H2 Class on November 29th

Dear H2,

Later this month, on the 29th, I'll again have the pleasure of conducting much of the class. I've thought a lot about what that could look like. I could try to make up for Nigel Warburton's omission of the phenomenological tradition in philosophy, which is represented by figures like Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. (This is the riskiest option, given that the phenomenologists are notoriously difficult to understand. But the reward could be a demonstration––particularly in Heidegger's case––of how even the most arcane and technical philosophy can be an attempt to wrestle with the ordinary challenges of human existence.) Or perhaps it would be good to dig further into the existentialists, a group of philosophers who've repeatedly brought me back from the brink. Or we could highlight some philosophical voices that don't traditionally get a lot of play, especially women and people of color.

All of these are possibilities with real value, and if you're interested in any of these topics, I'd welcome a chance to chat with you about them––but none of these will be the focus of our class on the 29th. Instead, we're going to try our luck at "Contemporary Issues." Maybe some of you have had experience with tackling contemporary issues in an academic space. It can be quite challenging. There's the likelihood of encountering passionately held ideas and strong disagreement. So, to be clear, the plan is not to facilitate a formal debate, to decide winners and losers by class's end, or to have baseless opinions volleyed back and forth. What I hope that we will do is use the philosophical content we've engaged so far as resources that help us think through issues you really care about.

This brings me to the most important part of this: these should be issues that you really care about! To that end, I invite you to comment below with a sentence or two about a contemporary issue that you really care about. Of course, there are some parameters. One is the limitation of time. We won't be able to discuss many things, but maybe a good two or three is within our reach. So, after next class (Tuesday), I'll compile the comments, consolidate where possible, see what's getting a lot of attention, and present about five choices. You'll have the chance as a class to vote (Thursday) on the choices and the most popular two or three will be our issues. This should give me enough time to sufficiently frame the issues and to make ready some relevant philosophical resources.

Again, the plan is for us to use philosophical resources, at least as a starting point, for our engagement of the issues. We can expand on what the philosophers have said, while trying to stay true to their "system," or we can disagree using another resource. The point is to make these "dusty and old ideas" come alive through real-world application, as was intended by their authors. If philosophy lacks this kind of relevance, then what are we doing here (besides getting 3 credit hours for an Honors course)??? Some examples of how this class could go are: If we're addressing suicide as an issue, how might the work of the existentialist Albert Camus help us respond––in a life-affirming way––to the threat of meaninglessness? If the issue is free speech, how might the political theories of John Stuart Mill and Jean-Jacques Rousseau help us explore the tension between societal and individual interests? If the issue is hook-up culture, how do Kant's ethics and Simone de Beauvoir's feminist philosophy help us to balance a liberated sexuality with the need to see people not as means but as ends-in-themselves? Artifical intelligence and consciousness, fast-fashion and environmentalism, global wealth inequality, etc.? These are not suggestions, just examples to get you thinking.

I'm looking forward to your comments. Go!