PHI 2323 The Human Person
What does it mean to be human? Is there soul and, if so, what is it? In light of contemporary reductive materialism and its claims for the sufficiency of scientific naturalism, this course explores the relationship between nature and soul. In the classical philosophical understanding, the human person finds himself or herself in tension between the immanent spheres of nature (or body or history) and the call to a commitment to a transcendent dimension of reality--a transcendent dimension associated with psyche, anima, mind, or spirit. The investigation includes an account of the parts and powers of the soul, such as sense, desire, intellect and will. Readings feature texts by Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Descartes and Nietzsche.
Offered
Fall and Spring