Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature (PHIL 181)

Professor Gendler begins with a poll of the class about whether students have elected to take a voluntary no-Internet pledge, and distributes stickers to help students who have made the pledge stick to their resolve. She then moves to the substantive part of the lecture, where she introduces Plato's analogy between the city-state and the soul and articulates Plato's response to Glaucon's challenge: justice is a kind of health--the well-ordered working of each of the parts of the individual—and thus is intrinsically valuable. This theme is explored further via psychological research on the 'progress principle' and 'hedonic treadmill,' as well as in an introduction to Aristotle's argument that reflection and reasoning are the function of humanity and thus the highest good.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Chapter 1. Internet Poll and Self-Regulation
05:57 - Chapter 2. Plato's Response to Glaucon's ChallengeChapter
28:57 - Chapter 3. Jonathan Haidt's Two Principles of Happiness
30:54 - Chapter 4. Aristotle on Happiness and Teleology

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://oyc.yale.edu

This course was recorded in Spring 2011.