Nietzsche's Dog, A Philosophy Study Circle: Reading John Rawls
Details
Every fifth Saturday, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., join us on Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/tnt-fnkp-uhp.
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In this session, we will analyse 'Kantian Constructivism in Moral Theory' by John Rawls:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CnZUemX4e9c9EUR3xGclnxyeT3aqU5iL/view?usp=sharing
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Nietzsche’s Dog is our philosophy study circle. We meet every fifth Saturday of the month, tackle some prominent texts and excerpts by acclaimed philosophers and try to grasp their meanings and limits.
Nietzsche called his pain and suffering a dog. His pain was as loyal, obtrusive, shameless, and clever as a dog. Coming together and reading philosophy is one way of doing away with some of that pain and suffering — the parts that come out of ignorance, the staleness of our thinking, and the rusting bolts of our old beliefs.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, the father of modern analytical philosophy, said that philosophy's task is to show the fly out of the jar. In other words, reading and practising philosophy translates to problem-solving and critical thinking.
As aspiring writers, we can never have enough of that.
The Text: 'Kantian Constructivism in Moral Theory' by John Rawls
John Rawls, who was an American political philosopher, developed the theory of justice as fairness, emphasising equality, liberty, and impartial social cooperation.
In this essay, he holds Kantian constructivism as moral principles that are not discovered as independent moral facts but constructed through rational deliberation by free and equal persons. Drawing on Kant’s autonomy and categorical imperative, he grounds morality in practical reason.
It's a long and quite challenging essay. But we think it will be worth our while.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CnZUemX4e9c9EUR3xGclnxyeT3aqU5iL/view?usp=sharing
The Host:
Tobias Freeman is the Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the American College of the Mediterranean in Aix-en-Provence. He studied at UCL, Cambridge, MIT, and the Pontificia Università Urbaniana in Rome.