HUMS 411: LIFE WORTH LIVING Instructors: Prof. Miroslav Volf & Ryan McAnnally-Linz Office hours by appointment.

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1 Course Description HUMS 411: LIFE WORTH LIVING Instructors: Prof. Miroslav Volf & Ryan McAnnally-Linz Office hours by appointment. What does it mean for a life to go well? What would it look like for a live to be lived well? In short, what shape would a life worth living take? We will explore these questions through engagement with the lives and visions of founding figures from six diverse traditions of imagining a good life: the Buddha, the Torah and the Hebrew prophetic and wisdom writers, Jesus of Nazareth, Muhammad, John Stuart Mill, and Friedrich Nietzsche. We will pay particular attention to the place of money, sex, and power in a good life. The course will also feature visits from contemporary individuals who understand their lives to be shaped by the traditions in question. Assignments and Evaluation All written assignments should be submitted in pdf format via to both instructors by the deadline indicated: miroslav.volf@yale.edu and ryan.mcannally-linz@yale.edu. Late papers will received a grade reduction of one step (e.g., from A- to B+) for each day or part of a day that they are late. Late reading responses and discussion questions will not be graded and will count as a score of zero for calculation of the final grade word (maximum) paper analyzing the vision(s) of a life worth living that Yale University as an institution advocates or implicitly endorses. (This assignment is similar to one of the questions asked in your application for the course. If you have access to your answer to that question, feel free to use it as the basis for this assignment, but take the time to refine and expand it as needed. The instructors will not provide you with your answers if you do not have access to them.) Due January 26 by 5:00pm. (20 percent of final grade) word (maximum) paper analyzing the vision(s) of a life worth living that your peers (a) espouse and (b) adhere to de facto. Specify which set of peers (e.g., college classmates, young adults in a particular culture or subculture, etc.) you will discuss. Due March 4 by 5:00pm. (20 percent of final grade) word (maximum) paper outlining your own personal vision of a life worth living. Due April 20 by 5:00pm. (20 percent of final grade) 4. For each tradition, students will submit brief responses to the following five questions (200 word maximum total). Due January 29, February 10, February 19, March 24, April 2, and April 14 by 5:00pm. (20 percent of final grade) a. What does it mean for a person s life to go well? b. What does it mean for a person to lead his or her life well? c. What reasons and/or motivations does the founder offer for his vision of a life worth living? d. What resources does he offer for human beings to be able to have a life worth living? e. What does he suggest that people do when they fail to live such a life? 5. Two discussion questions for each of the six guest discussants who will visit the course. Due the day before the guest s visit by 5:00pm. (10 percent of final grade)

2 6. Prior to the course session on sex and the good life (January 23), students will be split into three or four groups, each of which will be tasked with identifying a relevant reading of 15pp or less for the class to read in preparation for that session. Submissions will be due January 21 by 5:00pm. (10 percent of final grade) Course Policies Use of laptops, tablets, and phones will not be permitted at any time during the seminar sessions, except with prior permission from the instructors. Attendance at all seminar meetings is expected except in case of emergencies. Unexcused absences from the seminar will result in a reduction of the final course grade. Required Texts Ghazi bin Muhammad, What Is Islam, and Why? John Stuart Mill, On Liberty and Other Essays, ed. John Gray (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008). Schedule of Meetings Introduction January 14: January 16: January 21: Course Introduction Wealth Elizabeth W. Dunn and Michael Norton, Don t Indulge. Be Happy. The New York Times, July 7, (Online) Michael Norton, How to Buy Happiness, TEDxCambridge, November (Online) Derek Thompson, Yes, Money Does Buy Happiness: 6 Lessons from the Newest Research on Income and Well-Being, theatlantic.com, January 10, (Online) Jean M. Twenge and Tim Kasser, Generational Changes in Materialism and Work Centrality, : Associations With Temporal Changes in Societal Insecurity and Materialistic Role Modeling, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 39 (2013): (ClassesV2) Power Brent Cole, How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age, The New York Times, October 4, (Online) Yona Kifer et al., The Good Life of the Powerful: The Experience of Power and Authenticity Enhances Subjective Well-Being, Psychological Science 24 (2013):

