I’m a professor of philosophy, and quite frequently, I teach classes on social and political philosophy and philosophy of law; the subject matters of these classes and their attendant discussions, very often stray, as they should, into ethical theory and its foundations. There, on numerous occasions, my students raise the The Trolley Problem and askContinue reading “HMS Ulysses And The Trolley Problem”
Tag Archives: morality
‘Reciprocity’ As Organizing Principle For The Moral Instruction Of Young Women
I’ve often wondered how best to provide moral instruction to my daughter as she grows up, what principles and duties to keep front and center in the course of my conversations with her as she begins to grow into an age where her interactions with other human beings start to grow more complex. Over theContinue reading “‘Reciprocity’ As Organizing Principle For The Moral Instruction Of Young Women”
That Elusive Mark By Which To Distinguish Good People From Bad
In Journey to the End of the Night, Céline‘s central character, Ferdinand Bardamu is confronted with uncontrovertible evidence of moral goodness in Sergeant Alcide–who is nobly working away in a remote colonial outpost to financially support a niece who is little more than a perfect stranger to him. That night, as Bardamu gazes at the sleeping Alcide, nowContinue reading “That Elusive Mark By Which To Distinguish Good People From Bad”
Talking About Natural Law With Children
Last Thursday, thanks to New York City public schools taking a ‘mid-winter break,’ my daughter accompanied me to Brooklyn College and sat in on two classes. My students, as might be expected, were friendly and welcoming; my daughter, for her part, conducted herself exceedingly well by taking a seat and occupying herself by drawing onContinue reading “Talking About Natural Law With Children”
Thinking Of Autonomous Weapons In ‘Systems’ Terms
A persistent confusion in thinking about weapons and their regulation is to insist on viewing weapons in isolation, and not as part of larger, socio-political-economic-legal-ethical systems. This confusion in the domain of gun control for instance, inspires the counter-slogan ‘guns don’t kill people; people kill people.’ Despite its glibness–and its misuse by the NRA–the sloganContinue reading “Thinking Of Autonomous Weapons In ‘Systems’ Terms”
A Persistent Difficulty In Teaching Philosophy Of Law
This semester, I’m teaching Philosophy of Law–again. My syllabus, as always, is a new one, and reflects an altered orientation and focus from those of days past. The current edition is fairly simple: it kicks off with Lon Fuller‘s ‘The Case of the Speluncean Explorers,’ excerpts from H. L. A Hart‘s The Concept of Law,Continue reading “A Persistent Difficulty In Teaching Philosophy Of Law”
Nietzsche’s Inversion Of Natural Law In The Genealogy Of Morals
The radically constructive nature of legal and economic concepts emerges quite clearly in the brilliant second essay of The Genealogy of Morals. Here, Nietzsche sets out his view of how the concept of a contract creates persons, how the ethical subject is not found but made. For Nietzsche, the law, a set of human practices,Continue reading “Nietzsche’s Inversion Of Natural Law In The Genealogy Of Morals”
‘Silence’ And Shūsaku Endō’s Christianity
Shūsaku Endō‘s Silence is a remarkable religious novel, one whose close reading and discussion in a philosophy classroom pays rich dividends. This week marks the concluding sessions of my Philosophical Issues in Literature class’ discussion of Endō’s novel; I can enthusiastically recommend it–in whole or in part–for use in classes on epistemology and philosophy of religion.Continue reading “‘Silence’ And Shūsaku Endō’s Christianity”
Dehumanization As Prerequisite For Moral Failure
In An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (§III – Of Justice, Part I, Hackett Edition, Indianapolis, 1983, pp. 25-26), David Hume writes: Were there a species of creatures intermingled with men, which, though rational, were possessed of such inferior strength, both of body and mind, that they were incapable of all resistance, and could never,Continue reading “Dehumanization As Prerequisite For Moral Failure”
Flannery O’Connor On Free Will And Integrity
In the ‘Author’s Note to the Second Edition’ in Wise Blood, Flannery O’Connor writes: Does one’s integrity ever lie in what he is not able to do? I think that usually it does, for free will does not mean one will, but many wills conflicting in one man. Unsurprisingly, here we find a provocative interventionContinue reading “Flannery O’Connor On Free Will And Integrity”
Samir Chopra 