WEBVTT 00:01.200 --> 00:04.740 Professor Shelly Kagan: All right, so this is Philosophy 00:04.737 --> 00:07.477 176. The class is on death. 00:07.480 --> 00:09.580 My name is Shelly Kagan. 00:09.580 --> 00:15.350 The very first thing I want to do is to invite you to call me 00:15.345 --> 00:17.525 Shelly. That is, if we meet on the 00:17.531 --> 00:19.921 street, you come talk to me during office hours, 00:19.919 --> 00:22.979 you ask some question; Shelly's the name that I 00:22.983 --> 00:25.363 respond to. I will, eventually, 00:25.356 --> 00:29.546 respond to Professor Kagan, but the synapses take a bit 00:29.553 --> 00:33.363 longer for that. It's not the name I immediately 00:33.362 --> 00:35.722 recognize. I have found that over the 00:35.719 --> 00:39.129 years, fewer and fewer students feel comfortable calling me 00:39.131 --> 00:40.751 Shelly. When I was young, 00:40.749 --> 00:41.899 it seemed to work. 00:41.900 --> 00:46.490 Now I'm gray and august. 00:46.490 --> 00:50.830 But if you're comfortable with it, it's the name that I prefer 00:50.829 --> 00:53.199 to be called by. Now, as I say, 00:53.195 --> 00:55.205 this is a class on death. 00:55.210 --> 00:59.120 But it's a philosophy class, and what that means is that the 00:59.124 --> 01:02.914 set of topics that we're going to be talking about in this 01:02.905 --> 01:06.745 class are not identical to the topics that other classes on 01:06.753 --> 01:08.813 death might try to cover. 01:08.810 --> 01:13.130 So the first thing I want to do is say something about the 01:13.131 --> 01:17.981 things we won't be talking about that you might reasonably expect 01:17.983 --> 01:21.853 or hope that a class on death would talk about, 01:21.849 --> 01:25.889 so that if this is not the class you were looking for, 01:25.888 --> 01:30.078 you still have time to go check out some other class. 01:30.080 --> 01:33.650 So here are some things that a class on death could cover that 01:33.651 --> 01:34.941 we won't talk about. 01:34.940 --> 01:38.770 What I primarily have in mind are sort of psychological and 01:38.767 --> 01:41.927 sociological questions about the nature of death, 01:41.934 --> 01:43.984 or the phenomenon of death. 01:43.980 --> 01:49.470 So, a class on death might well have a discussion of the process 01:49.473 --> 01:54.623 of dying and coming to reconcile yourself with the fact that 01:54.617 --> 01:56.707 you're going to die. 01:56.709 --> 02:00.149 Some of you may know about Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' 02:00.154 --> 02:03.744 discussion of the so-called five stages of dying. 02:03.739 --> 02:06.009 There's denial, and then there's anger, 02:06.014 --> 02:07.814 and then there's bargaining. 02:07.810 --> 02:09.570 I actually don't remember the five stages. 02:09.569 --> 02:12.219 We're not going to talk about that. 02:12.219 --> 02:17.499 Similarly, we're not going to talk about the funeral industry 02:17.500 --> 02:21.020 in America and how it rips off people, 02:21.020 --> 02:24.000 which it does, in their moments of grief and 02:24.003 --> 02:28.103 weakness and overcharges them for the various things that it 02:28.096 --> 02:30.146 offers. We're not going to talk about 02:30.152 --> 02:32.982 that. We're not going to talk about 02:32.979 --> 02:36.509 the process of grieving or bereavement. 02:36.509 --> 02:41.919 We're not going to talk about sociological attitudes that we 02:41.922 --> 02:47.332 have towards the dying in our culture and how we tend to try 02:47.334 --> 02:51.834 to keep the dying hidden from the rest of us. 02:51.830 --> 02:54.560 These are all perfectly important topics, 02:54.560 --> 02:57.500 but they're not, as I say, topics that we're 02:57.496 --> 03:00.496 going to be talking about in this class. 03:00.500 --> 03:02.450 So what will we talk about? 03:02.449 --> 03:06.999 Well, the things we'll talk about are philosophical 03:06.995 --> 03:12.445 questions that arise as we begin to think about the nature of 03:12.450 --> 03:14.900 death. Like this. 03:14.900 --> 03:17.860 In broad scope, the first half of the class is 03:17.860 --> 03:21.020 going to be metaphysics, for those of you who are 03:21.018 --> 03:24.438 familiar with the philosophical piece of jargon. 03:24.439 --> 03:27.659 And roughly, the second half of the class is 03:27.658 --> 03:29.678 going to be value theory. 03:29.680 --> 03:33.840 So, the first half of the class is going to be concerned with 03:33.843 --> 03:36.483 questions about the nature of death. 03:36.480 --> 03:39.520 What happens when we die? 03:39.520 --> 03:42.180 Indeed, to get at that question, the first thing we're 03:42.180 --> 03:44.490 going to have to think about is what are we? 03:44.490 --> 03:48.650 What kind of an entity is a person? 03:48.650 --> 03:50.550 In particular, do we have souls, 03:50.553 --> 03:53.193 and for this class when I talk about a soul, 03:53.194 --> 03:56.574 what I'm going to mean is sort of a bit of philosophical 03:56.571 --> 03:58.861 jargon. I'm going to mean something 03:58.860 --> 04:01.510 immaterial, something distinct from our bodies. 04:01.509 --> 04:06.189 Do we have immaterial souls, something that might survive 04:06.186 --> 04:08.186 the death of our body? 04:08.189 --> 04:11.739 And if not, what does that imply about the nature of death? 04:11.740 --> 04:15.250 What kind of an event is death? 04:15.250 --> 04:17.520 What is it for me to survive? 04:17.519 --> 04:19.479 What would it mean for me to survive my death? 04:19.480 --> 04:22.420 What does it mean for me to survive tonight? 04:22.420 --> 04:25.130 That is, you know, somebody's going to be here 04:25.132 --> 04:28.452 lecturing to the class on Thursday, presumably that will 04:28.447 --> 04:30.707 be me. What is it for that person 04:30.708 --> 04:34.408 who's there on Thursday to be the same person as the person 04:34.409 --> 04:37.279 who's sitting here lecturing to you today? 04:37.279 --> 04:39.999 These are questions about the nature of personal identity. 04:40.000 --> 04:42.020 Pretty clearly, to think about death and 04:42.016 --> 04:44.756 continued existence and survival, we have to get clear 04:44.757 --> 04:46.927 about the nature of personal identity. 04:46.930 --> 04:52.420 These sorts of questions will occupy us for roughly the first 04:52.423 --> 04:54.533 half of the semester. 04:54.529 --> 05:00.089 And then we'll turn to value questions. 05:00.089 --> 05:04.159 If death is the end, is death bad? 05:04.160 --> 05:05.950 Now, of course, most of us are immediately and 05:05.945 --> 05:07.805 strongly inclined to think that death is bad. 05:07.810 --> 05:11.620 But there are a set of philosophical puzzles about how 05:11.620 --> 05:13.130 death could be bad. 05:13.129 --> 05:18.329 To sort of give you a quick taste, if after my death I won't 05:18.329 --> 05:22.029 exist, how could anything be bad for me? 05:22.029 --> 05:26.149 How could anything be bad for something that doesn't exist? 05:26.150 --> 05:28.350 So how could death be bad? 05:28.350 --> 05:30.610 So it's not that the result is going to be that I'm going to 05:30.611 --> 05:32.261 try to convince you that death isn't bad, 05:32.259 --> 05:35.149 but it takes actually a little bit of work to pin down 05:35.151 --> 05:38.421 precisely what is it about death that's bad and how can it be 05:38.424 --> 05:40.934 death? Is there more than one thing 05:40.934 --> 05:43.114 about death that makes it bad? 05:43.110 --> 05:44.620 We'll turn to questions like that. 05:44.620 --> 05:46.910 If death is bad, then one might wonder would 05:46.911 --> 05:48.511 immortality be a good thing? 