Reading List from Stockdale’s Foundations of Moral Obligation Course

This is the reading list from Jim Stockdale’s and Joseph Gerard Brennan’s Foundations of Moral Obligation course he once taught at the Naval War College. I took it from Stockdale’s Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot, one of my favorite books on contemporary Stoic philosophy. My intention in posting this list is twofold: one, I’d like to read many of these books and will use this post as a reference; two, maybe others would like to read some of this stuff too.

Many of the books below are affiliate links which means if you click the link and purchase the book, I’ll earn a commission at no cost to you. Some of the books are out of print and/or difficult to find. Also, many of the oldest texts can be found in ebook format for free, so if free ebooks are your jam, be sure to look in your favorite ebook app.

READING LIST

Week 1: From 20th-Century Technology to the World of Epictetus. The Meaning of Moral Philosophy.

• J. B. Stockdale, "The World of Epictetus." Atlantic Monthly, April 1978.

• A. Koestler, Darkness at Noon.

• R. A. Gabriel, "The Nature of Military Ethics."

• M. Walzer, "Prisoners of War."

Week 2: The Book of Job. Life is Not Fair. The Problem of Evil.

• The Book of Job. Old Testament.

• A. Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Week 3: Socrates. Doctrine and Example. Civil Disobedience. Can Virtue be Taught? Soul and Body.

• Plato, Euthrphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo.

Week 4: Aristotle. Happiness as Living Well and Faring Well. The Moral and Intellectual Virtues. Courage as Balance and Endurance.

• Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics.

• J. Conrad, Typhoon.

Week 5: Kant and Hart. Ethics of Moral Duty and Civic Law. Motives and Consequences. "Ought" and "right." The Meaning of Natural Law.

• I. Kant, Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals.

• H. L. A. Hart, The Concept of Law, chapters 8 and 9.

Week 6: Mill. Morality as Social Utility. Justice and the Greatest Happiness Principle.

• J. S. Mill, Utilitarianism and On Liberty.

• F. Dostoyevsky, Notes from the Underground, part 1.

Week 7: Individualism and the Collective, I.

• R. W. Emerson, "Self-Reliance."

• J. P. Satre, "Existentialism Is a Humanism."

• A. Camus, The Plague.

Week 8: Individualism and Collective, II.

• K. Marx and F. Engels, The Communist Manifesto.

• V. I. Lenin, What Is to Be Done?

• F. Dostoyevsky, "The Grand Inquisitor" from The Brothers Karamazov.

Week 9: Science and Values. Does the Universe Have Meaning or Purpose?

• J. Monod, Chance and Necessity.

• H. Smith, Kamongo.

Week 10: Return to the Beginning. Epictetus. The Stoic Ideal and the Ethics of the Military Officer. Philosophy as Technical Analysis and Way of Life. Wittgenstein and the Ethics of Silence.

• Epictetus, The Enchiridion.

• L. Wittgenstein, Tractatus (selections).

• N. Malcolm. Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Memoir.

• Plato, Phaedo (rereading of opening and death scene).

• J. B. Stockdale, "Freedom," Parade, June 29, 1980.