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THE ORIGINS

Jul 5th, 2013 by

In this section, we explore the topic of explanation.  For social scientists, this means focusing on causation. For example, if we pose the following question, “How do we account for the fact that ‘Hell happens…?” we automatically have to consider possible causes.  Since one or more causes are possible, our choice of one over another constitutes an explanation.  This bring up a second issue.  How do issues of cause and effect become muddled as a result of different understandings of a topic like Hell?  If I believe Hell means one thing and you believe it means something quite different, we are likely to identify different causes.  As we shall see later, this has implications for our actions.

 

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TYRANTS, MURDERERS, AND MADMEN:  “THE DEVIL’S DEEDS . . .”

12. Thursday, October 3.

Discussion:  In this section, we discuss those explanations of Hell that focus on the role of individual human beings.

Background information about various “devils”: National Public Radio interview with Riccardo Orizio about Talk about the Devil:  LISTEN


Your First Essay Assignment is HERE

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STALIN’S TERROR: “A SELF-IMPOSED HELL . . . “

13. Tuesday, October 8.

  • George Orwell, “Down the Mine”  PRINT AND READ
  • George Orwell,  Homage to Catalonia. Read Chapters 1-5, as well as the Introduction by Lionel Trilling.
  • A Photo Essay on the Spanish Civil War:   LOOK
  • A brief assessment of the war:  READ

14. Thursday, October 10. We will watch the first half of a film on this date.  Instead of  meeting in our normal classroom, we will meet in the lounge of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, 211 Brownson.

  • Richard Bugajski, Director, “The Interrogation” (film)

You will find Bugajski’s depiction of Stalinist terror agonizing. In my opinion, there is no way to sugar-coat the horrors of Stalinism. Remind me to warn you beforehand about one especially disturbing scene.

Then, on the same day. . .

15.  Thursday evening, October 10.

We will meet at the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at 6:00 to have dinner and watch the rest of “The  Interrogation.”

16. Tuesday, October 15.

In this section, we will begin to discuss the topic of belief.  What does it mean to say that one’s belief affects behavior?  Why are some people inclined to make extreme sacrifices–or  force others to make extreme sacrifices for their beliefs.  This is a major theme in “The Interrogation.”  I know you found the film tough to watch, but let’s face it, these offenses happened and ordinary human beings committed them.  Should we feel depressed about all this?  Or can we be hopeful that most, if not all people, can be persuaded to moderate such extreme beliefs?

  • Conclude discussion of Homage to Catalonia.  Read Chapters 8, 12-14.

 

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TECHNOLOGY IS US:  “A HELL OF YOUR OWN MAKING . . .”

17. Thursday, October  17.

Begin discussion of one of the most prophetic works of modern times:  Aldous Huxley, Brave New World. Read chapters 1-5.

READ:  We’re Living in 1984 today   Are we living in “1984” today?

Have a nice break. Remember to finish Brave New World while you are gone.

 

MID-TERM BREAK MARCH:  October 19 – October 27

 

18. Tuesday, October 29.

Finish discussion of Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, which you should have finished reading.  Are there elements of Huxley’s argument in “Loving Donation”? Or is this just an example of the positive uses to which modern technology can be put?  What about 23andME? I would be grateful for your suggestions about other examples of technological innovation that would allow us to raise these questions?

Also read:

19.  Thursday, October 31.

Discussion:  What are the moral implications of the way we define what counts most in the world?  Today, we will begin to discuss the moral implications of utilitarian judgments of human worth.

  • Peter Singer, “Taking Life: Humans,” from Practical Ethics (HAND-OUT)
  • Harriet Johnson, “Unspeakable Conversations” PRINT AND READ
  • Keith Fornier, “The Dignity of the Person” PRINT AND READ
  • Abdulaziz Sachedinar, “Reflections on human personhood: an Islamic perspective”  PRINT AND READ

For this discussion, I recommend that you surf around a bit to acquire a very general understanding of the philosophical approach known as “utilitarianism.”

Also, as you read Singer’s work, consider an alternative perspective on human worth from Jacques Maritain, the great Catholic philosopher and intellectual father of Vatican II:

Let us think of the human being, not in an abstract and general way,
but in the most concrete possible, the most personal fashion.  Let us
think of this certain old man we have known for years in the country—
this old farmer with his wrinkled face, his keen eyes which have beheld
so many harvests and so many earthly horizons, his long habits of
patience and suffering, courage, poverty and noble labor, a man perhaps
like those parents of a great living American statesman whose
photographs appeared some months ago in a particularly moving copy
of a weekly magazine. Or let us of think of this certain boy or this girl
who are our relatives or our friends, whose everyday life we well know,
and whose loved appearance, whose soft or husky voice is enough to
rejoice our hearts….We perceive intuitively, in an indescribable not
inescapable flash, that nothing in the world is more precious than
one single human being.

—Jacques Maritain, “The Immortality of Man” (1941)


20. Tuesday, November 5.

The Second Great Debate!

Get ready to debate this topic:  “When it comes to human dignity, Singer is far more humane than the Catholic
Church”

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 OMG:  Please leave your technology at home. This includes electronic devices of any kind, such as laptops, i-Pads, cell phones, Kindles, video cameras, or other personal digital devices.

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