Course Description
This course investigates fundamental questions regarding the nature, value, and capacities of the human person and serves also as an introduction to the discipline and subject matter of philosophy. Specifically, we will discuss the idea of what it is to be human, what it is to be an individual, and what it is to be the same individual over time; the phenomenon of human knowing and the nature of mind; the possibility of immortality and the relationship between soul or mind and body; the opposition between freedom and determinism; and the significance of the social dimension of human existence. Throughout the course, students will cultivate their critical reading, writing, and thinking skills, and they will establish a basis for discerning the ethical significance of these foundational questions concerning knowledge, existence, and human nature.