Being Human

Explore life’s major themes through the study of philosophy in this online education course.

Wonder is the first of all moods we find ourselves in when confronted with the existence of existence. What is going on here?

Truth, the first quest of philosophy. A wonderous mood leads to a desire for truth of the object which elicits this wonder, so that we may move from wondering to knowing.

Who and what is this wondering-truth seeking thing? The human being, us, is a complex creature that has fascinated us ever since we first appeared on the scene, all those many many years ago.

If we are to be truthful to our natures, as knowing and desiring-to-know beings, we must come to terms with knowledge, and the means to it, a sound education.

Imagine living a life without purpose? That is to say a life that is not lived for anything. The very notion is difficult to comprehend. This theme will involve an analysis of what purpose is, how we find it, and how we live with and for it.

To desire is to want, and to want, in the varieties of ways we do, and for the varieties of ends we pursue, is a deeply human act. In this theme we explore desire, what it is, its place in the structure of human thought and action, and how we become master over it, or it over us.

Freedom has been hailed as a supreme good. To be free from that which constrains you, and free to be and do that which you desire; but without a clear idea of what we are being freed from and for, we remain in perpetual doubt as to whether we are ever in fact, free.

Our radical dependancy on others as a species (think of a crying baby) means that we have to be with others. In thinking about how we do so, we will explore in this theme the many ways in which we can as human beings be with others, such as as family, friends, lovers, employers and employees, country men and women, and even as strangers.

The torchbearer of knowledge of the modern world is often thought and said to be the scientist. Undoubtedly, this thing called ‘Science’ has come to play an important part in the modern world, with its influence on our culture extending from our views on what truths we can know, to its role in technologically reshaping the physical shape of world. This theme will explore ‘Science’ with the aim of getting clear on what it is , what it isn’t, and what it could do and be for us as the beings who wield it over the natural world.

For those of us with moments to live beyond the present, the future is inevitable. What it will bring on the worldwide scale of massive and numerous changes too big and too many for us to keep track of, will affect our lives and the lives of those we care about to come after. Getting clear on the forces that affect our present, as elaborated in the previous themes, plays an important role in the possible futures that we will give rise to.

What did Socrates mean when he said “The unexamined life is not worth living” ?

We all examine our lives to some extent or the other. This Socratic statement, arguably, is asking us to take this mental activity seriously.

A growing understanding of ourselves and the world around us gives us the ability and the desire to continuously come back to our lives and question whether we are living as we want to and as we should. In the absence of any careful examination of our lives, we face the consequences of living a life less lived, a half life, one perhaps broadly directed by forces within and external to us that we would never have desired to have such control over us.

In this last theme we bring it all together and delve into a final analysis of the life worth living.