Mark Rothko 1949Mark Rothko Green WhiteMark Rothko No.10, 1950Mark Rothko Orange Brown Mark Rothko White Center

HUM 360: Great Themes: The Problem of Nihilism

Course Description:

This course addresses what has been a persistent theme of modernity: the problem of nihilism. While the term itself has been understood both as the hegemony of a scientific-materialist account of the universe as well as the subtle persistence of religious world views, one thing is clear ‘nihilism' signals a deep crisis in of meaning. As such, it presents the humanities with a unique challenge insofar as the latter depends upon an account of the human condition as more or less meaningful and intelligible.

Required Texts:

  • Turgenev, Fathers and Sons
  • Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Illyich
  • Critchley, Very Little…Almost Nothing: Death, Literature, Philosophy