1st July 2024 to 20th July 2024 (2 credits)
About the Program
This course introduces philosophical ideas about meaning and purpose of life. Philosophers across the world have addressed questions about what is life, is there meaning given to each individual life, how are we to understand it and achieve it, etc. This course takes students through ancient wisdom from Indian and Greek philosophy concerning these issues. It spans across Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, Cynics, Epicureans, Yoga, Vedantins, Buddha, Jainism, Charvaka. Then, how recent thinkers have engaged with these questions to make it relevant for their situations is explored. For example, schools such as absurdism, nihilism, existentialism are considered. While doing this, it is made relevant to the contemporary setting by engaging in an interactive method, which allows students to address their position regarding these issues. While introducing thinkers who have reflected on life, meaning, and purpose, their insights are examined for their relevance to the contemporary lifestyles. Students are encouraged and guided to develop their own philosophical outlook of life from these explorations.
Course Objectives
- Introduce students to philosophical insights about meaning and purpose of life
- Engage students in a dialogue with philosophical concepts throughout the ages
- introduce students to Indian schools of philosophy such as Yoga, Vedanta, Mimansa, Buddhism, Jainism, Charvaka
- introduce students to ancient Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, Epicureans, Cynics
- Introduce students to contemporary philosophical engagement with ancient wisdom with a focus on philosophy of life
Faculty
Prof. Avani Sabade
Academic Specialist - Literary & Cultural StudiesProf. Avani Sabale has completed her B.A. from Pune University and her M.A. in Philosophy from Fergusson College as a rank-holder. She started teaching Formal Logic at FLAME as a visiting faculty in 2011, right after finishing her M.A., and worked on evolving it into a course on Critical Reasoning. She has also worked as a full-time Assistant Professor at Fergusson College and Wadia, teaching courses in Logic and Philosophy.
Having been the first ever Indian women’s rugby team captain, she spends most of her spare time playing, coaching, and promoting rugby.
Avani’s research interests are Indian Moral Philosophy, Food Ethics, Philosophy of Sports, Critical Thinking and Public Philosophy. She has also presented on the interdisciplinary role philosophy plays in the humanities as a second-order discipline.