23. Social Structures

Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature (PHIL 181)

Professor Gendler begins by recapping the topic of state legitimacy and then offers a way of understanding the disagreement between Rawls and Nozick as one over what states ought to do given the phenomena of moral luck. She then turns to a discussion of how social and cultural structures influence both our characters and our perception of the world. She begins by discussing ways in which this theme plays a role in the work of Aristotle and John Stuart Mill. She then discusses recent empirical work on this question, including a body of anthropological and psychological literature that suggests that individuals raised in societies that are Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic have highly atypical responses in a wide range of cases.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Reading Rawls and Nozick through the Lens of Moral Luck
19:15 - Chapter 2. Structuring Society to Structure Character
24:13 - Chapter 3. The Psychology of WEIRD Subjects
32:34 - Chapter 4. How Experience Affects Perception

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://oyc.yale.edu

This course was recorded in Spring 2011.