What does it mean to lead a good life? This question is at the centre of Professor Carlos Fraenkel鈥檚 PHIL 202: The Good Life, an undergraduate level introductory course in the history of philosophy that challenges students to understand and think through numerous philosophical questions spanning metaphysics, epistemology, psychology, ethics, and politics.
The course aims to introduce students to 鈥渦nconventional philosophical experiments in living鈥�, with students engaging with the words and works of Socrates, Diogenes, Sartre, and other philosophers.
A Course Like No Other
Professor Fraenkel had been thinking of creating a course like this one for some time and drew his inspiration from the various ways in which ancient philosophers grapple with the question of how we should live, and the very colourful and strange ways philosophers choose to answer that specific question.
鈥淒iogenes of Sinope in the 4th century BCE chooses to live in an empty barrel to show his disdain for wealth and power,鈥� says Fraenkel. 鈥淲hen Alexander the Great offers to grant him any wish, Diogenes tells him 鈥楶lease step aside, you鈥檙e blocking the sun!鈥欌��
Of course, Fraenkel doesn鈥檛 expect his students to move into a barrel- but encourages his students to see how these philosophers can encourage them to scrutinize what society has taught them about happiness and failure.
鈥淪tudents are navigating all these big decisions鈥攚hat to study, which career to choose, which social circles to join, which party to vote for - I want to give them the opportunity to think about how to craft a good life in conversation with philosophers from Socrates to Sartre,鈥� says Frankel. 鈥� A second, more urgent reason is that we are being engulfed by cascading crises鈥攅xtreme weather, divisive ideologies, intractable wars, to name a few. The philosophical debate about how to live is a powerful catalyst for reflection on what we want our lives and societies to look like and on ways to get there.鈥�
Throughout the course, students take part in tutorial conferences led by a dedicated team of three teaching assistants, Stavroula Theodorakopoulou, Grey Lorbetskie, and Ron Buenaventura.
"As a classicist, I was fascinated by the students' strong engagement with ancient philosophy, which during our tutorials sparked debates extending to contemporary ethical questions,鈥� says Stavroula. 鈥淚 particularly enjoyed reading the final papers, where students extracted life advice from the philosophical theories they learnt, showing how relevant ancient philosophy remains today."
The conferences are built to encourage active discussions around the course readings and lectures.
鈥淪tudents were especially eager to discuss weekly material in light of current events and pop culture,鈥� says teaching assistant Grey. 鈥淲hile many of my students had never taken a philosophy class before, every student engaged with the material like a natural philosopher!"
鈥淭he students were thoroughly engaged with the material and always had something insightful to say in conferences,鈥� adds Ron. 鈥淭hey made me look forward to running conferences every week!"
Encouraging Philosophical Debate
A student鈥檚 time at university is an important and formative experience; learning how to debate opposing views, how to think critically and express your arguments and reasoning are only some of the skills that will benefit students as they leave university.
鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to get into philosophical debates and learn about all these different and conflicting views, but at some point we have to get on with life, make decisions, choose one path or another鈥攅ven if the philosophical debate is never conclusive,鈥� says Fraenkel.
To help students find a solution to this, Frankel introduced them to the idea of 鈥渇allibilism鈥� as it appears in the philosophy of Socrates and John Stuart Mill.
鈥淚t鈥檚 OK to act according to the beliefs and values that, upon careful examination, seem right to us- still, we can never completely rule out that we鈥檙e wrong,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey want to keep us on our toes and watch out for new arguments that might require revising our views [and] the students really liked that solution.鈥�
Indeed, a class poll conducted by Fraenkel found that students most engaged with Socrates and Mill鈥檚 philosophies.
鈥淎s a fallibilist you don鈥檛 get stuck in skepticism and paralysis, but you鈥檙e also not smug about always being right,鈥� says Fraenkel. 鈥淵ou can be passionate about your beliefs and at the same time open to changing your mind. I think that鈥檚 a great attitude to adopt throughout life!鈥�
A Place to Discover Critical Self-Examination
Students taking PHIL 202 were required to complete several assignments that had them responding to questions based on the course readings, participating in classroom discussions and writing papers that engaged critically with the readings.
It gave students the opportunity to engage with different and sometimes contrary philosophies and modes of thinking. How do you define happiness? What is success? How do we address these questions through the lens of metaphysics, ethics or epistemology?
鈥淧HIL 202 doesn鈥檛 force any specific worldview on you; rather, it challenges your assumptions and puts the premises of your convictions into question,鈥� says Theodore Shouse, a U2 major in Political Science, with a minor in Economics and Geography. 鈥淚t forces you to refine your beliefs and realize your fallibility.鈥�
For U2 student Zineb Maslouhy, the course helped her to discover the fluidity of the way she saw the world and helped her to question her loyalty to her moral and religious beliefs.
鈥淓ach week, Prof. Fraenkel would introduce us to new philosophers, new ways of thinking, and each week I'd leave class thinking I had found a new roadmap for my life,鈥� says Zineb, who is pursuing an Honours degree in Political Science, with a double minor in World Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and History. 鈥淭hen, in the following week, Prof. Fraenkel would counter those arguments with an array of new ideas, leaving the students to uphold, denounce, or merge their newfound ways of thinking.鈥�
Fraenkel was initially a bit worried that a course titled 鈥楾he Good Life鈥� would raise the wrong expectations among students.
鈥淸I was worried] that students would come hoping to get philosophical self-help advice on how to live a happy life,鈥� says Fraenkel. 鈥淚nstead I gave them a bunch of radical and provocative ideas that, I hope, turned everything they assumed about happiness and success on its head.鈥�
Fraenkel was happy when he realized that most of his students saw the point of the exercise and were up to the challenge of thinking about life and happiness in a radical new way.
鈥淭here were always students after class who told me how they were grappling with ideas we were studying, comparing them to rival ideas, and trying to apply them to questions of their own,鈥� says Fraenkel. 鈥淪eeing that students got excited about the material was wonderful. I even got a couple of emails after the course in which students told me that they鈥檇 changed their major to philosophy.鈥�
Video Clip by Lara Fraenkel