05:48.509 --> 05:50.309 That's a question that we'll think about. 05:50.310 --> 05:54.230 Or, more generally, we'll worry about how should 05:54.226 --> 05:58.806 the fact that I'm going to die affect the way I live? 05:58.810 --> 06:02.240 What should my attitude be towards my mortality? 06:02.240 --> 06:07.950 Should I be afraid of death, for example? 06:07.949 --> 06:11.549 Should I despair at the fact that I'm going to die? 06:11.550 --> 06:15.240 Finally, we'll turn to questions about suicide. 06:15.240 --> 06:19.100 Many of us think that given the valuable and precious thing that 06:19.104 --> 06:21.194 life is, suicide makes no sense. 06:21.189 --> 06:24.219 You're throwing away the only life you're ever going to have. 06:24.220 --> 06:27.660 And so we'll end the semester by thinking about questions 06:27.661 --> 06:30.671 along the lines of the rationality and morality of 06:30.672 --> 06:32.342 suicide. So roughly speaking, 06:32.340 --> 06:33.550 that's where we're going. 06:33.550 --> 06:35.220 First half of the class, metaphysics; 06:35.220 --> 06:38.800 second half of the class, value theory. 06:38.800 --> 06:40.770 Next thing I need to explain is this. 06:40.769 --> 06:44.679 There's, roughly speaking, two ways to do a class, 06:44.679 --> 06:48.269 especially an introductory class like this. 06:48.269 --> 06:53.449 In approach number one, you simply lay out the various 06:53.445 --> 06:58.415 positions, pro and con, and the professor strives to 06:58.424 --> 07:02.574 remain neutral; sort of not tip his hand about 07:02.573 --> 07:05.083 what he holds. That's approach number one. 07:05.079 --> 07:08.219 And sometimes in my intro classes that's the approach that 07:08.223 --> 07:10.053 I take. But the other approach, 07:10.052 --> 07:13.302 and the one that I should warn you I'm going to take this 07:13.298 --> 07:16.078 semester, in this class, is rather different. 07:16.079 --> 07:20.209 There's a line that I'm going to be developing, 07:20.210 --> 07:24.790 pushing, if you will, or defending in this class. 07:24.790 --> 07:27.680 That is to say, there's a certain set of views 07:27.677 --> 07:30.947 I hold about the issues that we'll be discussing. 07:30.949 --> 07:34.209 And what I'm going to try to do in this class is argue for those 07:34.206 --> 07:36.486 views. Try to convince you that those 07:36.487 --> 07:37.667 views are correct. 07:37.670 --> 07:42.080 07:42.079 --> 07:46.319 To help you know sort of ahead of time quickly what those views 07:46.323 --> 07:49.953 are, I want to start by describing a set of views that 07:49.951 --> 07:52.211 many of you probably believe. 07:52.209 --> 07:54.259 So I'm going to give you a cluster of views. 07:54.259 --> 07:56.609 Logically speaking, you could believe some of these 07:56.608 --> 07:57.968 things and not all of them. 07:57.970 --> 08:01.350 But here's a set of views that many of you probably believe, 08:01.354 --> 08:04.514 and I imagine most of you believe at least some of these 08:04.509 --> 08:07.099 things. So here's the set of common 08:07.101 --> 08:08.621 views. First of all, 08:08.619 --> 08:10.249 that we have a soul. 08:10.250 --> 08:13.420 That is to say we are not just bodies. 08:13.420 --> 08:16.850 We're not just lumps of bone and flesh. 08:16.850 --> 08:20.180 But there's a part of us, perhaps the essential part of 08:20.175 --> 08:23.065 us, that is something more than the physical, 08:23.069 --> 08:25.559 the spiritual, immaterial part of us, 08:25.560 --> 08:28.950 which as I say in this class we'll call a soul. 08:28.949 --> 08:32.319 Most of us, most of you, probably believe in souls. 08:32.320 --> 08:35.750 Certainly most people in America believe in some sort of 08:35.748 --> 08:39.148 immaterial soul. And given this existence of 08:39.152 --> 08:42.532 this immaterial soul, it's a possibility, 08:42.533 --> 08:46.683 indeed a fair likelihood, that we will survive our 08:46.675 --> 08:49.165 deaths. The death will be the 08:49.170 --> 08:52.840 destruction of my body, but my soul is immaterial and 08:52.835 --> 08:56.425 so my soul can continue to exist after my death. 08:56.429 --> 09:00.939 And whether or not you actually believe in a soul, 09:00.935 --> 09:06.445 you hope that there's a soul so that there'll be this serious 09:06.453 --> 09:11.973 possibility of surviving your death because death is not only 09:11.970 --> 09:14.820 bad, but so horrible that what we 09:14.821 --> 09:19.031 would like to have happen is, we would like to live forever. 09:19.029 --> 09:22.539 And so, armed with a soul, as it were, there's at least 09:22.543 --> 09:24.693 the possibility of immortality. 09:24.690 --> 09:26.780 Immortality would be wonderful. 09:26.779 --> 09:30.609 That's what we hope is the case, whether or not we know 09:30.610 --> 09:32.100 that it's the case. 09:32.100 --> 09:33.310 Immortality would be wonderful. 09:33.310 --> 09:34.290 That's why death's so bad. 09:34.290 --> 09:37.440 It robs us of immortality. 09:37.440 --> 09:41.660 And if there is no soul, if death is the end, 09:41.659 --> 09:47.129 if there is no immortality, this is such an overwhelmingly 09:47.125 --> 09:51.675 bad thing that the only, the obvious reaction, 09:51.681 --> 09:55.601 the natural reaction, the universal reaction, 09:55.601 --> 10:00.771 is to face the prospect of death with fear and despair. 10:00.769 --> 10:05.579 And as I mentioned earlier then, death is so horrible and 10:05.580 --> 10:10.650 life is so wonderful that it could never make sense to throw 10:10.649 --> 10:14.119 it away. So suicide is both immoral on 10:14.115 --> 10:17.135 the one hand and never makes sense. 10:17.139 --> 10:20.949 It's always irrational as well, in addition. 10:20.950 --> 10:24.990 That, as I say, is I think a common set of 10:24.989 --> 10:28.339 views about the nature of death. 10:28.340 --> 10:32.810 And what I'm going to be doing, what I'm going to be arguing in 10:32.809 --> 10:37.139 this class, is that that set of views is pretty much mistaken 10:37.135 --> 10:39.005 from beginning to end. 10:39.009 --> 10:43.039 And so I'm going to try to convince you that there is no 10:43.037 --> 10:45.407 soul. Immortality would not be a good 10:45.409 --> 10:47.929 thing. Fear of death isn't actually an 10:47.929 --> 10:50.029 appropriate response to death. 10:50.029 --> 10:52.009 Suicide, under certain circumstances, 10:52.014 --> 10:54.444 might be rationally and morally justified. 10:54.440 --> 10:58.810 As I say, the common picture is pretty much mistaken from start 10:58.814 --> 11:01.004 to end. That's at least my goal. 11:01.000 --> 11:03.470 That's my aim. That's what I'm going to be 11:03.470 --> 11:05.270 doing. Now, since of course, 11:05.271 --> 11:08.801 I believe the views I believe--and I hope at the end 11:08.795 --> 11:11.555 of the semester you'll agree with me, 11:11.559 --> 11:13.289 because I think they're true and I hope you'll end up 11:13.291 --> 11:14.391 believing the truth [laughter]. 11:14.389 --> 11:18.349 But I should say that the crucial point isn't for you to 11:18.348 --> 11:22.058 agree with me. The crucial point is for you to 11:22.059 --> 11:23.709 think for yourself. 