PHIL 301: Philosophy as Practice

Number of Sections: 1 | Days and Times: Tuesdays & Thursdays (08:00-09:40 ICT)

Course Description

We often imagine philosophy is a matter of sitting and thinking about things. But philosophy is also a set of practices, modes of living and ways of life. So how do we think better about philosophy as a practice? And what role does practice have in our present day approaches to philosophy? To be good philosophers, do we need to do more than thinking? Do we need to instead need to put in place new practices, in pursuit of our philosophical goals?

In this course, students will explore the idea that philosophy not only proposes new ways of thinking, but that it also challenges us to adopt a suite of practices relating to the arts of living well. 

Students will be encouraged to put philosophical ideas to the test practically, and to cross the boundary between reflection and practice, scholarship and first-person experience, to ask what it might mean to make philosophy a practice, here in the 21st century.

Prerequisites:

PHIL 201: Introduction to Political Philosophy

PHIL 200: Introduction to Ethics