Course Description: In this course we will explore who we are as human animals through three different, though closely related, lenses: self, identity, and authenticity. These three concepts bring into focus a series of questions that have long been central to philosophizing, namely, what does it mean for me to be me, you to be you, for us to be us, as well as to recognize one another as such? These questions bring together many of the core issues of philosophy, such as the nature of truth, the nature of knowledge, and the nature of freedom, each of which has been discussed and argued about by philosophers for thousands of years in many different ways and toward many different ends. Over the course of the semester we will develop our ideas about who we are as human animals, who we are as individuals and societies, and how we can harness our freedom in order to live our lives as authentically as we can, if such a thing is even possible. By the end of the semester, you will have read and evaluated several different ways to respond to these issues, and will be able to begin to formulate your own answers to them that will reflect, and ask us to reflect upon, our very humanity.
This is a 100-level course, one of several in the department that serves as an introduction to the discipline. I teach it every year, and try to change aspects of it each time, both in terms of themes and authors.
Below are several of the different syllabi I have used for the course:
Self, Identity, Authenticity (S20)
Self, Identity, Authenticity (F18)