Contemporary Civilization

Essentially a "Great Books" of philosophy class, spanning two semesters, usually taken sophomore year.

CC 1 Lite

• God created man, twice.
• God gave the ten commandments, twice.
• Make kings philosophers or philosophers kings.
• Man is a political animal.
• Jesus is a socialist.
• Jihad isn't what you think it is.
• The end is nigh! Oops, it's not. Better recast Christianity as a long term thing.
• I am thinking therefore I am.
• Christianity is corrupt. It needs modest reforms.
• How to stay in power: it's appearances that count.
• Life is brutish and short. So men form states with social contracts.
• Actually, men cooperate by their very nature.

CC 2 Lite

• What is Enlightenment? It's good.
• Why do we have morals? Utility, experience, sympathy.
• Countries get rich by specializing, not hoarding gold.
• Society gives rise to inequality. Let's be cavemen once again.
• Or we could have a social contract like those Genevans.
• I can't let you do that. If I did, I'd have to let everyone else do it.
• Independence, it's self-evident.
• New laws after the exodus.
• The French Revolution is ugly.
• Give women more freedom so that they can better serve their men.
• What's so great about America? Democracy.
• People shouldn't follow Smith's self-interest, nor Hume's sympathy. They should show disinterested benevolence. There are better tools than whips and scourges to discourage crime; namely, peer pressure.
• The Spirit drives world history.
• No no no, the dialectic is the other way around! Ideology doesn't drive the material world. Instead, material conditions drive ideology. Revolution!
• Blacks are oppressed; whites wage wars.
• Might makes right.
• Your human psyche is probably disturbed. You need a dose of psychoanalysis, delving into the darkest depths of your molested childhood.
• Maybe we sort out civilization in the same way?
• Three tales of poverty.
• Let's consider justice before even being born.