Resources
Search our database for materials to build your PWOL course. Network members are also encouraged to contribute non-copyright materials to help other instructors. Materials can be emailed to philife@nd.edu. We add materials to this database on an ongoing basis, so check back often for updates.
146 resources found
- Video Content Activism and Catholic Worker Movement Catholic Activism
- Video Content Activism and the Catholic Worker Movement Join Dr. Margaret Pfiel (Co-Founder and Resident of the St. Peter Claver Catholic Worker Community, South Bend) and Dr. Meghan Sullivan (University of Notre Dame) for an engaging interview on activism and the Catholic Worker Movement
- Assignment/Activity Ancient Philosophy Reflection Journals (Nevitt) Reflection journals covering Platonist, Aristotelian, Epicurean, Stoic, and Skeptic ways of life
- Assignment/Activity Apology Assignment (Wright) Apology-style essay assignment for undergraduate Introduction to Ethics course
- Recommended Text Aquinas' First Way: Potentiality/Actuality Potentiality and actuality as keys to understanding Aquinas's First Way.
- Video Content Aquinas on Natural Law (Animation) Aquinas, Natural Law, God, Religion, Ethics, Flourishing, Virtue
- Video Content Aquinas on the Common Good (Animation) Aquinas, Common Good, Medieval Philosophy, Property, Economics
- Recommended Text Aquinas' Second Way: Efficient Causation A brief look at Aquinas's argument for God's existence based upon the nature of efficient causation.
- Recommended Text Aquinas' Third Way: Potentiality, Actuality, and Time A brief look at Aquinas's Third Way by considering possible beings, necessary beings, and the nature of time.
- Assignment/Activity Argument Summary Assignment (Wright) Short writing assignment for undergraduate Introduction to Ethics course
- Video Content Aristotle and Aquinas on Contemporary Life Aristotle; Aquinas; contemplative life
- Video Content Aristotle on Juvenile Justice Aristotle and Juvenile Justice
- Video Content Aristotle on Virtue (Animation) Animation, Aristotle, Virtue, Happiness, Flourishing, Emotion
- Buddhist Philosophy as a Way of Life (Leach) Buddhist Philosophy as a Way of Life: Two Assignments and Three Examples
- Video Content Can Philosophy Give Us Truth? Join Dr. Patricia Blanchette, Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of whether and how philosophy gives us truth.
- Video Content Can Philosophy Help Me with What to Believe? Join Dr. Paul Weithman, Glynn Family Honors Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of how philosophy can help us have rational beliefs by introducing ideas from Descartes and John Rawls
- Video Content Can You Choose What to Believe? (Doxastic Voluntarism) How much control do you have over your beliefs? (with Dr. Meghan Sullivan and Dr. Paul Blaschko, University of Notre Dame).
- Assignment/Activity Case Brief (Chan) Case Brief, Law, Affirmative Action, Asian Americans, Diversity, Argument
- Syllabus Challenges to Ethical Living: UN Curriculum (Tabensky) Full course module on psychological mechanisms that lead to unethical behavior. Includes readings, assessment tools.
- Assignment/Activity Character Virtue Questions (Cohoe) Questions on virtue, paired with Aristotle
- Video Content Christopher Shields on Happiness Dr. Christopher Shields, George N. Shuster Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of what happiness is according to Aristotle.
- Assignment/Activity Contemplation Exercises (Cohoe) Exercises in contemplation, inspired by Aristotle and Plotinus
- Assignment/Activity Court Opinion (Chan) Court Brief, Opinion, Eighth Amendment, Immersive Philosophy, Law
- Assignment/Activity Defending Myself (Drexler) Defense, Apology, Arguments
- Assignment/Activity Design Your Own Practice (Chan) Design Practice, Yoga, Meditation, Descartes, Asana, Breathing, Samadhi, Dualism, Materialism
- Assignment/Activity Discussion Prompt: Kant and the Ethics of Whistleblowing (Frost) Kant, Whistleblowing, Business Ethics, Snowden, Honesty, Technology
- Assignment/Activity Discussion Prompt: MLK and Natural Law (Frost) Martin Luther King, Natural Law, Civil Rights, Letter from Birmingham Jail
- Assignment/Activity Discussion Prompt: Utilitarianism and the Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas (Frost) Utilitarianism, Science Fiction, Literature, LeGuin
- Assignment/Activity Discussion Prompt: Virtue Education and College Life (Frost) Virtue Ethics, Education, Teaching
- Assignment/Activity Diversion Exercises (Cohoe) Reflection on happiness and distraction from misery, paired with Pascal's Pensées
- Video Content Does Every Contingent Event Have a Cause? Does every contingent event have a cause? Must there be an uncaused cause? (with Dr. Meghan Sullivan and Dr. Paul Blaschko, University of Notre Dame).
