The Politics of Solitude

Undergraduate

An examination of how thinkers across traditions have considered the moral and political stakes of solitude, understood as more than mere isolation or withdrawal. Is solitude a virtue to be cultivated and a precondition for freedom, judgement, and creativity? Or is it a vice to be avoided, and a danger to human happiness and civic life? Who is entitled to solitude, and under what conditions is it desirable or possible? Students will reflect on when solitude is a justifiable form of detachment and resistance, and when it risks amounting to an abdication of responsibility. SO T 1:30pm-3:25pm