PHIL 226 - Exploring Our Modern Condition

CR: 3
What defines our modern way of life? Science, technology, fully autonomous individuals, the separation of church and state? Throughout the history of thought, what we call the “early modern” period played an especially formative role for our way of life today. This period begins with philosophical theology and ends with the rise of science, with a re-conception of human subjectivity as the pivoting ground. This course will introduce you to the origin of our modern conditions, revealing that many of the most commonsensical beliefs that we take for granted today are not self-evidently true, but rather presuppositions formed during a historical period. Possible philosophers covered include René Descartes; Elisabeth, Princess of Bohemia; Baruch Spinoza; Lady Anne Conway; and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.