Questions of Value

By: Patrick Grim, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Patrick Grim

We live in a world seemingly dedicated to questions of fact and finance. What should I invest in? What school district is the house in? But the fundamental questions of our lives are actually questions of value: What makes life worth living? Are there values that transcend cultural differences? Is all value subjective?

If you've ever felt the tug of such questions - or if you just want to fine-tune your ability to see how deeper questions of ethics and values apply to the choices that make up our lives - these 24 lectures bring to life the insights of thinkers and artists who have grappled with these questions for thousands of years.

Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." To examine these questions, Professor Grim casts a wide net, drawing from history, theoretical economics, game theory, theoretical biology, and sociobiology - with a few forays into physics, anthropology, and psychology.

But it isn't only scientists and historians who ask us to consider our values. Writers as varied as Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ursula Le Guin, Mark Twain, Anne Rice, and Jorge Luis Borges have also delved into the meaning of life and the values we live by.

In exploring the course's varied sources, Professor Grim takes great care to introduce each concept carefully so that each new concept builds on the last. His presentation - even of the most nuanced material - is consistently clear, even to those with no background in philosophy.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2005 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2005 The Great Courses

Thoughtful

An excellent examination into questions of value. The lecturer gave clear arguments that spawned critical thinking. I will come back to it as I delve deeper into topics discussed as the bibliography is first rate and the nuggets presented are concise and digestible.

Comprehensive overview of Ethics

Like this one a lot. There were a few lectures that seemed like they could have been shorter and the time used for other topics but I recommend it.

Traveling within

It has been a deep and rewarding symbolic human experience. Evolving historical record.
Thank you.

Among the best

This is a superb overview of fundamental issues in ethics. Clear, surprisingly comprehensive and accessible. Highly recommended.

Superb!

Reasoned, structured, intelligent.

The value you get with these high-quality Great Courses are out of this world. This is one of them.

When someone can guide you through fields of [knowledge]; ideas:
the seeds planted, why some of them took root, others not, crops that resulted, mutations, 'climate changes', competition between plants, eco-systems evolving, and what's there for us today as a result - and that in 12 hours and 16 min!

Most importantly, someone who knows, when taking you into this Amazonian jungle, that could take a lifetime to explore, knows what to show you in what order, in which groupings, we're not just 'standing on the shoulders of giants', but leapfrogging from one to the next.

Say 3000 years in 12 hours, and it all falls beautifully into place.

Amazing job, Prof Grim.
I'm also grateful that these lectures are PRESERVED.

soooooo gooood

a must if you are into philosophy and love learning about it. just buy this, no regrets

Captivating

Excellent speaker, really interesting material. Addresses various means of attempting to determine what is right and good that have emerged throughout the centuries and their implications with regard to the pursuit of meaning, justice and happiness. Worth listening to more than once!

Gets to the heart of Value

Covers a wide range of value artifacts and is foundational to relationship discourse. A good companion book for ethics.

An interesting introduction

A well written introduction to the study of values. The course is brief in some of its assessments of polarizing subjects, but is also overtly clear about the fact that is not an extensive exploration.

The critique some reviewers have left about the author not being “neutral” towards the subject matter is laughable since it is stated from the beginning and repeated over and over that one isn’t expected to agree with the author on all questions. This is common practice in introductory textbooks to philosophy, and this is an example of it done well with some serious attempts at taking all the constructed views seriously without sacrificing the books introductory purpose.

The course does well in highlighting some of the complexities at work in the subject and provokes the listener to assess the nuances at work in any argument of right vs good. It also makes a strong case for the plurality of values, and a case against many common but extreme views.

The course succeeds in showing how we ought to think about values but is somewhat lacking in the more substantial questions of what our values ought to be, or even what some reasonable starting position could look like. The course therefore is not quite as introductory as one could wish, and a reader would do best in gathering at least a basic understanding of the foundations of modern ethical philosophy before reading.

A biased opinion on moral philosophy

This is NOT an impartial analysis of moral philosophy. It is a presentation with an AGENDA: the teacher wants to convince the listeners that his opinion on questions of value is the right one. He seems almost anxious to convince his audience that he is correct - often reducing the credibility of his own arguments. He does not give fair coverage of his opponents. On most issues, he quickly summarizes the debate before spending most of his time presenting his beliefs. But we didn't sign up for 18 hours on the beliefs of a teacher many have never heard of. Listeners are searching for an honest coverage of various perspectives, leaving open the possibility that different arguments warrant respect and consideration rather than rapid dismissal.