PHIL 298 - Life, Death, and Meaning

In this course we examine whether there is a meaning of life, or rather meaning in life, and the relationship of meaningfulness to other values; whether it is enough to feel that one’s life is meaningful or whether there an objective sense according to which a life can be meaningful no matter how it feels to the person living it; and whether it is it possible to live the life that matters most to you. We will also examine a set of questions that traditionally stand together under the heading of “analytic existentialism”: are persons benefited, or harmed, by being brought into existence; does death matter to the person who dies, and if so, are some deaths worse than others; are we immortal and, if not, would it be desirable to be so; and finally, given our answers to these questions, is pessimism or optimism an appropriate attitude to the human condition?

Credits 1