ILS2330 The Good Life: Critical Perspectives

Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Antigone

Oedipus, the former ruler of Thebes, has died. Now, when his young daughter Antigone defies her uncle, Kreon, the new ruler, because he has prohibited the burial of her dead brother, she and he enact a primal conflict between young and old, woman and man, individual and ruler, family and state, courageous and self-sacrificing reverence for the gods of the earth and perhaps self-serving allegiance to the gods of the sky. 

Echoing through western culture for more than two millennia, Sophocles' Antigone has been a touchstone of thinking about human conflict and human tragedy, the role of the divine in human life, and the degree to which men and women are the creators of their own destiny. 

"Is Ethics Based on Virtue?"

Is Ethics Based on Virtue? explores Aristotle's and other ancient views of virtue and the good life, as well as contemporary virtue ethics with its focus on emotions, personal relationships, character, and long-term values. (Running time: 29 minutes)

"Stoicism: Rationality and Acceptance"

Your focus moves to the beginnings of Stoic moral theory in the writings of Seneca and Epictetus. Their accounts of a good life describe one that is moderate, reasonable, and controlled, living in harmony with the universe and society, and accepting of the inevitability of death. (Running time: 29 minutes)

"Everything we hear is a n opinion, not a fact.  Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."

                                                      - Marcus Aurelius