Modern Philosophy & Literature

In this course, focused on close, intensive readings of key texts, we will explore the border that both separates and joins philosophy and literature. How does literature evoke philosophical problems, and how do philosophers interpret such works? How does fiction create meaning?  We will explore philosophical literature and literary philosophy in 20th Century works, mainly European and North American, on topics such as: style and rhetoric; author and reader; time and temporality; mood and emotion; existence and mortality. Literary readings will be selected from Borges, Calvino, Camus, Kafka, Morrison, and Woolf. Philosophical readings will be selected from Bergson, Danto, Freud, Murdoch, Nussbaum and Ricoeur. (Previous course in PHIL or CMLT or waiver) (Not open to students who have taken PHIL/CMLT 0286)