Christ and the Moral Life Review

When she saw that Augustine was interested in sex, why did Monica not insist that Augustine take a wife?

"But in my mother's heart," writes Augustine, "you had already begun your temple." The Catholic Monica often admonished young Augustine against fornication, and he now recognizes that God was speaking through her. At the time, however, her warnings seemed "womanish advice which I would have blushed to take the least notice of." Eventually, Monica tends to lets Augustine do as he will, fearing that a proper wife at this stage would impede his chances for a good career. - she thought it would distract him from his studies, which means it would make him less successful. A wife would get in the way of his success.

Discuss the critique of certain approaches to modern natural science made by (a) John Paul II and (b) C. S. Lewis.

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Explain the differences between having only a notion of freedom as freedom from external constraint as opposed to also adding the notion of freedom for excellence or for the good. What happens to love and commitment if we only have the notion of freedom as freedom from constraint?

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Consumerism: Buying and Selling a Sense of Self: According to Christian Smith and his colleagues, are America's emerging adults concerned about "competitive consumption"? What kinds of responses do they generally give when the issue of their buying habits and the buying habits of others comes up? What big questions are they neglecting when they approach consumer behavior this way?

**OVERSPENT AMERICAN pg 10 http://t4.stthom.edu/users/smith/christmorallife/Schor%20Overspent%20AmericanV3.pdf ** America's emerging adults are concerned about competitive consumption. This is because this type of consumption has established social position for years on end. Definitions of someone's good life expanded as products continued to trend, even if people could not pay. Competitive spending is used by those as ann affirmation of personal identity.Back then, middle class families tried to get the luxury items the higher class got too. Generally, when asked, these students generally attribute the benefits of their buying habits to the improvement to the economy rather than seeing the negative repercussions. They are neglecting a bigger picture- how mass consumerism connects to human happiness. They are neglecting the consideration of a good life, and personal implications of this lifestyle on themselves and the future family they care so much about.

Please describe the essential elements of what Christian Smith calls "the shadow side of sexual liberation."

1- Tremendous optimism among emerging adults about their personal futures- their hopes are high- "With time, I will be where I want to be" 2- Adults smarting from hard lessons learned- many are still stinging from wounds of living troubled lives in a broken world. 3- they wantto profess they have no regrets- despite hurting, they insist the past is the past and they would not change. 4- hookinh up is common among adults- most do not know what hooking up menas- for some it means hanging around, kissing, some sex, everyone has their own definition. 5- devastating romantic breakups happen- people want to hold off later because of this. they result in trauma. Much of emerging adult sexual freedom has a dark side that needs to be balanced by recognition of the fact that many sexually experienced emerging adults today profess they have no regrrets or problems from being sexually active.

What, according to Emily Smith, are the four "pillars of meaning"; the four things studies shoe help people to find meaning in their lives? Describe each of the four briefly.

According to Emily Smith, the four pillars of meaning are belonging, purpose, storytelling, and transcendence. Belonging helps people find meaning in their lives because people feel loved and important. Purpose helps people find meaning in their lives because it is individual and helps give people a reasoning behind why they do things when things might get tough. Storytelling helps people find meaning in their lives because it helps people understand how far they have come in their lives and gives them reason to keep living to keep believing they can get through things as they were once able to. Transcendence helps people find meaning in their lives because they have been connected to a bigger picture and so this makes them feel like they are a part of something bigger that they should keep working toward.

Freedom, Success, and Justice: How, according to Robert Bellah, do Americans tend to think about success? How do they define it? Why do they define it the way they do? How is their notion of success related to the common notion of "freedom" we encounter in the modern world?

According to Robert Bellah, most often Americans define success as economic success. They define it the way they do because Americans feel that if they have enough money, they have the freedom to create a persona and their own individuality. People attribute personal choice to success, and enough money can get you to have that personal choice. Their notion of success is related to the "freedom" we encounter in the modern world because they believe that it means being left alone by others, not having other people's values, ideas, or lifestyles forced upon them. But to be free is not to be simply be left alone, but to be your own person in the sense you have defined your purpose. Many Americans think of freedom as freedom from- from people who have economic power over you or from people who try to limit what you can do or say.

Why, according to Timothy Clydesdale, are college students not asking the "big questions" of meaning that so many college and university educators (like this one) want them to ask?

