February 19, 2009
Philosophy Professor Douglas B. Rasmussen, Ph.D., is
passionate about questions—it’s in his blood. His passion spills
over into all he does, whether it’s traveling overseas to lecture
on philosophical topics, serving on the board of the American Catholic Philosophical
Association (ACPA) or teaching 18-year olds how to be
radicals—that is, in his words, how to be a philosopher.
Dr. Rasmussen, a philosophy professor in St. John’s College of
Liberal Arts and Sciences, and about a dozen St. John’s University
undergraduates recently convened in the Honors Commons of the St.
Augustine Library to watch Judgment at Nuremberg, the
first film of four in a series titled, “Law, Liberty and Moral
Responsibility.” The series, which is running from February 2-March
23, will examine the fundamental relationship between ethics and
the legal code of a society. The remaining films—Breaker
Morant, A Man for All Seasons and Billy Budd—will delve into
the connection between the ethical, political and legal order and
question how people can manage conflicts amongst themselves. On the
final evening, snippets from each film will be shown to make
comparisons.
Four years ago, Dr. Rasmussen, tired of making references to films
his students had never seen, designed a series of films to help
them link classroom philosophical theories to reality. This
semester’s film series is inspired by his coauthored book,
Norms of Liberty: A Perfectionist Basis for Non-Perfectionist
Politics (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2005), which
asks the question: What is nature of the connection, if any,
between the ethical and the political/legal orders? In 2008, that
book became the subject of another, Reading Rasmussen and Den
Uyl: Critical Essays on Norms of Liberty, edited by Aeon
Skoble.
“The viewpoint that motivates the film series—and everything that I
do—is the notion that philosophy is profoundly practical and is
ultimately concerned with understanding things,” says Dr.
Rasmussen. “An individual trying to live without concepts and
ethical principles is like someone trying to travel without a
destination or into an unknown area without a map or
compass.”
An admirer of Thomas Aquinas’s theory of natural law, Dr. Rasmussen
teaches his students that being a philosopher requires trying to
understand the world in which they live. As an educator, he
believes there are many ways to convey the message of
philosophy—not only through films but also books, jokes,
experience, and honest, thought-provoking conversation.
“I devised an approach to allow students to talk about basic issues
and especially to reflect on the connection between law, ethics,
and politics, which often has them bouncing back and forth between
ideas.”
As a young person in the 60’s, he questioned the Vietnam War, the
role of government, and the legitimacy of the draft, and knew at 18
that his path was to be a philosopher. Inspired by the works of
John Locke, Aristotle and Socrates, he has spent his life
developing his philosophical views. His favorite statement comes
from Thomas Aquinas: “Philosophy is not about what men have
thought, but how the truth of things stands.”
“I do all of this because I want there to be a greater appreciation
for the importance of philosophy,” he adds. “I also do this for the
reward; the students really do learn, but it’s a two-way street and
they often educate me.”
In a department that has more than100 student majors and with
colleagues that are also engaged in research and publication, Dr.
Rasmussen is proud to be part of a team that meets the needs of St.
John’s students. He teaches Honors Ethics as well as a Philosophy
Seminar. His message for prospective students: “You
must have a passion if you want to learn. You need to ask yourself:
“What do I love?"
Jesuit tradition of Philosophy
Although not a Roman Catholic, the St. John’s professor attended
graduate school at a Catholic university. Concerned with the basic
questions about life and one’s purpose, he found that the Roman
Catholic intellectual tradition sought to address these questions
head on. The connection between philosophy and this tradition is
what attracted him to St. John’s and led to his 28-year career, in
which he continues to challenge the minds of all those who enter
his classroom and learn something new in the process.
“Such questions as ‘Who am I?’ ‘What am I?’ and ‘What is my life
for?’ are questions that every human being needs to address,” he
says. “The Catholic intellectual tradition says these questions are
important and doesn’t run away from them.”
Researching Perfection
Throughout his active career, Dr. Rasmussen has received funding
from various foundations (including the National Endowment to the Humanities
and the Earhart Foundation) and his research in epistemology,
ontology, ethics and political philosophy has been widely
published. In 2008, he was a visiting research scholar at the
Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green State
University in Ohio where he was involved in researching the
underpinnings of the ethical view known as “Perfectionism.”
This concept suggests that the goal of one’s life is
self-perfection and individuals need to take charge of their lives,
discover their potentials and act to achieve them.
Dr. Rasmussen calls philosophers radicals: “To think
philosophically is to get at the root of things.” When asked what
he loves about philosophy, he replies: “The constant striving for
truth. As Aquinas once wrote, ‘we have a natural appetite for
knowledge.’”
A Student’s Understanding
After screening Judgment at Nuremberg, students engaged in
probing discussions of law and morality as well as the underlying
themes of truth, justice and the ultimate value of the individual
human being.
“This was a court case of rules and logic vs. moral reason, which
was illustrated when the judge told the German lawyer in the end,
‘You argued this case with strong logic; however, that doesn't make
it right,’ said student David Hall in summing up his opinion of
Judgment at Nuremberg. “The film presented many questions
geared towards law and morality, some of which made me think about
my own position on the issue.”
For additional information on the remaining films visit: http://www.stjohns.edu/events.