BASC50105 - Beyond Tradition II: The Crisis of Modernity: Making Sense of Morals

Course Description

In one of the more striking allegories of modern philosophy, Alasdair MacIntyre proposes that the language of morality is, our current situation, in the same kind of “grave disorder” as the language of science would be after some catastrophic destruction of our civilization: that what we have now are just indecipherable fragments and simulacra of morality, not morality as such, and we have lost all sense of what it means—or ought to mean—to “be good” or to pursue “a good life.” In this class, we explore this “disquieting suggestion”—in the seminar, through three seminal theoretical works: C.S. Lewis, Abolition of Man, MacIntyre, After Virtue, and Murdoch, The Sovereignty of Good; in the tutorial, through Krzysztof Kieslowski’s monumental dramatic television series, Decalogue. The class should be of interest to anyone interested in what it means to be moral or act morally.

Required Texts:

Lewis, CS. The Abolition of Man. HarperOne. ISBN 978-0060652944.

MacIntyre, Alasdair. After Virtue 3rd ed. Notre Dame. ISBN 978-0268035044.

Murdoch, Iris. The Sovereignty of Good. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415253994.

Kieslowski, Krzysztof, and Piesiewicz, Krzysztof. Decalogue: The Ten Commandments. 978-0571144983.

Notes

Online registration deadline: Thursday, December 29 at 5 pm CT.