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Life Worth Living is an initiative of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School.
Fordham HPRH3201
What Makes a Life Worth Living? Religion and the Modern World
Kathryn Reklis is Associate Professor of Theology and Co-Director of Comparative Literature at Fordham University in New York City.
This class will explore religion in the modern world through the particular question: what makes a life worth living?
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Course Description:
Modernity is often imagined as a conflict between secular and religious modes of being in the world, when, in reality, most humans on the planet today consider themselves religious while also participating in the goods (and ills) of modernity. This class will explore religion in the modern world through the particular question: what makes a life worth living? This class will pursue these central aims under the direction of the guiding question – “what makes a life worth living.” What does it mean for a life to go well?
Central Course Questions Include:
What is a human being and what is their place in the world?
Is a good life meant to feel good? To go well? What do these ideas mean and how would we know if we are getting them right?
How do we know if we are not living a good life and what should we do when we fail to live a good life?
To whom or what are we responsible for living our lives a certain way?
Sample of Course Materials:
Barstow, Anne. “The Prehistoric Goddess,” from The Book of the Goddess, Past and Present.
Eltantawi, Sarah. “Introduction to Islam,” Video Lecture.
Ivanhoe, Philip. “Living In and Learning From Tradition,” in Confucian Reflections.
Kemma, Ayya. Who is My Self?: A Buddhist Guide to Meditation.
Mill, John Stuart. "Utlitarianism."
Pine, Red. "Dancing with the Dead."
Rinpoche, Patrul. “The Defects of Samsara,” in The Words of My Perfect Teacher.
Singer, Peter. The Life You Can Save.
Williams, Delores. Sisters in the Wilderness.
Wiman, Christian. My Bright Abyss.
Course Description:
Modernity is often imagined as a conflict between secular and religious modes of being in the world, when, in reality, most humans on the planet today consider themselves religious while also participating in the goods (and ills) of modernity. This class will explore religion in the modern world through the particular question: what makes a life worth living? This class will pursue these central aims under the direction of the guiding question – “what makes a life worth living.” What does it mean for a life to go well?
Central Course Questions Include:
What is a human being and what is their place in the world?
Is a good life meant to feel good? To go well? What do these ideas mean and how would we know if we are getting them right?
How do we know if we are not living a good life and what should we do when we fail to live a good life?
To whom or what are we responsible for living our lives a certain way?
Sample of Course Materials:
Barstow, Anne. “The Prehistoric Goddess,” from The Book of the Goddess, Past and Present.
Eltantawi, Sarah. “Introduction to Islam,” Video Lecture.
Ivanhoe, Philip. “Living In and Learning From Tradition,” in Confucian Reflections.
Kemma, Ayya. Who is My Self?: A Buddhist Guide to Meditation.
Mill, John Stuart. "Utlitarianism."
Pine, Red. "Dancing with the Dead."
Rinpoche, Patrul. “The Defects of Samsara,” in The Words of My Perfect Teacher.
Singer, Peter. The Life You Can Save.
Williams, Delores. Sisters in the Wilderness.
Wiman, Christian. My Bright Abyss.
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