11:23.710 --> 11:30.650 And so what I'm really doing is inviting you to take a good, 11:30.645 --> 11:37.125 cold, hard look at death, and to face it and think about 11:37.128 --> 11:41.318 it in a way that most of us don't do. 11:41.320 --> 11:44.780 If you, at the end of the semester, haven't agreed with me 11:44.777 --> 11:47.927 about this particular claim or that particular claim, 11:47.931 --> 11:50.671 so be it. I'll be content--I won't be 11:50.671 --> 11:55.221 completely content--but I'll be at least largely content as long 11:55.223 --> 11:59.633 as you've really thought through the arguments on each side of 11:59.631 --> 12:01.511 these various issues. 12:01.509 --> 12:05.729 Karen, maybe this would be a good time for you to pass around 12:05.734 --> 12:08.024 the syllabus. Next introductory remark: 12:08.024 --> 12:10.894 A lot of today's talk is going to be devoted to business. 12:10.889 --> 12:13.139 I'll get to, if time permits, 12:13.139 --> 12:15.469 some philosophy at the end. 12:15.470 --> 12:18.270 I want to make one more remark about what I'll be doing in 12:18.269 --> 12:19.349 terms of this class. 12:19.350 --> 12:21.550 This class, as I say, is a philosophy class. 12:21.549 --> 12:26.709 We'll basically be sitting here thinking about what we can know 12:26.708 --> 12:31.368 or make sense of with regard to death using our reasoning 12:31.368 --> 12:34.748 capacity. We'll be trying to think about 12:34.751 --> 12:37.361 death from a rational standpoint. 12:37.360 --> 12:42.630 One kind of evidence or one kind of argument that we won't 12:42.634 --> 12:47.914 be making use of here is appeal to religious authority. 12:47.909 --> 12:50.469 So some of you may believe in, for example, 12:50.469 --> 12:52.419 the existence of an afterlife. 12:52.419 --> 12:54.739 You may believe you're going to survive your death. 12:54.740 --> 12:58.510 You may believe in immortality because that's what your church 12:58.505 --> 13:01.575 teaches you. And that's fine. 13:01.580 --> 13:05.310 It's not my purpose or intention here to try to argue 13:05.307 --> 13:09.387 you out of your religious beliefs or to argue against your 13:09.393 --> 13:10.973 religious beliefs. 13:10.970 --> 13:15.270 All I'm going to ask is that we not appeal to such religious 13:15.267 --> 13:19.927 arguments, appeal to revelation or the authority of the Bible, 13:19.929 --> 13:24.099 or what have you, in the course of this argument. 13:24.100 --> 13:26.500 In the course of this class. 13:26.500 --> 13:29.590 If you want to, you could think of this class 13:29.586 --> 13:31.406 as one big hypothetical. 13:31.409 --> 13:36.879 What conclusions would we come to about the nature of death if 13:36.884 --> 13:41.734 we had to think about it from a secular perspective? 13:41.730 --> 13:46.250 Making use of only our own reasoning, as opposed to 13:46.247 --> 13:50.947 whatever answers we might be given by divine revealed 13:50.945 --> 13:54.015 authority. Those of you who believe in 13:54.019 --> 13:57.569 divine revealed authority, that's a debate for another 13:57.570 --> 13:59.810 day. It's not a debate that we're 13:59.810 --> 14:02.720 going to be engaged in here in this semester. 14:02.720 --> 14:06.210 Similarly, although I'm not going to ask you in your 14:06.205 --> 14:09.685 discussion sections to hide your religious views, 14:09.690 --> 14:12.980 you'll be asked in the course of defending them, 14:12.975 --> 14:16.675 to give reasons that would make sense to all of us. 14:16.680 --> 14:20.630 14:20.629 --> 14:22.589 That's by way of sort of where the class is going. 14:22.590 --> 14:25.850 Let me now turn to some discussion about the 14:25.852 --> 14:30.332 requirements of the class, grades and so forth and so on. 14:30.330 --> 14:34.050 The syllabus is going around the class. 14:34.049 --> 14:36.199 Almost all of you have it at this point. 14:36.200 --> 14:38.540 The syllabus doesn't really say a whole lot. 14:38.539 --> 14:41.009 I've already given you an overview of what topics we'll be 14:41.012 --> 14:43.512 going to. The crucial point about the 14:43.510 --> 14:47.850 syllabus is that it indicates what reading you need to have 14:47.849 --> 14:49.869 done for any given week. 14:49.870 --> 14:55.130 Now, I've done my best to peg the readings to where I will be 14:55.132 --> 14:59.252 on that week's lecture, but I don't lecture with 14:59.254 --> 15:02.504 lecture notes, for the most part. 15:02.500 --> 15:05.000 Sometimes I take a little bit longer than I anticipated. 15:05.000 --> 15:08.410 Actually, I often take a little bit longer than I anticipated. 15:08.409 --> 15:10.599 No doubt at some point I'll fall behind. 15:10.600 --> 15:12.650 At some point I may rush to catch up ahead. 15:12.649 --> 15:16.059 It won't always be the case that the readings will exactly 15:16.064 --> 15:18.584 coincide with where the lectures are at. 15:18.580 --> 15:20.890 Nonetheless, in any given week, 15:20.888 --> 15:24.808 for the start of that week, you should have done the 15:24.811 --> 15:28.121 readings that are listed for that week. 15:28.120 --> 15:32.420 The readings on the syllabus simply say the author, 15:32.424 --> 15:37.244 and there are a couple of books that are available at the 15:37.244 --> 15:40.764 bookstore. There are a larger packet of 15:40.757 --> 15:45.287 readings that's available as a course pack at Tyco's . 15:45.289 --> 15:48.779 And so for any given week you can find the reading. 15:48.779 --> 15:51.409 One or two cases, maybe just one actually, 15:51.412 --> 15:55.012 where I've got more than one article by the given author, 15:55.008 --> 15:58.088 I've given the title of the article as well. 15:58.090 --> 16:00.710 It shouldn't be difficult to locate the reading for any given 16:00.713 --> 16:02.513 week. The format of the class, 16:02.508 --> 16:05.608 of course, is a familiar and straightforward one. 16:05.610 --> 16:09.660 I'll be sitting here lecturing twice a week, 16:09.655 --> 16:12.285 this time, 10:30 to 11:20. 16:12.289 --> 16:16.499 Once a week you will break up into discussion sections. 16:16.500 --> 16:19.140 The discussion sections will meet for 50 minutes. 16:19.139 --> 16:22.409 Each one of you will have a single time. 16:22.409 --> 16:26.439 But it'll be different times the discussion sections meet. 16:26.440 --> 16:30.110 For the first time, the philosophy department has 16:30.114 --> 16:34.944 just switched over to the online discussion section registration 16:34.937 --> 16:37.377 system. I'm not 100% certain how that 16:37.383 --> 16:39.793 works. I've not used it before. 16:39.789 --> 16:42.489 I take it the idea is something like this. 16:42.490 --> 16:47.400 Right now, if you were to shop the class, you could find the 16:47.403 --> 16:51.903 tentative list of discussion section days and times. 16:51.899 --> 16:54.939 So be sure to find some time that works for you. 16:54.940 --> 17:00.080 You can't actually register for any of those discussion section 17:00.084 --> 17:02.544 times yet. But as of, I think, 17:02.543 --> 17:07.323 next week when you're able to begin your online registration, 17:07.319 --> 17:11.529 you will be able to register for any discussion section that 17:11.533 --> 17:16.073 still has a slot, still has a space open in it. 17:16.069 --> 17:21.349 In fact, you won't be able to finalize your registration for 17:21.352 --> 17:25.832 your courses until you've actually signed up for an 17:25.828 --> 17:29.058 available slot. Once you have registered, 17:29.055 --> 17:31.985 if some other slots become available that weren't 17:31.985 --> 17:34.785 previously available, I gather you'll be sent some 17:34.794 --> 17:37.534 sort of email by the system, in case some other time would 17:37.531 --> 17:38.541 be better for you. 17:38.539 --> 17:41.219 You can put yourself on waiting lists and so forth. 