- Video Content Effective Altruism and Morality Ethics; morality; effective altruism
- Assignment/Activity Effective Altruism Charity Pitch Project (Chan) Effective Altruism, Charity, Presentation, Project, Group, Donation Ethics
- Syllabus Epistemology in Practice: Skepticism, Fake News, and the Ethics of Belief (Callahan) Epistemology, Current Events, Skepticism, Fake News, Immersive Assignments, Ethics of Belief, Epistemic Manifesto
- Syllabus Epistemology in Practice: Skepticism, Fake News, and the Ethics of Belief Syllabus Poster (Callahan) Epistemology, Skepticism, Fake News, Ethics, Manifesto, Science, Relativism
- Assignment/Activity Ethical Eating Activity (Chan) Ethical Eating, Food, Research, Suffering
- Assignment/Activity Ethics as a Way of Life Assignment (Wright) Activity and journal assignment for undergraduate Introduction to Ethics course
- Syllabus Ethics Syllabus (Johnson) Ethics
- Assignment/Activity Eudaimonia: Goals, Actions, Virtues (Drexler) Aristotle, Eudaimonia, Ethics, Virtue, Reflection
- Assignment/Activity Eudaimonia: Goals, Actions, Virtues Worksheet (Drexler) Eudaimonia, Aristotle, Ethics, Virtue, Worksheet
- Assignment/Activity Exemplar Assignment (Cohoe) Questionnaire on a fictional character who exemplifies a happy life. Used for Art of Living course on ancient Greek and Roman PWOL.
- Assignment/Activity Exercises on the Power of Appearance (Cohoe) Exercise on the power of appearances, to be paired with Plato's dialogues. Used for Art of Living course on ancient Greek and Roman PWOL.
- Syllabus Existentialism Syllabus (Johnson) Metaphysics, Existentialism
- Assignment/Activity Expansive Gratitude (Drexler) Gratitude, Buddhism, Meditation, Noble Truths
- Assignment/Activity Expansive Gratitude Worksheet (Drexler) Gratitude, Buddhism, Meditation, Noble Truths
- Assignment/Activity Final Exam (Costello) From Stoicism, Scepticism, & Epicureanism: Philosophies of Life
- Assignment/Activity Final Project Court Opinion/Podcast (Chan) Final Project, Court Opinion, Podcast, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Civil Disobedience, Law
- Assignment/Activity First Impressions (Grimm) Way of Life, Meaning, Happiness, First Impressions
- Video Content From Where Do We Get Our Identities? (Cosmopolitanism) Join Dr. Paul Weithman, Glynn Family Honors Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of identity and its bearing on political life
- Syllabus Gastrosophia Syllabus (Johnson) Philosophy of food; gastrosophia; syllabus
- Video Content God and the Good Life Course Trailer Learn more about Notre Dame's hit Introduction to Philosophy course, God and the Good Life.
