Oct 2--Knowledge and Ethics

This Tuesday we will move on from (1) thinking about other minds and dialogue with others to (2) how ethical positions (which always involve other people) affect how we know. We have a short reading from Charles Taylor’s Sources of the Self, in which he talks about how we operate within “inescapable moral frameworks.” We also have a reading from Jewish-Lithuanian philosopher Emmanuel Levinas on the importance of the “other.” Levinas is very difficult to read (even more that our usual readings) , so I have provided a video that explains his basic ideas. (I was going to make such a video myself, but I found that someone else had already done it!) I’ve provided a forum post on Moodle, and I also pushed the readings and the video link out to your individual OneNote sections.

We will also begin discussing the classes you are planning, so think about getting your groups together as well.