"Meanings of Death" COURSE OBJECTIVES:
- To study the dominant philosophical interpretations of death and to evaluate them.
- To interpret, analyze and critique the cognitive content of texts about death.
- To be able to recognize these interpretations as pertaining to our reality and studying them in relation to other disciplines such as literature and ethics, and as providing avenues for discussion and clarification of our existence.
TEXTBOOKS:
The Epic of Gilgamesh, tr. M.G. Kovacs, Stanford: 1989.
Plato, The Last Days of Socrates, eds. Tredennick and Tarrant, London: 1993.
The Bhagavad-Gita tr. Barbara S. Miller, New York: 1986.
Camus, A., The Stranger, tr. M. Ward, New York: 1988.
Gardner, J., Grendel, New York: 1989.
Lecture Reading Approaches to Death --- Gilgamesh Gilgamesh pp. 3-47 Gilgamesh Gilgamesh pp. 50-108 Biblical Interpretations (OT) Handout Biblical Interpretations (NT) Handout Plato, Phaedo Plato pp. 95-145 Plato, Phaedo Plato pp. 145 - 191 Gita Gita pp. 21-81 Gita Gita pp. 82-154 Existentialism Camus, The Stranger, Tolstoy Handout Grendel Grendel Plato Plato pp. 31 - 69 Other Issues ---
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