PHI 3311 Philosophy of Being
Is the universe an intelligible Whole or a chaos, an unintelligible aggregate of "All"? If the former, what are the origins of such intelligibility: is it founded in metaphysical structures of being, or in the ordering power of the human mind? Addressing these questions will take us a long way toward discovering whether wisdom, conceived as the comprehensive understanding of reality in light of its first principles and causes, is available through philosophic inquiry. Such metaphysical considerations also open the door to reflection on the order of learning and on the unity of the arts and sciences. As students follow their curriculum into a major course of studies, this course offers the opportunity to wonder about the place of their disciplines within the broader consideration of being and wisdom. The course revolves around four key thinkers--Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant and Heidegger.
Offered
Fall and Spring