PHIL-111 Ethics of Life/Death: Middle Ages

Faculty:

Lewis, Neil

Ethical problems concerning life and death are of great concern to
us nowadays. Is it permissible to execute criminals, to commit
suicide, or have others assist one, to kill in war? These issues
were the subject of intensive discussion in medieval thinkers,
from St. Augustine in the late 5th century to thinkers such as
Thomas Aquinas and others in the 13th and 14th centuries. Whether
one agrees with their views or not, it cannot be denied that their
theorizing on these issues has deeply affected the way we think
about these matters; the distinction between just and unjust wars,
for example, stems from them. This course will study medieval
debates over these issues. In particular, we will consider
medieval views on the killing of animals versus humans, killing in
self-defense, killing in war, the killing of criminals, and
suicide. It should be noted that the most philosophically rich
discussions of these issues in the middle ages take place in the
writings of theologians, and the readings for this course will
make frequent reference to Christian teaching and scripture,
although we will be approaching the material as philosophers, not
theologians.

The reading list for this course remains to be determined. We will
read quite a bit of Aquinas and Augustine, but also translations
by the instructor of a fair amount of lesser known, but
nonetheless interesting material by his contemporaries.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: None

Other academic years
There is information about this course number in other academic years:

• 2006-2007 Fall and Spring
• 2008-2009 Fall and Spring
• 2009-2010 Fall and Spring
• 2012-2013 Fall and Spring
• 2013-2014 Fall and Spring

More information
Look for this course in the schedule of classes.

The academic department web site for this program may provide other details about this course.