PHIL 390.001 – Seminar in Selected Topics (Philosophy of Love and Sex)

Instructor: Shanna Slank. This course meets MWF 12:20 – 1:10 p.m. in PE 2060.

Human beings spend much of their time in search of sex and love. In this course, we will examine these phenomena through a philosophical lens. We’ll ask: What is love, exactly? Does it require traditional conventions like marriage and monogamy? What are the ethics of sexual relationships? What should we make of a “hook up culture”?  How should we think about the risks of love—the risks, for example, of grief, vulnerability, and loneliness?

As we ask each of these questions, we will consider the way that gender ideology has shaped our beliefs and feelings about their answers. And we’ll ask ourselves whether our current beliefs and feelings about sex and love can survive philosophical scrutiny, or if they can’t, what we should do about it.

Prerequisite: 1 PHIL course.