Lecture 1The Wellordered Soul.docx

Lecture 1The Wellordered Soul.docx

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Lecture1TheWellorderedSoul

Lecture1Introduction

Chapter1IntroductionandCourseOverview

So,welcometoPhilosophyandtheScientceofHumanNature.It’sniceseesomanyofyouheretoday.IhopetoseemoreofyouhereagainonThursday.Andmygoaltodayistotrytogiveyouasenseofwhatkindofcoursethisisgoingtobesothatyoucanmakeainformeddecisionaboutwhetherthisisacoursethatyouactuallywanttoenrollinforcredit.

Withthataiminmind,therearethreethingsIwanttodointoday’slectue.Inthefirstpartofthelecture,I’mjustgoingtogiveyouaverybroadoverviewofwhatkindofcoursethisis,andtosayafewwordsaboutwhatmygoalsareforthecourse.Inthebulkofthelecutre,whatI’mgoingtodoistorunthroughthreeexamplesofthekindsoftopicsthatsemester,sothatyouhaveasenseofwhatkindofmaterialwe’regoingtobetalkingabout.Andinthefinalsectionofthecourse,I’llsayafewthingsaboutwhatitisthatmakesthiscoursedistincitive,andafewthingsaboutthecourse’srequirements.

Sothecoursehasthisperplexingcross-listedtitle.It’scalledPhilosophyandtheScienceofHumanNature,andit’slistedbothinPhilosophyandinCognitiveScience,andit’sacourseforwhichyoucangetcreditinthePsychologymajor.Sowhatkindofcourseisthis?

Well,insomeways,thisisacourselikeDirectedStudiesPhilosophyorPhilosophy125-126.Thatis,we’regoingtobereadingworksbyPlato,byAristotle,byEpictetus,byBoethius,byHobbes,byHume,andbyMill—allmajorphilosophersfromtheWesternphilosophicaltradition.We’regoingtobereadingthemroughlyhistorically,withanattempttogetatsomeofthekindsofquestionsthatonewouldgetatinatraditionalphilosophycourse.

Inaddition,you’llgetsomeofthematerialthatyouwouldgetinanethicscourse.Sooneofthetopicsthatwe’llcoverinPhilosophyandtheScienceofHumanNaturearethethreemainethicaltheoriesintheWesternphilosophicaltraditionism,we’lltalkaboututilitarianism,we’lltalkaboutdeontology（义务论）,andwe’lltalkaboutvirtueethics,andwe’lltalkabouthowthoserelatetooneanother.

You’llalsogetsomeofthematerialsthatyouwouldgetifyoutookanintroductiontopoliticalphilosophycourse.We’llverybrieflylookattheworkofThomasHobbesonthelegitimacyofthestate,andthenwe’llreadandthinkaboutthedebatebetweenJohnRawlsandRobertNozickabouthowmuchweightshouldbegiventotherelativevaluesofequalityononehandandlibertyontheother.

Sointhatregard,thisis,insomeways,astandardphilosophycourseinthemoralandpoliticaltradition.It’snotacourseinepistemology（认识论—thephilosophyicaltheoryofknowledge）;it’snotacoursewherewe’regoingtobetalkingaboutissueslikefreewillorthemind-bodyproblem,allofwhichcouldlegitimatelyfallunderthetopicofphilosophyofhumannature.

Butwhat’sdistinctiveaboutthiscourseisthatinadditiontothecontributionsthataremadebythephilosophicalsideofthequestion,we’realsogoingtobedrawingfromanumberofotherdisciplines.SooneofthemainthemesofthecoursewillbetothinkabouthowthequestionsraisedbythetraditionalphilosophersthatI’vementionedalreadyarepickeupinthecontemporarycognitivesciencetradition.

Inparticular,howthey’repickedupbywhatIseeasoneofthemainstrandsincontemporarycognitivescience,thestrandthatlooksattherelationbetweenhumanbeingsasrationalcreatures,capableofacertainkindofcalculatedandreflectiveunderstandingofthemselvesandtheirplaceintheworld,and,ontheotherhand,humanbeingsasevolvedanimalswhoaresubjecttoforcesthatliebeyondtheirrationalcontrol.

Inlightofthatrecognitionthathumanbeingsarecapableofbeingaffectedinmultipleways,we’lllookatanumberofwritingsfrompsychology.Sowe’llreadsomeFreud;we’llhavediscussionofcognitivebehavioraltherapy;we’lltalkaboutpost-traumaticstressdisorder;we’llhavediscussionofhappiness,usingawonderfulbookwrittenbyaYalealumus,JonathanHaidt.We’lllookatsomeworkonself-regulation,onloveandfriendship,andwe’llalsolookatempiricalworkontopicslikemoralreasoningandpunishment,andsocialpsychologicalworkonsituationsandattitudes.

Soalotofmaterialthatwe’lladdressinthiscoursewillcomefrompsychology.Butsomeofitwillalsocomefromthetraditionofpoliticalscience.Sointhecourseofdiscussingthelegitimacyofthestate,we’llintroduceourselvestothenotionoftheprisoner’sdilemma.We’lltalkaboutthetragedyofthecommons,andintheclosingsectionofthecourse,we’lltalkabouttheroleofrhetoricandargumentinpoliticalpersuasion.

