Existentialism 2.0

1 Credit · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

What does it mean to be responsible for oneself and to others in 2018 and beyond? How should we understand the dynamics of accelerated change at work in the world and a heightened level of stress, anxiety and conflict they produce? How are the challenges of terrorism, globalization, immigration, income disparity and environmental degradation to be addressed effectively and justly in a climate of unrelenting ideological partisanship? This course will first examine the radical conception of human freedom and responsibility articulated by Existentialist writers of the 20th century in response to the crisis of the two World Wars. It then goes on to propose a way of understanding cultural evolution that can help us navigate the contemporary dynamics of change and conflict in a way that is both practically realistic and at the same time still consistent with a personal commitment to the dignity of human freedom and the responsibility imposes for one’s own identity as a human being.