F39W Obedience/Disobedience (In-Person Only)

In-Person | Available (Membership Required)

9/16/2026-12/2/2026
11:15 AM-12:45 PM EDT on Wed

F39W Obedience/Disobedience (In-Person Only)

In-Person | Available (Membership Required)

[NEW COURSE] Why (when) do people do what they are asked? We’ll call that obedience. Society would be impossible without general obedience. Specific obedience depends on the individual, the asker, and the task. How powerful is the authority (the asker)? How onerous is the task? What is the nature of the individual asked? “Please, pass the salt” is easy; “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?” not so much. Philosophers have thought, psychologists have experimented, and politicians have asked. We’ll rummage through as much of this as we can to bring as much order as we can to it all.
Audio/Visual, Discussion, Lecture

  • (No class week of Thanksgiving)

    *This registration item is IN-PERSON ONLY; there is not a Zoom section of this course.*
Roger Gans

Roger Gans was formally educated in geology and then became an engineering professor. He has long been interested in the history of scientific ideas.

Moshe Cahill

Moshe Cahill, a lifelong student of academic philosophy, has taught other courses in philosophy on rationalism, philosophy of time and space, and existentialism.