Philosophy 3375
The
Meaning of Life
Fall
2007
Professor
Jean Kazez
Contact
jkazez@smu.edu
www.smu.edu/jkazez/mol.htm
(course web-page)
210 Hyer Hall (office)
Office hours by appointment
Objectives
In
this class, we'll take a rigorous, analytic approach to the "big
questions": How should we
live? Is happiness the most important
thing? What priority should we give to
our various aims and interests? Does life have any grand purpose? If not, can life still be meaningful? We'll
look at all these issues from a wide range of perspectives, ancient and modern,
Anglo-American and continental, western and eastern. You may (or may not) find
out the meaning of life by taking this class, but you'll certainly think
hard--and think for yourself--about some vitally important, perennial issues.
Requirements
Exam I 25%
Exam
II 25%
Final 25%
Paper 20%
Citizenship 5%
Citizenship
Your citizenship grade is based on an all-around assessment
of how you contribute to this class.
Positives are: attending, being
attentive, bringing texts to class, being prepared for group discussions,
making a cooperative contribution to group discussions, and participating in a
high-quality way to class discussions.
Negatives are: coming late, reading newspapers, using cell-phones,
showing disrespect for the views of others, missing class.
Attendance.
Because this is a small, discussion-centered class, your presence is essential. Try not to miss even one class, as one class is a whole week! You will have a budget of two absences to cover things that come up, whether “legitimate” or personal. Use this budget wisely! In most cases, a 3rd or 4th absence will lower your citizenship grade by 50 points apiece (out of 100). More than 4 absences: You will receive a failing grade and should drop the class. Discuss unusual circumstances with me as soon as they arise.
Make-up exams
Make-up
exams will be given only to those students who have an outstandingly
good reason for missing a class, such as being ill, needing to attend a
funeral, or participating in an official
Disability
Accommodations
Students
needing academic accommodations for a disability must first contact Ms. Rebecca
Marin, Coordinator, Services for Students with
Disabilities (214-768-4557) to verify the disability and establish eligibility
for accommodations. You should then communicate with me to make appropriate
arrangements. (University Policy No. 2.4.)
Extracurricular
Activities
If you
participate in an official, scheduled,
Religious observance
“Religiously observant students wishing
to be absent on holidays that require missing class should notify their
professors in writing at the beginning of the semester, and should discuss with
them, in advance, acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the
absence.” (University Policy No. 1.9.).
Grade interpretation
You can earn a maximum of 100 points in this class. 100-93=A; 92-90=A-, 89-87=B+, 86-83=B, etc. Every component is also graded on a 100-point scale. The letters mean:
A-range Very accurate, very
insightful. Only
a few minor flaws.
B-range Some very good work, but also some
significant gaps.
C-range You've
learned something, but missed many important things as well.
D-range Very little mastery of any of the material.
F-range Mastery of almost none of the material. A zero on an exam or paper will almost always
cause you to fail the class. A zero
means you didn’t take an exam or turn in a paper, or you plagiarized.
Honor Code
Violation
of
Electronic
etiquette
Turn off all gadgets at the beginning of class. No laptops please.
SCHEDULE
Texts
Kazez, The Weight of Things (WT)
Singer, Ethics
Klemke, The Meaning of Life
Epictetus, The Handbook (trans. White)
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (trans. Irwin)
Nietzsche, The Gay Science (trans. Kaufmann)
Please bring the night’s readings to class every time!!!
Plan on 2-3 hours of preparation for each
class meeting.
Do the readings in the order they are listed.
|
DATE |
TOPIC
& READINGS |
|
|
Week
1 (8/28) |
Death and the Meaning of Life Tolstoy, “My Confession,” in Klemke, 11-20 Kazez,
WT 1-15 |
|
|
Week
2 (9/4) |
The Good Life Kazez, WT 16-35 Aristotle,
Nicomachean Ethics Book I, ch. 1-4, 7-10 Book II, ch. 6-7, 9 Book X, ch. 7-8 Lecky,
“The Desert Saints,” in Singer, 194-97 (optional) |
|
|
Week
3 (9/11) |
Stoicism Epictetus,
The Handbook, complete
(introduction optional) Kazez, WT 35-45 The
Buddha, “The Ceasing of Woe,” in Singer, 183-85 |
|
|
Week
4 (9/18) |
Happiness Epicurus, “The Pursuit of Pleasure,” in Singer, 188-90 Voltaire, “Story of a Good Brahmin,” in Singer, 198-99 Bentham, “Pushpin and Poetry,” in Singer, 199-200 Mill, “Higher and Lower Pleasures,” in Singer, 201-205 Nozick,
“The Experience Machine,” in Singer, 228-29 |
|
|
Week
5 (9/25) |
Happiness (cont) Kazez, WT 46-60 Kazez,
“More Happiness Please” (course webpage) |
1 hour Exam |
|
Week
6 (10/2) |
Objective List Theories Kazez, WT 61-80 Finnis,
“The Basic Values, in Singer, 229-235 |
|
|
Week
7 (10/9) |
Living with
Disabilities Kazez, WT 81-98 Harriet McBride Johnson (course webpage) |
|
|
Week
8 (10/16) |
Hard Choices Sartre,
“Existentialism is a humanism” (course webpage) Kazez,
WT 99-110 |
|
|
Week
9 (10/23) |
How Good Do We Need to Be? Nietzsche, The Gay Science, sections 283-93, 324-28, 341, 343, 345, 352, 381 Wolf, “Moral Saints,” in Singer 345-52 Kazez, WT 111-17 |
|
|
Week
10 (10/30) |
How Good Do We Need
to Be? (cont) Singer, “Living to Some Purpose” handout Kazez, WT 117-127 |
1 hour Exam |
|
Week 11 (11/6) |
The Necessity of Religion Craig, “The Absurdity of Life without God,” in Klemke, 40-56 Kazez,
WT 128-134 |
Turn in paper topic Last
day to drop |
|
Week 12 (11/13) |
Leaving
Traces, Having Purpose Nozick,
“Death” handout Nagel, “The Absurd,” in Klemke, 176-185 Kazez, WT 134-145 |
Topics returned |
|
Week
13 (11/27) |
The Meaning of Life Flew, “Tolstoi and the Meaning of Life,” in Klemke, 209-218 |
|
|
Week
14 (12/4) |
Miscellaneous Kazez,
WT 146-158 |
Paper Due |
|
Final
(12/11) |
|
Final Exam, |