According to Timothy Clydesdale, many college students are not asking the "big questions" of meaning because they are focused on the aspects of the material world- relationships and economics and school. Any type of self examination, teens feel would disengage them from the environment they were so accustomed to. Another reason is because there are few adults that college students can see as a model whose lives are actually shaped by purpose and who think about fundamental questions. Teens willingness to connect their daily lives to deeper values has arisen as well due to their use of the identity lockbox. 1- Teens themselves are in a culture that prioritizes short term efficiency to the detriment of long term effectiveness- praises superficiality. The parents and educators underestimated what they can learn as well. Scholars also overgeneralize their own experiences and are upset about the disengagement of students. Finally, Amercians tolerate distractions from purpose.

What, according to Viktor Frankl, was necessary for prisoners to survive the horrendous conditions in a Nazi concentration camp such as Auschwitz? How do Frankl's comments relate to what Pope John Paul II says about "knowing oneself"? (What does Frankl say? What does the Pope say? How do they relate?)

According to Viktor Frankl, it was necessary for prisoners to find an aim for their lives to survive the conditions in the Nazi concentration camps or else they would lose belief and spiritual hold in their futures- they needed to find a purpose to look forward to. Pope John Paul II says that it is important to know yourself to know the truths in the world to better know yourself and separate yourself from others. These two connect because as Pope John Paul II says, finding an aim for ones life through fundamental questions compels the human heart to seek their purpose. Similarly, those trapped in camps as described by Frankl needed to keep faith in the future by keeping a future goal to achieve- an aim to strengthen their lives. For JPII, this goal is answering fundamental questions to find a purpose.

According to Robert Bellah, how does our American tradition encourage us to think about justice? What is lacking, however, in this conception of justice? Why do Americans have difficulty conceptualizing any different notion of justice given the views they hold about "success" and "freedom"?

American tradition encourages us to think about justice as a matter of equal opportunities for every individual to pursue whatever htey understand by happiness. But this does not contain a vision of what the distribution of goods in a society end up looking like if everyone was equal. Americans have difficulty conceptualizing any different notion of justice because

What, according to Juliet Schor, are the results of men and women in this country being subject to fashion? Explain.

As a result of being subject to fashion, men and women seek social status or the avoiding of social humiliation. Men and women seek to find a connection between their consumptions and who they are. People now believe consumer goods provide an opportunity for people to display their personalities. As another result, people are paying large amounts of money to keep their status. ***

Augustine's Intellectual Odyssey: Why was Augustine so unhappy with his youthful love of theatrical shows?

Augustine claims that fiction watching and reading only divert the thoughts of people into false ideas and dramas, and cause entirely false feelings of emotion. Augustine even claims that his particular sensitivity to tragedy (which others had early noted as evidence of his literary worth) was not only a sin, but a punishment from God. Though he was embroiled in many sins, he was not happy and was always searching for an object for his love. - " He particularly regrets having attended tragedies, since this constitutes immersion in fictional suffering without a recognition of one's own suffering in sin. Tragedy also encourages a "love of suffering" that Augustine now finds absurd and wrong

Early on in his life, Augustine had no words to be able to express his needs and desires. Soon, however, he was sent to school to learn reading and rhetoric. Discussion Augustine's judgment about his early education?

Augustine was very judgmental of his early education because he said he grew skilled with words, gained friends, and abhorred ignorance.

Augustine's Early Years Is Augustine's Confessions an autobiography? How does Augustine choose to write the story of his life?

Augustine's Confessions is an autobiography- he tells his story diffrerently than other autobiographies because he shows how it was not always easy for him to worship God even though God was always good to him. He explains this in this story about himself and his life. Parallels can be drawn between this story and the bible, with praises and prayers and his stories representing scriptures.

Why did Monica postpone Augustine's baptism? In making this decision for the reasons Augustine reports, what did she show she did not understand about baptism?

Augustine's baptism is deferred until he's older. This was a common practice, meant to leave the cleansing of sin until after the hazards of youth and so to get the most out of the ritual when it was finally performed. - I was still a boy, I suddenly became feverishly ill with an oppressive pain in my stomach, and nearly died. Thou hast observed, 0 my God, for Thou wert already my Keeper,51 with what agitation of mind and with what faith I begged for the baptism of Thy Christ, of my God my Lord, beseeching it from the piety of my mother and of the Mother of us all, Thy Church. And the much disturbed mother of my flesh, because with even greater love she was also suffering, in a heart chaste in Thy faith, the labor pains of my eternal salvation, would have quickly arranged for me to be introduced to and cleansed by the saving rites, confessing Thee, 0 Lord Jesus, in the remission of sins, except for the fact that I suddenly became well again. And so, my cleansing was put off,52 as if it were necessary that, if I lived, I should henceforth become more defiled; it being supposed, no doubt, that after that cleansing the guilt in the defilements of sin would have been greater and more dangerous. - she wished to risk the clay whence I might later be formed, rather than the Image53 itself already present. She thought he would get better - Monica postponed his baptism because she knew he was bound to sin. She showed that she did not know everyone is born with original sin therefore it did not matter if he was washed of sins later on in life.