17:41.220 --> 17:45.080 It sounds pretty good on paper. 17:45.080 --> 17:46.910 Maybe it'll all work smoothly. 17:46.910 --> 17:48.370 I've never been through it before. 17:48.369 --> 17:50.169 I hope we won't have any problems. 17:50.170 --> 17:53.320 Right now what you want to make sure is that there is a time 17:53.316 --> 17:56.456 that's available--right now all the times are available--but 17:56.463 --> 17:58.813 that there is a time that works for you. 17:58.809 --> 18:02.279 Because if you can't find a discussion section that works 18:02.276 --> 18:05.306 for you, you won't be able to take this course. 18:05.310 --> 18:08.550 Any questions about that? 18:08.549 --> 18:11.879 I should actually ask, any questions about anything 18:11.876 --> 18:15.266 that I've asked or said so far, up to this point? 18:15.269 --> 18:18.489 Let me make a remark about questions, which is--today's 18:18.487 --> 18:20.787 mostly business. Hopefully, it'll be fairly 18:20.787 --> 18:23.787 straightforward. But both today and throughout 18:23.788 --> 18:27.278 the entire semester, as I'm lecturing I want to 18:27.276 --> 18:30.306 invite you to jump in with questions. 18:30.309 --> 18:31.629 Well, jump in is a bit of an exaggeration. 18:31.630 --> 18:36.100 I don't want you to just start talking, but raise your hand. 18:36.099 --> 18:39.949 If I'm saying something that you don't understand, 18:39.946 --> 18:44.186 the chances are pretty good that there's 25 or 50 other 18:44.185 --> 18:48.655 students in the class who don't understand it either. 18:48.660 --> 18:50.910 I'm just not being clear. 18:50.910 --> 18:54.680 So I want to welcome you, I really want to invite you, 18:54.677 --> 18:58.657 whenever you've got some reactions to the things that I'm 18:58.658 --> 19:00.208 saying, raise your hand, 19:00.207 --> 19:01.067 I'll call on you. 19:01.069 --> 19:02.379 Say, "Shelly, I didn't really understand what 19:02.378 --> 19:03.358 you were saying about the soul. 19:03.359 --> 19:05.039 Could you please explain that again?" 19:05.039 --> 19:07.989 Or, for that matter, if you've got some quick 19:07.991 --> 19:11.681 reactions or thoughts or responses to the arguments that 19:11.680 --> 19:15.710 I'm laying out and you want to share them with the class as a 19:15.705 --> 19:17.855 whole, then very much I want to invite 19:17.862 --> 19:20.592 you to do this. Now this class is too big for 19:20.592 --> 19:24.172 us to have some close, intimate conversation between 19:24.166 --> 19:27.876 the 150-180, however many students there are here. 19:27.880 --> 19:30.200 That's not going to happen. 19:30.200 --> 19:34.300 But the chance for detailed discussion in the discussion 19:34.302 --> 19:37.512 section, that's where that should happen. 19:37.509 --> 19:40.559 But still, there is the chance for brief reactions and 19:40.558 --> 19:42.628 definitely a chance for questions. 19:42.630 --> 19:44.510 I very much want to invite you to do that. 19:44.509 --> 19:47.309 So, if at any point you've got something you want to ask about 19:47.312 --> 19:48.922 or some two bits you want to add, 19:48.920 --> 19:51.180 raise your hand, wiggle it around, 19:51.182 --> 19:52.692 make sure I see you. 19:52.690 --> 19:55.660 I may want to finish the particular point that I'm 19:55.664 --> 19:59.254 making, but I'll try to come back to you and I'll then raise 19:59.247 --> 20:02.347 your question. And if I remember at least, 20:02.353 --> 20:06.903 I will repeat the question out loud so that everybody can hear 20:06.902 --> 20:10.192 it. I also want to say that I will 20:10.194 --> 20:14.654 try to have the practice of, after class ends, 20:14.650 --> 20:17.370 if you want to continue the discussion, you have some 20:17.368 --> 20:19.928 questions that occurred to you towards the end, 20:19.930 --> 20:23.470 we didn't have a chance to share them with the class as a 20:23.472 --> 20:25.562 whole, I will, on a normal day, 20:25.559 --> 20:30.429 meet outside and continue to talk with however many of you 20:30.432 --> 20:33.512 want to do that until you're done. 20:33.509 --> 20:38.509 I just love talking about this stuff and I welcome you to come 20:38.509 --> 20:40.229 to my office hours. 20:40.230 --> 20:43.450 I invite you to ask questions in class or, if you prefer, 20:43.453 --> 20:44.723 after class as well. 20:44.720 --> 20:47.700 Again, any questions about any of that? 20:47.700 --> 20:49.110 Yeah. Student: [inaudible] 20:49.108 --> 20:50.118 Professor Shelly Kagan: When are my office hours? 20:50.119 --> 20:54.119 That's a great question and I don't know the answer to it. 20:54.120 --> 20:56.240 I haven't planned them yet. 20:56.240 --> 20:58.900 On Thursday, start the class by asking me 20:58.901 --> 21:01.231 that and I'll give you an answer. 21:01.230 --> 21:04.820 All right. Other bits of business. 21:04.819 --> 21:07.139 I should say something about grades. 21:07.140 --> 21:10.530 Now many of you may have heard, many of you may know, 21:10.534 --> 21:12.954 and if you don't already know this, 21:12.950 --> 21:16.190 I should warn you, that I have a reputation around 21:16.190 --> 21:18.240 Yale as being a harsh grader. 21:18.240 --> 21:21.140 I know this is true, that is, I know I have the 21:21.137 --> 21:24.407 reputation, both because I periodically in my student 21:24.413 --> 21:28.133 evaluations get told I'm one of Yale's harsher graders, 21:28.130 --> 21:31.270 and because every now and then the Yale Daily News will have an 21:31.271 --> 21:34.211 article about grade inflation and they'll always ask me, 21:34.210 --> 21:36.490 "Well Professor Kagan is somebody..." 21:36.490 --> 21:41.110 Once there was a story on grade inflation that the Yale Daily 21:41.107 --> 21:45.107 News began by saying, "As Shelly Kagan (known at Yale 21:45.109 --> 21:47.879 as one of the hardest graders)." 21:47.880 --> 21:51.930 So I know I've got at least the reputation of being a hard 21:51.930 --> 21:54.590 grader. I don't actually know whether 21:54.586 --> 21:58.056 it's deserved or not, because Yale does not publish 21:58.063 --> 22:01.613 information about what the grading averages are. 22:01.609 --> 22:04.779 At other schools I've taught at there's been information along 22:04.778 --> 22:07.888 the lines of well the typical grade in an introductory course 22:07.894 --> 22:09.924 in the humanities is such and such. 22:09.920 --> 22:13.280 Shortly after I came here to Yale, and I started realizing 22:13.279 --> 22:16.579 that people thought I was a harder grader than most other 22:16.581 --> 22:19.541 Yale professors, I called the administration and 22:19.544 --> 22:22.254 asked, "Do you have this sort of information?" 