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Lessons

Lesson plans provide a plan for a single lesson with readings, concepts and ideas to cover, suggested discussion questions and activities, and suggestions regarding when to use the lesson and what sort of class it might be appropriate for.

Lesson: Pascal and Nachiketa Walk into Siduri’s Tavern

Introduction The Epic of Gilgamesh, a poem from ancient Mesopotamia, is likely the first recorded story we have, and it contains ...

Lesson: Moral Rules, Ancient Sumerian Wisdom, and Killer Robots

Introduction Is morality simply a matter of living by the correct moral rules? Some people may be (and have been) ...

Lesson: The Ethics of Racial Humor

Texts and Courses Primary Texts Luvell Anderson: “Racist Humor” Philosophy Compass (link) Secondary Texts for Instructor John Morreall: “Philosophy of ...

Lesson: Kantian Ethics and Angelina Grimké’s Letter 12 to Katherine Beecher

Introduction This lesson has two main purposes. The first is to illustrate to students how one could apply the Kantian ...

Lesson: Understanding Oppression as a Critique of Hedonism

Introduction After teaching the hedonism of Bentham and Mill in my Introduction to Ethics class, I often assign Marilyn Frye’s ...

Lesson: Whānau Ora Health Policy

Introduction The pursuit and realisation of self-determination for Māori communities has been intimately bound up with – among other things ...

Lesson: Theano II on Moral Education

Introduction This lesson focuses on a fragment of text from the late Pythagorean philosopher Theano (probably of Sparta, c. 4th-3rd ...

Lesson: Perictione II on Metaphysics

Introduction This lesson focuses on a fragment of text from the late Pythagorean philosopher Perictione II (probably of Sparta, c.3rd-2nd ...

Lesson: Understanding the Literary Style of the Analects

Texts and Courses Primary Texts The Analects, Book 1 Secondary Texts for Instructor Joel Kupperman, Classic Asian Philosophy, ch. 5.Amy ...

Lesson: Ibn-Rushd on the Obligation to Philosophise

Texts and Courses Primary Texts The Decisive Treatise (excerpted in D.E. Cooper and P.S. Fosl, eds., Philosophy: The Classic Readings) ...

Lesson: The Descartes & Princess Elisabeth Correspondence

Primary Texts: Ed. Atherton, Women Philosophers of the Early Modern Period. Hackett 1994. ISBN: 0872202593 (p. 8-21) (though the correspondence ...

Lesson: Mary Shepard’s Criticism of Berkeley

Primary Texts: Ed. Atherton, Women Philosophers of the Early Modern Period. Hackett 1994. ISBN: 0872202593 (p. 147-159) Suggested Courses: History ...

Lesson: Ibn-Tufayl and the State of Nature

Texts and Courses Primary Texts Hayy Ibn Yaqzan (excerpted in D.E. Cooper and P.S. Fosl, eds., Philosophy: The Classic Readings) ...

Lesson: Phintys of Sparta on Role Virtues

Introduction This lesson focuses on a fragment of text from the Pythagorean philosopher Phintys (probably of Sparta, c. 4 th ...

Lesson: Aesara of Lucania on the Soul

Introduction This lesson focuses on a fragment of text from the Pythagorean philosopher Aesara of Lucania (c. 4 th -3 ...

Lesson: Virtues and Moral Rules

Introduction Can a morally great / virtuous person choose the right thing to do in every situation all by herself, ...

Lesson: Moral Emotions

Texts and Courses Primary Texts Mengzi (Mencius), e.g. 1A7 Suggested Courses Introduction to Ethics Overview In Mengzi 1A7, Mengzi attempts ...

Lesson: Value Judgments in Science

Texts and Courses Primary Texts Liam Kofi Bright: Du Bois' Democratic Defence of the Value Free Ideal Secondary Texts for ...

Lesson: Crito and Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Introduction Socrates and Martin Luther King, Jr. discuss whether it is ever OK to break the law. Texts Plato, The ...

Lesson: Catherine Trotter Cockburn’s Defense of Locke

Introduction Cockburn defends Locke’s Essay (in particular his treatment of personal identity) against Burnet’s criticisms. She also provides her own ...

Lesson: Criminal Parents

Introduction What should a person do if her parents commit a crime? Should she immediately turn them into the authorities? ...