HONR 2020 - The Modern Age of Philosophy and Ethics

4 credit hours
Modernity is the age of deep tensions and contradictions: the rise of science, but also of distrust and loss of meaning; individual freedom and rights, but also colonialism and collective oppression; the age of universal reason, but also of skepticism towards God and tradition. By examining the writings of key thinkers from 17th century onwards, including Descartes, Hume, Locke, Douglass, Wollstonecraft, Kant, Baldwin and Nietzsche, this course will undertake a critical appraisal of the modern age. One main objective is to initiate a thoughtful evaluation of the “modern” ways in which we still understand the world and ourselves.