PHIL2400 Lecture One

This week's lecture, while basically being an introduction, provided some interesting insight into where the course will be heading.

We were provided the usual course material such as the basic course outline, assessment details and tutorial session details.  However we also looked at some of the key features of the course.  As the course title is Ethics and the Passions we looked at defining, primarily, passions.  This task looks to be an interesting project with, at least the course reader, taking a chronological approach in defining the Passions from Aristotle through to our contemporary time.

Some topics that will be discussed include:

Can Passions be ethical?

Can Passions be impartial?

&

The relationship between Passions and oppression.

The following were the questions we were asked to consider this week:

Are Passions spontaneous or deliberate reactions?

Can we control, change and create our emotions or do they control us?

Are Passions opposed to reason?

Are Passions more revealing of our true selves than reason?

Are there a set of basic Passions that more complex Passions are built up out of?

Are emotions universal or are they culturally determined?

What do our Passions mean and what role do they play and should they play in ethical life?

Are our Passions virtues or vices?

Are some Passions negative and some positive in ethical terms.  For example, love and joy are seen as positive and pride, envy and anger are seen as negative?

I hope to answer some of these questions in the next few posts.  Specifically from the perspective of Aristotle as next Wednesday I'll be presenting a paper on the Passions in Aristotle's Nicomachaen Ethics in the second tutorial for this course.  I'll post a brief outline in the next few days.