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COL 105

God, Human Nature, and the Moral Order: From Augustine to Nietzsche
COL 105 SP

Crosslistings: HUM 106
SectionClass Size*AvailableTimes
1 20 0 Times: .T.T... 2:40PM-4:00PM;

*The number of spaces listed as available is based on class seats open for the current phase of registration. Some seats may be taken in previous phases while others may be held out for subsequent phases of registration. (Last Updated on Wed Mar 4 05:00:40 EST 1998 )

"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: .T.T... 2:40PM- 4:00PM;
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-03-1998




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