22:22.250 --> 22:23.490 The answer is "Yes." 22:23.490 --> 22:25.020 "Will you give it to me?" 22:25.020 --> 22:27.420 The answer was "No." 22:27.420 --> 22:30.620 They don't share this information with the Yale 22:30.623 --> 22:32.883 faculty. Seems odd. 22:32.880 --> 22:35.030 The explanation, of course, actually isn't that 22:35.029 --> 22:38.529 hard to come by. The worry is that those of us 22:38.534 --> 22:43.964 who are harder graders than average, if the information were 22:43.955 --> 22:47.575 published, would feel guilty and sort of 22:47.584 --> 22:49.604 ease up on our grading. 22:49.599 --> 22:53.609 But those who are easier graders than average will never 22:53.607 --> 22:55.717 feel guilty and toughen up. 22:55.720 --> 23:00.450 So the result would be a constant push up with the 23:00.451 --> 23:02.201 grades. At any rate, 23:02.204 --> 23:05.964 I don't know for certainty that I'm a harder grader, 23:05.963 --> 23:10.093 but I believe that it's the case based on reactions I get 23:10.090 --> 23:13.850 when I give the speech that I'm about to give. 23:13.850 --> 23:17.700 Okay, so [laughter]. 23:17.700 --> 23:21.350 When I open the blue book, the Yale guideline, 23:21.346 --> 23:24.016 the Yale catalog, it's got a page, 23:24.020 --> 23:27.340 as you all know, where it says what letter 23:27.343 --> 23:29.453 grades mean at Yale. 23:29.450 --> 23:30.640 I didn't actually bring it this year. 23:30.640 --> 23:34.010 Sometimes I do, but I've got it pretty much 23:34.007 --> 23:35.957 memorized. It says, for example, 23:35.962 --> 23:37.902 next to each letter grade what it means. 23:37.900 --> 23:41.710 B, for example, means good. 23:41.710 --> 23:44.140 A means excellent, C means satisfactory, 23:44.141 --> 23:45.951 D is passing, F is failing. 23:45.950 --> 23:47.260 B, let's start with B. 23:47.260 --> 23:51.820 B means good. Now the crucial question then 23:51.818 --> 23:53.868 is what does good mean? 23:53.870 --> 23:59.370 I take good to mean good. 23:59.369 --> 24:02.319 Consequently, [laughter] 24:02.322 --> 24:07.462 if you were to write a good paper for me, 24:07.457 --> 24:10.407 that would get a B. 24:10.410 --> 24:14.980 And when you get a B from me--now, I say me, 24:14.977 --> 24:17.417 this is the royal me. 24:17.420 --> 24:20.410 Because I won't actually be grading your papers. 24:20.410 --> 24:25.490 Your papers will be graded by a small army of TAs. 24:25.490 --> 24:29.930 But they will grade under my supervision, and in keeping with 24:29.927 --> 24:33.327 the standards that I ask them to grade with. 24:33.329 --> 24:36.399 So when you're pissed off about your grade, the person to take 24:36.397 --> 24:38.457 it up with--well, take it up with them. 24:38.460 --> 24:41.990 But eventually you'll want to take it up with me. 24:41.990 --> 24:48.610 So when you get a B from us, B doesn't mean what a piece of 24:48.610 --> 24:52.240 crap. B means good job! 24:52.240 --> 24:56.220 And so you should be pleased to get a B, because it meant you 24:56.220 --> 24:59.930 were doing good work and it's not easy to do good work in 24:59.934 --> 25:05.104 philosophy. A means excellent. 25:05.099 --> 25:09.499 Now excellent does not mean publishable. 25:09.500 --> 25:14.730 Excellent does not mean you are God's gift to philosophy 25:14.733 --> 25:17.673 [laughter]. So it's crucial to understand 25:17.672 --> 25:21.192 it doesn't mean that the only way you're going to get an A is 25:21.194 --> 25:23.194 to be God's gift to philosophy. 25:23.190 --> 25:28.300 A means excellent work for a first class in philosophy. 25:28.300 --> 25:29.870 This is an introductory class. 25:29.869 --> 25:33.339 It does not presuppose any background in philosophy. 25:33.340 --> 25:36.540 25:36.539 --> 25:40.909 Still, to get an A, you've got to show some flair 25:40.910 --> 25:43.960 for the subject. You've got to show not only 25:43.960 --> 25:46.990 have you understood the ideas that have been put forward in 25:46.990 --> 25:49.550 the readings and in the lectures and so forth, 25:49.549 --> 25:52.529 but you see how to sort of put them together in the paper in a 25:52.532 --> 25:54.832 way that shows you've got some aptitude here. 25:54.829 --> 25:57.189 You did it in a way that made us take note. 25:57.190 --> 26:00.700 That's what we try to reserve As for. 26:00.700 --> 26:03.830 Some of you will end up getting As, if not at the beginning, 26:03.831 --> 26:05.371 by the end of the semester. 26:05.369 --> 26:08.009 Many of you will end up getting Bs, if not at the beginning, 26:08.011 --> 26:09.311 by the end of the semester. 26:09.309 --> 26:14.459 Many of you will not start out doing good work. 26:14.460 --> 26:19.270 Many of you will start out doing satisfactory work or, 26:19.267 --> 26:23.347 truth be told, less than satisfactory work. 26:23.349 --> 26:26.329 Now look, I was an undergraduate once. 26:26.329 --> 26:31.329 And I know what it is to write a typical undergraduate paper. 26:31.329 --> 26:35.709 You sit down the night before and you had a couple of ideas. 26:35.710 --> 26:37.960 You thought about it maybe for a half an hour. 26:37.960 --> 26:40.850 And you meant to get to it sooner, but you had a lot of 26:40.847 --> 26:41.967 other things to do. 26:41.970 --> 26:46.080 And you throw it off in a couple of hours and maybe stay 26:46.082 --> 26:49.042 up late. You know it's not the worst 26:49.042 --> 26:53.302 thing you ever wrote, and it's not the best thing you 26:53.302 --> 26:55.902 ever wrote, and it has a couple of nice 26:55.901 --> 26:57.891 ideas, but maybe it could be better. 26:57.890 --> 27:01.640 It's sort of a satisfactory job. 27:01.640 --> 27:06.730 Yale says satisfactory means C. 27:06.730 --> 27:11.690 So many of you will start off the semester writing that kind 27:11.685 --> 27:14.475 of paper. And the fact of the matter is, 27:14.484 --> 27:18.174 some of you will start off writing worse papers than that. 27:18.170 --> 27:22.220 Because writing a philosophy paper is a difficult thing to 27:22.220 --> 27:25.650 learn how to do. It's exercising a set of 27:25.652 --> 27:30.402 muscles that a lot of you have not spent a lot of time 27:30.404 --> 27:32.604 exercising. Now it's not as though you 27:32.598 --> 27:33.788 haven't spent any time doing it. 27:33.789 --> 27:36.899 You've had bull sessions, right, with your high school 27:36.898 --> 27:39.888 friends or in your college dorm or what have you. 27:39.890 --> 27:43.280 But you haven't done it with the kind of discipline and rigor 27:43.283 --> 27:44.983 that we're looking for here. 27:44.980 --> 27:49.290 So, like anything else, it's a skill that gets better 27:49.292 --> 27:51.972 with practice. And what that means, 27:51.967 --> 27:56.007 of course, is you won't do as well at the beginning as you're 27:56.008 --> 27:58.498 likely to be doing toward the end. 27:58.500 --> 28:00.180 Some of you, unfortunately, 28:00.175 --> 28:03.525 won't do very good jobs at the beginning--and my TAs, 28:03.527 --> 28:06.747 I'll encourage them to be prepared to give Ds. 28:06.750 --> 28:10.190 If the vices of the paper significantly outweigh the 28:10.194 --> 28:11.684 virtues, that's a D. 28:11.680 --> 28:15.330 If the vices very significantly outweigh whatever virtues there 28:15.327 --> 28:17.207 are, that's some kind of an F. 28:17.210 --> 28:22.080 So the fact of the matter is many of you in your initial 28:22.080 --> 28:27.390 papers will get lower grades than you've probably ever gotten 28:27.394 --> 28:29.524 before in your life. 28:29.520 --> 28:33.650 I wanted to warn you about that. 28:33.650 --> 28:39.040 Now I say this not so much to depress the hell out of you, 28:39.035 --> 28:44.515 but (a) partly to warn you, and (b) to make it clear that I 28:44.515 --> 28:47.345 believe that it's a skill. 