PHIL 3433 - Meaning, Rebellion, Freedom: Existential Philosophy
3 (3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Communication Core complete and 3 hours of prior philosophy coursework or permission of instructor.
Existentialism is a philosophical tradition that struggles with the meaning of life, the value and nature of human freedom, and our response to the possibility of an absurd world. This course explores the philosophical responses to these questions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Students will grapple with whether or not humans are free, and what that means for our moral obligations. We will also think critically about suicide as a response to life’s potential meaninglessness, and both religious and atheistic responses to the possibility that human existence is absurd. Throughout the course we will engage with philosophy’s essential rebelliousness against human feelings of despair and anxiety about the meaning of our lives.