Splash Biography

What did Nietzsche mean when he said “God is dead”? We will consider the meaning of his famous quote in light of more recent literature, examining the context of his quote and evaluate modern interpretations from prominent philosophical thinkers. This will not be a class on religion and the existence or nonexistence of God will be completely irrelevant to our discussion. Rather, we will discuss the extent to which a belief in God or gods plays a role in structuring one’s experience of the world.

The systematic destruction of a group of people based on ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion: genocide. The term genocide was created to classify the horrors of the holocaust. Once the definition was codified by the United Nations, the world said ‘never again’. Never again would there be a slaughter of men, women, and children on the basis of their identity. However genocide has happened. Again and again. Why? This class will explore the nature, causes, and consequences of genocides since 1950. We will see that the perpetrators are not evil, the victims are not innocent, and the lines are always blurred. By the end of this you will know how to commit a genocide-- but you will also know how to detect and prevent one.

Science is considered to be a way to directly observe “truths” about the universe, but is the scientific method really an effective way to gain knowledge? What is the difference between a “law” of nature and a “theory” of nature? In this class, we will examine different ideas from philosophers such as Plato and see how they apply to our modern notion of science. We will consider fundamental pillars of scientific reasoning like empirical observation and induction, in order to understand their capability but most importantly their limitations. We know that there are many fundamental questions that science has yet to answer. The important question is, “Can science ever provide these answers?” No prior knowledge of philosophy required, just a strong curiosity.