Selected Topics in Philosophy (PHIL*3350)

Code and section: PHIL*3350*01

Term: Fall 2022

Instructor: Kenneth Dorter

Details

Method of Delivery:

The course will be taught in person.

Course Synopsis:

After beginning with a consideration of the significance of literature from a philosophical point of view, we’ll examine five works to elicit the views they express about the nature and meaning of human existence, and to discover how they do so: Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Etty Hillesum’s An Interrupted Life, Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners, and T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets.

Assignments & Means of Evaluation:

• Either one 2500 word essay (50%).
• Or two 1250 word essays (25% each).
• Final exam (50%).

Required Textbooks:

1. Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Washington Square Press (ISBN 9780451527158)
2. Grene & Lattimore (eds.), Greek Tragedies, Vol. 1, U. Chicago Press (ISBN 9780226035284) 
3. Etty Hillesum: An Interrupted Life, Henry Holt (Owl Books), (ISBN 0805050875) – You may have to get this from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com.
4. Margaret Laurence, The Diviners, McClelland & Stewart (ISBN 9780735252813)
5. T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets. Available online from the library. 

Please note:  This is a preliminary web course outline only.  The Philosophy Department reserves the right to change without notice any information in this description.  The final, binding course outline will be distributed in the first class of the semester.