Freedom

3 credits

What does it mean for a person to be free? What is freedom for? What is it from? Are lives fated? Can anything be free of the laws of nature, or the providence of God? How do the constraints of society, the burdens of the past, and the accidents of nature shape our freedom? This course will consider the phenomenon of freedom in its metaphysical, ethical and existential dimensions. We will engage ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary authors as well as aesthetic movements and works of art that explore freedom. Among the themes considered throughout the course will be responsibility, destiny, choice, coercion, addiction, improvisation, and individualism.