Lorraine Besser
Office
Twilight Hall 310
Tel
(802) 443-5098
Email
lbesser@middlebury.edu
Office Hours
on leave 2023-24

Lorraine Besser earned her PhD in philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has MA degrees from UNC and the Claremont Graduate School, and a BA from Tulane University. Before joining the philosophy department at Middlebury College, she held positions at the University of Waterloo and Stanford University.

Professor Besser’s primary area of research is moral psychology. She is particularly interested in the topics of happiness and well-being and her work frequently draws on psychological and neuroscientific research on these themes.

To learn more about Professor Besser’s research, please visit her website.

Courses Taught

Course Description

Dimensions of the Good Life
What makes life good? In this course, we’ll explore the dimensions of the good life as articulated by philosophers and psychologists. Topics will include: happiness and pleasure, desire satisfaction, virtue, meaning and fulfillment, psychological richness and interesting experiences. We’ll read the best defenses of why each contributes to the good life, and then critically evaluate, asking for ourselves: Is this really good?. We’ll read philosophical works by Aristotle, J.S. Mill, Haybron, Besser, and others, alongside psychological research by Seligman, Diener, Keltner, Oishi, and others. Throughout the term, we’ll supplement our discussions with literary works by Tolstoy, David Foster Wallace, Nunez, and Coehlo. 3hrs sem.

Terms Taught

Fall 2024

Requirements

CW, PHL

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Course Description

Contemporary Moral Issues
We will examine a selection of pressing moral problems of our day, seeking to understand the substance of the issues and learning how moral arguments work. We will focus on developing our analytical skills, which we can then use to present and criticize arguments on difficult moral issues. Selected topics may include world poverty, animal rights, abortion, euthanasia, human rights, just and unjust wars, capital punishment, and racial and gender issues. You will be encouraged to question your own beliefs on these issues, and in the process to explore the limit and extent to which ethical theory can play a role in everyday ethical decision making. 2 hrs.lect./1 hr. disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020

Requirements

PHL

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Course Description

Theories of the Good
What makes for a good person? What makes for a good society? What makes for a good piece of art? What makes for a good life? This introductory course will explore theories of the good within ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics. Drawing on both historical and contemporary works, we will consider a diverse range of perspectives on what makes someone or something good. 2 hrs. lect/1 hr. disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Fall 2022

Requirements

PHL

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Course Description

Human Nature and Ethics
This course offers a historical introduction to different views of morality and human nature, and the relationship between them. We will cover the central figures of both the ancient and modern periods of philosophy and consider their answers to questions fundamental to our lives and the decisions we make. We will consider the nature of the good life, happiness, and the virtues; whether or not a moral life is in our nature, and whether reason or emotions are the best guides to morality; and the nature of justice, and what role it plays for creatures like us. The philosophers we will study include Aristotle, Hobbes, Butler, Mill, and Kant. 3 hrs lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2025

Requirements

EUR, PHL

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Course Description

Moral Psychology
Moral psychology is the study of human behavior in the context of morality. How do we think about morality? How do we make moral judgments? How do we behave in moral situations? Answering these questions forces us to think deeply about the nature of our actions and the way we do and should evaluate them. In this course we will explore these questions and more. Specific topics covered may include altruism and egoism, moral judgment, moral responsibility, practical deliberation, intentional action, virtue and vice, character, and moral development. Readings will be drawn from both philosophy and psychology. (not open to students who have taken PHIL 0310) 3 hrs. sem.

Terms Taught

Spring 2023

Requirements

PHL, SOC

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Course Description

Early Modern Philosophy
This course offers an introduction to some of the most influential European philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries: Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. We will consider and critically examine the responses these thinkers gave to various questions in metaphysics and epistemology, including the following: What is the relationship between reality and our perception of reality? What is the nature of the mind and how is it related to the body? What is the nature of physical reality? Which of our beliefs, if any, do we have good reason to maintain in the face of radical skepticism? 3 hrs lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023

Requirements

EUR, PHL

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Course Description

The Philosophy of Happiness
This is a course on the philosophy of happiness, well-being, and human flourishing. We will consider both the big questions about the nature of these states (for instance, “What is happiness?” and “Is it necessary for a worthwhile life?”) and the specific topics typically taken to be essential to these states, such as pleasure, life satisfaction, virtue, and agency. While working from a philosophical perspective, we will integrate psychological research from the field of “positive psychology” into our analyses. Our readings will draw on contemporary works by both philosophers and psychologists, and will include works by Haybron, Feldman, Csikszentmihalyi, Diener, and Seligman. (Not open to students who have taken FYSE 1519 or PHIL 1010) 3 hrs. sem.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Fall 2024

Requirements

PHL

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Course Description

Research in Philosophy
Supervised independent research in philosophy. (Approval required).

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Spring 2023, Spring 2025

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Course Description

Senior Independent Research
In this course senior philosophy majors will complete an independent research project. The course has two components: (1) a group workshop in which students refine their research skills and develop parts of their projects, and (2) individual meetings with an adviser who is knowledgeable about the student's research topic. Students will engage in research activities such as tutorials and peer reviews. Before the course begins, students’ research topics and advisers will be decided in consultation with members of the department. (Senior majors.) 3 hrs. sem.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020

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