Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature pairs central texts from Western philosophical tradition (including works by Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, Hobbes, Kant, Mill, Rawls, and Nozick) with recent findings in cognitive science and related fields. The course is structured around three intertwined sets of topics: Happiness and Flourishing; Morality and Justice; and Political Legitimacy and Social Structures.

Lectures included in the playlist above:

  1. Introduction
  2. The Ring of Gyges: Morality and Hypocrisy
  3. Parts of the Soul I
  4. Parts of the Soul II
  5. The Well-Ordered Soul: Happiness and Harmony
  6. The Disordered Soul: Thémis and PTSD
  7. Flourishing and Attachment
  8. Flourishing and Detachment
  9. Virtue and Habit I
  10. Virtue and Habit II
  11. Weakness of the Will and Procrastination
  12. Utilitarianism and its Critiques
  13. Deontology
  14. The Trolley Problem
  15. Empirically-informed Responses
  16. Philosophical Puzzles
  17. Punishment I
  18. Punishment II
  19. Contract & Commonwealth: Thomas Hobbes
  20. The Prisoner’s Dilemma
  21. Equality I
  22. Equality II
  23. Social Structures
  24. Censorship
  25. Tying up Loose Ends
  26. Concluding Lecture