PHIL 241 Philosophy in Literature

Fall Semester 2011   Evening |Harbour Centre

INSTRUCTOR  Jennifer Warriner, WMX 5607

REQUIRED TEXTS

• Ficciones, Jose Luis Borges, Grove Publishers, 1994
• Time's Arrow, Martin Amis, Vintage Books, 2003
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Philip K. Dick, Del Ray, 1996
• The Bell, Iris Murdoch, Vintage Books, 1999
• "The Grand Inquisitor," from The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky (distributed in class)
• Philosophy articles (distributed in class or available on reserve or from e-journals)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

As a discipline, philosophy tends to dwell on the "big" questions:  Does  God exist? What can I know (if anything)? What am I? Is free will real or an illusion? What sort of duties (if any) do we have toward persons? However, philosophy also tends to approach these questions in the abstract. This class will introduce students to key philosophical problems by reading primary philosophical sources as well as literary texts to help us flesh out these problems more concretely. Throughout this course, we will consider how philosophical issues emerge in everyday life, as well as how our everyday experiences come to be incorporated into philosophy and literature.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

• 3 papers worth 20%, 25%, and 30%, respectively
• Final exam - 25%

Note: Prerequisites: PHIL 241 has no prerequisites and may be applied towards the Certificate in Liberal Arts