Seminar Schedule

LEAD 301.03—Philosophy in Love and Friendship
Taber and Crook, Fall 2025
St. Mary’s College of Maryland, USA

(revised 15 August 2025)

There is a Google folder for this course, with some material in it.

* = sessions available for you to lead

Aug. 29, 2:30-3:30		Meeting during new-student orientation
I. Classic accounts of love
Sept. 03	Introduction to the semester, and come ready to discuss Plato’s Symposium, Introductory Dialogue, Speech of Phaedrus, and Speech of Pausanias [19 pp.] Write Bite: Notice the rhetorical interplay among: Plato the writer, the narrator (whose name is what?), the source for the narrator, and you the reader.
Sept. 05	Read Plato’s Symposium, through Speech of Aristophanes [12 pp.] Write Bite: Prior to class, how many of the 8 possible points did you nail on “Subjects, Verbs, Phrases, and Clauses”?
Sept. 08	Plato’s Symposium, through Speech of Diotima [16 pp.] (Skipping the Agathon sections.) Write Bite: What’s a thesis statement? (with exercises)
Sept. 10	Kelly’s “Sexism in Practice: Feminist Ethics Evaluating the Hookup Culture” [13 pp.] Write Bite: Peer mentor about the Writing and Speaking Center
Sept. 12	Plato’s Symposium, remainder (through “Final Dialogue”) [16 pp.] Write Bite: Signing up for next week’s tutorials
Sept. 15	from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, chs. 7 & 13 [6 pp.] Write Bite: Exercise on summarizing without plagiarizing
Sept. 17	Paper #1 (3-4 pp.) submitted by start of class time or by your tutorial time (whichever is earlier) Write Bite: No class today, as tutorials will be scheduled.
Sept. 19	Nygren’s “Agape and Eros” [11 pp.] Write Bites: · Paper #1 returned to you; commence rewriting. · Review of common mechanical errors (e.g., spelling, grammar, punctuation, thesis statements, topic sentences) on Paper #1
II. Classic accounts of friendship
Sept. 22	Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book 8, chs. 1-6 & 12 [11 pp.]
Sept. 24	Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book 9, chs. 3-12 [15 pp.]
Sept. 26	Conlon’s “Why Lovers Can’t Be Friends” & Klaassen’s “Friends and Lovers” [5 + 6 pp.]
Sept. 29	Hayasaki’s NYT article: “What Would a Real Friendship with A.I. Look Like? Maybe Like Hers”
Oct. 01	Write Bites: · Rewrites of Paper #1 due by start of class time. · Library session with our course’s library liaison, Amanda VerMeulen: meet in the Library Lab, room 306, with your laptop/tablet if you have one. (Phones won’t cut the mustard. Chromebooks are available in Library 306 for your use during the session.)
Oct. 03	Peer mentor on “What I wish I’d known when I was starting at St. Mary’s.” Write Bite: How to give a good (and bad) presentation
Oct. 06	Paper #2 (4-5 pp.) submitted by start of class time on Oct. 06 or by your tutorial time (whichever is earlier) Write Bite: No classes these days, as tutorials will be scheduled.
III. C. S. Lewis’ The Four Loves
Oct. 08	C. S. Lewis’ The Four Loves, “Introduction” [9 pp.] Write Bites: Paper #2 returned to you by today; commence optional rewriting.
Oct. 10	No classes, due to College’s Fall Reading Days, 13^th & 14^th
Oct. 13*	Lewis’ “Likings and Loves for the Sub-Human” [21 pp.]
Oct. 15*	Lewis’ “Affection” [26 pp.]
Oct. 17*	Lewis’ “Friendship” [34 pp.]
Oct. 20*	Lewis’ “Eros” [25 pp.] Write Bite: Rewrites of Paper #2 due by start of class time.
Oct. 22*	Lewis’ “Charity” [26 pp.]
Oct. 23 & 24	Individual oral exams scheduled these days, 20 minutes apiece. No class on Oct. 24.
Oct. 27	5-minute presentation (+ 5 mins. Q&A) about your research topic
Oct. 29
Oct. 31
Nov. 03
IV. Love and Friendship in the Time of Silicon
Nov. 05*	Nyholm’s “Love Troubles: Human Attachment and Biomedical Enhancements” & Naar’s “Real-World Love Drugs: Reply to Nyholm” [13 + 4 pp.]
Nov. 07	No classes today due to programming for Wellness Day
Nov. 10*	Sullins’ “Robots, Love, and Sex: The Ethics of Building a Love Machine” [11 pp.] Write bite: “Background reading graphic organizer activity” due shared as a Google Doc with peer mentor by start of class today.
Nov. 12*	McGee’s “Is There Such a Thing as a Love Drug?” [13 pp.] Write Bite: Rewrites of Paper #3 due by start of class time.
Nov. 14*	Elder’s Friendships, Robots, and Social Media, ch. 4, “False Friends and False Coinage: A Tool for Navigating the Ethics of Sociable Robots” [16 pp.] (Skipping chs. 1-3.) Write Bite: Research proposal (250-500 words) due by start of class. See “Seminar Requirements” page for details.
Nov. 17*	Elder, ch. 5, “What’s Wrong with Robot ‘Friends” for Lonely Seniors?” [12 pp.] Write Bite: Research proposal returned to you by today.
Nov. 19*	Elder, ch. 6, “Counterfeit Currency Versus Monopoly Money: Using Appearances to Build Capacity” [14 pp.]
Nov. 21*	Elder’s ch. 7, “Should You Buy Yourself a ‘Friend’?” [17 pp.]
Nov. 24	Teach Your Family presentations, first half Write Bite: If required, revised research proposal due by start of class.
Thanksgiving break
Dec. 01*	Elder, ch. 8, “Humans Aren’t Cows: An Aristotelian Defense of Technologically Mediated Friendship” [23 pp.]
Dec. 03*	Elder, ch. 9, “Taking Control of Conversations Through Technologically Mediated Communication” [16 pp.]
Dec. 05*	Elder, ch. 10, “What Words Can’t Say: Emojis and Other Non-Verbal Elements…” [19 pp.]
Dec. 08	No new readings for class, as we discuss what people are learning from their research topics. Write Bite: Submitted by start of class: the first four pages (at least) of your final paper, together with your bibliography of at least 4 sources that you will be using for the full paper (even if they are not used in the portion you submit at this point).
Dec. 10*	Elder, ch. 11, “The Moral Import of Medium” & Conclusion [30 pp.]
Dec. 12	Teach Your Family presentations, second half
Wed. Dec. 17	Your final paper (7+ pp.) is due emailed by the conclusion of our final exam slot: 4:15 p.m. ET.

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