe Left, Lost in the Politics of Identity<\/a>,\u201d Harper\u2019s Magazine<\/em>, 1993; and Susan Bickford, \u201cAnti-Anti-Identity Politics: Feminism, Democracy, and the Complexities of Citizenship<\/a>,\u201d Hypatia<\/em> Vol. 12, No. 4.<\/p>\n

Dec. 7: More discussion of the readings on democracy, diversity and inclusion.<\/p>\n

Fifth Paper due.<\/p>\n

Assignment: Dec. 12: Final discussion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I will be teaching Intro to Philosophy at Tufts this semester, starting tomorrow. This course can be taught in several different ways: for instance, with a chronological sequence of major works, with a focus on one large issue, or with an array of excellent but accessible recent articles that\u00a0give a flavor of the current discipline. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-philosophy","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17327"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17361,"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17327\/revisions\/17361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}