Courses

In this practical philosophy course, we begin a journey to the heart of a workable practical philosophy, with what Graf considers to be the best entry point for those already comfortable and familiar with philosophy. We study Martha Nussbaum’s 2016 Anger and Forgiveness, to explore the nature of anger, and her thesis that genuine, full-blown anger is never the best response, instead advocating a life of non-anger, but rather future-oriented, love-based indomitable activism. Graf draws from his own two-and-a-half decade journey from avoiding his anger via self-abnegation, to seeking a healthy place for anger (amid destructive explosions of it), to becoming equipped with understanding of why, and practical tools to, live, a life where full-blown anger is mostly avoided, and when not avoided, short-lived and quickly dissipated.

In this course, we study the analysis of knowledge laid out in Knowledge By Acceptance (KBA), 2nd Edition. As we proceed through KBA, following its argument leading to its analysis of knowledge, at every step we apply its theory and examples to the client’s own everyday life and practical problems. Applying the Socratic doctrine that virtue is knowledge and its corollary, that evil is ignorance, a deeper, forthcoming theory of the good life is alluded to, drawing subtle connections to the practical philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and especially of contemporary philosopher Martha Nussbaum.