What does it mean for a life to go well? What would it look like for a life to be lived well? In short, what shape would a life worth living take?
Course Description
We will explore these questions through engagement with the lives and visions of founding figures from seven diverse traditions of imagining a good life: the Buddha, the Tanakh and the Rabbis, Jesus of Nazareth, Muhammad, North American Indigenous wisdom, and John Stuart Mill. The course will also feature visits from contemporary individuals who understand their lives to be shaped by the traditions in question.
Instructors for Spring '23

Yale Center for Faith & Culture

Yale Center for Faith & Culture

Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures

Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures

Yale Center for Faith & Culture

Department of Religious Studies

Department of Philosophy & Classics
Syllabus
01. INTRODUCTION
Course Introduction (seminar)
- Rob Riemen, Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal, 83-96
The Tripartite Structure of the Good Life (lecture)
- Robert Nozick, “The Experience Machine,” Anarchy, State, and Utopia, 42-45
- Cicero, On Moral Ends, 3.26-9
- Seneca, Letters on Ethics 71.3-7, 19-28
- “The Tripartite Formal Structure of Human Flourishing: A Hypothesis”
What is a Tradition? Part I (seminar)
- Philip J. Ivanhoe, “Being in and Learning from Tradition,” Confucian Reflections: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times, 1-16
- Saba Mahmood, The Politics of Piety, ix-xii
What is a Tradition? Part II (seminar at the Beinecke)
- "Declaration of Independence"
- "The Declaration of Sentiments," Seneca Falls Conference
- Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" (excerpts)
- Langston Hughes, "Let America Be America Again"
Implicit and Explicit Visions of the Good Life (seminar)
- David Foster Wallace, “This is Water”
- David Foster Wallace, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I Will Never Do Again," excerpt
Course Questions (lecture)
02. utilitarian visions
Utilitarianism & Happiness (seminar)
- John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, Chapter 2 & pp. 198-201
- Peter Singer and Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, “The Good Life—A Utilitarian Perspective”
Effective Altruism (seminar)
- Ajeya Cotra, "Introduction to Effective Altruism"
- Toby Ord, "Global Poverty and the Demands of Morality"
- The Center for Effective Altruism, Introduction to Effective Altruism
A Life Shaped by Effective Altruism (guest lecture)
03. jewish visions
The Tanakh (seminar)
- Genesis 1-3, 9, 12:1-7, 17:1-17, 21:1-5; Deuteronomy 5-6; Leviticus 19:9-18; Psalm 100, 119:1-16; Isaiah 57:14-58:14
- "On Becoming a Woman," Qalonymos ben Qalonymos
- Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:19
- "Why Study Torah?"
The Rabbis (seminar)
- Oven of Akhnai (Bava Metzia 59b.1-11)
- Sh'nayim Ochazim/property disputes (Bava Metzia 2a.1-6)
- R'Benay Lappe: "An Unrecognizable Jewish Future: A Queer Talmudic Take"
- "Koach Baruch Frazier: Judaism Unbound Episode 275 - Rhythms of Sacred Protest"
A Life Shaped by Judaism (guest lecture)
Course Retreat
Judaism, Work, & Rest (seminar)
- Exodus 20; Leviticus 25
- Susannah and Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath, vii-xvi; 1-32; 95-101; "A Responsum on the Sabbath," 177-181
- Be'chol Lashon's Lunar New Year Kabbalat Shabbat (1:32-20:27)
- Jonathan Sacks, Radical Then, Radical Now, 130-135
04. YALE’S VISION OF A LIFE WORTH LIVING
Yale and the Good Life (seminar)
- Dan Schawbel, Me 2.0, 1-22
- Pascal Bruckner, Perpetual Euphoria, selections
- “Yale’s Most Popular Class Ever: Happiness,” New York Times, Jan 26, 2018
- William Deresiewicz, “Don’t Send Your Kid to the Ivy League”
- Hartmut Rosa, “Two Versions of the Good Life and Two Forms of Fear,” selections
- Marina Keegan, “The Opposite of Loneliness”
- Peter Salovey, “Repair the World!”
- The Mission Statement of Yale College
Yale and the Good Life (guest lecture)
05. EXPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALISt visions
Origins of Expressive Individualism (seminar)
- Friedrich Schleiermacher, Soliloquies, 9, 26–48, 69–88
- Oscar Wilde, “The Soul of Man under Socialism,” selections
Authenticity (seminar)
- Charles Taylor, The Ethics of Authenticity, 25-53
- Susan Wolf, "The Meaning of Lives"
Expressive Individualism in Popular Culture (lecture)
Self-Reflection, Self-Realization, Self-Expression (seminar)
- Wilde, “The Soul of Man under Socialism,” 247–53
- ––––––, De profundis, selections
06. CHRISTIAN visions
New Testament (seminar)
- Mark
- Matthew 5-7
- John 14-17
- Romans 5-8
- Revelation 21-22
A Life Shaped by Jesus (guest lecture)
The Human Place in the World (seminar)
- Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, selections
- Kathryn Tanner, "The Difference Theological Anthropology Makes"
Christianity & Forgiveness (seminar)
- Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited, 74-109
- Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom, 90-110
- Anne Lamott, Hallelujah Anyway, 3-19, 141-157
07. Indigenous Visions
Ecology, Relationality, and Myth (seminar)
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, "Skywoman Falling," "Council of Pecans"
- JB the First Lady, The Most Unprotected Girl
Ecology, Resilience, and Identity (seminar)
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, "Wisgaak Gokpenagen: A Black Ash Basket"
- Gregory Cajete, Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence, "Prologue," "Plants, Food, Medicine, and Gardening"
- Marilyn Dumont, Not Just a Platform For My Dance
A Life Shaped by Indigenous Ecological Visions (guest lecture)
08. BUDDHISt visions
The Buddha (seminar)
- The Story of Gotama Buddha (selections)
- Life of the Buddha, 5.1-39, 14
- Wheel of Law (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta)
The Self, the World, and Compassion (seminar)
- Peter Harvey, "Theravada Philosophy of Mind and the Person," Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings, 265-274
- Discourses of the Ancient Nuns (Bhikkhuni-samyutta), #10 (Vajira)
- Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics, 123-126
- The Dalai Lama, How to See Yourself As You Really Are, 32-38, 49-59, 67-73, 175-184, 201-208, 223-236
A Life Shaped by the Buddha (guest lecture)
Buddhism and Food (seminar)
- Geshe Thubten Soepa, Protecting the Lives of Helpless Beings, Sections 1 & 3
09. muslim visions
Islam: The Multidimensional Nature (seminar)
- Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad, A Thinking Person's Guide to Islam, Chapter 2, What is Islam?
- Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, Living Islam with Purpose
A Life Shaped by Islam (guest lecture)
Living Islam with Love (seminar)
- Abdal Hakim Murad, The Sunna as Primordiality
- Reflections on Sainthood by Sanders and Sugich (podcast with transcript)
- Rabia al-Adawiyya, Inspirational Muslim Women (video)
Prayer: Peace, Practice, Protest (seminar)
- Recitation of the opening Surah of the Quran by Abdul Rahman Al-Ossi
- Asad Tarsin, Being Muslim, 44-73
- Martin Nguyen, Modern Muslim Theology, 155-180
***
Secular Faith (seminar)
- Martin Hägglund, This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom, "Natural and Spiritual Freedom," 173-211
10. CONCLUSION
Transformation & Commitment (seminar)
What Is a Life Worth Living? (seminar)
- Presentations and discussion of student visions
Visions of Flourishing Life (lecture)
Student presentations of their visions of flourishing life.