Matters of Life and Death weekly schedule (week 5)

Matters of Life and Death
weekly schedule.

Week 5 (Sep. 20-24)

Death is nothing to me: Lucretius.
To be discussed: What is the atomist understanding of human body and soul? If death is the permanent end of my existence, do I have anything to fear? What’s the use of Lucretius’ argument if we don’t know whether death is the end of me?

Assignment: Visit instructor’s office hours (or make an appointment) by Fri., Sep. 24.

Analytic essay on Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich (due Mon., Sep. 20 by 11:59 PM)

Response essay on Nagel, "The Absurd" (due Mon., Sep. 20 by 11:59 PM)

Reading Assignment: Lucretius, On the Nature of the Universe, III.26-95, 135-176, 323-336, 418-475, 622-632, 795-1094. (CR) (due by class time Mon. Sept 20)

Skills & Information:

How to reconstruct and evaluate an argument.
How to navigate texts with marginal numbering.
How to consult with instructor outside of class.

To read for week 6:
Schopenhauer, “On the Suffering of the World”, pp. 41-50 (CR).
“On the Vanity of Existence”, pp. 51-54 (CR) (due by class time Mon. Sept 27)

Schopenhauer, “On Affirmation and Denial of the Will to Live”, pp. 61-65 (CR).
“On the Indestructibility of Our Essential Being …”, pp. 66-76 (CR).
Kramer, “Tibetan Attitudes Toward Death”, pp. 70-79 (CR) (due by class time Wed. Sept 29)

Assignments for week 6:
Course Log entry #2 (due Sept. 29)

Analytic essay on Lucretius, On the Nature of the Universe (due Mon., Sep. 27 by 11:59 PM)

Response essay on Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich (due Mon., Sep. 27 by 11:59 PM)