- Syllabus Hegel and Black Thought (Johnson) A Dialectical History of Black American Philosophy
- Syllabus History of Ancient Philosophy (Nevitt) Survey course on ancient Greek and Roman philosophy at the University of San Diego
- Video Content How does philosophy guide local governments? Rawls; Kant; Mill
- Video Content How Philosophy Can Change Your Life Join Dr. Therese Cory, John and Jean Oesterle Associate Professor of Thomistic Studies, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of how philosophy can help us live more meaningfully
- Syllabus How should we live? (Johnson) Ancient Medieval, Plato
- Recommended Text Interactive Essay: Basics of Logic and Critical Thinking Logic, Critical Thinking, Reason, Arguments
- Recommended Text Interactive Essay: Groundwork for Metaphysics of Morals (Kant) Kant, Deontology, Duty, Ethics, Free Will, Categorical Imperative
- Recommended Text Interactive Essay: Learning to Live Well (Aristotle) Aristotle, virtue ethics, function argument, psychology, happiness
- Recommended Text Interactive Essay: Letter from a Birmingham Jail (King) Martin Luther King Jr, Civil Rights, Protest, Life of Action, Democracy
- Recommended Text Interactive Essay: Meditations I and II Descartes Descartes, Skepticism, Dreaming Argument, Knowledge
- Recommended Text Interactive Essay: Natural Theology in Anselm and Aquinas God, Reason, Ontological Argument, Faith, Causation
- Recommended Text Interactive Essay: Nietzsche on Genealogy of Morality Nietzsche, Faith, Doubt, Ethics, Skepticism, Genealogical Argument
- Recommended Text Interactive Essay: Republic Book 2 (Plato) Plato, Soul, Ethics, Motivation, Happiness
- Recommended Text Interactive Essay: The Apology of Socrates (Plato) Socrates, Apology, Democracy, Argument, Reason, Skepticism
- Recommended Text Interactive Essay: The Will to Believe (William James) William James, Faith, Doubt, Evidence, Free Will, Pragmatism
- Video Content Introducing St. Thomas Aquinas Video of Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C. introducing St. Thomas Aquinas
- Video Content Introducing Thomas Aquinas Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., President of the University of Notre Dame, invites us to study the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas
- Syllabus Introduction to Ethics Syllabus (Cohoe) Syllabus for undergraduate introduction to ethics course
- Assignment/Activity Introduction to Ethics Take-Home Final Exam (Cohoe) On happiness and meaning during the coronavirus pandemic
- Syllabus Introduction to Ethics (Wright) Syllabus for undergraduate introduction to ethics course
- Syllabus Introduction to Philosophy (Boria) Syllabus for introductory philosophy course with a focus on ways of living
- Syllabus Introduction to Ruism/Confucianism (Bin Song) Syllabus for undergraduate course introducing the philosophical concepts, sociological foundation, political implementation, and spiritual/religious practices of the Asian Ru (Confucian) tradition
- Video Content Kant's Ethical Theory (Animation) Kant, Duties, Deontological Theory, Ethics, Good Will, Rationality
- Syllabus Learning Goals and Course Policies for GGL (Notre Dame) Short description example
- Recommended Text Letter from a Birmingham Jail (Text and Audio) Martin Luther King Jr, Civil Rights, Protest, Life of Action, Democracy, Rhetoric
- Assignment/Activity Meaning of Life Activity (Jorati) Activity probing questions what would make their lives meaningful
- Assignment/Activity Meaning of Life Interview Assignment (Cohoe) Interview with someone who lives and acts well. Used for Art of Living course on ancient Greek and Roman PWOL.
- Video Content Mill on Utilitarianism (Animation) Animation, Mill, Utiltiarianism, Greatest Happiness Principle, Consequentialism, Ethics
- Assignment/Activity Mindfulness and Detachment Exercises (Cohoe) Exercise on attachment and awareness, paired with early Buddhist discourses
- Recommended Text Model Apology: "I Do Not Want Mercy, I Want You To Join Me" (Tim DeChristopher) Model Apology, Tim DeChristopher, Statement at Sentencing, Apology Example, Mercy
- Recommended Text Model Apology: "Letter to Ma" (Merle Woo) Letter, Model Apology, Apology Example, Merle Woo, Letter to Ma
- Assignment/Activity Modern Friendship Podcast (Chan) Friendship, Podcast, Group, Individual, Aristotle, TED
- Syllabus Modern Philosophy Syllabus Descartes
- Recommended Text Movie List for Course on Meaning of Life (Jorati) Movie films, Meaning of Life, Hannah and Her Sisters, Pleasantville, Selma, Groundhog Day, The Truman Show, Tolstoy, Nozick, Nagel, Kekes
- Assignment/Activity My Apologies (Drexler) Apology, Socrates, Defense
- Assignment/Activity My Epicurean Day (Drexler) Epicurus, Happiness, Way of Life
- Assignment/Activity My Philosophical Life (Drexler) Blog, Journal, Way of Life
- Assignment/Activity My Stoic Enchiridion (Drexler) Stoic, Epictetus, Enchiridion, Intellectual Exercises
- Assignment/Activity Personal Reflection Essay - Meaning of Life (Jorati) Personal reflection essay for the meaning of life
- Video Content Philosophical Discussion: Learning from the Greeks Join Dr. Christopher Shields, George N. Shuster Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of what we can learn from the Greek philosophers about the value of philosophical discussion.
