PHILOSOPHY IN LITERATURE
This course sets out to unearth key philosophical themes in European and American literary classics, including Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Reference is made to other great works of literature such as Marlowe's Dr Faustus, Wiesel's Night and Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The course examines the themes of consciousness, the balance of good and evil in the self; free will, determinism and responsibility; meaninglessness and absurdity; death, suffering and hope; and the relationship between God and man. Its object is to provide students with little or no philosophical background the opportunity to study important themes in the subject through a familiar medium.
The full course outline may be downloaded here.