Hell also challenges us to think about the connection between morality and obligation.<\/p>\n
What actions should<\/em> we take in response to manifestations of Hell on earth?\u00a0 The answer we give is a matter of prescription<\/em>. In the preceding sections, we discussed the moral implications of particular views of Hell.\u00a0 In this section, we will consider three questions about what it means to act morally:<\/span><\/p>\n First, what does it mean to say that we have a duty<\/em> to follow specific moral principles?<\/span><\/p>\n Second, is this duty absolute? In a complex world, do we always have to act on this duty?<\/span><\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 Yet, not everyone is religious.\u00a0 Does this mean that they lack a solid foundation for making moral judgments? How would they defend their claim to indisputable moral principles?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 24. Tuesday, November 19<\/strong><\/p>\n No class.<\/p>\n COVID-19:\u00a0 \u201cSick as Hell\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n 25. Thursday, November 21.<\/strong><\/p>\n What does the record of the world\u2019s recent bout with Hell\u2013the Coronavirus pandemic\u2013tell us about human nature? What does the pandemic\u2013as well as the wildly differing reactions to it\u2013teach us about how we should live in the future? Is it possible that we have learned nothing at all from this human catastrophe?<\/p>\n We will approach these questions by looking back at a potential pandemic\u2013one that has been long forgotten\u2013 that hit northern California at the end of the 19th century: the bubonic plague.\u00a0 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:<\/p>\n David K. Randall,\u00a0Black Death at the Golden Gate. <\/em>Read the first half of the book.<\/p>\n 26.\u00a0 Tuesday, November 26<\/strong><\/p>\n Today, we will deal with two questions.\u00a0 First, we will use the successes of San Francico’s efforts to combat the outbreak of the bubonic plague to ask about the capacity of human beings to stand up to catastrophic challenges. We will ask the same questions about the human response to the recent global pandemic. Second, we will ask whether we have a moral responsibility to make sacrifices for others in the face of such human catastrophes.<\/p>\n David K. Randall,\u00a0Black Death at the Golden Gate. <\/em>Finish the book.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Pope sees the pandemic as a chance to \u2018see\u2019 the poor\u201d:\u00a0\u00a0READ AND TAKE NOTES<\/a><\/p>\n As members of the ruling class, it’s time to think about why and how we should be grateful for our extraordinarily good fortune.<\/p>\n November 28 – December 1<\/p>\n GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE:\u00a0 \u201cThe Fires of Hell\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n 27. Tuesday, December 3<\/strong><\/p>\n Discussion<\/em>:\u00a0 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?<\/p>\n Pope Francis.\u00a0 Laudato Si\u2019:\u00a0 Summaries<\/em>\u00a0:\u00a0\u00a0READ and PRINT<\/a>\u00a0 Chapters II, IV, and VI.<\/p>\n Shannon Hall, \u201cExxon Knew about Climate Change almost 40 years ago,\u201d\u00a0Scientific American<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0PRINT AND READ<\/a><\/p>\n Susan Brink, \u201cCan\u2019t Help Falling In Love With A Vaccine: How Polio Campaign Beat Vaccine Hesitancy\u201d\u00a0READ AND TAKE NOTES<\/a><\/p>\n I also dare to ask you to read the following lecture that I gave in Poland in 2018:<\/p>\n A. James McAdams, \u201cPost-truth, Climate Change, and the Idea of the Modern Catholic University<\/a>” PRINT AND READ<\/p>\n Recommended<\/em>\u00a0background reading:\u00a0 Fourth National Climate Assessment (2017): Official Report to the US Congress and President: See the\u00a0Italicized<\/em>\u00a0summary points\u00a0\u00a0HERE<\/a><\/p>\n TERROR IN UKRAINE: \u201cHell on the edge . . . and the call to resilience”<\/strong><\/p>\n 29.\u00a0 Thursday, December 5<\/strong><\/p>\n Sofia Dobko, a graduate of the Catholic University of Ukraine, in Lviv, Ukraine, will join us today to discuss the experience of war in her country and the challenge of resilience.