Philosophy 101 - Introduction to Philosophy

What kind of life should a person live? What can we know about the world? What is the nature of the self? What is the value of the arts? The aim of the course is to learn how to do philosophy by engaging with the answers that philosophers from different periods of history and around the globe give to these and similar questions. We will read historical texts from African, Chinese, European, Native American, and South Asian philosophical traditions, as well as contemporary texts by a variety of living philosophers. We will learn how to analyze arguments in texts, how to make and defend our own views, and we will attend to the historical and cultural context of these views.

This course is limited to first-years and sophomores.