Philosophy 234 - PHIL & HUMAN NAT:THEORY SELF

Topics course. For many philosophical and religious thinkers, desire has been a source of some anxiety: depicted as being by their very nature powerful and insatiable, desires appear to weaken people's capacities to control themselves and at the same time to open up opportunities for other people to control them. Focusing especially on the importance of desire to a consumer society, we examine questions such as: Is it possible to make a clear distinction between need and desire? To what extent are desires plastic, pliable, amenable to reshaping? Are we in any sense responsible for our desires?

Topic: Desire