A university education points beyond itself toward the goal of living happily, justly, wisely, and lovingly with other humans. College coursework is thus as a sort of ‘intellectual apprenticeship’ for those who will go on to create, challenge, reform, and sustain society’s institutions. I thus take teaching very seriously. I happy also to enjoy it immensely!
Described below are the courses that I currently teach on a recurring basis. I’m happy to share more of the materials I use. Just ask.
PHI 105: Reason & Responsibility: The Good Life
This is a “Philosophy as a Way of Life“-style course on the topic of well-being. The course explores six conceptions of the highest good in life that have been historically influential and remain so today . Each unit includes classical and contemporary readings, as well as the story of an “exemplar”–a historical or contemporary person whose life conforms to that particular conception of the highest good. Each unit also includes a “practicum”–a practical assignment that lets students ‘try on’ the value of the unit in their daily lives. The six conceptions are as follows:
1. The Pleasant Life, according to which feeling good is the highest good;
2. The Virtuous Life, according to which moral character is the highest good;
3. The Communal Life, according to which loving relationships are the highest good;
4. The Humanitarian Life, according to which humanitarian service is the highest good;
5. The Devout Life, according to which religious devotion is the highest good;
6. The Empowered Life, according to which self-assertion is the highest good.
PHI 306: Metaphysics
Description: Metaphysics is wonder-driven rational reflection about reality’s most fundamental mysteries. Traditionally it has been called “first philosophy,” because it engages with reality in the order in which reality is structured: from first principles at the foundation, building upward toward a cohesive worldview. Students explore reductionist, eliminativist, and primitivist accounts of five mysteries of reality:
1. Objects: the division of the material world into countable particulars;
2. Existence: the puzzle of why there is something rather than nothing;
3. Persons: their distinguishing features and their persistence through time;
4. Free will: our putative ability to control our actions and steer our lives;
5. Value: whatever makes true or false our judgements of good/bad, right/wrong.
PHI 308: Philosophy of Mind
Description: This course is co-taught with my department chair, Dr. Steve Petersen. He and I disagree about almost everything in the philosophy of mind, so we try to model constructive disagreement for our students. The course is divided into three parts:
1. Is there an immaterial soul?
2. Could matter think? (on intentionality, artificial intelligence, and functionalism)
3. What is consciousness?
PHI 309 Special Topics: Ethics of Technology
in progress!
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