Time, Death, and Meaning

The experience of modernity has called into question the idea that the purpose of human existence is derived from the human being’s place in a meaningful order. In this course we will examine attempts by Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Martin Buber, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, and Simone Weil to reflect on the fundamental existential problems posed by the experience of modernity. We will examine such questions as: What is the relation between time and meaning? Does a meaningful life require an acceptance of death, or does it involve the transcendence of death? What is the role of the other and of community in the realization of meaning? We will read selections from Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existentialism is a Humanism, Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus, Martin Buber’s I and Thou, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy’s Practical Knowledge of the Soul, Simone Weil’s Gravity and Grace, and watch two films, My Dinner with Andre and Groundhog Day.