Origins and Evolution of Modern Thought

This two-semester course immerses students in an exploration of significant exemplars, milestones and developments of human thought from ancient to modern times.

The fall semester (HONR 1015) engages students in an exploration of foundational thought and texts of the ancient world. This fall semester also fulfills university UW 1020 requirements.

The spring semester (HONR 1016) builds on the encounter with foundational ancient thinkers and texts provided in the fall course by engaging students in the exploration of key developments and trajectories in human thought and inquiry to modern times.

First year students take one Origins and Evolution of Modern Thought course each semester.

Justice

Professor Theodore Christov

HONR 1015:MV - 4 Credits

CRN 41321

MW 08:30AM - 9:45AM

Discussion Section: HONR 1015:M30, M 11:30AM - 12:20PM (CRN: 41690)

HONR 1015:MV1 - 4 Credits

CRN 41414

MW 10:00AM - 11:15AM

Discussion Section: HONR 1015:M31, W 11:30AM - 12:20PM (CRN: 41691)

Fulfills:

UW 1020
CCAS: Philosophy major/minor elective course PHIL 2111

Course Description: What is the right thing to do? The perennial quest for justice remains a persistent concern across time, place, and cultures, from antiquity to the present. Ancient thinkers—from the West and beyond—faced problems that we, after two and a half millennia, may recognize as our very own. To explore this question, we will grapple with some major works in ancient thought and engage in political and moral theorizing in the making of a good life. How should we confront the limits of our existence, and are we sufficiently equipped to understand the human condition? Our common aim will be to discuss significant and recurrent questions of moral and political value that arise in human experience in order to enlarge our awareness of how people have understood the nature of the just and virtuous life. In addressing the themes of justice, equality, democracy, and citizenship, our readings will be derived from the Western and non-Western intellectual traditions in order to understand the formative forces that shaped the political and moral universe we inhabit today.

Well-Being

Professor Eyal Aviv

HONR 1015:MV2 - 4 Credits

CRN 47612

TR 2:30PM - 3:45PM

Discussion Section: HONR 1015:M32, T 4:00PM - 4:50PM (CRN: 47843)

Fulfills

UW 1020
CCAS: Philosophy major/minor elective course PHIL 2111

Course Description: Ancient thinkers followed the command of the oracle of Delphi "know thyself!" They saw life as a path of self discovery and believed that living right would result in a state of Eudaemonia (Well-Being). During this fall semester, we will explore the oracle's ancient call. We will reflect upon the different visions of Well-Being, on the conditions that create them, on a society that fosters such life and how one should contribute to such a society. We will do so through engaging with some of the most fascinating Western and non-Western thinkers and writers in ancient world history, from the Hellenistic, Daoist, Confucian, and Buddhist schools, among others.

Control

Professor Joseph Trullinger

HONR 1015:MV4 - 4 Credits

CRN 41415

MW 1:00PM - 2:15PM

Discussion Section: HONR 1015:M34,W 4:10PM - 5:00PM (CRN: 41692)

HONR 1015:MV5 - 4 Credits

CRN 45367

MW 2:30PM - 3:45PM

Discussion Section: HONR 1015:M35, W 5:00PM - 5:50PM (CRN: 45366)

Fulfills

UW 1020
CCAS: Philosophy major/minor elective course PHIL 2111

Course Description: What do you do with control once you have it? Everywhere we find examples of people straining to gain or keep control of situations, but we seldom stop to ask why they seek this in the first place. This seminar will foster such reflection through an intensive study of these questions as posed by the artists, historians, leaders, and thinkers of the ancient world. Who gets to be in control of your life, and why? Are we better off not being in control of nature? Does sharing control stabilize governments, or does democracy actually promote fickleness and corruption? What does it mean to have self-control, and is it worth having? What if there is no “self” to be controlled to begin with? By exploring classical conceptions of control, we will appreciate how modern thoughts evolve from ancient origins.

The Good Life

Professor William Winstead

HONR 1015:MV6 - 4 Credits

CRN 46503

MW 1:00PM - 2:15PM

Discussion Section: HONR 1015:M36, M 2:30PM - 3:20PM (CRN: 46502)

Fulfills

UW 1020
CCAS: Philosophy major/minor elective course PHIL 2111

Course Description: How may we flourish in a complex and ever-changing world? What constitutes a good life in the fullest sense? Does an authentic life depend principally upon virtue, reason, or happiness? What role should pleasure, desire, and love play in a life well lived? The question of “the good life” and its achievement is the principle theme of antiquity in both the Western and Eastern traditions. Philosophers, poets, historians, and political leaders contribute richly to the debate, often with sharply conflicting solutions to the perennial problem of realizing an authentic, meaningful existence. Our readings this semester will come from both Eastern and Western traditions, and include texts from the Greek (Sophocles, Thucydides, Plato), Chinese (Confucius, Lao-Tzu, Zhuangzi), and Indian (Buddha) traditions. Our discussions will be guided by fundamental questions: How ought I live? What is good (and, equally, what is bad or evil)? What is human nature? What is justice or a just community? What is knowledge or wisdom? Throughout the semester, our discussions will be collective, critical, and open-ended.

Wisdom

Professor Mark Ralkowski

HONR 1015:MV8 - 4 Credits

CRN 42268

TR 1:00PM - 2:15PM

Discussion Section: HONR 1015:M38, R 2:30PM - 3:20PM (CRN: 42267)

HONR 1015:MV9 - 4 Credits

CRN 43413

TR 10:00AM - 11:15AM

Discussion Section: HONR 1015:M39, R 11:30AM - 12:20PM (CRN: 43448)

Fulfills

UW 1020
CCAS: Philosophy major/minor elective course PHIL 2111

Course Description: What is happiness, and how can I live a life that will make me happy? How should I cope with the fact that I am going to suffer and die, along with everyone I love most? What is justice, and how can we reshape our institutions, as well as our own choices and lives, so that they better reflect it? Is love really such a good thing? Is art good or bad for us? Why is there anything at all, rather than nothing? These are among the earliest questions asked by human beings in the Middle East, Greece, China, and India. In this seminar we will read seminal texts from each of these traditions. Our syllabus will include Epicurus, Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, the Buddha, and Marcus Aurelius. And our discussions will cover issues in ethics, politics, psychology, aesthetics, religion, metaphysics, and epistemology. One of the primary goals of this seminar is to see that, in the ancient world, these concepts were studied as a way of life whose goals were wisdom and happiness. As Socrates once said, “We are studying no small matter, but how we ought to live.”