The Meaning of Life: Power, Vulnerability, and Narrative Values

Catalog description

This interdisciplinary course draws on philosophies of power and history on the one hand, and of difference and narrativity on the other hard, to consider how we can create meaningful lives which are - despite pressures of "normativity" - both open to change and vulnerable to loss. We will first ask "who are we" by consulting Descartes and Freud, as well as Hegel and Nietzsche, to then consider what Foucault calls our disciplinary and regulatory practices and the "contingency" of our historical circumstance (involving science, technology, social medicine, etc.). From there, we will ask "where we're going", contrasting religious views on suffering, and existentialist views on freedom, with "post-humanist" views on difference which emphasize novelty over identity and invulnerability. Students will then experiment narrating the meaning of their own lives in ways that balance emotional investment with objective attraction. This course may include visiting lectures or co-instructors. Prerequisite(s): Senior standing.