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Ethics: A History of Moral Thought This course addresses some of the eternal questions that man has grappled

with s ince the beginning of time. What is good? What is bad? Why is justice important? Why is it better to be good and just than it is to be bad and unjust? Most huma n beings have the faculty to discern between right and wrong, good and bad behav ior, and to make judgments over what is just and what is unjust. But why are eth ics important to us? This course looks at our history as ethical beings. We ll tra vel into the very heart of mankind s greatest philosophical dilemmas to the origins of our moral values and the problem of ethics. Are ethics universal, absolute an d unchanging or are they culturally relative, changing, and man-made? Furthermore, we ll delve into the creation of ethical systems not just for ourselves, but also f or society at large. And we will consider the ongoing process of establishing et hical frameworks for society. The philosopher William James separated questions into DEAD issues and LIVE issu es. For example: Are we good or evil? Is there a God? Is there life after death? Are we free or determined? In this lecture, we focus on the LIVE issues or the BIG QUESTIONS. The Professor: Peter Kreeft is a professor of philosophy at Boston University. He has written o ver 40 books including Fundamentals of the Faith, The Best Things in Life, Back to Virtue, and The Unaborted Socrates. Besides writing, Kreeft contributes to Ch ristian publications and speaks at numerous conferences. He received his bachelo r s degree from Calvin College and his Ph.D. from Fordham University. Before teach ing at Boston University, he taught at Villanova University for three years. Kre eft has been at Boston University for 38 years. Course Syllabus Lecture 1 Lecture 2 Lecture 3 Lecture 4 Lecture 5 Lecture 6 Lecture 7 Lecture 8 er/Or? Lecture 9 ousseau) Being Good and Everything Else: An Introduction Being Good and Being Traditional: Why Do We Call It Being Good and Being Wise: Can Virtue Be Taught? Being Good and Being Pious: Plato s Euthyphro Being Good and Being Happy: Plato s Republic Aristotle s Ethics Being Good and Being Successful: Aquinas on the Meaning of Life. Being Good and Being Successful According to Machiavelli: Is It Eith Being Good and Being Evil: Is Humanity Naturally Good? (Hobbes vs. R Ancient Wisdom ?

Lecture 10 Being Good and Being Scientific: Can Morality Be a Science? (Descar tes, Hume, Mill) Lecture 11 Being Good and Being Fair: The Ethics of Kant

Lecture 12 Being Good and Being Secular: Can an Atheist Be Ethical? The Ethics of Jean-Paul Sartre

Lecture 13 Lecture 14 tion

Being Good in Eastern Ethics Being Good and Surviving: Ethics and the Future of Western Civiliza

Related Links: www.peterkreeft.com/about.htm - Professor Kreeft s website containing additional w ritings, a list of the books he s authored, his lecture schedule, and other resour ces. www.utm.edu/research/iep/ - The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. www.philosophypages.com/ - Philosophy Pages. This site offers helpful informatio n for students of the Western philosophical tradition. mally.stanford.edu/ - Center for the Study of Language and Information at Stanfo rd University. www.reviewofmetaphysics.org/ - Website of The Review of Metaphysics. www.utm.edu/research/iep/v/vir... - The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Thi s link deals with Virtue theory as the view that the foundation of morality is t he development of good character traits, or virtues. plato.stanford.edu/entries/eth... - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy page on V irtue Ethics. www.philosophypages.com/hy/2d.... - Direct link to Philosophy Pages information on the Euthyphro.

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