Faculty First Year Seminars 197PHIL3 - Agency, Rationality and The Go
Fall
2015
01
1.00
Vanessa de Harven
TH 4:00PM 4:50PM
UMass Amherst
40435
What moves you to act? When are you responsible for what you do? Can we ever act against what we judge to be
best? Why should we do the right thing? Is doing the right thing against my own self-interest ? unless I get
caught doing wrong? We will explore Socrates? answers to these and other thorny questions that are central to the
meaning of our lives and yet so often taken for granted. Consider: what is it to live a good life? How do you
know if your life is successful? Is it to have health, wealth and power? Pleasure? Is it something you can control?
Does the good life include morality? We will read several of Plato?s dialogues and discuss Socrates? surprising
views about agency, rationality and the good life ? as counterintuitive for the ancient Greeks as they are for us
today.
best? Why should we do the right thing? Is doing the right thing against my own self-interest ? unless I get
caught doing wrong? We will explore Socrates? answers to these and other thorny questions that are central to the
meaning of our lives and yet so often taken for granted. Consider: what is it to live a good life? How do you
know if your life is successful? Is it to have health, wealth and power? Pleasure? Is it something you can control?
Does the good life include morality? We will read several of Plato?s dialogues and discuss Socrates? surprising
views about agency, rationality and the good life ? as counterintuitive for the ancient Greeks as they are for us
today.
Freshmen Only