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Issues of authenticity, morality, personal identity, and the value of truth explored through film; philosophical investigation of the filmic medium itself. Screenings to include Blade Runner (Scott), Do The Right Thing (Lee), The Seventh Seal (Bergman), Fight Club (Fincher), La Jetée (Marker), Memento (Nolan), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kaufman). Taught in English. Satisfies the WAY CE.

Our guiding question in this course will be what value misanthropic literature has, particularly when there's so much praise for writers whose work contains a so-called generous spirit. When we appreciate the writing of someone like Thomas Bernhard¿a notorious misanthrope¿what exactly are we appreciating? Is it some manner of catharsis? Or is it a purely formal affair, a strict matter of aesthetic content? Or are we somehow appreciating the expression of misanthropy itself? These questions will take us into the domains of ethics, psychology, literary criticism, and, of course, artistic value. We'll explore the paradox of tragedy, theories of moralism, theories of humor, and the distinction between form and content.

(Staff)

Open to juniors intending to do honors in philosophy. Methods of research in philosophy. Topics and strategies for completing honors project. May be repeated for credit.

In this course, we shall examine the philosophical methodologies that Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistics use and advocate. In Plato, we shall consider the elenchus and dialectic, in Aristotle dialectic and science. For the Stoics and Epicureans, we shall focus on the methodological differences that come to light in their epistemological disagreements and in their ethical and metaethical disagreements. For the skeptics, we shall consider whether they have a philosophical methodology at all.

(Graduate students register for 225.) The founding work of Kant's critical philosophy emphasizing his contributions to metaphysics and epistemology. His attempts to limit metaphysics to the objects of experience. Prerequisite: course dealing with systematic issues in metaphysics or epistemology, or with the history of modern philosophy.