Literature and Philosophy

Catalog description

This course serves as an introduction to philosophy through the critical and analytic reading of popular, classic, and insightful literature - novels, plays, poetry, and creative non-fiction - from both Western and Non-western authors and cultures. We ask questions about the experience, purpose, and value of reading these works: Why do we sympathize with fictional characters? What do "coming of age" books contribute to our own maturity? Does literature give us insight into other people, and even into ourselves, unavailable in any other way? What is happening when someone says that a work belongs to the "canon"? What does a literary artist need to know to create the works of great insight she or he creates?