GERMAN 385 A: Rhetoric and Social Justice
Sympathy for the Devil: The Rhetoric of Compassion
Offered jointly with CHID 498 C/ PHIL 301 A / C LIT 357 A/ GERMAN 285 A FIG / LIT 298 A/ CLAS 496 B
Meeting Time: MWF12:30 PM - 1:20 PM; Th 12:30 PM - 1:20 PM
Location: DEN 303
SLN: 15864
Instructor: Ellwood Wiggins; wiggins1@uw.edu
Is compassion the foundation of human morality or a dangerously unreliable emotion? This course explores how different media foster empathy for commonly held enemies or discriminated groups. The syllabus runs from Ancient Greece to depictions of Nazis and terrorists in modern film. Half of our readings are in moral philosophy, while the plays, stories, and films serve as an experimental field to evaluate the philosophers’ claims about compassion. This course engages in team-based learning.
Credits: 5
Readings and discussions in English.
GE Requirements: Diversity (DIV); Individuals and Societies (I&S)
Ellwood Wiggins was a June 2017 featured faculty profile on The Whole U's series, Faculty Friday. You can read his interview here.