{"id":93,"date":"2014-12-30T22:37:27","date_gmt":"2014-12-30T22:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidjamesbar.net\/?page_id=93"},"modified":"2022-10-19T17:02:53","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T17:02:53","slug":"riddles-of-existence-winter-2015","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/davidjamesbar.net\/?page_id=93","title":{"rendered":"Riddles of Existence"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Course description:<\/strong> \u00a0A traditional view holds that human life begins at conception, that an adult at the end of his or her life can be the same person that was once a child and who was before that that an embryo, and that this same person will go on to survive the death of his or her body.\u00a0 Does this traditional conception of human existence hold up to critical scrutiny?\u00a0 In this introductory philosophy course, we will address such fundamental questions of human existence as:\u00a0 When does life begin?\u00a0 When during the development of an embryo into an adult human being does one acquire moral rights?\u00a0 What is a mind, and what is the mind\u2019s relationship to the brain?\u00a0 Do animals have minds?\u00a0 Could robots or computers have minds someday?\u00a0 Do you have an immaterial soul that is capable of surviving the death of your body and brain?\u00a0 When does life end, and why is it bad?\u00a0 Do human beings in a persistent vegetative state have the same right to life that most adult humans have?\u00a0 Is euthanasia ever morally permissible?\u00a0 No prior background in philosophy will be presupposed, although a willingness to ask difficult questions and develop careful and methodical reasoning in support of one\u2019s answers will be essential.<\/p>\n

Course Documents:<\/strong><\/p>\n