A statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Tavistock Square, London. (Image courtesy of London Matt on Flickr. License CC BY.)
Instructor(s)
Dr. Lee Perlman
MIT Course Number
ES.114
As Taught In
Fall 2018
Level
Undergraduate
Course Description
Course Features
Course Description
This course addresses the philosophical question of what a non-violent life entails. It investigates its ethical dimensions and challenges, and considers whether we can derive a comprehensive moral theory from the principle of non-violence. In addition, it discusses the issues of lying, the duty to forgive, non-violent communication, the ethics of our relationship to anger, the possibility of loving enemies, and the ethics of punishment and rehabilitation. Readings are included from primary exponents of non-violence, such as Tolstoy, Gandhi, and King.
This course is part of the Experimental Study Group at MIT.