Enrollment is now open! Go sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/enrollment.
This spring, I’m reviving my Core Texts in Philosophy class. The class involves 10 topics taught at two-week intervals over Zoom, with each session running 75 minutes (well, sometimes up to 90 min). These are discussion-oriented; I’ll talk plenty, but I rely on you to engage with me, with each other, and with the text. I’ve taught this course twice before, to about 60 students total, so the reading selections and discussion methods have been well road tested.
When is it?
Classes will run through Sat. Jan. 18 through Mon. May 26. Based on current demand, I will be offering these two sections:
- Saturdays 11:30am ET/8:30am PT
- Mondays 1pm ET/10am PT
If you’d like to take the class but can’t attend either of these times, please email me at mark.linsenmayer@gmail.com to let me know your availability. International students: March 9 is the beginning of US Daylight Savings time, so if your clocks don’t move, keep in mind that your class will start an hour earlier for you after that point.
What are the readings? I have chosen a manageable selection from each of these works:
- Death of Socrates (Apology/Crito/Phaedo)
- Plato’s Republic (his politics and theory of forms)
- Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
- Stoicism (selections from Epictetus/Seneca/Marcus Aurelius)
- Descartes’ Meditations (rationalism)
- Hume’s Enquiry (empiricism)
- Kant’s Epistemology (his Prolegomena)
- Kant’s Ethics (vs. other ethical approaches: utilitarianism, virtue ethics)
- Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals
- 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.
Study questions are provided. If you’d like feedback on your writing or one-on-one time, you can purchase one-off tutoring sessions (typically $50 for the first hour, negotiated after that).
What if I can’t make it to one or more of the sessions?
Each session is recorded; you can watch them according to your schedule. Too much going on that week? Just skip it and come to the next one, or come to the other scheduled session for that week.
How much does it cost?
$330 for the course (10 sessions). (If this is too steep for you, contact me about a possible payment plan or discount.)
I also expect you to maintain an active PEL Citizenship (whether through our website, Patreon, or Apple) through the duration of the class (so $5/month), as some of the episodes you’ll need to listen to are paywalled, and our Discord server used for optional additional discussion is also restricted to supporters.
If you’d like just the recordings of the course, without coming to the live sessions, the cost is $250. The recordings for the previous semester’s four sections will be made available to you right away.
How do I sign up?
Sign up today at Go sign up at partiallyexaminedlife.com/enroll. Feel free to email me at mark.linsenmayer@gmail.com with any questions.