There are two questions here. First, are people’s most profound and reflective goals in the end perverse and destructive? If so, then humanity may do better if kept in ignorance than if enlightened.
No, I agree with you that there is a right thing to want, and a right vision of the world, and that we can by learning at least some closer to understanding and realizing these things. This last post was helpful, and I see that we disagree less than I thought we did. Really, I think the only substantial difference between our two course designs is selection of texts, and that I think part 2 should be a larger part of the course, and should focus more directly on the question of what is right, what there is, etc. (incidentally, I only have 10 weeks, with two meetings per week to work with). Aside from ethics (which we learn in order to be better people), philosophy is in general not a means to an end, so I don’t think there’s as much a question of application.
10 weeks is pretty short! Sounds like a good challenge. I was assuming 16 weeks while trying to lay out a simple curriculum last night, and I got the following structure:
I. The Problem of Doubt
Week 1: What are we doing here?
Week 2: Case studies in ignorance and error
Week 3: Case studies in irrationality and arbitrariness
Week 4: Evaluating arguments
Week 5: Descartes and certainty
Week 6: Reasoning with uncertainty
II. The Problem of Death
Week 7: Test case: The immortality of the soul
Week 8: How to want to change your mind
Week 9: Test case: The self
Week 10: Learning how to learn things
III. The Problem of Life
Week 11: Vagueness, ambiguity, and semantics
Week 12: Meta-ethical confusions
Week 13: Rationality and decision theory
Week 14: Existentialism, nihilism, and pragmatism
Week 15: “Know thyself” and discovering your values
No, I agree with you that there is a right thing to want, and a right vision of the world, and that we can by learning at least some closer to understanding and realizing these things. This last post was helpful, and I see that we disagree less than I thought we did. Really, I think the only substantial difference between our two course designs is selection of texts, and that I think part 2 should be a larger part of the course, and should focus more directly on the question of what is right, what there is, etc. (incidentally, I only have 10 weeks, with two meetings per week to work with). Aside from ethics (which we learn in order to be better people), philosophy is in general not a means to an end, so I don’t think there’s as much a question of application.
10 weeks is pretty short! Sounds like a good challenge. I was assuming 16 weeks while trying to lay out a simple curriculum last night, and I got the following structure:
I. The Problem of Doubt
II. The Problem of Death
III. The Problem of Life