Handbook

This subject will be foundational for the entire degree. It will provide basic training on how to approach great philosophical and literary works. It will provide an overarching rationale for a liberal arts education and set the tone studying on the degree. Focusing on selected exemplars students will be given a firsthand practical training in how to engage with great literary and philosophical masterpieces. In each case, students will confront the philosophical questions raised by the work. They explore how the work connects with other great works within the Western tradition and how it might be viewed from diverse perspectives. They will also explore how the work could connect to great works of non-Western traditions of thought and art. Students will also engage with contemporary writings by philosophers such as Martha Nusbaum; Bernard Williams; Richard Moran, and Hilary Putnam on topics relating to humanistic, liberal education.