What topic fills the early sections of Book One of Augustine's Confessions?

Book One of Augustine's confessions goes over his early life, talking about children and how bad they are. later, he begins shedding light upon how he wanted to know God and his attributes and just how great he is.

In the first section of Habits of the Heart, Robert Bellah and his colleagues describe the lives of four different individuals: Brian Palmer, Joe Gorman, Margaret Oldham, and Wayne Bauer. Please describe each person's conception of the goals of a good life.

Brian- He cannot give an accoount of change. We don't know if he;ll go back- he might compromise on his own values. His past life wasn't working, so he think the next one magically will. Ge cannot really explain the commitments that define his life. Joe- Joe is a community guy- he values family and community. Community good guy- his position in the community more important than his status in the company. The community he loves does not exist-the work life population separates them. Suffolk is convenient for them. People dont think of suffolk as their family but a suburb. Joe's uneasy feeling about the fear of minority groups makes him want to return to a past. This doesnt help suffolk work out its problems, and provides no framework for thinking about suffolk in the context of a larger society. Hes stuck in his own bubble He would think the analysis of children is wrong, they could get annoyed and leave. Margaret Oldham- Therapist, thinks people should be freed from things that trouble them. She believes people should work hard for what they want. Margaret would think the liberation from your family is best- don't stay in the comfort womb. She wants people to help themselves too. Wayne Bauer- Community organizer. When they have power over their lives, individuals will have greater sense of efficacy. Justice- individual rights and political systems that gives everyone a fair chance. He feels a broadened sense of responsibility being involved politically.

When it comes to "absolute" principles in morality, we have to distinguish, claims Christian Smith. By "absolute," in a moral context, we might mean universally binding, pertaining to all people at all times. But it can also entail a general principle, which applies to all kinds of relevant situations. Which of the two does Christian Smith favor and why?

Christian Smith favors the first- he says that moral precepts can be universally binding yet still specifically tailored to particular situations because universally binding moral precepts are absolute even though they can be qualified.

One of the arguments that emerging adults will sometimes use to defend their moral individualism is that there is a lot of disagreement among different people about morals. What sort of replies does Smith give to this argument?

Christian Smith replies that this supposes that no objective moral truths exist (if they do we don't know them well), and so moral truths are socially constructed. Telling the hard truth or enforcing justice might not make people happy.

Something else emerging adults seem to feel strongly about is that, when it comes to moral matters, they don't want to "judge" anyone else. How does Christian Smith respond to this unwillingness to "judge" others?

Christian Smith says that the word judge is seen in a negative light, and bring into account how Jesus says we the word judge is seen in a negative light, and bring into account how Jesus says we shouldn't judge. But judging also means to assess, estimate, evaluate- this can be done with humility. Judging should not be self righteous- but giving morally grounded reasons to avoid evaluation of morals is impossible. The good is to judge all things in life.

When it comes to the sources of morality, many emerging adults said they simply didn't know. But there were others who ventured an opinion. Some seemed to think that morality was defined by what other people would think about you. Others thought that what was "good" was what functionally improved people's situations. Another group argued that the basis for morality was whether it hurts other people. Others suggested a social contract theory of morality. What are the reasons Smith finds each of these options wanting (that is to say, it fails)?

Christian Smith suggests that accounts of morality cannot hold up to basic critical scrutiny, and moral individualists' approach sources of morality come from social relations. Sources where people get their moral views from, emerging adults actually don't know. Because people do not know sources, they are willing to compromose their own moral values you don't. know whether or not you can trust them. 1- People can have a wide variety of reactions. Their loved ones decide right and wrong but they vary. 2- Situational consequences can often turn out differently than expected- Right and wrong are figured out after the fact when one sees the consequences. They are confusing the basis/reason for some moral truth. to the effects of that truth. Right moral living will have positive effects over a pattern. Sometimes moral action does not make a moral situation better but maybe worse.- standing up in civil rights movement. 3- Hypocrisy kind of- they don't think hurting themselves is as bad. But this has moral implications that can hurt others. 4- Moral truth is the name of a social invention agreed by people to advance in hedonic functional goods. Explain why individuals should be free to think and do as they want. 5- Laws- Lacks the capacity to advance a moral critique of existing laws, rules. Think of the Nazis 6- Karma

Consider for a moment, what if the answer to the previous question is "clearly not." Would coming to this realization cause you to stop using social media? If not, is it your assumption that you are uniquely insulated from the bad effects of social media? Has it every occurred to you that everyone who uses social media likely has this same assumption?

