Religion and the Good Life

The Purpose of this Course:

Many people today are struggling with burnout, with worry about the state of the climate, and with anger about politics. However, religious communities typically teach their members not only what they should believe about supernatural things, but also how they should deal with this-worldly problems like these. That is, religions make recommendations about the life that they claim is “happy,” “blessed,” “enlightened,” or “saintly.”

In this class, we will examine different teachings about the good life including Buddhist, biblical, Aristotelian, atheist, and post-traditional frameworks, and we will assess their recommendations. The course is intended as an introduction to religion and ethics. It does not seek to promote any religious or non-religious way of life, and it does not assume that students have any background knowledge about religions.

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A Small Sample of the Required Readings:

• Miroslav Volf, “What’s Worth Wanting?”
• Rosalind Hursthouse, “Neo-Aristotelianism.”
• Andre Comte-Sponville, “Can There Be an Atheist Spirituality?”
• Karen Bray, “Unbegun Introductions.”
• Krista Thomason, “Emotional Saints.”
• Sharday Mosurinjohn, “A History of Boredom as a Spiritual Crisis.”
• Cheryl Cottine, “Developing a Mengzian Environmental Ethic.”