In this course, we will read a number of writers concerned with the care of the soul, ranging from classical antiquity to the present day, and from explicitly spiritual writers to secular scientists. The aims of this reading will be twofold. The first goal is theoretical: to understand what each writer is saying about the nature of the soul, its good, and the methods s/he suggests for achieving it. The second goal is practical: to attempt to apply the resources provided by these writers to our own lives, for our own moral improvement—asking ourselves what makes sense in our own experience from what we have read, whether indeed it might be helpful, and how it might be put to good use in our own journeys.

The course might fruitfully be seen as divided into four sections. The first section will examine some key ideas from classical antiquity in the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle: Plato’s early doctrine that virtue is knowledge and his conception of the tripartite soul from the middle period, and Aristotle’s conceptions of virtue and continence. The middle section of the course will be an extended examination of how ideas from Greek antiquity (principally Platonic psychology) became amalgamated with Christian theology and ascetic practices arising from the Desert Movement in North Africa to form a Christian moral psychology, particularly in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. To do this, we will briefly review some key ideas from the Hebrew Scriptures and Christian New Testament, then read about the beginnings of explicit Christian spiritual practices in the Desert Fathers, and then pick up this tradition at the other end, in the writings of a 19th-century Russian Orthodox monk named Theophan the Recluse. The third section will deal with the psychology of the unconscious of Freud and Jung, psychotherapeutic method, and philosophical issues raised by the unconscious that may threaten the traditional conception of ethics. The final section of the course will deal with issues arising for ethics out of evolutionary psychology,, animal behavior, and sociobiology.

Format of Course

There are two components to the course: the plenary lecture/discussion sections, which meet twice a week (MW 11-12), and four discussion groups. Everyone enrolled in PHIL 255 must also be in one of the discussion groups. These differ in their emphasis and their meeting times:

Group 1	Philosophical ANalysis	M 4:15	Fisk 413	Springer	espringer
Group 2	Clinical Psychotherapy	F 11	Fisk 211	Englehardt	richengel@set.net
Group 3	Christian Spirituality	Th 7	Fisk 413	Stickney	jbstickney@juno.com
Group 4	FYI (frosh only)	M 7	Fisk 413	Horst	shorst

Group 1 Philosophical Analysis M 4:15-5:30 Fisk 413 Springer espringer

Group 2 Clinical Therapy F 11-12 Fisk 211 Englehardt richengel@set.net

Group 3 Christian Spirituality Th 7-8:30 Fisk 413 Stickney jbstickney@juno.com

Group 4 FYI (frosh only) M 7-8:30 Fisk413 Horst shorst

These sections are limited to approximately 15 students each, so group assignments are not very flexible.

The twice-weekly plenary sessions will be in a lecture/discussion format, and will center on the exposition and analysis of the readings for the course. The discussion groups will each have a unique character and format, and may either concentrate on the topics covered in the plenary sessions or else concentrate on readings, techniques and exercises unique to the group. Some will concentrate primarily on on understanding and critical analysis, and some more on experiential applications.

Use of the Web

The most up-to-date information on the class will be found at the course homepage, located at http://www.wesleyan.edu/phil/courses/255/f99/home.htm. There will be a WebBoard discussion group for the class, which will be accessible through the main course website.

Graded Work

Traditionally, the bulk of course grades has consisted of papers written for the professor’s eyes alone. (An unnatural mode of writing if ever there was one!) In this course, we will experiment with a radically new way of doing projects: namely, composing them as web pages available to other class members and to the public at large. The nature of the projects will be to take some one writer or work that has some bearing on moral psychology—a psychological theory, a view of the good of the soul, a therapeutic technique—that is not covered in the class, and provide information on it for those seeking resources in moral psychology. These can have their sources in theoretical psychology, in a spiritual tradition with which you feel some affinity, or from philosophy.

These projects will be due up in a finished form in mid-November. Students will then form small groups which will read and comment on one another's pages. Both the online paper and the commentary process are part of the graded work for the course.

Work for Sections

In addition to this rather minimal load of written work that is common to the entire class, section leaders will assign additional work in the form of readings, journaling and other exercises, and discussion topics. (In the case of the FYI section, these will be calculated as part of the grade for the course.)

The large projects will count for 65% of your grade, regular class attendance and participation the discussion groups for 35%. Note that this class is only offered CR/U, with the consequence that you need an average of C to pass.

Texts

Available at Atticus:

Additional readings will be ordered or copied for the final unit on evolutionary psychology.

Class	Date	Title	Readings
1a	9/6	Welcome
1b	9/8	Moral and Pre-Moral notions of the Good	Gorgias, through 486 Riker, Ch. 2
2a	9/13	The argument for the good	Gorgias, 487end
2b	9/15	Virtue is Knowledge	Gorgias, Polus Section
3a	9/20	The Tripartite Soul	Republic, I-IV
3b	9/22	The divided line and ascent	Republic, V-VII
4a	9/27	Aristotle: Happiness requires more than virtue. Species-specific nature of arete	Nichomachean Ethics I-II
4b	9/29	Aristotle's list of virtues	Ethics, III-V
5a	10/4	Primer on Christianity	See assignment on web
5b	10/6	Early Christian spirituality -- the Desert Fathers	Readings in Desert Sayings TBA
6a	10/11	Theophan -- theoretical psychology	Chs. 1-13
6b	10/13	The intended and fallen states of humanity	Chs. 16-30
7a	10/18	Making progress in virtue	Chs. 31-48
7b	10/20	Spiritual warfare	Chs. 49-62
8a	10/25	Various topics	Chs. 63-80
8b	10/27	The social unconscious	Riker, 3 More TBA
9a	11/1	The personal unconscious and Freud and Jung	Riker, 4 More TBA
9b	11/3	TBA	TBA
10a	11/8	The challenge to ethics	Riker, 5
10b	11/10	TBA	TBA
11a	15	Integrating sections	TBA
11b	17	Rational self-interest and game theory	TBA
12a	11/29	Primer on evolution	TBA
12b	12/1	Ev. Psych	TBA
13a	12/6	Ev. Psych	TBA
13b	12/8	Ev. Psych	TBA