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.