PHIL138

043522

This course explores the deep and enduring questions of human existence through the literature and philosophies that have sought to answer them. Students will be introduced to influential philosophical texts across human history from Plato and Laozi to Nietzsche and Hofstadter. And they will explore the philosophical questions within them through the philosophical worlds created by literature through authors such as Octavia Butler, Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges, Ted Chiang and Ursula LeGuin as well as in the speculative worlds of contemporary popular culture. By reading literature together with philosophy, students will learn how to read philosophically, not only classical mind-bending works from across history but also from the contemporary present moment.

Students will learn both philosophical and literary disciplinary approaches and will apply them to their own contemporary worlds, producing a signature assignment that explores the philosophy of a fictional work of their own choosing.

GRD - Regular Grades A, B, C, D, E

Undergraduate

CE - CL (Cross Listed), GEED - BC (Gen Ed: Building Connections)