PHI 121 W — The Ethics of Belief: Constructing Your Personhood
Quarter: Spring
Instructor(s): Richie Kim
Date(s): May 5—Jun 9
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Tuesdays
Class Meeting Time: 5:30—6:45 pm (PT)
Tuition: $450
Refund Deadline: May 7
Unit(s): 1
Status: Registration opens Feb 23, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Spring
Day: Tuesdays
Duration: 6 weeks
Time: 5:30—6:45 pm (PT)
Date(s): May 5—Jun 9
Unit(s): 1
Tuition: $450
Refund Deadline: May 7
Instructor(s): Richie Kim
Recording Available: Yes
Status: Registration opens Feb 23, 8:30 am (PT)
What kind of person are you, and how do your beliefs make you this way? This course examines how the convictions we hold shape our character, conduct, and moral responsibility. We’ll explore how beliefs are acquired, maintained, and justified—or rationalized—drawing on classic and contemporary works of Western philosophy. Through the debate between evidentialism (the duty to believe only on sufficient evidence) and non-evidentialism (the permissibility of belief without proof), we’ll compare William Clifford’s The Ethics of Belief and William James’s The Will to Believe, as well as evaluate their modern successors. Other topics include the influence of context on sincerity, the temptation of self-deception, and the philosophical challenge of integrating reason, faith, and will into a coherent sense of self. Class discussions and readings will invite reflection on how thinking ethically about belief can clarify our motives, illuminate our contradictions, and help us live with greater integrity and self-understanding.
RICHIE KIM
Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Stanford
Richie Kim has taught philosophy at Stanford, UC Berkeley, and the University of San Francisco. In 2020, he received Stanford’s Centennial Teaching Assistant Award in philosophy and UC Berkeley’s Inspirational Instructors Award. He received a PhD in philosophy from Stanford. Textbooks for this course:
There are no required textbooks; however, some fee-based online readings may be assigned.