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COL 105
God, Human Nature, and the Moral Order: From Augustine to Nietzsche
COL 105 SP
Crosslistings: HUM 106
Spring 97 Availability (Last Updated on Thu Apr 17 05:00:17 EDT 1997
)
Section Limit Enrollment Available
01 18 0 18
"If God is dead, then everything is permitted." Was
Dostoyevsky's unforgettable deduction in the mouth of his
tortured creation Ivan Karamazov a cryptic commentary on the
alleged inability of justifying moral distinctions in a
world that proclaimed God's obsolescence? Without God, there
is no such thing as crime, including the parricide that
Ivan--succumbing to moral nihilism--ultimately instigates.
Good and evil, in a secularized, disenchanted,
despiritualized and Godless world would lose their meaning.
In this course we explore notions of evil, human nature and
their relationship to divinity from St. Augustine's
indictment of the "radical evil" of human nature itself to
Friedrich Nietzsche's indictment of traditional Christian
moral values as the product of a life denying "slave revolt
in morality."
MAJOR READINGS
St. Augustine, THE CONFESSIONS
THE LETTERS OF ABELARD AND HELOISE
Pascal, THE PROVINCIAL LETTERS
Rousseau, "Confessions of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar," from
EMILE
de Sade, PHILOSOPHY IN THE BEDROOM
Darwin, THE DESCENT OF MAN
Dostoyevsky, "The Grand Inquisitor," from THE BROTHERS
KARAMAZOV
Nietzsche, BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
No exams - Writings
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Unless
preregistered students attend the first class meeting or
communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first
class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE:
Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the
Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Seminar
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA COL
Prerequisites:
None
- Section 01
- Bernstein, H
- Times: M.W.... 2:40PM;
- Grading Mode: A/F
- Registration Preference (1 high to 6 low, 0=Excluded) Sr: 0, Jr: 0, So: 0, Fr: 1
- No Major Preference Given
Last Updated on MAR-10-1997
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