First Year Seminar: Philosophy and Autobiography

Catalog description

In this course, we will study the interaction of autobiography and philosophy. We will read some autobiographies written by philosophers to understand how their philosophical thinking and commitments arose and how these commitments shaped their lives. We will also read texts that examine philosophical issues related to the phenomenon of writing autobiographies, including the nature of the self, questions surrounding interpretation and understanding, the paradoxes of self-deception, and the meaning and narrative structure of human life.