- Assignment/Activity Philosophical Journal (Costello) Assignment instructions from Stoicism, Scepticism, & Epicureanism: Philosophies of Life
- Syllabus Philosophy as a Way of Life (Angle) Wesleyan's PWOL Course, Roman, Confucian, Daoist, Greek, Immersive Activity
- Syllabus Philosophy as a Way of Life (Drexler) Syllabus for Philosophy as a Way of Life Course
- Syllabus Philosophy as a Way of Life (Grimm) Syllabus for Philosophy as a Way of Life Course. Stoicism, Buddhism, Contemporary.
- Syllabus Philosophy as a Way of Life (Horst) Syllabus and assignments for Philosophy as a Way of Life first-year undergraduate seminar
- Syllabus Philosophy as a Way of Life Seminar (Sullivan) Philosophy in Practice, Socrates, Contemplative Lives, Effective Alruism
- Syllabus Philosophy of the Person Syllabus (Chan) Ontology, Effective Altruism
- Assignment/Activity Philosophy Way of Life End of Term Survey (Grimm) Philosophy as a Way of Life, Term Survey, Feedback, Reading, Selections
- Assignment/Activity Prosecutorial Discretion (Chan) Prosecutorial Discretion, Group, Individual, Podcast, Law
- Assignment/Activity PWOL Exercise Project (Boria) Reflection on PWOL exercises inspired by Socrates, Epicurus, the Stoics, Confucius, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Thoreau
- Assignment/Activity Reflection Questions on Major/Field (Cohoe) Questionnaire on how students' intended major or career field relates to human happiness. Used for Art of Living course on ancient Greek and Roman PWOL.
- Video Content Ring of Gyges Ring of Gyges; Plato; Republic
- Syllabus Roman Philosophies Johnson Stoicism, Atomism, Skepticism
- Assignment/Activity Ru and Confucianism Assignments (Bin Song) Assignments for Ru and Confucianism course
- Video Content Short Film Story: The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas Utilitarianism, Suffering, Fairness, Science Fiction, LeGuin
- Video Content Short History of Aristotle's Influence Join Dr. Therese Cory, John and Jean Oesterle Associate Professor of Thomistic Studies, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of the spread of Aristotelian thought in the Islamic and Christian philosophical traditions
- Assignment/Activity Songs for Sisyphus (Drexler) Music, Sisyphus, Camus, Mixtape, Good Life
- Syllabus Stoicism, Scepticism, & Epicureanism: Philosophies of Life (Costello) Ethics and happiness in ancient philosophy after Aristotle
- Assignment/Activity Stoic Time Use Exercise (Cohoe) Exercise on students' use of time and their relationship to busyness and leisure, paired with Seneca's On the Shortness of Life. Used for Art of Living course on ancient Greek and Roman PWOL.
- Assignment/Activity Talk Show Role Play Activity (Jorati) Students reflect on the good life from the perspective of various types of people. Students reflect on and evaluate very different ways of life.
- Assignment/Activity Ten Maxims (Costello) Guides on how to live like a Stoic, a Sceptic, and an Epicurean. For use with Philosophical Journal assignment in Stoicism, Scepticism, & Epicureanism: Philosophies of Life.
- Assignment/Activity The Accusations Against Me (Drexler) Accusations, Apology, Arguments
- Syllabus The Art of Living Syllabus (Cohoe) Syllabus for honors course covering ways of life in Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, religion, and literature
- Assignment/Activity The Cover Letter and the Obituary (Wright) Writing assignment for undergraduate Introduction to Ethics course
- Syllabus The Examined Life (Christy) Syllabus for honors-level undergraduate seminar with units on classical Indian philosophy (Samkhya and Yoga) and Henri Bergson's moral and political philosophy
- Video Content The Liberalism of Isaiah Berlin Join Dr. Paul Weithman, Glynn Family Honors Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of Isaiah Berlin's idea of liberalism
- Assignment/Activity The Photographed Life (Drexler) Apology, Photographs, Way of Life
- Video Content The Point of Philosophical Dialogue Join Dr. Meghan Sullivan, Rev. John A. O'Brien Collegiate Chair and Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Engaged Philosophy Group at the University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of the purpose and point of philosophical dialogue.
- Recommended Text The Solar Calendar Part 1 of 3 This text, along with 'The Wind ~ An Unruly Living', comprises seven spiritual exercises as exercises in relational reason whose corresponding modern concepts are autonomy and authenticity.
