Seminar Schedule
Philosophy 381—Happiness and Meaning
Michael Taber

Fall 2024

(revised 15 April 2024)

 

* = sessions available for you to lead

Some materials appear in the Google folder for this class.

             date     # of pp.                       readings

I.  The Nature and Value of Happiness

Aug. 26

11

Come to the first seminar session having read ch. 1 (“Introduction: The History of Happiness”) of Besser’s The Philosophy of Happiness: An Interdisciplinary Introduction

 

Aug. 28

8

Besser, ch. 2, “Happiness and Well-Being”

 

Aug. 30

15

+

5

Besser, ch. 3, “Hedonism”

3 short articles from Philosophy Now magazine:

·       Corjescu’s “The Happy State”

·       Andreicut’s “To Connect or Not to Connect”

·       Buscicchi’s “Robert Nozick’s Metaverse Machine”

 

Sep. 02

 

Labor Day: no classes

 

Sep. 04

10

Besser, ch. 4, “Emotional State of Happiness”

 

Sep. 06

11

Besser, chs. 5, “Happiness as Satisfaction”

 

Sep. 09

Paper #1: 3-5 pp. due emailed to me at start of class time; no seminar, as tutorials will be scheduled.

 

Sep. 11

13

+

4

Besser, ch. 6, “Happiness and Material Wealth”

·       Rauch’s NYT opinion essay “Why Prosperity Has Increased But Happiness Has Not”

·       from The Economist magazine, “The Satisfaction Paradox”

 

Sep. 13

12

Besser, ch. 7, “Happiness and Virtue”

 

Sep. 16

14

+

6

Besser, ch. 8, “Relationships and Happiness”

·       Wildman’s 2021 NYT opinion essay “Self-Sufficiency Is Overrated”

·       Brooks’ NYT opinion essay “To Be Happy, Marriage Matters More Than Career”

·       Brooks’ NYT opinion essay “Your Social Life Is Not What It Should Be”

 

Sep. 18

14

3

Besser, ch. 9, “The Mindset of Happiness”

Wilcox, Boyd, & Wang’s NYT guest essay “How Liberals Can Be Happier”

 

Sep. 20

11

3

Besser, ch. 10, “Authenticity and Deception”

Schwartz’s NYT essay “Is Everybody Doing…OK? Let’s Ask Social Media”

 

Sep 23*

14

Besser, ch. 11, “The Pursuit of Happiness”

 

Sep 25*

15

Besser, ch. 12, “The Science of Happiness”

 

Sep 27*

13

Besser, ch. 13, “Economics and Happiness”

 

Sep 30*

17

Besser, chs. 14 & 15, “Happiness and Public Policy” & “A Brief Conclusion”

 

Oct. 02

30

Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground, Part I

 

Oct. 04

66

Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground, Part II 

 

 

Oct. 07

No classes due to Fall Reading Days, Oct. 7th & 8th

 

 

Oct. 09

Paper #2: 4-6 pp. due emailed to me at start of class time on the 5th; no seminar, as tutorials will be scheduled these days.

 

 

II. Accounts of Meaning

Oct 11*

10

Tolstoy’s “My Confession”, ch.1 in Klemke & Cahn’s The Meaning of Life, 4th ed.

 

Oct. 14

19

Handouts in the course’s Google folder:

·      Ecclesiastes (from the Hebrew Bible), just chapters 1-3

·      Hamlet’s third soliloquy

·      Poe’s “The Conqueror Worm”   (with Shelley & Coleridge)

·      Shelley’s “Ozymandias” (on the Poe & Coleridge page)

·      Coleridge’s “Human Life: On the Denial of Immortality” (on the Poe & Shelley page)

·      Voltaire’s “The Good Brahmin”

·      Kafka’s 2 (very!) short stories, “Before the Law” & “An Imperial Message”

·      Raymo’s “The Soul of the Night”

On the web, Hershovitz’s NYT article “Praying to a God You Don’t Believe In”

 

Oct. 16

37

Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays:

·       “Absurdity and Suicide”

·       “Absurd Walls” (to p. 22)

·       “Philosophical Suicide” (through p. 31)

“Absurd Freedom” 

 

Oct. 18

13

Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays:

·       “The Absurd Man” (to p. 69)

·       “Ephemeral Creation”

·       “The Myth of Sisyphus”

 

Oct 21*

 

6

7

In Klemke & Cahn’s The Meaning of Life, 4th ed.:

·       ch. 6 Schopenhauer’s “On the Sufferings of the World”

·       ch. 7 Russell’s “A Free Man’s Worship”

3 graphics: Abstruse Goose’s “The Sliver of Perception” & 2 charts from The Economist magazine

 

Oct 23*

9

ch. 12 Taylor’s “The Meaning of Life”

 

Oct 25*

10

ch. 13 Nagel’s “The Absurd”

 

Oct 28*

30

1

ch. 14 Feinberg’s “Absurd Self-Fulfillment”

from The New Yorker magazine, Roz Chast’s one-page comic “A Cheery Story”

 

Oct. 30

No classes due to Wellness Day

 

Oct. 31

Nov. 01

Paper #3 due on Thursday the 31st at noon, or at your tutorial (whichever is earlier); no class on Friday Nov. 01, due to tutorials being held these two days.

 

Nov 04*

8

3

3

·       ch. 17 Nozick’s “Philosophy and the Meaning of Life”

·       ch. 18 Wolf’s “Meaning in Life”

·       ch. 19 Vitrano’s “Meaningful Lives”

 

Nov 06*

8

ch. 20 Nagel’s “Death”

 

Nov 08*

8

 

2

5

·       chs. 23-25 Scheffler’s “The Afterlife” with Frankfurt’s and Wolf’s responses

·       “Can the Fear of Death Instantly Make You a Better Athlete?”

·       Cara Buckley’s interview with Les Knight about his Voluntary Human Extinction movement

 

Nov. 11

57

Camus’ The Stranger, part I

 

Nov. 13

60

Camus’ The Stranger, part II

Look through, if you like, this short piece about the role of Meursault’s mother.

 

Nov. 15

5

7

·       ch. 5 Rosemont’s “The Confucian Way”

·       Hare’s “Nothing Matters”

 

Nov. 18

62

Riggle, chs. 1 & 2

 

Nov 20*

29

Riggle, ch. 3

 

Nov 22*

35

+

7

Riggle, ch. 4

3 short articles from Philosophy Now magazine:

·       Kavaloski’s “Should We Pursue Happiness?”

·       Vaughn’s “Why You’re (Probably) Wrong about the Meaning of Life”

·       King’s “Looking for the Purpose of Life”

 

Nov. 25

 

Teach Your Family, part I

 

Thanksgiving Break

Dec 02*

54

Riggle, chs. 5 & 6

 

Dec 04*

34

Riggle, ch. 7

 

Dec. 06

 

Teach Your Family, part II

 

 

 

 

 

Wed, Dec. 11

Paper #4 due at end of our final exam slot, 9:15 p.m.

Send me mail:  mstaber at smcm dot edu

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