Doktoranský seminář 2018

In this seminar we will deal with some fundamental ethical questions pertaining to the meaning of life, its quality and goodness. We shall compare various approaches, in particular of Thomas Aquinas, David Benatar and John Finnis.

Requirements: Active participation. Weekly submission of 1-3 questions + brief summary of your readings. Recommended readings are set bellow in bold and passages indicated next to the bullets (Aquinas, Finnis, Benatar). These are recommendations only, please, feel free to focus on particular issues of your interest (within the broad scope of our seminar).

Program

When and where: 10am-1pm in "zasedačka"

01.06. "The Good Life: Themes from Benatar" (William F. Vallicella)

08.06. "The Good Life: Themes from Aquinas"

15.06. "The Good Life: Themes from Finnis"

Primary literature

Thomas AQUINAS, Summa theologiae RECOMMENDED:

• ST I-II, q.2 (hapinnes a goal of human life)
• ST I-II, q.6-7 (voluntariness and circumstances)
• ST I-II, q.18 (goodness and malice human acts)
• ST I-II, q. 94 (natural law)
• ST II-II, q. 64 (double effect)

Secondary literture

ČERNÝ, David, Princip dvojího účinku: zabíjení v mezích morálky, 2016

• Overview of various acounts of morality of acts with negative and positive effects, both historical (starting with Thomas Aquinas) and contemporary.

BENATAR, David, The Human Predicament, Oxford, 2017.

• RECOMMENDED: ch. 1-3 (Introduction, Meaning, Meaninglessnes) and 8 (Conclusion)

FINNIS, John, "Aquinas' Moral, Political and Legal Philosophy", 2017 [1]

FINNIS, John, Natural Law and Natural Rights, Oxford, 1980, 2011.

• RECOMMENDED: ch. 3-5 (Basic Goods and Practical Reasonableness)

GRISEZ, Germain, “The First Principle of Practical Reason: A Commentary on the Summa Theologiae, 1–2, Question 94, Article 2”, 1965 [2]

GRISEZ, Germain, SHAW, Russell Beyond New Morality: The Reponsibilities of Freedom, 1974/1988

• Brilliant introduction to (a certain conception of) ethics, covering topics such as freedom, fullfillment, basic goods, action, etc.

JENSEN, Steven J. Knowing the Natural Law: From Precepts and Inclinations to Deriving Oughts (Washington, DC: CUA Press, 2015) NDPR

OSBORNE, Thomas, Human Action in Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, and William Ockham, 2014

• Lucid comparative study of the topics such as causes of the act, practical reason, stages of the acts and their evaluation.

Participants

• ARZROOMCHILAR Ehsan
• EDL Tomáš
• GONZALEZ MARIJUÁN Dan Emilio (visitor)
• JAROLÍMOVÁ Jana
• KOHOUTOVÁ Alena
• KUTARŇA Andrej
• KILBERGER Pavel
• KLOZAR Karel
• LACCA Emanuele, PhD (visitor)
• MILICIC Nenad
• PELTAN Václac (visitor)
• WERNEROVÁ Barbora