Coming to this realization would not cause me to stop using social media, but it is not my assumption that I am insulated from the bad effects of social media. I get a lot of news on my feed and instant search results of accounts that the algorithm has decided I liked, and they are right a lot of the time. Everyone does not have this same assumption- some people think they aren't affected by social media or their searches at all.

Why, according to MacIntyre, are contemporary oral arguments "interminable"?

Contemporary oral arguments are interminable because nowadays moral arguments are used to express disagreements. 1- rival premises of the argument are formed so that we have no way of weighting claims against each other. Each premise has a different concept from the others. Because in our society there is no est. way of deciding btwn these claims that is terminable. People have also already settled the term in their own minds. 2- the use of expressions whose function in our language is to appeal to objective standards, then the universal appearance assumed by those who engage in moral conflict shown. 3- seeing the roots- there are different premises to moral debates.

Are contemporary social media helping us to have better discussions? Why or why not?

Contemporary social media are not helping us to have better discussions because it is feeding us with information to support our own biases.

In the final section of this chapter, Christian Smith proposes that "if these emerging adults are lost, it is because the larger culture and society into which they are being inducted is also lost." What, according to Smith, are the cultural factors that have left so many emerging adults "morally adrift," unable to think or reason clearly about moral questions?

Cultural factors that have left many emerging adults morally adrift are Cultural Factors that have left so many emerging adults "morally adrift" are:FamiliesSchoolsReligious communitiesSports teamsInternetDigital videoThe advent globalizationWhen talking about schools and how they are responsible, Christian Smith does not say they need to teach the kids on what moral decisions to make. Rather teach them how to make moral decisions.

Describe Fr. Pinckaers' distinction between "freedom of indifference" and "freedom for excellence"? What are the basic characteristics of each and how do they differ?

Freedom of Indifference- you can either do an illusory or a true good. Source of moralities of obligation. Free choice does not proceed from reason and will; it precedes them on the level of action- we can choose to think or not to think, will or not to will. Free choice is the first faculty of the human person whose act does not originally depend on anything but his or her own choice- this is the power to choose indifferently between contraries- yes/no/good/evil. Freedom for excellence- You have disciplined yourself and can realize your excellence- for ex, I am not constrained by ads but influenced by them. Inspires moralities of happiness and the virtues. Our capacity to produce our acts when and how we wish. We have a moral freedem that was to be developed since birth- We must form our personalities and freedom through an education appropriate to our level of development. This regards the question of happiness as decisive for integral ordering of one's life.

What is so mystifying to Augustine about the pear tree incident?

He does not know why he stole the pears. was stuck by the fact that he did not even want the pears - Augustine examines this pointless act of theft and surmises that adolescents want to do evil things because they do not understand the nature of beauty or goodness. - Augustine goes on to explain that he didn't really want the pears (for he had access to better ones), but that he somehow wanted to feast on the wickedness of the theft. He calls on God to help him inquire into the nature of his pleasure in the theft. He admits that if he had been alone he would not have done it. There was no pleasure in the actual obtaining of the pears, nor did he eat them. "Friendship can be a dangerous enemy," he says, and goes on to explain that once the theft was proposed, he would have been ashamed to not go through with it. The idea of friendship

Love finds Augustine: Augustine eventually rejected the teaching of the Manichees and began to read the books of the neo-Platonists. He found many things there that resembled Christianity. What two things did he not find in those books that he found in the Christian Scriptures? What was significant about these two things? That is to say, how did believing in these two things change his approach to the moral life?

He found that the books of the neo-Platonists and Christianity resembled inAugustine did not find that of the incarnation of the Word (Jesus) and the Grace of God were found in the neo-Platonists book like they were in the Christian Scriptures..

Please describe the basic tenets of Stoicism and Epicureanism using the threefold schema: "nature --- rules or disciplines --- human flourishing."

