What is the best way to raise good citizens – citizens who will do the right thing even when under great pressure to do wrong? This course addresses this question, paying particular attention to the role that philosophy, religion, and independent critical thinking might play.
Should we aim to raise ‘Enlightened’ citizens, in philosopher Immanuel Kant’s sense: citizens who will throw off external authority, and think critically and for themselves? Is it really wise to encourage individuals to make their own moral judgements, or is there a key role for deference to tradition and authority, especially religious tradition and authority? Do we need faith schools to provide society with a firm moral foundation – and individuals with a reliable moral compass? To what extent should we be concerned about moral relativism, according to which what's morally true is relative to individuals or cultures? In particular, is moral relativism really threatening the fabric of Western civilisation, as some social and religious conservatives argue? Was Nietzsche right that the result of a European loss of Christian faith would be catastrophic: 'What I relate is the history of the next two centuries. I describe what is coming, what can no longer come differently: the advent of nihilism... For some time now our whole European culture has been moving as toward a catastrophe.' Is the best way to raise good citizens to focus, as Aristotle thought, on instilling the right habits? Is the best way to immunise young people against indoctrination into dangerous ideologies to get our own indoctrination in first?
This course draws on and mirrors the structure of Stephen Law's book: The War For Children's Minds, giving students the opportunity to delve into the issues raised by the book but in much more depth.