Talmudic Ethics: Reflections on Jewish Faith, Reason, and Experience
Sooner or later, it happens to almost everyone. You face a tough ethical decision, and you have to pick a course of action that will let you live with yourself. You feel like you are lost in a maze of possibilities, unsure which courses of action will lead you out of your turmoil, and which will leave you in a dead end of regret and self-recrimination.
Traditionally, Jews have looked to the Talmud to help them unravel tangled instincts. Because the Talmud recognizes that ethics is complex, subtle, and multi-valenced. It knows that complicated questions cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. And it offers discussion and perspective to help you make sense of life's most wrenching dilemmas.
In this course, you will tackle big issues like abortion, euthanasia, freedom of expression, and fair business practice. You will learn how the best Jewish minds struggled with hard choices for thousands of years, and trace their search for satisfying resolutions. And you will discover how Judaism offers a moral compass to help you find direction through the labyrinth of life.
We can't promise to provide you with all the answers. But we guarantee to give you a new way to think about the questions.
Lesson 6: Penny for Your Thoughts
Both Jewish and secular legal systems have rules outlawing unfair competition, or "encroaching on another's boundaries." In the modern world, the boundaries of these rules are tested by considering the degree to which ones thoughts are protected.
Can one own an idea? Are patents and copyrights concepts that are recognized by Jewish law? See how ancient cases can have some surprisingly modern applications.