Human Nature- epicureans did not believe in everlasting soul Rule- Materialism - Made use of the only life htey had - Happiness reduced to pleasure and pain Human Flourishing- Do not worry about an afterlife or death - Maximize pleasure minimize pain. Don't go out and live wildly - Avoid politics - No attachments, children, marriage Stoicism Human Nature- - Reason is a RULE - Emotions cannot get in the way of your reason - Some stoics believe in the afterlife- if you give in and live non virtuously, you get punished - Not being sad bc something has to be done Human Flourishing- Don't worry about things you can't control (Floods, natural disasters, economy, disease age family) - Things you can control yourself. Your reactions to these things, or appetites or expectationsThe

One often hears people justify their actions with this excuse: "Why shouldn't I be able to do what I want as long as it doesn't harm anyone else?" This, the so-called "harm principle," goes back to the work On Liberty by John Stuart Mill. What are some of the problems of trying to apply the "harm principle" generally? Moreover, what odd contradiction has arisen in the modern university with the application of Mill's principle?

Humans in general have interminable arguments about what harm is for other people- where is the line drawn? The harm principle provides us the necessary condition for interfering with someone's liberty but is this condition sufficient? Take a look at the economic competition thing. People lose all their money somewhere and that is quite some harm but should the system be abolished because it is allowing some people to harm others? 'No', A contradiction that has arisen is that ***

After living with his mistress for over ten years, Augustine sent her away back to North Africa. He decided to keep their son Adeotatus with him and not send him away with his mother because he thought he could provide his son a better education and better future. Did he make the right decision? If you say no, a man should not separate a child from his or her mother, I ask only that you look back at your reflection on the American soldier in Vietnam. If you said there that the soldier should, if possible, bring the child back to the United States with him, even if he couldn't get the child's mother out, and if your reasoning was that he would be able to provide a better education, more freedom, and a better future for his child in the States than the mother could in Vietnam, why the difference between the two cases? Why was Augustine not justified separating his son from his mother in order to keep him in a place where he could get a better education and yet the American soldier would be justified separating his child from its mother in order to keep the child in a place where he or she could get a better education? This is a moral dilemma. How might we begin to try to untangle the various issues?

I do not think that he should have separated the child from his or her mother. I never said that the child should come back without getting the child's mother out, therefore I stand by what I should say. Augustine was not justified from separating the child from his mother- mostly because if he was truly committed to his mistress he would not have had this

How does "identity marketing" work? Why is it effective?

Identity marketing sells an identity or a personality with a product. According to Schor, "the identity- consumption relationship- who we are not only affects what we buy, what we buy also affects who we become." Clothes transform people psychologically. Personal identity comes into being with the social world. It is effective because people think they are buying a personality or identity with a product, when in reality, people buy things without dissociating from who they think they will become.

How in the modern world do we tend to think about happiness? What would John Paul II, Viktor Frankl, Emily Esfahani Smith, and the authors of "The Happiness Trap" want us to realize about happiness? What are the "risks of meaninglessness"?

In the modern world, we tend to think that happiness is a natural state- but it actually is not just normal or usual because everyone has their ups and downs. We also tend to think unhappiness means there is something wrong with you, when really it is just a part of everyday life. We think to be happy, we need to negate negative feelings, which do not help anything. Finally, we should not think that we are able to control what to think and feel, because we cannot change what we cannot. We cannot force ourselves to be happy through vices either, this short term happiness takes away from us achieving our larger goals. Unhappy thoughts come and go. These authors want us to remember that throughout all of the negativity, we have a larger meaning in this world and in this life, and although we take different routes to find this purpose, that does not mean that it is okay to fall to pleasurable feelings or vices- we need to follow the road we are paving for ourselves. The risks of meaninglessness are risks we take in chasing our short term pleasures- we avoid trying to find meaning in our lives by engulfing ourselves in physical pleasures and we risk ever finding meaning by doing this.

Please give examples of the confusion that can arise between Kantians, utilitarians, and proponents of "inalienable rights"

Kantians- One categorical imperative- act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. Deontological duty is based on ethics. Utilitarians- principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever. according to the tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question: or, what is the same thing in other words to promote or to oppose that happiness. What motivates human beings is pleasure or pain. Greatest good for the greatest number. Proponents of Inalienable Rights- people are free in their own liberty. In particular, the people are free to think and feel what they will, to like or dislike what they will, and the freedom of association. A government can interfere with another person's liberty only to prevent harm to others.

According to Walker Percy, why are men and women subject to fashion? How does the "negating" of the person work?

