Common threads · 6 books
Pleasure, dignity, luck, and flourishing. Test the idea that a good life is simply a life with more happiness in it.
Books, curator notes, and what to read next.
John Stuart Mill
Study Mill's account of happiness, then his replies to objections about dignity, justice, and demanding duties.
Next: The Methods of Ethics
Henry Sidgwick
Compare egoism, intuitionism, and utilitarianism. Keep a list of the tensions Sidgwick cannot easily resolve.
Next: Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Robert Nozick
Nozick defends rights against redistributive patterns. Examine both the entitlement argument and the experience machine.
Next: The Fragility of Goodness
Martha Nussbaum
Greek tragedy and philosophy become tests of whether a good life can be secured against luck and loss.
Next: The Pursuit of Unhappiness
Daniel M. Haybron
Haybron separates happiness from momentary pleasure. Ask how social conditions can support or frustrate well-being.
Next: Meaning in Life and Why It Matters
Susan Wolf
Wolf combines personal engagement with worthwhile projects. Compare meaningfulness with happiness and moral goodness.
Also includes Anarchy, State, and Utopia
A political philosophy seminar on rights, distribution, oppression, and capabilities. Try each theory on the same real disagreement.
Also includes The Fragility of Goodness
Read selected dialogues from Complete Works, then study justice, knowledge, ethics, and political rule with modern scholars. This is a topic course, not every dialogue in sequence.
Also includes Meaning in Life and Why It Matters
Freedom, absurdity, commitment, and meaning. These books offer arguments about living well rather than promises of an easy answer.
