Lesson Plan for Week 9: General Thoughts and Notes

Major topics:

1. Thought for the day:

   Our theory is simply this: a person counts as an asshole when, and only when, he systematically allows himself to enjoy special advantages in interpersonal relations out of an entrenched sense of entitlement that immunizes him against the complaints of other people. (Because assholes are by and large men, we use the masculine pronoun he advisedly. We will suggest that women can be assholes as well. […]) Our theory thus has three main parts. In interpersonal or cooperative relations, the asshole:

   1. allows himself to enjoy special advantages and does so systematically;
   2. does this out of an entrenched sense of entitlement; and
   3. is immunized by his sense of entitlement against the complaints of other people.

   — Aaron James, Assholes: A Theory, p. 5 (read this quote with slightly more context)

2. Administrative Issues:
   1. I am deeply saddened by the unspeakably horrifying events in Isla Vista this weekend. I hope that you are all as well as you can be under the circumstances.
   2. For attendance purposes, everyone is considered to be present tonight. If you want to leave for any reason during the discussion, you are welcome to do so without hurting your attendance or participation scores and without injuring my opinion of you as scholars, students, or people. If you have somewhere else you need to be, or would rather be, you may go there without having to explain.
   3. Some of you may find it helpful to peruse the list of grief-related resources that I have quickly thrown together. If you have suggestions for additional material that should be posted, please let me know.
   4. I will have your papers graded by Friday. If you would like to stop by my office on Friday, please email me and we will work out a convenient time to meet.
3. Discussion of Friday's events.