Men and women are subject to fasion because the efficacy of fashion turns on the self's perception of itself as lacking something, and they believe they can be made whole with a fashion statement that they feel describes themselves. Negating the self works by taking over a style and keeping it for a while, then coming to the conclusion that it does not describe you well and choosing a different style. **

6. Uncivil Discourse: Simulacra of Arguments in Rhetorical Junkspace Why, according to Alasdair MacIntyre, have disagreements become so intractable today? Why have they become so bitter and harsh

Moral argument is interminable- Emotivism- the doctrine that all evaluative judgments and all moral judgments are nothing but expressions of preference, expressions attitude or feeling, insofar as they are moral or evaluative of character. Factual judgments are t/f Moral judgments are neither true nor false- we use moral judgments not only to express our own feelings/attitudes, but also to produce effects in others.

The Modern Moral Landscape: Christian Smith suggests that many emerging adults espouse a view he describes as "moral individualism." What is "moral individualism" and how does it differ from "moral relativism"? Has Christian Smith found that emerging adults have strong arguments to defend their moral individualism? Discuss and explain.

Moral individualism is how one comes to their moral conclusion. These people are unwilling to tell others what they think is wrong- an individual has to decide for themselves what is moral. Moral relativists are convinced there is no objective truth and there are many differences. Individuals decide for themselves what is moral. Since there are disagreements, there cannot be one wrong answer. Emerging adults have strong arguments to defend their moral individualism because they feel that they should not be one to judge others. They believe that expressing their moral views is kind of controlling others.

Would "moralistic therapeutic deism" help challenge these American notions of success, freedom, and justice, or merely reinforce them? Explain.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism would reinforce these American notions because God is uninvolved in their situation and paths of lives and they find nothing wrong with that, similar to the notions. MTD puts humanity at the center and, ultimately, each individual at the center of his or her own belief system. - moralism is not Christianity, and most people who hold these beliefs are likely to identify themselves as Christians when in fact they are living to glorify themselves!

When Augustine first read the Bible, did he find it inspiring? Explain.

No, when Augustine first read the Bible he did not find it inspiring.SC: He thought it was not written particularly well. It was bad latin and said stuff that doesn't make any sense. At that time, the Latin Bible was somewhat roughly translated. This offended his sensibilities as a student of literature, and he says that it caused him to miss the truth and simplicity of the Bible. He, like the Manichees, was offended by the murder, polygamy, and sacrifice practiced by the Old Testament patriarchs.

What does Pope John Paul LL say about the importance of "Knowing Thyself"? Why is it important to one's life? Explain.

Pope John Paul II says that it is important to know yourself so that you can arrive at truths about yourself and engage in yourself more deeply. In knowing the reality of the way the world is, we can know more about ourselves. This is important because if we do not get to know ourselves, we will never find our purpose. It is also important to know ourselves to separate us from the rest of the human beings. It is also important to know ourselves because, as Pope John Paul II says, the more truths we know get us closer to the truth that is God.

Describe what author Robert Epstein calls "The New Mind Control." How does it work?

Some of the persuaders want us to buy or believe one thing, others to buy or believe something else. It is the competitive nature of our society that keeps us, on balance, relatively free. - new sources of control began to emerge that had little or no competition? And what if new means of control were developed that were far more powerful - and far more invisible - than any that have existed in the past? The New Mind control works by manipulating our thoughts through the form of social media and search engines. - Google, for all intents and purposes, has no competition, and people trust its search results implicitly, assuming that the company's mysterious search algorithm is entirely objective and unbiased. This high level of trust, combined with the lack of competition, puts Google in a unique position to impact elections. Even more disturbing, the search-ranking business is entirely unregulated, so Google could favour any candidate it likes without violating any laws. - Are there laws prohibiting Facebook from sending out ads selectively to certain users? Absolutely not; in fact, targeted advertising is how Facebook makes its money. Is Facebook currently manipulating elections in this way? No one knows, but in my view it would be foolish and possibly even improper for Facebook not to do so. - We now have evidence suggesting that on virtually all issues where people are initially undecided, search rankings are impacting almost every decision that people make. They are having an impact on the opinions, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of internet users worldwide - entirely without people's knowledge that this is occurring. Knowing the list is biased does not help either.

Reflections on Virgil's Aeneid: What to do about Dido? Aeneas has a very difficult and in many ways painful decision to make when he chooses to leave Carthage and his beloved Dido. Explain how each of the following would have advised Aeneas about what the "wise" choice to make would be. (Please include both their advice and why they would give the advice they give.) a) the Stoic Epictetus b) Epicurus c) Aristophanes d) Romantics e) modern technocrats (such as H. G. Wells in "Things to Come" or Langdon Gilkey when he first arrived at the Shantung Compound)

Stoics would tell Aeneas to do his duty. Epicureans would try to not leave the comfortable place. Aristophanes would want Aeneas to stay. Romantics would have wanted him to stay Modern technocrats would think it would have been best if he stayed

What are the characteristics of what Christian Smith calls "moralistic therapeutic deism"? Why do you suppose this view is so popular among today's young people?

