PHL 260 5 B Presentation of P. Singer’s theory
This is part 2 of lecture 5 of PHL 260 Ethical Issues, Fall 2016 at Savle Regina University. In this lecture I present P. Singer’s ethical view as he understands himself (as best as I am able).
Archive for month: February, 2016
PHL 260 5 A People and Animals
Seifert Human Rights Urgrundrecht
This is class 5, part 1 of PHL 260 Ethical Issues. I continue the discussion of the sources of the dignity of persons and an interesting discussion on the question of the differences between animals and people happens.
PHL 260 4 B Dignity of Persons
This is Part 2 of Lecture 4 of PHL 260 Ethical Issues, Salve Regina University Spring 2016.
Seifert Human Rights Urgrundrecht
PHL 260 4 A Dignity of Persons
This is Part 1 of lecture 4 of PHL 260 Ethical Issues at Salve Regina University Spring 2016. In this lecture I explain the various sources of the dignity of persons. There is a handout here to download which I refer to in the lecture.
PHL 260 3 B Lecture on “Without Roots” by Marcelo Pera and Joseph Ratzinger
This is lecture 3 part 2 of PHL 260 Ethical Issues at Salve Regina University. In this lecture I discuss the book Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity and Islam (Basic books, 2007) by Marcelo Pera and Joseph Ratzinger. Pera is not a Christian, and Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) is. They wrote a book together because they have some common concerns about Europe. In this lecture/discussion we try to build a picture of the current state of culture in the West, offer some historical, philosophical and religious reasons for it and explore the question of the relation between faith, the history of Europe and current cultural and public policy questions. Pera and Ratzinger offer solutions, and we compare and contrast those.
PHL 260 Ethical Issues 3 A: relativism/objectivity and motives
This is part 1 of Lecture 3 of PHL 260 Ethical Issues Spring 2016. In this part I cover: a) a deepening of the critique of relativism by clearing up a common misunderstanding, namely, that people confuse lacking the inner resources to grasp some subject-independent reality with relativism. Then, following the work of Josef Seifert (and expanding on it in some ways), I define the nature of a motive and then outline a series of 7 motives of the moral actions we freely choose: objective value; moral obligation; the goodness of the moral act itself; the goodness/virtue of the one performing the act; happiness; the common good and God.