Index for PHIL-3900
Philosophy of Happiness
Department of Philosophy and
Religious Studies
|
|
Study
Abroad Summer 2013 in Greece & Turkey -Junemester
Program, 6 credit hours in Philosophy -Available to all VSU and USG
Students -Download
Application |
Syllabus & Schedule
Schedule
for Readings and Presentations
Final Project Requirements
Final
Project Options
I. Final
Project Assignment--paper
II. Final
Short Project Assignment—short film
Online Student Evaluations
Instructions for
Online Student Evaluations
Assignments
What is Happiness?
Take 1 (in
class)
Take 2 (in
class)
Final
Take (option for Final--coming soon)
Presentations
Assignment
for Cohen Presentations
(see Schedule
for due dates)
Short Papers
Pursuit
of Happyness Assignment
Little
Miss Sunshine Assignment (optional)
Supplemental Online Materials and Texts
Santas Reading,
Writing and Presentation Guidelines
Study
Questions for Relevant Films (for discussion and paper writing)
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
Online Reading
and Video Materials (for substantive help on your papers and general edificationJ)
General
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
on Happiness
For Ancient Greeks
Plato
(428/27-348/47 BC)
|
Reading |
Notes |
|
Text of Apology |
Santas
Notes Apology |
|
Text of Crito |
Santas
Notes Crito |
|
Text of Allegory of the
Cave |
|
Video
BBC Video on
Socrates on Self-Confidence Part I; Part II;
Part
III
Aristotle (384-322
BC) Nicomachean Ethics
(see notes on Aristotle
and the Good Life)
|
Reading |
Notes |
|
Text of Book I
(Nature of Happiness) |
Santas
Notes Nic.
Ethics, Bk I |
|
Text of Book II
(On Moral Virtue) |
Santas
Notes Nic.
Ethics, Bk II |
|
Text of Book III
(On Choice) |
Santas
Notes Nic.
Ethics, Bk III |
|
Text of Book VII
(On Pleasure) |
Santas
Notes Nic.
Ethics, Bk VII |
|
Text of Book VIII
(On Friendship) |
Santas
Notes Nic.
Ethics, Bks VIII & IX |
|
Text of Book IX
(More on Friendship) |
Epicurus
(341-270 BC)
Reading
Text of Letter to Menoeceus
Video
BBC Video on
Epicurus on Happiness Part I;
Part
II; Part
III
For Stoicism (A Good Life
is one of Reason and Self-Control: Living in Accord with Nature)
Reading
Stanford
Encyclopedia entry on Stoicism
Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) entry on Stoicism
IEP entry on
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180)
Stanford
Encyclopedia entry on Seneca
(4 BC- AD 65)
Video
BBC Video on
Seneca on Anger Part
I; Part
II; Part
III
For Modern Hedonism (A Good Life
is one of Satisfying “Higher” Pleasures)
J. S. Mill
(1806-1873)
Reading
Text of Utilitarianism
(the point of life is happiness)
See esp. Chapter
II (happiness as pleasure—higher vs. lower)
Text of On Liberty (happiness requires
freedom)
|
See especially |
Notes |
|
Chapter
II (free expression) |
Santas
Notes On
Liberty II |
|
Chapter
III (choice of lifestyle) |
Santas
Notes On
Liberty III |
Video
PBS Affluenza video (on
consumerism)
For Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
Text of Groundwork
for the Metaphysics of Morals (see after the Preface Section I, in
which he argues that the point of life is not happiness)
For Henry David Thoreau (1817-62)
Walden see especially:
Chapter 2: Where I
Lived, and What I Lived For
Chapter 11: Higher Laws
For Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
Reading
Stanford
Encyclopedia entry on
Nietzsche (a general overview of N’s Philosophy)
Wiki Article
on Nietzsche’s
Philosophy (a philosophy of overcoming)
Video
BBC Video on
Nietzsche on Hardship Part I;
Part
II; Part
III
For Buddhism (suggested
readings)
Thict Nhat Hanh
Anger, Riverhead Trade, 2002 (ISBN
1-57322-937-7)
Touching
Peace: Practicing the Art of Mindful Living, Parallax Press, 1992 (ISBN 0-938077-57-0)
Peace Is
Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, Bantam reissue, 1992 (ISBN
0-553-35139-7)
Alan Watts
The Wisdom
of Insecurity, Vintage ed. 1968 (ISBN 0-394-70468-1)
The Book -
On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, Vintage reissue 1989 (ISBN
0-679-72300-5)
The Meaning of Happiness, Paperback. 1970 (ISBN 0-06-080178-6)
For Sartre (1905-80) (a must read for existentialism!)
Text of Existentialism
and Humanism (a philosophy of radical freedom and choice)
William Clifford
Text of The
Ethics of Belief (an essay on the immorality of belief without evidence)
William James
Text of Dilemma
of Determinism
Text of The Will to
Believe (James' response to Clifford)
For Cohen’s New Rational Therapy
Introduction
(contends that much of people's unhappiness stems from bad reasoning)
Santas Essay
Willpower
(referenced in Cohen's book)