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Life Worth Living is an initiative of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School.
Grinnell College REL295
Life Worth Living (Grinnell College)
Elias G. Saba is a teacher, researcher, and translator. He works at Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA.
What does it mean for a life to go well? What would it look like for a life to be lived well? In short, what shape could a life worth living take?
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Course Description:
What does it mean for a life to go well? What would it look like for a life to be lived well? In short, what shape could a life worth living take? What does a flourishing life look like? These questions have been central to human existence and intellectual endeavor for millennia. Indeed, this kind of questioning seems to be a universal aspect of human experience. What can we learn about ourselves from these efforts? Life Worth Living explores approaches to these questions through engagement with the textual heritage of diverse religious traditions. As part of our exploration, we will look at how selves are formed and shaped, different ways of managing pluralism within societies, and what it means to live communally. We will read works of literature, theology, philosophy, history, and biography from ancient Mesopotamia, India, China, the Middle East, and the United States in our attempt to see how we might aspire to live lives worth living.
Sample of Course Materials:
- Albert Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus,” in The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays, tr. Justin O’Brien (Vintage: 2018).
- Enheduana, Enheduana: The Complete Poems of the World’s First Author, tr. Sophus Helle (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2023).
- Henry Rosemont Jr., “Why Interrogate Chinese Philosophical Texts?” in “Translating and Interpreting Chinese Philosophy” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Ibn al-Jawzī, Life of Ibn Ḥanbal, trans. Michael Cooperson (NYU Press: 2016).
- M.K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj and Other Writings, ed. Anthony J. Parel (Cambridge UP, 1997).
- Simone Weil, “Morality and Literature” in Simone Weil: Basic Writings, ed and trans. D. K. Levy and Marina Barabas (Routledge: 2023).
- Thaddeus Metz, “The Meaning of Life” in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Course Description:
What does it mean for a life to go well? What would it look like for a life to be lived well? In short, what shape could a life worth living take? What does a flourishing life look like? These questions have been central to human existence and intellectual endeavor for millennia. Indeed, this kind of questioning seems to be a universal aspect of human experience. What can we learn about ourselves from these efforts? Life Worth Living explores approaches to these questions through engagement with the textual heritage of diverse religious traditions. As part of our exploration, we will look at how selves are formed and shaped, different ways of managing pluralism within societies, and what it means to live communally. We will read works of literature, theology, philosophy, history, and biography from ancient Mesopotamia, India, China, the Middle East, and the United States in our attempt to see how we might aspire to live lives worth living.
Sample of Course Materials:
- Albert Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus,” in The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays, tr. Justin O’Brien (Vintage: 2018).
- Enheduana, Enheduana: The Complete Poems of the World’s First Author, tr. Sophus Helle (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2023).
- Henry Rosemont Jr., “Why Interrogate Chinese Philosophical Texts?” in “Translating and Interpreting Chinese Philosophy” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Ibn al-Jawzī, Life of Ibn Ḥanbal, trans. Michael Cooperson (NYU Press: 2016).
- M.K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj and Other Writings, ed. Anthony J. Parel (Cambridge UP, 1997).
- Simone Weil, “Morality and Literature” in Simone Weil: Basic Writings, ed and trans. D. K. Levy and Marina Barabas (Routledge: 2023).
- Thaddeus Metz, “The Meaning of Life” in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
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