<\/p>\n Readings and Film:<\/p>\n \u201cTwenty Days in Mariupol\u201d\u00a0\u00a0HERE<\/a><\/p>\n Anne Applebaum and Nataliya Gumenyuk,\u00a0 \u201cThey didn\u2019t understand anything, but just spoiled people\u2019s lives\u201d\u00a0READ AND PRINT<\/a><\/p>\n Oleh Romanchuk,\u00a0Director of the Ukrainian Institute of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and the Institute of Mental Health, UCU:\u00a0https:\/\/i-cbt.org.ua\/psychological-resilience-in-a-time-of-war\/<\/a><\/p>\n 30. Tuesday, December 10<\/strong><\/p>\n In this class, we will discuss three themes:<\/p>\n Maya and Danica will lead the discussion by asking you to respond to these questions.\u00a0 For their\u00a0 source material, they will use select questions from the survey of your views on Hell that I conducted on the first day of class as well as the data from similar surveys that I have conducted since 2010. They will also invite you to imagine the responses that three personalities would provide to these questions: The Grand Inquisitor, Alyosha Karamazov, and a hypothetical Ukrainian Catholic University student whose life has been ripped apart by the Russian invasion.<\/p>\n In addition, please bring the following three readings to class. I would like to discuss the likely responses of the authors of these three readings:<\/p>\n The Catholic Catechism on Hell This discussion section will set us up for our final class. We will move completely beyond our autopsy of Hell to ask about Hope.<\/p>\n I expect you to bring these readings to class.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 31. Thursday, December 12<\/strong><\/p>\n Discussion:<\/em><\/p>\n In this, our final class session, we turn to an image that has come up at various times in our course: Hope.\u00a0 In this seminar, we have looked at some pretty awful aspects of the human experience.\u00a0 And it\u2019s easy to find people who think humanity is on the verge of extinction.<\/p>\n See the examples here:\u00a0 Tyler Austin Harper, “The 100 Year Extinction Panic is Back<\/a>” PRINT AND READ\u00a0 (bring to class)<\/p>\n Are such dire predictions destined to come true?\u00a0 I certainly hope not. I do not want you to come away from this class as hardened cynics.\u00a0 Indeed, that would be contrary to a defining feature of our Notre Dame’s Catholic mission.\u00a0 After all, what is Catholicism if it is not based on hope?<\/p>\n I think we can\u2013and should\u2013approach 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\u2013one that is largely of their own making\u2013we must cultivate Hope.\u00a0 Today, I ask you to reflect with me about the meaning of Hope in our lives.\u00a0 Where does Hope come from? Why is Hope important? How\u00a0 should we fight to maintain it?<\/p>\n I would like to use our class visit and our readings and film on the war in Ukraine as the backdrop for our discussion. Thus, please bring these readings to class.<\/p>\n In addition, please read these articles about Hope.\u00a0 Identify their similarities and differences.<\/p>\n Kelly J. Baker, “Why I Remain Hopeful,”<\/a>\u00a0Chronicle of Higher Education.<\/em> PRINT AND READ\u00a0(bring to class)<\/p>\n Roy Scranton, \u201cRaising my child in a doomed world\u201d Raising My Child in a Doomed World<\/a>\u00a0 PRINT AND READ (bring to class)<\/p>\n Isaac Bashevis Singer, \u201cNobel Lecture\u201d\u00a0PRINT AND READ\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0(bring to class)<\/p>\n Samuel Scheffler, \u201cThe Importance of the Afterlife. Seriously.\u00a0PRINT AND READ<\/a>\u00a0(bring to class)<\/p>\n \u00a5<\/p>\n Ecclesiastes<\/em>\u00a09:11\u00a0 \u201cI 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.<\/p>\n No one ever asks me why I put this passage from the Bible at the end of my courses.\u00a0 Will you?<\/p>\n 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?\u00a0 The answer we give is a matter of prescription. In the preceding sections, we discussed the moral implications of particular views of Hell.\u00a0 In this section, we will consider … Continue reading Prescription<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":573,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15\/revisions\/573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ten-images-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}IMAGE SEVEN<\/strong><\/h4>\n
THANKSGIVING BREAK<\/strong><\/h4>\n
IMAGE EIGHT<\/strong><\/h4>\n
IMAGE NINE<\/strong><\/h4>\n
IMAGES<\/em> TEN<\/h4>\n
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\nPeter Singer
\nDavid Randall<\/p>\nHELL AND HOPE<\/h4>\n
Your final essay assignment IS HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n
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