The Problem of Freedom in Philosophy, Film, and Literature

Catalog description

What does it mean to be free? Philosophers have distinguished between individual and collective freedom, 'freedom from' and 'freedom to', dialectical, teleological, and normative notions of freedom, and more. Despite the vast amount of philosophical ink spilled over disagreements about what freedom ultimately is, the call for freedom remains one of the most basic feelings humans across time and culture have heeded—and one that can unite people in surprising ways. In this course, rather than reading philosophical texts on freedom in isolation, we will engage with literature and film from a global context to put theory in situ. We will journey across distant pasts and futures, such as pre-revolutionary Iran, the New York City subway, the unconscious of a decolonial Martiniquais thinker, the memories of an Albanian teenager, and more—exploring a wide-ranging catalog of critical theory and philosophy on freedom.