28:47.349 --> 28:50.559 Writing a good philosophy paper is a skill and you can get 28:50.556 --> 28:52.446 better at it. Consequently, 28:52.448 --> 28:55.268 most of you will get better at it. 28:55.269 --> 28:57.139 So let me make the following remark. 28:57.140 --> 29:02.050 Officially, each paper--you have three five-page papers. 29:02.049 --> 29:08.359 Each paper is worth 25% of your grade, officially. 29:08.359 --> 29:11.259 But--the remaining 25% is discussion section; 29:11.259 --> 29:13.159 I'll get to that in a minute--officially, 29:13.160 --> 29:15.630 25% of your grade is for each of the three papers. 29:15.630 --> 29:19.550 But if, over the course of the semester, you get better, 29:19.549 --> 29:22.969 then we will give, at the end of the semester, 29:22.970 --> 29:25.930 when we're figuring out your semester grade, 29:25.931 --> 29:29.511 we'll give the later, stronger papers more than their 29:29.512 --> 29:31.952 official weight. For many of you, 29:31.950 --> 29:35.860 the first paper will be clearly the worst paper you write. 29:35.859 --> 29:39.029 And then we'll just throw that grade away; 29:39.029 --> 29:41.519 give greater weight to the second and third papers. 29:41.519 --> 29:43.849 If the third paper is the strongest, we will give even 29:43.849 --> 29:45.299 more weight to the third paper. 29:45.299 --> 29:48.349 There's no formula here, a great deal depends on the 29:48.346 --> 29:51.146 overall pattern, what your TA tells me about how 29:51.153 --> 29:54.023 you've done over the course of the semester. 29:54.019 --> 29:57.179 But this policy of giving greater weight, 29:57.181 --> 30:01.371 if you show improvement, is something that most of you 30:01.371 --> 30:03.111 will benefit from. 30:03.109 --> 30:05.929 So if you end up not doing well, the moral of the story is 30:05.932 --> 30:08.262 not to go running off and dropping the class, 30:08.259 --> 30:11.829 but to figure out what you did right, what you didn't do right, 30:11.829 --> 30:14.939 how to make the second paper better and the third paper 30:14.938 --> 30:18.068 stronger, again. And if you do show improvement, 30:18.069 --> 30:21.899 that will very significantly influence and emerge in terms of 30:21.900 --> 30:25.220 the impact it has on your overall semester grade. 30:25.220 --> 30:29.070 Because of this policy, I don't actually know when all 30:29.073 --> 30:33.293 is said and done whether at the end of the semester I'm any 30:33.290 --> 30:35.250 harder, whether I depart from the 30:35.254 --> 30:38.154 average or not. Let me quickly mention there's 30:38.152 --> 30:41.742 a fairly typical grade distribution for the overall 30:41.739 --> 30:45.039 grades of this, at the end of the semester. 30:45.039 --> 30:50.179 Roughly 25% of you are likely to end up with some kind of an A 30:50.184 --> 30:52.634 at the end of the semester. 30:52.630 --> 30:58.660 Fifty, 55% of you or so are likely to end up with some kind 30:58.655 --> 31:01.265 of a B. Twenty, 25% percent of you 31:01.267 --> 31:03.587 might end up with some sort of a C. 31:03.589 --> 31:06.399 Sometimes there's a couple of percent that end up worse than 31:06.396 --> 31:07.846 that. Unsurprisingly, 31:07.848 --> 31:12.098 you've got the ability to do decent work in this class and 31:12.099 --> 31:15.679 most of you have the ability to do good work, 31:15.680 --> 31:18.010 and some of you have, a fair chunk of you have, 31:18.008 --> 31:19.778 the ability to do excellent work, 31:19.779 --> 31:24.549 though it may take some work on your part to get to that point. 31:24.549 --> 31:28.369 The last thing I should say about the grades is why do I do 31:28.369 --> 31:31.889 this? It's really I try to do it as a 31:31.885 --> 31:34.345 sign of respect for you. 31:34.349 --> 31:36.459 I know that may seem like a surprising thing to say when 31:36.456 --> 31:38.716 I've just sort of gone on my little gleeful amount about how 31:38.715 --> 31:40.395 I'm going to fail all of you [laughter], 31:40.400 --> 31:46.310 but it's worth my saying you guys are so smart. 31:46.310 --> 31:49.340 You're so talented. 31:49.339 --> 31:56.229 You've gotten so far on your ability that many of you have 31:56.232 --> 31:58.532 learned to coast. 31:58.529 --> 32:03.679 It's not doing you any kind of service to let you continue 32:03.676 --> 32:06.656 coasting. My goal here is to be honest 32:06.661 --> 32:09.071 with you, right? Look, you're smart enough 32:09.065 --> 32:12.075 probably most of you to pull off some sort of B without breaking 32:12.076 --> 32:14.076 into a sweat, or at least not a significant 32:14.084 --> 32:16.274 sweat. So be it. 32:16.269 --> 32:20.729 But it's just lying to you to pretend that that's excellence 32:20.730 --> 32:23.790 in philosophy. So what I want to do in this 32:23.791 --> 32:27.761 class is be honest with you and tell you, "You've really done 32:27.759 --> 32:32.189 work here to be extraordinarily proud of yourself" versus "Yeah, 32:32.190 --> 32:34.810 you've done something okay" or "You've done good work. 32:34.809 --> 32:38.459 Admittedly, it's not great, but you've done good work." 32:38.460 --> 32:41.310 All right, that's 75% of your grade is the papers. 32:41.309 --> 32:45.229 The remaining 25% of your grade is based on discussion section. 32:45.230 --> 32:48.970 Now that's a lot of your grade to turn on discussion section. 32:48.970 --> 32:52.860 So the first thing I need to tell you is I really mean it. 32:52.859 --> 32:57.109 If you blow off discussion section, you're grade will 32:57.113 --> 32:59.173 suffer. So it's worth knowing in a 32:59.168 --> 33:01.908 general way what you need to do to earn a good grade in 33:01.907 --> 33:04.187 discussion section and here the answer is, 33:04.190 --> 33:08.660 perhaps the obvious one, you need to participate. 33:08.660 --> 33:12.740 You need to come to discussion sections having thought about 33:12.742 --> 33:15.582 the lectures, having done the readings, 33:15.579 --> 33:19.469 having thought about the questions that they raise, 33:19.473 --> 33:23.763 and you need to come to discussion section then prepared 33:23.757 --> 33:26.947 to discuss this week's set of issues. 33:26.950 --> 33:32.190 You need to listen to what your classmates are saying and say 33:32.194 --> 33:34.734 why you disagree with them. 33:34.730 --> 33:37.590 And not just that you disagree with them, but to raise an 33:37.587 --> 33:41.137 objection. Or why you agree with them. 33:41.140 --> 33:42.690 And when somebody else then attacks them, 33:42.691 --> 33:45.061 say, "Look, I think that what John was saying was a good point 33:45.058 --> 33:47.578 and here's how I think he should have defended his position," 33:47.580 --> 33:48.620 or what have you. 33:48.619 --> 33:53.309 You need to engage in philosophical discussion. 33:53.309 --> 33:58.129 If you're not participating in discussion section, 33:58.130 --> 34:02.950 you're not doing what the section is there for. 34:02.950 --> 34:06.060 Philosophers love to talk and we love to argue. 34:06.059 --> 34:11.469 The way to get better at thinking about philosophy is by 34:11.466 --> 34:14.116 talking about philosophy. 