Minor Classics in Ethics
Minor Classics in Ethics is an informal, non-credit reading group of RETH faculty and all Master’s and doctoral students interested in religion and ethics who meet to discuss minor classics in contemporary ethics, social theory and criticism, and theology. The reading group meets every other week each quarter. MCE has a three-year cycle, and the reading lists included here are of the three most recent cycles. The lists each comprise 15 article- or chapter-length readings, offering students what is essentially an independent curriculum in religious ethics, broadly conceived. The Religious Ethics faculty revisits the reading lists periodically to consider changes in response to student suggestions along with developments in the field. The RETH faculty members take turns moderating sessions each quarter.
MCE’s materials have revitalized forgotten themes or have launched new problems for moral philosophy, social thought, theology, and religious ethics. Many of the materials are responsible for the efflorescence of work in ethics over the past quarter century and have shaped the research agendas of more than a few scholars.
Readings are distributed a week in advance (via email) to those who are on the list serve for each quarter. The discussion is meant to focus on the text’s argument and not on the author’s oeuvre more broadly, or on the ideas of other authors that seem resonant with or similar to those under review. One of MCE’s aims is to cultivate habits of disciplined and careful reading in addition to enriching students’ understandings of the field. Another is to build an inclusive and diverse intellectual community of people who range from introductory and exploratory M.A. students to advanced doctoral students, bound by a common desire to explore work in religion and ethics.
The course has this number: RETH 30100. Students are NOT to register for this course. The course number is needed to secure a Canvas webpage, where the readings and schedule are posted each quarter.
2020-21 Reading List [1st Cycle]
