Professor of Philosophy; Zoltan Kohn Professor of Medicine
Director Emeritus, Center for Philosophy and History of Science

CAS PH 482/682 TOPICS IN MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY

Personal identity comprises a major epistemological and moral theme of 20th century philosophy. We will consider the historical development of selfhood in both domains, with an emphasis on Romantic conceptions of self-consciousness, which have had a major influence on current thinking. Beginning with the early modern construction of the self as an entity, we will explore how a dialectical model replaced a more static formulation, and finally how 20th century philosophers have built upon their Romantic predecessors. Historical overviews will be supplemented by primary readings of Hegel, Schopenhauer, Feuerbach, Marx, Emerson, Thoreau, Kierkegaard, James, and Nietzsche.

(Syllabus)

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