Further Information

Discourse on Social Action

UNIT 1 – Basic Concepts (Download Application)
UNIT 2 – Education (Download Application)
UNIT 3 – Science (Download Application)

Course Content

Participants in A Discourse on Social Action explore a few fundamental concepts that help generate a discourse on social action such as the purpose of existence, human nature, and the relationship between the individual and social institutions.  Participants reflect on the historical moment through which humanity is passing, and on the nature of a twofold moral purpose – to transform both oneself and society – that is to give direction to our endeavors. The text examines two essential forces that should continually operate in our lives, attraction to beauty and thirst for knowledge, and proposes that moral purpose can only be pursued through a life of service to humanity. It ends by exploring yet another idea that is crucial to social action: true service requires a humble and sincere posture of learning.

The course emphasizes the importance of language as a tool that permits reflecting on experience in an orderly manner, and seeks to strengthen powers of written and spoken expression in order that aims and goals may be more precisely articulated and the nature of action and learning more clearly described.

How long is the course?

The online study of A Discourse on Social Action lasts 11 weeks. Occasionally other study formats may be offered.

How much work is required of each course participant?

Participants spend an average of approximately 10-15 hours per week on course reading and written assignments.