To be completely honest, I hated Introduction to Moral Philosophy. I guess I was to blame for this feeling. I like English classes and I do well in English classes, so my foolish self seriously believed that this would be transferable to a Philosophy class at Langara, especially an introductory class. I sure was wrong about that!
When I attended my first lecture, I felt absolutely lost. I like to think of myself as being well-read and knowledgeable about most things. I thought that would be enough to participate meaningfully during class discussions. To my dismay, I found myself at a loss for words. The course is difficult by design and forces one to really consider certain aspects and see where perspectives lie across the spectrum on any given issue. For example, when we broached the topic of freedom of expression, I believed that knowing that it was a democratically enshrined freedom was all that I would need to contribute to the class discourse. As the class went on, I came to realize that I did not know enough about it innately. Mainly, I could not explain or defend why it was so important to uphold in society.
The course readings by prolific writers like John Stuart Mills and Catherine MacKinnon steered my thinking into different places. John Stuart Mills wrote that freedom of expression was a powerful tool to protect citizens from tyrannical rule and even went as far as to say that citizens have a moral obligation to protest when they realize they are under threat of tyranny. This never crossed my mind before and genuinely intrigued me. This reasoning would explain why activism is considered to be tireless and endless work. The moment one realizes that injustice occurs, one cannot simply sit in silence and hope that it passes. Rather, there is indeed a need to vocalize and express one’s dissatisfaction and disagreement with the state of things and use this momentum to demand change for the better.
As much as Introduction to Moral Philosophy annoyed me to no end at times, I see in hindsight that it is a valuable formation that can only better inform my conscience and my choices as I play my part in society.