PHIL 110.01W – Philosophical Texts that Changed the World: An Introduction to Philosophy through Great Works*
Instructor: Min Tang. This course meets MTWRF 1:15 – 2:45 p.m. via remote synchronous (RS) instruction.
*This course has been specifically designed for online instruction and is administered by the Summer School.
This is an introductory level course on influential texts in the history of western philosophy. We will start with an introduction to the historical contexts and philosophical methodologies. After this introduction, we will dive into the following eight texts.
- Plato’s Republic(available via unc library, click the link)
- Plato’s Symposium(available via unc e-library, click the link)
- Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics(available via unc library, click the link)
- Epictetus’s the Handbook of Epictetus(available via unc e-library, click the link)
- Karl Marx’s Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844(available via Maxisit.org archive. Click the link.)
- S. Mill’s On Liberty(available via unc e-library, click the link)
- Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and a Vindication of the Rights of Men(available via unc e-library, click the link)
- Martin Luther Dr. King’s Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community(available via unc e-library, click the link)
We will analyze and evaluate specific philosophical questions, concepts, arguments, and examples in these texts. Furthermore, we will connect our philosophical analyses and evaluations with our own lives. This course presupposes no background in philosophy, but you should prepare to read carefully, think critically, write thoughtfully, and learn to discuss with people respectfully and empathetically. We will work together to master these skills.