Hell also challenges us to think about the connection between morality and obligation.
What actions should we take in response to manifestations of Hell on earth? The answer we give is a matter of prescription. In the preceding sections, we discussed the moral implications of particular views of Hell. In this section, we will consider three questions about what it means to act morally:
First, what does it mean to say that we have a duty to follow specific moral principles?
Second, is this duty absolute? In a complex world, do we always have to act on this duty?
Third, do incontestable moral principles exist? I, for one, cannot imagine living in a world where they don’t exist. In fact, I believe that there are certain moral principles, such as the fundamental dignity of every human being, that are non-negotiable. However, on what foundations do these moral prescriptions exist? Some people would refer to their religious faith. Yet, not everyone is religious. Does this mean that they lack a solid foundation for making moral judgments? How would they defend their claim to indisputable moral principles?
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COVID-19: “Sick as Hell”
24. Tuesday, November 19
What does the record of the world’s recent bout with Hell–the Coronavirus pandemic–tell us about human nature? What does the pandemic–as well as the wildly differing reactions to it–teach us about how we should live in the future? Is it possible that we have learned nothing at all from this human catastrophe?
We will approach these questions in two ways. First, we will look back at a potential pandemic–one that has been long forgotten– that hit northern California at the end of the 19th century: the bubonic plague. As you read the following book, identify the similarities between America’s response to the plague more than a century ago and our most recent experience during a pandemic:
David K. Randall, Black Death at the Golden Gate, pp. 1-207.
Second, we will we ask whether anything good came out of our experience with the pandemic. Here is one possibility:
“The Pope sees the pandemic as a chance to ‘see’ the poor”: READ AND TAKE NOTES
If you can’t think of a positive consequence, what does this sad eventuality say about human beings? Despite all the cliches about learning from experience, are we basically incapable of learning from even the most dire circumstances? For example, what have human beings learned about war.
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GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE: “The Fires of Hell”
25. Thursday, November 21
Discussion: The existential danger of global climate change and of its human sources is a scientific fact. Do we have the same moral obligation to care for our planet that we have to care for our fellow human beings? What does our response to the COVID pandemic response teach us about how humans are likely to respond? Or, for that matter, about how we human beings are responding right now?
Pope Francis. Laudato Si’: Summaries : READ and PRINT Chapters II, IV, and VI.
Shannon Hall, “Exxon Knew about Climate Change almost 40 years ago,” Scientific American PRINT AND READ
Susan Brink, “Can’t Help Falling In Love With A Vaccine: How Polio Campaign Beat Vaccine Hesitancy” READ AND TAKE NOTES
I also dare to ask you to read the following lecture that I gave in Poland in 2018:
A. James McAdams, “Post-truth, Climate Change, and the Idea of the Modern Catholic University” PRINT AND READ
Recommended background reading: Fourth National Climate Assessment (2017): Official Report to the US Congress and President: See the Italicized summary points HERE
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OUR WAR IN IRAQ: “War is Hell”
26. Thursday, November 21
Discussion Topic: What responsibility should every human being have in Hell? It depends on whom you ask. If we put the Catholic Church and Roy Scranton in the same room, will they understand each other? Will they get along? Will they care?
Roy Scranton, War Porn. Read pp. 1-126.
Re-Read Article IV (1033-1037), “Hell,” Catechism of the Catholic Church: PRINT AND READ
Paragraph Assignment: “In what specific way would Roy Scranton’s description of the Hell of War differ from that of the Catechism of the Catholic Church?”
27. Tuesday, November 26
As you finish reading Scranton’s book, ask yourself whether morality loses all meaning in a time of war, or whether it becomes all the more important.
Readings:
Finish reading Roy Scranton’s War Porn
READ this article about PTSD: War Is Hell, and the Hell Rubs Off”
Highly Recommended: Roy Scranton, “Back to Baghdad,” Rolling Stone, July 31, 2014 READ
THANKSGIVING BREAK
As members of the ruling class, it’s time to think about why and how we should be grateful for our extraordinarily good fortune.
November 28 – December 1
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TERROR IN UKRAINE: “Hell on the edge . . . and the call to resilience”
28. Tuesday, December 3
Sofia Dobko, a graduate of the Catholic University of Ukraine, in Lviv, Ukraine, will join us today and next Tuesday to talk about the experience of war in her country. I will post the assignments for Sofia’s visits later.
29. Thursday, December 5
Sofia Dobko will join us again to talk about the experience of the war in Ukraine.
30. Tuesday, December 10
In today’s class, we will discuss two familiar issues:
What is human nature?
What is the human condition?
As you know, these concepts do not mean the same thing. But they are directly related. One can be a description and a cause. The other is a description and subject of analysis. Together, these terms have deep implications for how we can and should act. Thus, they refer directly to “my hand.”
We will discuss these questions by referring to the following readings. Look over the readings before class to refresh your memory. You MUST bring the readings to class and refer to them regularly. I will be looking and listening carefully:
Dostoevsky
Scranton
Randall
Singer
Catholic Catechism
31. Thursday, December 12
Discussion:
In this, our final class session, I would like to focus on an idea that has come up at various times in our course: Hope. In this seminar, we have looked at some pretty awful aspects of the human experience. And it’s easy to find people who think humanity is on the verge of extinction.
See the examples here: Tyler Austin Harper, “The 100 Year Extinction Panic is Back” PRINT AND READ (bring to class)
Are such dire predictions destined to come true? I certainly hope not. I do not want you to come away from this class as hardened cynics. Indeed, that would be contrary to a defining feature of our Notre Dame’s Cathoilic mission. After all, what is Catholicism if it is not based on hope.
I think we can–and should–approach our human future in a way that is self-consciously antithetical to the spirit of cynicism which is so much a part of the modern world. For humans to survive in this troubled world–one that is largely of their own making–we must cultivate Hope. Today, I ask you to reflect with me about the meaning of Hope in our lives. Where does Hope come from? Why is Hope important? How should we fight to maintain it?
I would like to use our class visits and our readings on the war in Ukraine as the backdrop for our discussion. Thus, please bring these readings to class.
In addition, please read these articles about Hope. Identify their similarities and differences.
Kelly J. Baker, “Why I Remain Hopeful,” Chronicle of Higher Education. PRINT AND READ (bring to class)
Roy Scranton, “Raising my child in a doomed world” Raising My Child in a Doomed WorldPRINT AND READ (bring to class)
Isaac Bashevis Singer, “Nobel Lecture” PRINT AND READ (bring to class)
Samuel Scheffler, “The Importance of the Afterlife. Seriously. PRINT AND READ (bring to class)
Your final essay assignment will be around HERE
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Ecclesiastes 9:11 “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
No one ever asks me why I put this passage from the Bible at the end of my courses. Will you?