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Handouts by Michael Taber
Here is an
annotated list of links to material I've written. I hope that most of this
material is true, and, where not true, at least thought provoking. Your
comments are welcome.
The
Etymology of Happiness, and Some Related Words -- If you want a different word than
"happiness" with which to discuss so many important philosophical
issues, here is a list of the histories of some alternatives.
The
Euthyphro Objection to the Divine Command Theory of Morality -- an explanation of one problem with holding that what's
right is right because god wills it.
Moral
Relativism and Moral Subjectivism -- a
discussion of the reasons for two positions on morality: moral cultural
relativism and moral subjectivism, together with some objections to each
position.
The Objectivity of Happiness -- some arguments for the apparently absurd position that
it's possible to think that you're happy and be mistaken.
On
Overtaking Zeno's Paradoxes: Or What's Weird about Infinity and What's Not -- a discussion of four best known paradoxes described by
Zeno of Elea, with special attention to the role of the notion of infinity in
his Achilles and Arrow paradoxes.
Outline
of Ch. II of Mill's Utilitarianism -- a simple outline, using Hackett Publishing Company's edition, by George
Sher
Parmenides
on Non-Being -- an explanation of the
Parmenidean objection to non-being, and the associated reasoning for the view
that many claims which we usually take to make perfectly good sense are
actually nonsense.
Reading
notes for Aristotle selections in Reeve & Miller (2nd
edition, Hackett, 2015)
Reading
notes for Aristotle selections in Irwin & Fine (Aristotle: Introductory Readings, Hackett, 1996)
Reading notes for
Hamlyn’s edition of Aristotle's De Anima
-- a running commentary on the
selections from this work on the nature of the psyche which appear in the
Clarendon Aristotle Series edition, D. W. Hamlyn, translator and
commentator: With a Report on Recent
Work and a Revised Bibliography by Christopher Shields: D. W. Hamlyn, Aristotle’s De Anima, Books II and III (Oxford: Clarendon Press; copyright 1993,
reprinted 2002)
Reading Notes for Cohen,
Curd, & Reeve’s Aristotle's De Anima – similar to the above, a running commentary on the
selections from this work on the nature of the psyche which appear in Fine and
Irwin's translation, in Cohen, Curd, and Reeve's Readings in Ancient Greek
Philosophy (Hackett Publishing, 1995).
Reading
Notes for Kant’s Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals -- thoughts to help elucidate the first two sections of
this work, using Ellington' translation in the edition from Hackett Publishing.
Reading Notes for Mill's Utilitarianism -- some points to bear in mind in reading chapters II-V
of this work.
Reading Notes for Nietzsche's On the
Genealogy of Morals -- some thought
questions to accompany reading the first and third essays of this work, using
Kaufmann's translation.
Review
of Six Recent Books about Nietzsche
(1994) -- from the journal Literature and Theology
Some
Notes Leading to (and from) Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue -- an overview of both the problem MacIntyre's 1984 (2nd
ed.) book sets out to solve and what his solution is. I conclude by posing some
objections to his solution.
Some
Positions on the Logic of Moral Goodness
-- an explanation of the positions of three different schools (emotivists, descriptivists, and
Kantians) on similarities and differences among different uses of the word
"good" (e.g., "good hammer" and "good person").
Vocabulary
Guide for Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek -- a page-by-page guide to Dillard's delightfully obscure
terms.
Send me mail: mstaber at smcm dot edu
Go to Michael Taber's home page.
Go to SMCM's home page.