Back to the first day of our seminar! I have designed this, the final section of our class, to be personal. After all, all politics should be personal. I am particularly interested in how you, I, or any other citizen should “live within the truth.” Once again, I am challenging you to think about “truth” in all of its bountiful and uplifting manifestations. In particular, in terms of citizenship, I am thinking especially of our obligations in a flourishing liberal democracy. Broader still, I am thinking about how we are obliged to act as members of a human community. The challenge begins right here at Notre Dame.
24. Tuesday, April 9
Instead of meeting at our regular time, we will gather for a luxurious dinner and film. Time: 6:00pm, B052 Nanovic Jenkins Hall
Film: Francis Ford Coppola, “The Conversation”
Your challenge will be to figure out the film.
25. Thursday, April 11
Vaclav Havel: The Power of the Powerless I
What does it mean to live within a lie? The first half of Havel’s magnificent essay focuses on what it meant to live in a lie under the sclerotic authoritarian regimes of late communism. In the last few pages, Havel suggests that we may be doing the same thing in advanced democracies.
For this class session, we will concentrate on the first half of the essay and a few concluding chapters. This is not a course on communism. Thus, as you read the essay, please engage in the mental exercise of replacing the concept “post-totalitarian” with the words “post-truth” or “post-liberal-democratic.” You’ll find that Havel is writing about issues that transcend particular political orders.
Vaclav Havel, “The Power of the Powerless.” This essay is in Open Letters. Read ONLY Parts I-VI, and XX-XXII
Havel’s essay is challenging. You will need to read it very carefully and more than once; I am still discovering new aspects of his argument. Many students have told me that this essay had a profound impact on their thinking.
For this class, please do not focus on what Havel means by “living within the truth.” We will discuss that issue in our next class.
For an ironic, but interesting use of Havel’s argument, Michael Rectenwald,
“Living in the Age of COVID: “The Power of the Powerless” PRINT AND READ
What would Havel think of Rectenwald’s argument?
25. Tuesday, April 16: The View from Within the Machine
Kaitlin Sullivan (ND ’10) will join us to talk about her work as Director of Content Policy for Meta (Facebook)
Before Kaitlin’s visis, read these statements and articles about Meta’s response to an altered video of Joe Biden and the decision of its Oversight Board.
Meta decision on Altered Video (case from 2023) PRINT AND READ
Decision of the Oversight Board PRINT AND READ
Meta’s Response to the Decision:
We welcome the Oversight Board’s decision today, February 5, 2024, on this case. The board upheld Meta’s decision to leave the content up. After conducting a review of the recommendations provided by the Board, we will update this post with initial responses to those recommendations.
Meta introduces a new policy on AI-generated fakes PRINT AND READ
26. Thursday, April 18
Vaclav Havel: Power of the Powerless II
The second half of Havel’s essay challenges us to live within the truth. What does it mean to live within the Truth? Why is it difficult? Under what circumstances might we nevertheless be compelled to live within the Truth? This is a different question than asking about the desirability of living within the truth. It raises the question of what must happen in order for people to see no other option.
Vaclav Havel, “The Power of the Powerless,” Open Letters: Selected Writings, Parts VII-XXII.
27. Tuesday, April 23
No Class
28. Thursday, April 25: Truth and Democracy Music!
Bryce and Jake are in charge
29. Tuesday, April 30 We try to tie everything up and save truth and democracy
A message from Arnold Schwarzenegger: WATCH AND READ This is a partisan criticism of Republicans by a very prominent Republican. I am asking you to watch this video because of what Arnold has to say about 1) the impact of a culture of lies and 2) the Catholic idea of a “servant’s heart.”
Anyone who doubts the Terminator’s intelligence should read his book, Pumping Iron.
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In the beginning of our seminar, I used a courtroom phrase to ask you what it means to “tell the truth and nothing but the truth.” How can courts serve or undermine the task of truth-telling in a democracy. See this provocatively out-of-date op-ed by Melissa Murray and Andrew Weissmann, “The Supreme Court has already botched the Trump immunity case” PRINT AND READ
Vaclav Havel, “Never Hope against Hope” PRINT AND READ
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Your Final Essay Assignment is HERE
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 include this passage at the end of my syllabi. Will you?