Week 5: Wednesday, February 8th

Not only do we need to find a normative ethical theory to help guide our moral thinking and decisions so that we are persons of moral integrity and constancy, but we also need to consider some vital empirical facts. That is, how should we think about ourselves not only in relation to other human beings, but also how we should think about ourselves in relation to the more-than-human lives and worlds. In short, what does the fact that our lives depend on lands, (natural and cultivated) gardens, and eco-systems, have to do with our cultivating morally good lives? What should the role of gardens and gardening be in our moral lives? In today’s class we will discuss something called ‘transhumanism’ and how it presents challenges to our positive relationships to the land and gardening. We’ll talk about the positive role that care for the land and gardening might have for our cultivating morally good lives. After today’s class, you will:

1. Be able to describe Transhumanism.

2. Be able to explain what challenges Transhumanism brings to our trying to cultivate morally good lives.

3. Be able to identify reasons why active gardening, and care of gardens, should be thought of as a vital part of living a morally good human life.

4. Be able to identify ways in which traditions (religious, cultural) help us to reorient how we understand ourselves in relation to gardens and gardening.

READ THIS:

Philosophical Text: Norman Wirzba, “Rooted Life” [Moodle-Perusall] from This Sacred Life: Humanity’s Place in a Wounded World

Application Text: Cathy Young, “Yearning to Transcend Biology,” (NY Times).

WATCH THIS:

AND THIS:

DO THIS:

Consider the following questions, write your responses in your journal, and talk about them with a friend:

1. What experiences have you had with Transhumanist claims? How has Transhumanism affected your life, or the lives of people that you know?

2. Why might active gardening, or care for gardens, be a part of a morally good human life? If gardens (natural or cultivated), and gardening, were outlawed, what would the consequences be for human beings and the more than human world?

3. What steps can you take in your own life to begin to be a gardener? How might gardening with others improve your life?

4. In what ways might Transhumanism be opposed to the care of gardening? In what ways might the care of gardening modify Transhumanism?