Update: Enrollment is opening soon for the class. There are still spaces available (more Saturday than Friday).
Mark Linsenmayer, your Partially Examined Life host, wants to get back to working with students (remotely), and also wants to re-read and talk about some central philosophical texts.
This will be beginner-friendly, but I also welcome students who are returning to these texts to deepen their understanding.
This class will be a guided discussion, giving you the opportunity to develop your speaking/summarizing skills just like on a PEL episode.
Classes will be limited to not more than 20 students and will be conducted over Zoom.
When is it?
There will be two sections: First, this will be offered over Zoom on ten Fridays (1 hr, 15 min per session starting at 5pm ET/4pm CT) on these dates: Sep. 1, 8, 22; Oct. 13, 27; Nov. 10, 17; Dec. 1, 8, 15.
The second session will take place (again via Zoom) on Saturdays at 11am ET/10am CT on the dates immediately following the above.
What are the readings?
(These are subject to minor changes.)
- Sep. 1: Death of Socrates (Apology/Crito/Phaedo)
- Sep. 8: Plato’s Republic (his politics and theory of forms)
- Sep. 22: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
- Oct. 13: Stoicism (selections from Epictetus/Seneca/Marcus Aurelius)
- Oct. 27: Descartes’ Meditations (rationalism)
- Nov. 10: Hume’s Enquiry (empiricism)
- Nov. 17: Kant’s Epistemology (his Prolegomena) (plus responses to it)
- Dec. 1: Kant’s Ethics (vs. other ethical approaches: utilitarianism, virtue ethics)
- Dec. 8: Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals
- Dec. 15: Sartre/Beauvoir: “Existentialism Is a Humanism” and part of Ethics of Ambiguity
Do I actually have to read them? Is there homework? Tests?
Each week has at least one PEL episode associated with it, and I expect you to listen and have some thoughts. You should also try to at least start the readings to get a flavor. The more you're able to read, the more you'll learn.
How much does it cost?
$300 for the course (ten sessions).
In addition, some sessions will require you to access behind-the-paywall PEL discussions, so you should be registered during the course as a $5/month supporter, whether through our website or Patreon or Apple Podcasts.
For more information and class policies, see the online syllabus. Please email any questions or concerns to email mark@partiallyexaminedlife.com.
Registration Details
Fill out the registration form.
Filling out this form indicates your interest in the course, and will be used to finalize its schedule. You will not be asked to make a payment at this time. If you aren't sure if you want to register, you can still use the registration form to ask any questions you have (or just email mark@partiallyexaminedlife.com).
Registration will be open through August 15, at which point I'll finalize the class lists (who will be in which section) and provide final details about scheduling and technology.
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