We’llalsodrawfromthefieldofbehavioraleconomics.OneofthereadingassignmentsistolistentoDanielKahneman’sNobelPrizespeech,acceptingtheNobelPrizeonbehalfofhimselfandhiscollaborator,AmosTversky,fortheextraordinaryworktheydidfoundingbehavioraleconomics.Butwe’llalsolookatsomeadditionalworkinthedualprocessingtradition双处理,andwehavesomeexcerptsfromDanAriely’sdelightfulbook,publicbookonbehavioraleconomics.

Finally,we’llevendrawalittlebitfromliterature.We’regoingtoreadashortexcerptfromtheIliad;we’regoingtoreadashortstorybyUrsulaLeGuin;andinthesecondtolastlectureofthecourse,we’lllookatwhatPlatohastosayabouttheroleofliteratureandaristicrepresentationinaffectinghumanself-understanding.

SowhatI’mgoingtotrytodointhecourseistobringtogethertheseeightfieldsinawaythatprovidesacoherentstoryaboutwhatkindofthingshumanbeingsare,andhowwecanlearnaboutwhatkindofthingshumanbeingsarefromthesevariousperspectives.

Insloganform,thestructureofthecouseisdeadguyonTuesday,cogscionThursday.Exceptnotallthephilosopherswe’rereadingaredead.Andnotalltheotherfieldsarecogsci.Andinfact,mostthingsaregoingtobecoveredtogetheronTuesdayandThursday.Andtherearegoingtobesections.Butotherthanthat,theslogan.

Sothat’sanoverviewofthekindsofdisciplinesthatcontributetothecourse.LetmesayabitaboutthespecifictopicsthatIhopetoaddressinthecourseofthesemester.

Sothefirstoverarchingtopic,andIroughlyorganizedthesyllabusunderthesethreetopics,butinsomeway,eachofthemwillkeepre-emergingthroughoutthesemester.Thefirsttopicisthetopicofhappinessandflourishing.WhatdoestheancientWesternphilosophicaltraditionsayaboutwhatittakesforhumanbeingstothriveinameaningfulsense,andhowdoesthatconnecttoworkthat’sbeendonemorerecentlyinvariousliteraryandscienrifictraditionsaboutwhatitisthatenableshumanbeingstoflourish?

Whatisitabouthumannaturethatcangiveussomeclueaboutwhatkindofthingauthentichappinessmightbe?

That’sthefirstsetofquestionsthatwe’lladdress.

Itturnsoutthattheancientphilosophers’answertothatquestionisthathumanbeingthrivewhentheirsoulsarewell-ordered,tousetheancientmetaphor.Whenthepartsoftheirsoulsthatmightpullindifferentdirectionsareinacertainkindofharmony;andtheancientpictureisthatwhenthathappens,humanbeingsbehaveinamoralway.

Andsothesecondpartofthecoursewilllookatbothwhatitfeelslikefromtheinsidetobehaveinwaysthatareconventionallyconsideredmoral,andfromahigherlevel,whatitisthatwemeanwhenwesaythatanactismoralorimmoral.

SoasImentioned,we’lllookatthethreemainWesternphilosophicalconceptionsofmorality,andwe’llalsolookatsomeinterestingrelatedquestiongs.Like,whyispunishmentjustifiedwhenitis?

Andisthejustificationforpunishmentpsychilogicalorethical?

Andinthefinalunitofthecourse,we’llmovebeyondtheindividualintosocietyasawhole,andasksomequestionsaboutwhatitisthatmakespoliticalstructureslegitimate,andhowitisthatstateorcivicinstitutuionsoughttobeorganizedinordertoallowhumanbeingstoflourish.

Sothosearethethreemaintopicsthatwe’llbeaddressing,andasyoucansee,onthesyllabusthatI’vehandedout,therearehighlightedexamplesofafewofthoseparticulartopicsthatwe’readdressingonpageoneofthesyllabus,andamuchmoredetailedsetofquestionsonpagesthreeandfour.

Butinadditiontobeingaboutthecontentofthesequestions,thisisalsoacoursethat’sgoingtoencourageyoutothinkaboutthemethodologyofeachofthedisciplinesfromwhichwe’redrawing.Soit’smygoaltointroduceyoutoanumberoftraditionalphilosophicaldiscussionsofthehumanbeing,butit’salsomygoaltogetyoutothinkaboutwhatthesephilosophicaldiscussionshaveincommon,andwhyitisthatthinkingaboutthingsinthewaythatphilosophythinksaboutthingscanbevaluableforansweringquestionsthatwecareabout.

Andwe’lldosomethingverysimilarwithrespecttotheotherdisciplines.We’lllookattheliteraturefrompsychologyandbehavioraleconomicsandpoliticalscienceandliterature,andwe’llask:

whatisitaboutthisdistinctiveapproachtoansweringthesequestionsthatprovidesuswithacomplementaryinsightontheissuesthatthephilosophershaveraised？

Andfinally,I’mgoingtoaskyoutothinknotonlyinthecontextofthisclass,butinthecontextoftheotherclassesyou’retakingaboutthewaysinwhichthematerialtowhichyou'rebeingexposedshedslightthroughmultipledisciplinaryperspectivesonthesetofquestionsthatwe’reconcernedwith.

Chapter2.FirstExampleofCourseTopics:

TheRingofGyges

Sothat’stheopeningsegmentofthel