First-Year Writing Seminar (101-8-21)

Topic

The Self

Instructors

Rachel E Zuckert
8474912556
Kresge 3-425

Meeting Info

Harris Hall L28: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

In this course we will discuss philosophical questions about the nature of the self, raised and answered in readings from the history of philosophy and contemporary philosophical writings. Questions to be discussed may include: Is self-awareness necessary or sufficient for selfhood? What guarantees the continuity of personal identity over time? To what degree is the self constituted by its social context? Are there good or bad ways to be a self? How can one cultivate one's self, or is it better to try to avoid being a self at all? As with any first-year seminar, the course will also involve frequent writing assignments, including both informal exercises and formal argumentative papers.

Learning Objectives

Students will gain a sense of alternative conceptions and questions in multiple philosophical traditions about what it is to be a self. Students will practice skills of argumentative writing and oral presentation.

Class Materials (Required)

Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays, ed. Donald Frame, Stanford University Press 1958 ISBN 978-0804704861
There will also be a film (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and historical and contemporary readings by British, American, and Korean philosophers, including W.E.B. Du Bois, David Hume, Jinul, Kim Iryop, John Locke, Maria Lugones, and Andrea Westlund, made available electronically through the library

Class Attributes

WCAS Writing Seminar