34:14.119 --> 34:16.369 So I'm putting my money where my mouth is. 34:16.369 --> 34:18.549 I'm saying, "Look, yeah, that's an important part 34:18.549 --> 34:21.339 of the class. So important that it's going to 34:21.343 --> 34:23.323 be worth 25% of your grade." 34:23.320 --> 34:26.800 Again, it doesn't mean--this is slightly different from the 34:26.795 --> 34:30.445 papers--that you've got to be brilliant philosophically to get 34:30.450 --> 34:32.980 an A. Rather, you've got to be a 34:32.976 --> 34:37.556 wonderful class citizen to get an A for discussion section. 34:37.559 --> 34:40.379 So, as I put it, in fact I think I put it this 34:40.376 --> 34:43.506 way on the syllabus, participation--and here I mean 34:43.505 --> 34:46.545 respectful participation, not hogging the 34:46.548 --> 34:50.398 limelight--participation can improve your grade, 34:50.397 --> 34:53.097 but it won't lower your grade. 34:53.099 --> 34:55.409 Nonparticipation, or not being there, 34:55.410 --> 34:58.170 that will lower your participation grade. 34:58.170 --> 35:00.390 Any question about any of that? 35:00.390 --> 35:03.000 All right. So I'm sorry to have sort of 35:03.003 --> 35:06.023 the long gloom and doom, but it seems that it's only 35:06.015 --> 35:08.905 fair to let you know what you're getting into. 35:08.909 --> 35:10.839 One other remark about the discussion sections. 35:10.840 --> 35:16.090 The way I think of it is like the conversation hour for your 35:16.086 --> 35:18.306 foreign language class. 35:18.309 --> 35:22.519 How many of you have had a philosophy class before? 35:22.520 --> 35:26.000 Thanks. Maybe 15% of you. 35:26.000 --> 35:27.010 Maybe 20% of you. 35:27.010 --> 35:28.800 Most of you have not. 35:28.800 --> 35:30.800 That's pretty normal. 35:30.800 --> 35:33.250 Don't go into discussion section thinking, 35:33.246 --> 35:34.436 "Oh, I can't talk. 35:34.440 --> 35:36.090 I don't have any background in philosophy. 35:36.090 --> 35:37.570 I've never done this sort of thing before." 35:37.570 --> 35:40.180 That's true for most of you. 35:40.179 --> 35:47.399 The way you get better is by talking philosophy. 35:47.400 --> 35:50.470 All right. Next remark. 35:50.469 --> 35:52.789 I guess this is sort of just one last connection with regard 35:52.788 --> 35:54.588 to grades. This is an intro philosophy 35:54.594 --> 35:56.574 class. The crucial point about intro 35:56.573 --> 35:58.773 is it means first class in philosophy. 35:58.769 --> 36:02.099 It doesn't presuppose any background in philosophy. 36:02.099 --> 36:04.859 It doesn't necessarily mean easy. 36:04.860 --> 36:07.930 Some of this material for some of you is going to be very, 36:07.933 --> 36:10.693 very difficult. And although the number of 36:10.691 --> 36:14.871 pages that you'll have to read are not--there's not a lot. 36:14.869 --> 36:18.609 Probably in a typical week, 50 pages, maybe less. 36:18.610 --> 36:20.770 For many of you, you're going to find it dense 36:20.771 --> 36:22.801 material. And although I don't really 36:22.798 --> 36:26.238 have the fantasy that many of you will read this stuff twice, 36:26.239 --> 36:30.399 if you had the time to do it, that would be a wonderful thing 36:30.404 --> 36:35.554 to do. Philosophy is hard stuff to 36:35.550 --> 36:38.590 read. Other remark about this being 36:38.590 --> 36:42.630 an intro class is that it's introductory in that the issues 36:42.630 --> 36:46.670 that we're talking about are kind of first run through. 36:46.670 --> 36:51.500 Every single thing that we discuss here could be pursued at 36:51.498 --> 36:53.768 greater depth. So, for example, 36:53.769 --> 36:57.179 we'll spend whatever it is, maybe a week and a half talking 36:57.176 --> 37:00.226 about the nature of personal identity, two weeks. 37:00.230 --> 37:04.830 But one could easily spend an entire semester thinking about 37:04.833 --> 37:06.553 that question alone. 37:06.550 --> 37:09.730 So don't come away thinking that whatever it is that we've 37:09.727 --> 37:13.237 talked about here in lecture is the last word on the subject. 37:13.239 --> 37:17.329 Rather, it's something more like first words. 37:17.329 --> 37:22.459 Actually, one other word about the readings and the lectures. 37:22.460 --> 37:26.870 With one exception, I won't be spending very much 37:26.873 --> 37:30.003 time talking about the readings. 37:30.000 --> 37:33.280 The exception is Plato, where I'll lecture, 37:33.281 --> 37:37.031 maybe two lectures, trying to reconstruct Plato's 37:37.031 --> 37:40.421 central arguments, at least the arguments relevant 37:40.423 --> 37:42.553 to our class. We'll be reading one of Plato's 37:42.545 --> 37:44.915 dialogues. But for the most part, 37:44.920 --> 37:49.390 although I'll occasionally, periodically refer to the 37:49.388 --> 37:53.048 readings, I won't spend a lot of time 37:53.048 --> 37:57.038 talking about the views in the readings. 37:57.039 --> 38:01.639 The readings you should think of as complementary to my 38:01.642 --> 38:04.752 lectures. The idea is that there's more 38:04.752 --> 38:06.852 to say than what I've said. 38:06.849 --> 38:10.309 And you'll find some more of what there is to say in the 38:10.308 --> 38:12.418 readings. Or there may be positions that 38:12.415 --> 38:14.955 I mention, but I don't develop, because I'm not perhaps 38:14.964 --> 38:17.964 sympathetic to them, and you might find somebody who 38:17.962 --> 38:20.742 is sympathetic to them, developing them in the 38:20.739 --> 38:23.519 readings. The readings are a crucial 38:23.523 --> 38:25.413 component of the class. 38:25.409 --> 38:31.059 You won't get everything you need simply by coming to the 38:31.060 --> 38:33.510 lectures. But equally the case, 38:33.510 --> 38:37.340 that the views that I'll be developing in the lectures are, 38:37.340 --> 38:40.630 although not necessarily unique to me, aren't all laid out in 38:40.628 --> 38:43.198 the readings. You won't get everything I'm 38:43.198 --> 38:47.068 talking about in the lectures, if all you do is the readings. 38:47.070 --> 38:51.130 They're both parts of the class. 38:51.130 --> 38:54.790 All right. I want to end by--I'm not close 38:54.792 --> 39:00.112 to ending, but the last thing I'm going to do is read aloud 39:00.112 --> 39:02.682 some student evaluations. 39:02.679 --> 39:06.659 I have found over the years that some students like me; 39:06.660 --> 39:08.660 some students don't like me. 39:08.659 --> 39:13.379 I don't know how to make this point any clearer than to share 39:13.377 --> 39:17.227 with you a sampling of the student evaluations. 39:17.230 --> 39:20.050 These are not actually from last spring, but they're typical 39:20.053 --> 39:22.593 enough that I was too lazy to make some new quotes. 39:22.590 --> 39:25.990 39:25.990 --> 39:29.020 Quote one. These are actual quotes from 39:29.017 --> 39:30.727 former actual students. 39:30.730 --> 39:35.450 (1) "The lectures were clear and followed a very logical 39:35.447 --> 39:38.837 order." (2) "I thought the class was 39:38.838 --> 39:40.988 not always organized." 39:40.989 --> 39:45.689 (3) "I thought it was a very well organized class." 39:45.690 --> 39:49.360 (4) "Overall, I was unsatisfied with this 39:49.363 --> 39:52.733 course. Few substantive conclusions 39:52.729 --> 39:55.329 were reached." (5) Along the same vein, 39:55.332 --> 39:58.312 "I think he should avoid saying at the end of each segment of 39:58.314 --> 40:00.114 the class, ‘Ultimately, 40:00.113 --> 40:04.403 you'll have to decide what to think for yourself.'" 