Philosophy of the Human Person and Society (AP9002C)

Content

This unit is devoted to the examination of the basic Western philosophical understanding of the human person as individual and socio-political. The topics covered in this unit might include nature, agency, the human subject and other issues of the individual, as well as the basis, purpose and structure of the state’s authority, liberalism, and the concept of justice. Historical, modern, and contemporary approaches to the understanding of human nature will be discussed; this will help learners reflect on the human person as a moral and social subject.

Learning outcomes

Pedagogy

Lectures and in-class exercises

Indicative Bibliography

• Cahn, Stephen M., ed. Classics of Political and Moral Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
• Dupre, Louis. Transcendent Selfhood: The Loss and Recovery of the Inner Life. New York: Seabury, 1976.
• Goodin, Robert E., and Philip Pettit, eds. A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995.
• Hampton, Jean E. Political Philosophy. Dimensions of Philosophy. Boulder: Westview, 2018.
• Knowles, Dudley. Political Philosophy. Fundamentals of Philosophy. London: Routledge, 2001.
• Scheler, Max. Man’s Place in Nature. Translated and Introduced by H. Meyerhoff. Boston: Beacon Press, 1961.
• Stevenson, L. The Study of Human Nature: A Reader. 2^nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Torchia, Joseph. Exploring Personhood: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Human Nature. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008.
• Trigg, Roger. Ideas of Human Nature: A Historical Introduction Ideas of Human Nature: A Historical Introduction. 4^th ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.
• Weigel, Peter, and Joseph Prud’homme, eds. The Philosophy of Human Nature in Christian Perspective. New York: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers, 2016.

Assessment