3 Daniel Sorid, The Authority That s Not on Any Chart, The New York Times, August 9, (Online) January 23: January 28: Reading selections for next session due at 5:00pm. Sex TBD Reflection Paper 1 (Yale) due January 26 at 5:00pm. Yale and the Good Life Reading responses for Buddhism due January 29 at 5:00pm. Buddhism January 30: February 4: February 6: The Buddha Jataka-Nidana (selections). The Buddhacarita, , 14. Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. Buddhism and Sex Abhidharma-kosa-bhasyam, III.21-24, III.98. Parabhava Sutta, from the Sutta Nipata. Pasadika Sutta 22-26, from the Digha Nikaya. Sutra of Upasaka Precepts 14, 24 (selections). Paul Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics, pp , 71-74, Discussion questions for Meredith Monk due February 5 at 5:00pm. A Life Shaped by the Buddha Jud Brewer Judson A. Brewer, Jake H. Davis, and Joseph Goldstein, Why Is It So Hard to Pay Attention, or Is It? Mindfulness, the Factors of Awakening and Reward- Based Learning, Mindfulness 4 (2013): Reading responses for Judaism due February 10 at 5:00pm. Judaism February 11: The Law, Wisdom and the Hebrew Prophets

4 Required: Deuteronomy 4-8; Job 1-10, 42; Amos. Recommended: Job February 13: Judaism and Power Psalms 21.13, 62.11, 66.3, , , , 130.7, 147.5; Isaiah 36-37; Ezekiel ; Zechariah Pirkei Avot 1.10, 2.3, 4.1, Discussion questions for Judaism guest due February 17 at 5:00pm. February 18: A Life Shaped by Judaism Paul Franks Emmanuel Levinas, Damages Due to Fire, in Nine Talmudic Readings, trans. Annette Aronowicz (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1990). Reading responses for Christianity due February 19 at 5:00pm. Christianity February 20: Jesus The Gospel according to Luke February 25: Christianity and Sex Song of Songs; Matthew ; 1 Corinthians 7; Ephesians Augustine of Hippo, The Excellence of Marriage 1, 3-4, 6, 8-9., City of God Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity 1, 3, 5, 8, 11, 14, 20. Discussion questions for Christianity guest due February 26 at 5:00pm. February 27: A Life Shaped by Jesus Alysia Harris Job , David Berman, Now II. Alysia Harris, Cab Rides and the Morning After. (video), Joy. (video), When the Poet Becomes a Realist. (video)

5 Interlude March 4: March 6: Pluralism and Strong Commitments Charles Taylor, The Twice-Born, in Varieties of Religion Today: William James Revisited, Reflection Paper 2 (peers) due March 4 at 5:00pm. Millennials and the Good Life Reading responses for Islam due March 24 at 5:00pm. Islam March 25: Muhammad Ghazi bin Muhammad, What Is Islam and Why?, Martin Lings, Muhammad, 44-57, March 27: April 1: Islam and Wealth Select Quranic Verses and Prophetic Sayings on Economic Matters (selected by Reza Shah-Kazemi). Discussion questions for Islam guest due March 31 at 5:00pm. A Life Shaped by Islam Maryam Eskandari Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam s Mystical Tradition, pp Reading responses for Utilitarianism due April 2 at 5:00pm. Utilitarianism April 3: John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill, Of Individuality, As One of the Elements of Well-Being, in On Liberty., Utilitarianism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, s.v. John Stuart Mill, 1 ( Life ). [plato.stanford.edu/entries/mill]

6 April 8: Utilitarianism and Wealth Peter Singer, The Life You Can Save, April 10: Discussion questions for Jason Trigg due April 9 at 5:00pm. A Life Shaped by Utilitarianism Jason Trigg Peter Singer, Famine, Affluence, and Morality, Philosophy and Public Affairs 1 (1972): Reading responses for Nietzscheanism due April 14 at 5:00pm. Nietzscheanism April 15: April 17: Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Nietzsche, selection from Letter to His Sister., The Gay Science, ## 125, 140, 143, 343, 353, 377., Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Zarathustra s Prologue (## 3-5), On the Three Metamorphoses, On the Pitying, On the Tarantulas, On Redemption., Beyond Good and Evil # 188., On the Genealogy of Morality , The Anti-Christ ## 32-35, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, s.v. Friedrich Nietzsche, 1 ( Life: ). [plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche] Nietzsche and Power TBA Assignments: Reflection Paper 3 (personal) due April 20 at 5:00pm; discussion questions for Nietzscheanism guest due April 21 at 5:00pm. April 22: A Life Shaped by Nietzsche TBA TBA Conclusion April 24: What Is a Life Worth Living?

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