Existentialism

Catalog description

This course will explore the ways that the concept of human existence becomes a distinct theme for philosophical reflection in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The central question of the school of thought that has come to be known as Existentialism, ‘what it means to be,’ will drive our own inquiry. The course will consider the philosophical, aesthetic, and political dimensions of existentialism and address core themes such as freedom, death, subjectivity, and self-creation. The course will cover 19th precursors to Existentialism (such as Kierkegaard and Nietzsche), and an array of 20th century thinkers (such as Camus, Heidegger, Sartre, and Beauvoir). CAS-B.