Week 02 Discussion

Essential Questions for Week’s 1-2 Readings and Discussion: “When making ethical decisions, what forces within the human personality should be prioritized? Which should be considered suspect (if any)?” 

Read at least eight of the resources provided in the Required Readings for this week. Refer to at least four (using specific quotes) in your original post in the discussion and refer to at least one of them in each of your responses to your peers in that discussion. Use your life experience, logic, or intuition in addition to your reading, to explain how you arrived at your conclusions and critiques. You will note that a number of questions have been asked in the introductions as well. You may use those as additional prompts for your writing as you see fit. Please supply at least one question of your own at the end of your original post to give your instructor and peers a sense for how they might contribute most effectively to your learning goals.

The following texts are used in the course: 

• Pojman,      L. P., & Vaughn, L. (2018). The moral life: An introductory reader in      ethics and literature (6th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

· Note: All Brief Introductions are required readings. Read/watch at least eight of the subsequent resources provided in each week as these will be used for your discussion posts. Please read the weekly discussions for further instructions.

Week 2: Required Readings

The Social Self

• Brief Introduction: The Social      Self
• Thomas Hobbes on the Social      Contract (Pojman)
• Herodotus, “Custom is King”      (Pojman)
• Benedict, Enoch, and      Rachels (Pojman)

The Spiritual Self

• Brief Introduction: The      Spiritual Self
• Genesis 22. “The Sacrifice of Isaac”
• The Baghavad Gita Excerpts 
• Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount
• F. Dostoyevski. “Why is      there Evil?” (Pojman)

The Rational Self

• Brief Introduction: The Rational      Self
• Socrates/Plato. ”Does      Morality Depend on Religion?” (Pojman)
• Immanuel Kant. “What is Enlightenment?” (1783)
• Ayn Rand. “Objectivism”
• Ayn Rand on Reason