Mar 29, 2024  
2019-2020 Undergraduate Bulletin 
    
2019-2020 Undergraduate Bulletin [ARCHIVED BULLETIN]

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PHI 012 - (HP) What Does It All Mean? Life, Meaning and Philosophy

Semester Hours: 3
Fall, Spring
The question of the meaning of life is inextricably entangled with other philosophical questions. On one view, life can only have purpose if God exists. This requires examination of the reasons for and against the idea that God exists. A related view holds that unless we have immortal souls, our lives are too brief to be genuinely significant. This requires examination of the reasons for thinking that humans have such souls. A third view holds that we can give our life meaning through the free choices we make. This raises the question of whether we have free will, or whether our choices are predetermined; it also raises the questions of whether the choices we make should be ethical choices, and what it is to act ethically (whether, for example one should focus on the consequences of one’s actions, or on one’s religious beliefs). This course examines various approaches to the question of the meaning of life, and how this question connects with other important philosophical questions.





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