The characteristics of moralistic Theraputic Deism are: 1. A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth. 2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions. 3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself. 4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem. 5. Good people go to heaven when they die. It is about inculcating a moralistic approach to life, providing therapeutic benefits to its adherance, and a belief in a God who exists but is not personally involved in one's affairs. I think young adults like this because it lacks accountability. God is not needed all the time- just when they need him and when it is convenient.

Humanity and Technology: Is There a Technical Fix for Every Human Problem? Does the Church reject modern science?

The church does not reject modern science. The pope actually says technology is a blessing. Criticism of science and technology is sometimes so severe that it comes close to condemning science itself. On the contrary, science and technology are a wonderful product of a God-given human creativity, since they have provided us with wonderful possibilities, and we all gratefully benefit from them. But we know that this potential is not a neutral one : it can be used either for man's progress or for his degradation.

What is the common American notion of success? The common American notion of freedom? And the common American notion of justice? Explain how these three are connected.

The common american notion of success is the dependence upon economic progress for success. The common american notion of freedom is a meaning left alone by others and not having other beliefs forced upon you. The common american notion of justice is equal opportunities for every individual to pursue whatever he or she understands by happiness. These are connected because they all are individualistic approaches- to each their own.

What, according to Emily Esfahani Smith, is the difference between hedonia and eudaimonia?

The difference between hedonia and eudaimonia is that hedonia is defined as "feeling good", and eudaimonia is defined as "being and doing good" or "seeking to use and develop the best in oneself" in a way that fits with "one's deeper principles". Hedonia aims to maximize pleasure and avoid pain (similar to an Epicurean) regardless of how negative it might be to someone, while Eudaimonia produces a life of depth and can lead to a more meaningful life for not only onesself but for those that the individual impacts.

Reflections on Virgil's Aeneid: Free Will, Fate, and the Gods: Discuss the relationship between the gods, fate, free will, and obligations to others presupposed in the Aeneid.

The gods- interfere with aeneas along his city's fate. Powerful people screw w you and your freedom. Fate- things happen over which you have no control. free will- are you still freedom bound even if you didn't choose it?? Obligation to others- we live out our freedom upon responsible peramiters to be virtuous.

The Source of Confusion: A Confusion of Sources How does Alasdair MacIntyre describe the current state of our moral language?

The language of orality is in the same state of grave disorder as the language of natural science in an imaginary world- fragments of a conceptual scheme, parts which now lack those contexts from which their significance derived. We lost our comprehension or morality.

According to John Paul II, what is the main problem with "consumerism"? Explain.

The main problem with consumerism is that people ignore the various ways the realities of people are intelligent and free and take on the consumer attitude which is bad for spiritual and physical health, as people become more materialistic. There is a notable difference between "having" and "being", that people do not realize. By seeing one's possessions as the main purpose, people shut out actual good and look at things through self interest and not friendship. quote- the "few who possess much—who do not really succeed in 'being' because, through a reversal of the hierarchy of values, they are hindered by the cult of 'having.'"

What, according to Greg Jackson ("Vicious Cycles: Theses on a Philosophy of News"), are the problems with the way we as a society currently think about "news"?

The news today is about the careers of politicians and journalists. News tells us that this is important, but no more important thean the next segment. - If you are a teacher or a car mechanic or a doctor, your job is not simply to identify a problem but to connect people to a solution. The news media doesn't do this. News do not connect people. - Connection to TV- people think they are doing something serious but are doing something trivial and fun- so they think serious things are effortless/enjoyable. - Our mental representation of the world is essentially the product of a for-profit entertainment industry- our government cannot be competent if what we demand of it is not boring.People see the news as entertainment, if not it is boring. - it has created by offering explainers and analyses to give coherence to so much terrifying chaos and by employing informational docents, in the form of likable media figures, to soothe our fear of a world on fire with their good humor, their intelligence, and the reassuring whisper embedded in their format: the news exists so it can disappear. - It strives to be factual but adheres to strict conventions of format about what can and can't appear. It collapses the dimensionality we rely on to judge the world around us so that the proportions of the world it presents cannot agree with the proportions of our lives—"cannot" because the news is above all else this proportionality, this idiosyncratic condensation of the world out there.

What is the point of Walker Percy's self-examination questions in Lost in the Cosmos? Explain.

