- Exam 3 is on Tuesday May 5
- The structure will be the same as Exam 1 and 2
- Exam 3 covers modules 6 and 7. Authors from module 5 could be covered but only to extent that we discussed them again during modules 6 and 7.
- for example, Taylor comes up in Wolf
- Tolstoy came up when we discussed Cottingham and Weinberg
- We'll review on Monday May 4
- To do well,make good use of
- blog posts and passages referred to or linked in blog posts
- your own notes
- the readings
- feedback on your RRs
- Define key terms (e.g. "telic" and "atelic")
- Use examples where relevant
- Discuss views with specificity, avoid vagueness and unclarity
- Elaborate --one sentence is rarely enough
- Give complete explanations
- Make sure you understand what an "argument" is
- Use all the time available
MODULE 6: MEANING IN LIFE
April 1 The Fitting Fulfillment View -- Aristotle's endoxic method -- what are the doxa? -- Wolf's view -- how it integrates both Taylor and Singer -- objective worth as "intelligibility to others" -- what would she take to have no objective worth? -- examples
April 6 Life stories -- DeBres, "Narrative and meaning in life" the choppy life vs. the cohesive life -- four versions of the view that narrative adds meaning to life
April 8 Life stories -- DeBres, "Narrative and meaning in life" -- DeBres's account--"the fitting story view" -- her views modesty (not necessary, not sufficient) -- objections to her view -- the truth requirement
April 10 Narrativity skepticism -- Strawson, "I am not a story" -- his objections to the narrative view of meaning in life
April 13 Seizing the day -- Setiya, last section of "Living in the present" -- Thich Nhat Hanh, "You are here" -- the value of meditation, to each author
April 15 Seizing the day -- Kaupinnen, "Against seizing the day" -- Kaupinnen's interpretation of Setiya as saying atelic activities are the only ones that matter -- Kaupinnen's"It's a Wonderful Life Argument" -- responding with "Manhattan" (note: I'm not going to ask you to discuss the interpretation issue)
April 17 Seizing the day -- Kaupinnen, "Against seizing the day" -- presentism as the idea that living in the moment is either the only source of meaning or a major source of meaning -- Kaupinnen's objections to presentism -- reflexive ground projects vs. other kinds of projects
MODULE 7: ULTIMATE MEANING
The authors in this module are all dissatisfied in some way with our meaning in life authors. You should be able to explain what each is dissatisfied with.
April 20 Transcendence -- Cottingham, "The meaning of life and transcendence" -- the experience of human incompleteness -- how religious rituals express the longing for transcendence
April 22 Laughing -- Nagel, "The Absurd" -- arguments in each section of article -- the ironic life vs. the wholehearted life -- illustrations of absurdity from movies
April 24 Crying -- Weinberg, Ultimate Meaning vs. everyday meaning -- basic terms and concepts -- main claims -- pursuits and points -- the project of leading your life doesn't have a point
April 27 Crying -- Weinberg recap -- Weinberg's question contrasted with Tolstoy's question -- Weinberg's objections to afterlife as point of leading a life -- objections to doing good
