PHIL 210 The Quest for True Self in the Arts

College of Critical & Professional Studies

3 credits 45.0 hours
200 level undergraduate course

This course explores the attempts of the artist to achieve true or authentic selfhood through art. The point of departure is the contention that true self is not simply given with existence but must be won, and can be lost. This problem has been variously expressed, for example in Paul Tillich’s assertion: Man’s predicament is the situation of the estrangement of man from his true being. The struggle of the artist to grapple with this contradiction in some of its fundamental forms will be the focus of the course. Among the issues to be explored are: whether artistic creation, even at the highest level, is able to mitigate or resolve the inherent estrangement of the self; the conflict between the need for solitude in order to create and the consequent loneliness that many artist experience; the intrusion of love and domestic demands on artistic creativity; the question of whether ethical values or aesthetic values take precedence when the two conflict; and the struggle for the true selfhood in circumstances of political oppression or tyranny.

Prerequisites COMP*102, COMP*102E, COMP*112, or COMP*112H

This course is not repeatable for credit.
This course cannot be taken pass/fail.
This course can fulfill a critical studies elective or free elective requirement.