Upcoming Courses
HC421H: Ethics, Religion, and Literature: George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda with Professor Steven Shankman
Like the great Russian novelists, George Eliot (christened Mary Anne Evans on November 29th, 1819) confronts the central questions about the meaning of life. We will read and ponder Eliot’s final novel, Daniel Deronda (1876), which is a love story; a commentary on the British class system; a description of the challenges faced by a number of Jewish people who are part of a small, minority population in mainly Protestant Victorian England; and a reflection, by a major novelist who is also a serious religious thinker, on Judaism and its relation to ethical responsibility.
Information Session: Wednesday, May 8th from 4:00-5:00 pm, in the CHC’s Shephard Library, located on the third floor of Chapman Hall.
Application due 11:59 p.m., Sunday, May 12, 2024. See the application document for details on how to submit your application.
Contact Professor Steven Shankman (shankman@uoregon.edu) with questions.
LAW 407: Mercy and the Rule of Law with Professor Kristen Bell
Philosophers and legal scholars generally define the rule of law as a state of affairs in which law, rather than the whim of individuals, is “in charge” in a society. The first part of the class will delve into what the rule of law is, whether/why it is valuable, and what conditions are needed to maintain the rule of law. The second part of the class will focus on investigating various philosophical accounts of mercy, beginning with Seneca and continuing through contemporary work on the subject. Students will examine competing definitions of mercy, distinguish mercy from related concepts like forgiveness, and identify how mercy may be valuable. The third part of the course delves into an apparent tension between mercy and the rule of law. Mercy is often understood as giving a person less punishment than is required by law. On this understanding, a judge who grants mercy to an individual will be derogating from what the law requires. In doing so, the judge is not upholding the rule of law – rather than faithfully applying the law, the judge is taking charge and ruling according to her own will. Is respect for the rule of law inconsistent with a practice of mercy? If a society values both mercy and the rule of law, how (if at all) should mercy be incorporated into a legal system?
Information Session: Monday, May 13th at 4pm in the Law School Lewis Lounge
Application due 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. See the application document for details on how to submit your application.