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Moments of Truth

Moments of Truth

Sophie Grace Chappell

What are epiphanies, and how do they come into our daily lives? Join Professor of Philosophy at the Open University and the UK's only trans philosophy professor, Sophie-Grace Chappell as she takes us on an epiphanic journey.

Instructor
  • Sophie Grace
    Sophie Grace Chappell
Categories

About the Course

 

Have you ever had a eureka moment, where the truth suddenly appears as if from nowhere? From philosophy to art, epiphanies shape our experiences and values. But how do they create our vision of the world and why should we take notice of them? Can we rely on a moment of clarity to help us tell right from wrong?

In this course, Professor of Philosophy and author of Ethics Beyond the Limits, Sophie-Grace Chappell, explains how epiphanies can be the foundations of our personal, political and moral beliefs, and makes the case for taking these revelations seriously. She explores how we can utilise epiphanies to construct moral and political frameworks, starting by defining a epiphany and then describing how to spot one in the hustle and bustle of modern life. In the second part of the course, Sophie-Grace delves into the use of epiphanies in everyday life, exploring the meaning of value, recognition and epiphanic ethics.

 

By the end of the course, you will have learned:

  • The eight points of analogy between epiphanies and other perceptual encounters
  • The distinction between a moral manifesto and a moral theory
  • Nagel and Wittgenstein's approaches to moral theory
  • The inconsistent nature of epiphanies
  • How our awareness of epiphanies affects our actions
  • The role of passivity in ethics



As part of the course there are in-video quiz questions to consolidate your learning, and discussion boards to have your say.

IAI Academy courses are designed to be challenging but accessible to the interested student. No specialist knowledge is required.

About the Instructor

  • Sophie Grace Chappell

    Sophie-Grace Chappell is a Professor of Philosophy at the Open University, who writes about ethics, politics, feminism and epistemology. Her books include Ethics Beyond the Limits, Knowing What To Do, and Ethics and Experience. Her most recent book is the edited collection Intuition, Theory, and Anti-Theory in Ethics, published in 2015. She also writes poetry, and is the UK's first openly transgender academic philosopher; an experience she has written about for Aeon and The Lovepost.

Course Syllabus

  • Part One: Epiphanies and Experience
    From philosophy to art, epiphanies shape our experiences and values. Sophie-Grace considers how they create our vision of the world and why we should take notice of them.
  • Part Two: Epiphanies and Ethics
    Can we rely on a moment of clarity to help us tell right from wrong? Sophie-Grace explores how we can utilise epiphanies to construct moral and political frameworks.