Marrs, Cody
TR 9:35 AM
Park Hall 136
What is the relationship between literature and philosophy? In what ways is writing an act of philosophizing, and vice versa? This course addresses these questions by examining literature that explicitly tests out beliefs, concepts, and ideas. Across the semester, we will read a wide range of poets, novelists, and other storytellers who approach literature as a vital medium for philosophical rumination. In doing so, we will focus on big questions about nature, beauty, God, language, identity, biology, technology, and the meaning of life.
Required texts:
Books:
C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Lao Tzu, The Tao Te Ching
Octavia Butler, Dawn
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
Ted Chiang, The Story of Your Life and Others
Stephen Crane, The Black Riders and Other Lines
Elaine Scarry, On Beauty and Being Just
Ursula Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea
Films:
No Country for Old Men
Arrival