Global Thought

Catalog description

This course takes a comparative and cross-cultural approach to global philosophies, with each section treating philosophical texts and perspectives from at least two distinctive thought traditions, including Indian philosophies, Chinese philosophies, Mediterranean philosophies, Africana philosophies, Native American philosophies, Japanese philosophies, Islamic philosophies, European philosophies, or Latin American philosophies (no section will engage only European and Mediterranean thought). Some of the questions it treats include: What do philosophers from different cultures have to say about the nature of reality, the self, the divine, goodness, and justice? Are there questions or universal truths shared across philosophical cultures or does each culture respond to its own particular questions and have its own distinctive philosophy? Is it even possible to engage a worldview different from our own? The course will not provide answers to this set of questions, but instead introduces students to a series of conceptual and comparative approaches to a multiplicity of global thought traditions.