Philosophy

PHIL B101  Happiness and Reality in Ancient Thought
What makes us happy? The wisdom of the ancient world has importantly shaped the tradition of Western thought but in some important respects it has been rejected or forgotten. What is the nature of reality? Can we have knowledge about the world and ourselves, and, if so, how? In this course we explore answers to these sorts of metaphysical, epistemological, ethical, and political questions by examining the works of the two central Greek philosophers: Plato and Aristotle. We will consider earlier Greek religious and dramatic writings, a few Presocratic philosophers, and the person of Socrates who never wrote a word.

PHIL B208  Black Political and Social Thought
In this class, we will focus our attention on the philosophical works of a diverse range of Black thinkers, both historical and contemporary, who take up questions about race, racism, oppression, authenticity, solidarity, justice freedom, power, identity, and beauty. This is a discussion-based class, and at least one previous course in philosophy is strongly recommended.

PHIL B233  Philosophy of Life and Death
Death seems to be an unavoidable feature of human life. Our task in this class will be to consider what this means for life’s value. Are our lives better for having an end, or does having an end undermine life’s worth? Moreover, should we even view death as an end in the first place? We will consider a range of different answers to these questions defended by thinkers including Plato, Epicurus, Lucretius, Zhuangzi, Unamuno, Kierkegaard, Williams, Nussbaum, Setiya, and May.