Ok, I just finished with this lecture series. If you are going to die or if you know somebody whos going to die, I recommend this series with great conviction. Rather go to somebody whos wearing a certain kind of smock or a book that somebody has handed down from heaven, see what people who really are thinking about the human condition (and particularly the end of that condition) have been thinking and discussing for the past several hundred years. I will say that Professor Shelly Kagan departs from physics professors in a fundamental way. Physics professors and researchers try to find the absolute truth or at least an explanatory model. In so doing, they often throw out common sense. Since we are evolved for life on the Serengeti, common sense just doesnt work for the cosmos or quantum mechanics. In deep contrast, Kagan looks at common sense and picks and chooses that which he likes from philosophical theories available. The positive from this is that he seems to be able to put together a philosophy that makes sense in most conditions. When parsed analytically, the whole thing falls down in an incoherent mess on the floor. However, his thinking has a lot of practical horse power. Philosopher John Searle says philosophy of ethics of which this draws from is a complete mess so he stays away. Maybe it is impossible to put together a totally cohesive and consistent and coherent ethical framework. Nevertheless, Kagans class can add a lot of material to ones thinking about the subject on the whole. When you get to 14:20 on the first lecture, skip over to the next unless you want to hear class administration details.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 16:07:02 +0000
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