There is one thing I can be sure of: I am going to die. But what am I to make of that fact? This course will examine a number of issues that arise once we begin to reflect on our mortality.
The possibility that death may not actually be the end is considered. Are we, in some sense, immortal? Would immortality be desirable? Also a clearer notion of what it is to die is examined. What does it mean to say that a person has died? What kind of fact is that? And, finally, different attitudes to death are evaluated. Is death an evil? How? Why? Is suicide morally permissible? Is it rational? How should the knowledge that I am going to die affect the way I live my life?
"Professor Kagan introduces the course and the material that will be covered during the semester. He aims to clarify what the class will focus on in particular and which subjects it will steer away from.... continue reading
posted by Nicki Hansen
(gwiz665) 1 decade 5 years 5 months 1 week ago • 1,776 views • 46:04YT: "Professor Kagan discusses the two main positions with regard to the question, "What is a person?" On the one hand, there is the dualist view, according to which a person is a body and a soul. On the... continue reading
posted by Nicki Hansen (gwiz665) 1 decade 5 years 5 months 1 week ago • 1,779 viewsYT: "The lecture focuses on arguments that might be offered as proof for the existence of the soul. The first series of arguments discussed is those known as "inferences to the best explanation." That... continue reading
posted by Nicki Hansen (gwiz665) 1 decade 5 years 5 months 1 week ago • 1,828 viewsYT: "After a brief introduction to Plato's Phaedo, more arguments are offered in this lecture in defense of the existence of an immaterial soul. The emphasis here is on the fact that we need to believe... continue reading
posted by Nicki Hansen (gwiz665) 1 decade 5 years 5 months 1 week ago • 2,766 viewsYT: "Professor Kagan discusses in detail the argument of free will as proof for the existence of an immaterial soul. The argument consists of three premises: 1) We have free will. 2) Nothing subject to... continue reading
posted by Nicki Hansen (gwiz665) 1 decade 5 years 5 months 1 week ago • 1,825 views • 48:02The lecture begins with a continued discussion of the Cartesian argument and its weaknesses. The lecture then turns to Plato's metaphysical views in the context of his work, Phaedo. The key point in the... continue reading
posted by mauz15
1 decade 5 years 5 months 1 week ago • 1,917 views • 35:42The discussion of Plato's Phaedo continues, presenting more arguments for the existence and immortality of the soul. One such argument is "the argument from the nature of the forms," which states that... continue reading
posted by mauz15 1 decade 5 years 5 months 1 week ago • 1,269 views • 46:38The lecture focuses exclusively on one argument for the immortality of the soul from Plato's Phaedo, namely, "the argument from simplicity." Plato suggests that in order for something to be destroyed,... continue reading
posted by Nicki Hansen (gwiz665) 1 decade 5 years 5 months 1 week ago • 1,145 viewsProfessor Kagan elaborates on the "argument from simplicity" and discusses in detail Plato's claims that the soul is simple, changeless and therefore indestructible. The final Platonic argument under discussion... continue reading
posted by Nicki Hansen (gwiz665) 1 decade 5 years 5 months 1 week ago • 1,040 viewsThe lecture focuses on the question of the metaphysical key to personal identity. What does it mean for a person that presently exists to be the very same person in the future? The first approach to answering... continue reading
posted by Nicki Hansen (gwiz665) 1 decade 5 years 5 months 1 week ago • 1,741 viewsTwo more views regarding the metaphysical key to personal identity are discussed: the body view and the personality view. According to the body view, an individual is identified in terms of his or her... continue reading
posted by mauz15 1 decade 5 years 5 months ago • 3,015 viewsThe lecture focuses on the problems directly related to the personality theory as key to personal identity. The theory states that a person retains his or her individuality so long as he or she has the... continue reading
posted by mauz15 1 decade 5 years 5 months ago • 2,371 views • 51:50The personality theory is revised to state that the key to personal identity is having the same personality provided that there is no branching, that is, provided there is no transfer or duplication of... continue reading
posted by mauz15 1 decade 5 years 4 months 2 weeks ago • 2,394 views • 48:53Not yet a member? No problem!
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