40:04.400 --> 40:06.140 [laughter] I should end the class by 40:06.144 --> 40:07.594 saying, "You will believe." 40:07.590 --> 40:09.550 Actually, I started the class by saying that. 40:09.550 --> 40:12.530 You will believe what I believe. 40:12.530 --> 40:15.790 (6) "It might be improved by presenting other views better 40:15.786 --> 40:18.346 and more objectively, since Kagan always ended a 40:18.352 --> 40:21.192 particular line of reasoning by defeating the argument if he 40:21.194 --> 40:22.354 didn't agree with it. 40:22.349 --> 40:26.299 He could be a bit more unbiased and tolerant of other 40:26.295 --> 40:29.525 perspectives." (7) "Lectures were sometimes 40:29.530 --> 40:32.340 repetitive or obvious, but occasionally, 40:32.343 --> 40:34.583 they provided new insights." 40:34.579 --> 40:37.959 (8) "I know that some felt the pace of the arguments was a 40:37.956 --> 40:41.506 little slow, but I felt that this was generally necessary, 40:41.510 --> 40:45.240 not only for the unphilosophy-savvy population, 40:45.237 --> 40:47.827 but also to cover all points." 40:47.829 --> 40:50.809 (9) "Extremely thorough and thoughtful. 40:50.810 --> 40:52.080 Receptive to questions. 40:52.080 --> 40:55.320 Brilliant." I like that one [laughter]. 40:55.320 --> 40:58.230 "Often long-winded." Hmmm. 40:58.230 --> 41:02.240 (10) "He does go around and around the same idea a number of 41:02.240 --> 41:05.840 times, which does cut down on the notes for the class, 41:05.842 --> 41:08.292 but it can get a little boring." 41:08.289 --> 41:11.499 (11) "Though I've heard students say he often repeats 41:11.503 --> 41:15.403 himself, I think this is a merit in a philosophy course in which 41:15.397 --> 41:18.917 arguments and thoughts can quickly become confusing." 41:18.920 --> 41:24.090 (12) "Shelly Kagan is a fabulous, resourceful, 41:24.089 --> 41:27.649 utterly convincing lecturer." 41:27.650 --> 41:30.790 (13) "He would work through arguments right in front of--" I 41:30.790 --> 41:33.190 like this one, because this is what I at least 41:33.186 --> 41:34.726 aim to be inside my head. 41:34.730 --> 41:35.980 Here's what I'm doing. 41:35.980 --> 41:39.840 Thirteen: "He would work through arguments right in front 41:39.836 --> 41:43.896 of us, which then helped me work through them on my own." 41:43.900 --> 41:48.930 (14) "Shelly is an incredibly dynamic lecturer." 41:48.929 --> 41:53.979 (15) "He's just in his own world babbling on and on 41:53.977 --> 41:58.217 [laughter]. I'd zone out with regularity." 41:58.219 --> 42:03.709 (16) "I have to say that Shelly Kagan is probably the best 42:03.714 --> 42:07.864 lecturer I had in my four years at Yale." 42:07.860 --> 42:13.640 (17) "He's the type of teacher you either love or hate." 42:13.640 --> 42:15.010 Now that's pretty clearly true. 42:15.010 --> 42:18.550 I wish there were some easy litmus test that I could just 42:18.552 --> 42:22.352 give you so you'd know which of you would be making a mistake 42:22.348 --> 42:23.738 taking this class. 42:23.739 --> 42:25.239 I don't know how to give it to you. 42:25.240 --> 42:28.220 Next topic, grades. 42:28.219 --> 42:32.879 (1) "He tried to intimidate us too much with his promise of 42:32.878 --> 42:36.808 impossible grading so that everyone took the class 42:36.814 --> 42:40.074 credit/D/fail, when we all probably ended up 42:40.065 --> 42:43.355 with As or Bs. His grading was not hard." 42:43.360 --> 42:50.110 (2) "I recommend it, but only credit/D/fail. 42:50.110 --> 42:53.900 Professor Kagan is harsh with grading." 42:53.900 --> 42:57.510 (3) "When Shelly says he's the harshest grader on campus, 42:57.513 --> 43:01.413 he isn't lying. I was consistently surprised by 43:01.408 --> 43:04.928 how poorly I did on papers [laughter]. 43:04.929 --> 43:09.309 The standards in this class are just different from all other 43:09.307 --> 43:13.037 classes." (4) "Kagan's reputation as a 43:13.042 --> 43:15.872 harsh grader is unfounded. 43:15.869 --> 43:19.869 If you put in the effort, the grade will reflect that." 43:19.869 --> 43:22.909 So that settles the question am I a harsh grader or not. 43:22.909 --> 43:25.189 The last question for the evaluation is should you take 43:25.188 --> 43:25.988 the class or not? 43:25.989 --> 43:27.909 Would you recommend it to somebody else? 43:27.909 --> 43:33.159 (1) "I believe this class is one of the most mind-opening 43:33.161 --> 43:35.601 experiences of my life." 43:35.600 --> 43:40.540 (2) "No. It's a waste of a course." 43:40.539 --> 43:43.849 [laughter] (3) "It gets kind of depressing 43:43.847 --> 43:48.847 at times, but I suppose that's due to the nature of the subject 43:48.849 --> 43:52.449 [laughter]." (4) "This course stands out as 43:52.445 --> 43:56.745 one of the more unique and stimulating courses I've taken 43:56.747 --> 44:00.067 at Yale." (5) "Excellent class. 44:00.070 --> 44:03.000 It made me think about life and death in a new way. 44:03.000 --> 44:05.900 What more can you ask for from a class?" 44:05.900 --> 44:08.920 (6) "I would not recommend it. 44:08.920 --> 44:13.050 The class just seemed to be a platform for Kagan to throw out 44:13.050 --> 44:17.250 random ideas and the students were never required to engage in 44:17.249 --> 44:20.119 any thought." Well, that clears that up. 44:20.119 --> 44:23.369 Let me end with a couple of other quick remarks. 44:23.369 --> 44:27.139 One--these are some of my all-time favorites from previous 44:27.140 --> 44:30.220 years. (1) "Not doing the reading 44:30.223 --> 44:32.583 didn't hurt me at all." 44:32.579 --> 44:35.419 Now, these are anonymous comments. 44:35.420 --> 44:36.890 I don't know who wrote this comment. 44:36.890 --> 44:38.060 But I do know this. 44:38.059 --> 44:42.199 Whoever wrote this remark is an idiot [laughter]. 44:42.199 --> 44:47.679 Whoever wrote this remark seems to be under the impression that 44:47.675 --> 44:52.965 the point of being at Yale is to spend $40,000 a year of your 44:52.974 --> 44:58.984 parents' money and get away with learning as little as possible. 44:58.980 --> 45:02.680 Well, for those of you who want to try it, you probably could 45:02.679 --> 45:06.439 pass this class and maybe even get an okay grade without doing 45:06.441 --> 45:09.351 the readings. There's no final exam. 45:09.349 --> 45:13.749 But still, it's crucial to understand, doing the readings 45:13.751 --> 45:18.861 is an important part of learning what this course has to offer. 45:18.860 --> 45:22.890 Different quote. "Kagan is a self-righteous 45:22.887 --> 45:28.067 little man" [laughter]" Now I've got to tell you, 45:28.070 --> 45:33.470 that bit about being little, that really hurts. 45:33.470 --> 45:35.320 Another one. "Great course. 45:35.320 --> 45:36.600 Wonderful professor. 45:36.600 --> 45:38.210 Fascinating subjects. 45:38.210 --> 45:41.890 The deepest thinking I've done in my life." 45:41.890 --> 45:45.370 Final quote. "This class taught me how to 45:45.373 --> 45:48.273 think more than any other at Yale." 45:48.269 --> 45:50.089 I don't know whether I pull it off. 45:50.090 --> 45:52.630 Pretty obviously, for a number of students, 45:52.625 --> 45:56.305 I don't manage to pull it off, but that's at least what my aim 45:56.307 --> 45:59.437 is. I'm trying to help you think. 45:59.440 --> 46:03.000 I welcome you and I hope you'll be back on Thursday.