3 credit hours
The meaning of life is a question that all people confront at some point in their lives. This course will take up this question, reading selections from the writings of great thinkers in both the Eastern and Western intellectual traditions, and using the tools of conceptual analysis and critique to assess the various answers that have been given to it. The following is a partial list of themes that will be covered during the course of a semester. The course seeks to provide students with an introduction to the fundamental issues at stake, along with the means for assessing these issues. The aim is to get students to reflect on their lives and what makes them meaningful, and then to articulate their own vision of a meaningful life.