The point of the self examination questions is to figure out if you really know yourself. Walker percy wants people to self reflect in a way that asks, what is the deal with me? He wants us to have self awareness- He wants to test us to see just how well we know ourselves, the cosmos and our relation to others, and our knowledge of what to do with ourselves. This way, we can be cognizant of how well we truly do know ourselves.

Although all of these four people have very different views of the good life, Bellah describes them as "Different Voices in a Common Tradition." What is that "common tradition"? What affect does that "common tradition" have on the way we think about the goals of the political society and, in particular, what governments are for?

These people draw from different traditions. They all share a common moral vocab- first language- of american individualism Each of them rep how americans use private and public life. integrated public world into their lives. All four involved in caring of others. Have difficulty articulating richness.

What was the Manicheean account of the origin of evil? Compare this account with the orthodox Christian account Augustine comes to embrace later in life?

They say evil is a subject of the universe. At that time, the Latin Bible was somewhat roughly translated. This offended his sensibilities as a student of literature, and he says that it caused him to miss the truth and simplicity of the Bible. He, like the Manichees, was offended by the murder, polygamy, and sacrifice practiced by the Old Testament patriarchs. The further something gets away from God, the more evil it becomes - until reaching the bottom rung of separation from God, which is pure evil. Evil, Augustine believes, is just a name for something separated from God, and all things on Earth are, in varying degrees, separated from God. Evil is a privation of Good- that is all evil is.

Why would these four individuals have a hard time having any kind of discussion about the common good and collective actions of the community, state, or nation?

They would have a hard time having a discussion about the common good because they have differing thoughts about the common good, and because they have different opinions about their roles in the community state or nation. when asked about reasons for community involvement, americans will justify that it is in their own self interest

Nature, Human Nature, and Human Flourishing Why, according to Alasdair MacIntyre, did the Enlightenment project of justifying morality fail? (Please describe in terms of the threefold schema that characterized classic moral theory.)

Three elements- Conception of untutored human nature, conception of the precepts of rational ethics and the conception of human-nature-as-it-could-be-if-it-realized-telos The Enlightenment project of justifying morality failed because. - Reason can supply, no genuine comprehension of man's true end- power of reason was destroyed by the fall of man. The justification of the virtues depends upon some prior justificationof rules and principles; and if the latter become radically problematic, as they have, so also must the former. A. First attempt: grounding morality in sentiments, feelings (especially sympathy). Hume, Diderot, Adam Smith, the Utilitarians (Bentham, Mill). Problems: These sentiments vary widely by person, class, culture. An arbitrary choice of preferred feelings is made. (49) This account assumes that human happiness is a simple, unitary matter (e.g., quantity of pleasure). Happiness is polymorphous. Mill's "higher" and "lower" pleasures. (63) No adequate account of the motivation for morality. Sympathy is weak, inconstant. One can make a pragmatic case for the existence of justice, but there's no avoiding the problem of Hobbes's "sensible knave", who obeys the rules of justice only when there in his own interest, who pursues the appearance (not the reality) of trustworthiness. B. Second attempt: ground morality in the demands of pure reason. (Kant, Rawls, Gewirth) Kant's criteria of universalizability is too weak -- it is compatible with almost any moral opinion (including the immoralism of the sensible knave). (45) Gewirth illegitimately introduces the category of "rights", which can only make sense in a fixed social context. (66-67) C. Third attempt: the appeal to raw "intuitions" of goodness, morality (Sidgwick, G.E. Moore) These "intuitions" merely reify the prejudices of a social class in a specific period. The moral claims lose all meaning, once broken free from their original teleological & theological contexts. (15, 60, 65, 110-111) D. Fourth attempt: The irrationalism of criterionless choice. (Kierkegaard) In Either/Or (Enten-Eller), Kierkegaard contrasts two ways of life: the aesthetic ("A", the seducer) and the ethical (Judge William's discourse on marriage). For the aesthete, moral categories do not even arise. Kierkegaard believed that the seriousness of choice would drive one to the ethical. (40) Internal conflict between Kierkegaards conception of radical choice and his conception of the authoritativeness of the ethical (assumed to take the shape of traditional Christian morality). If we choose the ethical for no reason, how can it have authority over us.

Why, according to MacIntyre, is "unmasking" the supposed hypocrisy of our opponents so much a part of our current moral discourse?

Unmasking- unmasking the motives of arbitrary will and desire which sustain moral masks is characteristically modern Unmasking arbitrariness in others may be a defense against uncovering it in ourselves.