Title page from the first edition of John Locke's Two Treatises of Government.

Basic Program Year Three: Spring

Cost
525.00

This course was available in the past and may be presented again as part of the Basic Program of Liberal Education curriculum.

Zero in on philosophical and psychological ideas about human nature and morality in this Year 3 Spring Seminar. Students will investigate Thomas Aquinas' Treatise on Law, John Locke's Second Treatise on Government, and Immanuel Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals. In the Tutorial section of the course, students will turn to a close reading of Dante’s most famous work, Inferno.

Course Outline

For specific dates, see at right under each Section: SCHEDULE AND LOCATION. Reading schedule is identical across all Sections.

Seminar

Week / Seminar

  1. Aquinas, Treatise on Law, Questions 90-91 (pp. 1-17)
  2. Aquinas, Treatise on Law, Questions 92-94 (pp. 18-43)
  3. Aquinas, Treatise on Law, Questions 95-97 (pp. 44-69)
  4. Locke, Second Treatise, Chapters I-IX
  5. Locke, Second Treatise, Chapters X-XIX
  6. Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Preface
  7. Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, First Section
  8. Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Second Section (to "We have thus shown that if duty is a concept..." - p. 33; Ak. 425)
  9. Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Second Section
  10. Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Third Section

Tutorial

Week / Tutorial

  1. Dante, Inferno, through Canto III
  2. Dante, Inferno, through Canto VI
  3. Dante, Inferno, through Canto X
  4. Dante, Inferno, through Canto XIII
  5. Dante, Inferno, through Canto XVII
  6. Dante, Inferno, through Canto XX
  7. Dante, Inferno, through Canto XXIII
  8. Dante, Inferno, through Canto XXVII
  9. Dante, Inferno, through Canto XXXI
  10. Dante, Inferno, through Canto XXXIV

Required Texts

•           Aquinas, Treatise on Law, Hackett, ISBN 978-0872205482.

•           Locke, Second Treatise on Government, Hackett, ISBN 978-0915144860.

•           Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Hackett, ISBN 978-0872201668.

•           Dante, Inferno, tr. Hollander, ISBN 978-0385496988.

Purchase

Books are available using the Textbook order form from the Gleacher Center Bookstore online, or by using the ISBN number to order the correct edition elsewhere.

Notes

Online registration closes Friday, March 15 at 5 pm CT.

You will receive an invitation to join the Canvas site for the course a week before the class begins. The Zoom link for the course will be in Canvas. For more information about Canvas, please see our Remote Learning Resources page.