World Philosophy

Catalog description

Course introduces students to several great philosophical traditions worthy of respect in their own right and important for understanding our contemporary world. Surveys, compares, contrasts philosophical thought from classical Greco-Roman world (Plato and Seneca), Middle Eastern and Africa traditions (including African American traditions), India (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism), and China (Confucianism and Daoism). These traditions, embodied in the modern world, try to answer questions like: Why are we here? Are we fated to live as we do? What is a good human life? Is there God or gods? Is there afterlife? How can we know what is true good? What is a person? How ought humans relate to nature?