Am having a grand time finalizing the syllabus for my upcoming course "Exploring Religious Ethics," which uses a comparison of Buddhist and Christian traditions to explore ethics and religious ethics more generally. I haven't been able to teach it in five years (I ceded its place in the curriculum to Religion and Democracy, and Cultures of the Religious Right, which seemed more timely) - I'd forgotten what exciting important issues this material raises. What could be more important, indeed, than the question of how to live, and how to do right by others? (The calligraphy is by Thich Nhat Hanh, tho' we're not reading him.)
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Right livelihood
Am having a grand time finalizing the syllabus for my upcoming course "Exploring Religious Ethics," which uses a comparison of Buddhist and Christian traditions to explore ethics and religious ethics more generally. I haven't been able to teach it in five years (I ceded its place in the curriculum to Religion and Democracy, and Cultures of the Religious Right, which seemed more timely) - I'd forgotten what exciting important issues this material raises. What could be more important, indeed, than the question of how to live, and how to do right by others? (The calligraphy is by Thich Nhat Hanh, tho' we're not reading him.)