The Epic of Gilgamesh, a poem from ancient Mesopotamia, is likely the first recorded story we have, and it contains a beautiful philosophical argument from Siduri, a wise “alewife,” in her tavern. Siduri argues that Gilgamesh should stop seeking immortality and instead learn to appreciate the simple joys of a mortal life. This lesson looks at this broad question of what one ought to desire most in life.
Is morality simply a matter of living by the correct moral rules? Some people may be (and have been) tempted to say so – for example, some students might be tempted to think that the 10 Commandments or the Golden Rule or the categorical imperative can provide a complete guide for moral living. This question is the focus of a key debate in moral philosophy about the codifiability of ethics, and this lesson examines that question in the context of ancient Sumerian wisdom writing and current issues in the ethics of technology.
The question—‘What makes humor racist, when it is?’—provides a rich platform for discussion about several philosophically interesting topics. The subject broaches issues in aesthetics, ethics, social and political philosophy, and even the philosophy of language. Challenges for constructing a theory of racist humor involve (1) distinguishing between humor and non-humor, (2) determining what racism is, (3) distinguishing the kinds of speech acts involved in humorous discourse and how they can give rise to racist utterances
Sexual preferences represent a rich site for ethical exploration of topics such as oppression, responsibility, freedom. Because everyone has sexual preferences of some kind or another, everyone has some stake in the answers to these questions. Moreover, the deeply entrenched (indeed, possibly involuntary) nature of sexual preferences illustrates the extent to which oppression is socialized and internalized by individuals in even the most intimate spheres of life.
After teaching the hedonism of Bentham and Mill in my Introduction to Ethics class, I often assign Marilyn Frye’s classic feminist essay “Oppression.” (I got this idea from the late, great Claudia Card). This serves two pedagogical purposes for me. First, it exposes my intro students to excellent feminist philosophy without relegating it to its own “feminist ethics” unit at the end of the semester. Second, it offers a fascinating critique of hedonism (even though that is not the main point of the essay).
The pursuit and realisation of self-determination for Māori communities has been intimately bound up with – among other things – the revitalisation of Māori philosophies. The capabilities of Māori communities to be able to define who they are, and to pursue and realise lives they value is bound up with the extent to which Māori are able to articulate and appropriately apply and reapply their concepts and values to their lives and futures. One of the ways that Māori have set out to articulate, pursue, and realise their self-determination in the area of health is through the Whānau Ora policy. This lesson explores whānau ora and can be used in a range of ways for a range of philosophy courses.
This lesson focuses on a fragment of text from the late Pythagorean philosopher Theano (probably of Sparta, c. 4th-3rd century bce) on different kinds of value and their role in moral education. Theano approaches this topic through the lens of everyday moral advice.[1]
On a first reading – and a second and third – Analects does not always seem to Western readers like a philosophical work. In place of crisp definitions, arguments, and replies to criticisms, one finds anecdotes, snippets of conversations, and descriptions of what might seem trivialities – like how Confucius liked to straighten his mat! Many therefore find Analects dull, puzzling, strange, cryptic, frustrating or – worse – as a pseudo-philosophical text empty of any genuine moral insight. Such attitudes are encouraged by a history of racist and distorting stereotypes of aged sages spouting cryptic lines of ‘Oriental wisdom’.
Can a morally great / virtuous person choose the right thing to do in every situation all by herself, or does she need to follow moral rules as guides?
Socrates and Martin Luther King, Jr. discuss whether it is ever OK to break the law.