- Recommended Text The Solar Calendar Part 2 of 3 This text, along with 'The Wind ~ An Unruly Living', comprises seven spiritual exercises as exercises in relational reason whose corresponding modern concepts are autonomy and authenticity.
- Recommended Text The Solar Calendar Part 3 of 3 This text, along with 'The Wind ~ An Unruly Living', comprises seven spiritual exercises as exercises in relational reason whose corresponding modern concepts are autonomy and authenticity.
- Video Content The Value of Philosophical Dialogue Join Dr. Christopher Shields, George N. Shuster Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of the value of philosophical dialogue.
- Video Content The Value of Philosophy (Philosophy: Why You Can't Live Without It) Join Dr. Meghan Sullivan, Rev. John A. O'Brien Collegiate Chair and Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Engaged Philosophy Group at the University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of the importance of philosophy for all of life.
- Recommended Text The Wind ~ An Unruly Living This text, along with 'The Solar Calendar', comprises seven spiritual exercises as exercises in relational reason whose corresponding modern concepts are autonomy and authenticity.
- Syllabus Uncovering Meaning in American Ecological Traditions (Jensen) American Philosophy, Environmental Ethics, Examined Life, Seminar
- Assignment/Activity Video Assignment Meaning of Life Video Activity related to a meaning of life quote
- Video Content What are the Intellectual Virtues? Join Dr. Therese Cory, John and Jean Oesterle Associate Professor of Thomistic Studies, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of the importance of acquiring and cultivating the intellectual virtues.
- Video Content What Does Morality Demand of Us? How much are we morally obligated to sacrifice our own pleasures and comforts in order to secure the basic needs of others? (with Dr. Meghan Sullivan and Dr. Paul Blaschko, University of Notre Dame)
- Video Content What is an Apology? Join Dr. Meghan Sullivan and Dr. Paul Blaschko (University of Notre Dame) for a discussion of what an apology is
- Video Content What is Intellectual Honesty? Join Dr. Christopher Shields, George N. Shuster Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of the importance of intellectual honesty.
- Video Content What is John Rawls' Theory of Reflective Equilibrium? Join Dr. Paul Weithman, Glynn Family Honors Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of John Rawls's idea of reflective equilibrium
- Video Content What is Liberalism? Join Dr. Paul Weithman, Glynn Family Honors Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of what liberalism is
- Video Content What is Philosophical Debate? Join Dr. Meghan Sullivan, Rev. John A. O'Brien Collegiate Chair and Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Engaged Philosophy Group at the University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of what philosophical debate is.
- Video Content What is Philosophical Debate? (video 2) Join Dr. Patricia Blanchette, Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of what philosophical debate is
- Video Content What is Philosophical Disputatio? Join Dr. Therese Cory, John and Jean Oesterle Associate Professor of Thomistic Studies, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of the Medieval practice of disputing
- Video Content What is Philosophical Research and Writing? Learn more about philosophical research and writing with Dr. Meghan Sullivan, Rev. John A. O'Brien Collegiate Chair and Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Engaged Philosophy Group at the University of Notre Dame.
- Video Content What is the Euthyphro Dilemma? Join Dr. Paul Weithman, Glynn Family Honors Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of Euthyphro's famous philosophical dilemma for accounts of the relationship between God and morality
- Video Content What is the Socratic Method? Join Dr. Christopher Shields, George N. Shuster Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of what the Socratic Method is.
- Video Content What Questions Should I Care About? Join Dr. Patricia Blanchette, Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of the kinds of questions that we should care about as human beings
- Video Content What Was Descartes' Philosophical Method? Join Dr. Patricia Blanchette, Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of Descartes' philosophical method
- Video Content Why do we suffer and how do we respond? Problem of evil; religious approach
- Video Content Why Do You Do The Right Thing? (Ring of Gyges) A brief look at moral motivation through Plato's (Socrates's) 'Ring of Gyges' thought experiment in Book II of 'The Republic'
- Video Content Why Philosophy Needs Community Join Dr. Paul Weithman, Glynn Family Honors Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of why philosophy is best done in community with others
- Video Content Why Should I Pay Attention to Medieval Philosophical Questions? Join Dr. Therese Cory, John and Jean Oesterle Associate Professor of Thomistic Studies, University of Notre Dame, for an engaging discussion of the value of Medieval philosophical questions
- Assignment/Activity Yoga Experience Assignment (Christy) Immersive assignment with journal component for honors-level undergraduate seminar (The Examined Life)