Secular & Religious Approaches
What meaning, if any, does my life have? What is the point of it all, and how would I even know this? While philosophers have asked “the big questions” for hundreds of years, questions of the meaning of life have a distinctively modern ring to them. In previous centuries, belief in God or some transcendent reality was the Western cultural default; now, it is not. This rejection of the transcendent, together with the unprecedented violence of the 20th century made the question more pressing. Through the exploration of the work of thinkers such as Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Susan Wolf, and Leo Tolstoy, this 5-week reading group will explore a variety of positions, both secular and religious, to the meaning of life question, and how they relate to the lives of students.
No advance preparation or philosophy background required.
All undergraduates and graduate students welcome. Dinner and readings provided.
Meets Tuesdays, 6:15-7:30pm
Martel PDR
Begins 1/21
