PHIL 1180

This course will provide students with an introduction to Philosophy by considering the nature of love and sexual desire. The main focus of the course includes fundamental questions regarding how love is to be understood, questions such as: is love one phenomenon with several different forms, or do we misleadingly name entirely different experiences with the same word? What is the relationship between love and sexual desire? Does erotic love require exclusivity and faithfulness? Why is erotic love identified with the social institution of marriage? Is love a powerful emotion which overtakes us, or can we rationally choose the person we love? Why do we sexually desire persons other than the person we love? Is love an expression of self-sacrifice or self-affirmation? What is the relationship between love and happiness? The course will consider answers to questions such as these, questions provided by both contemporary philosophers, as well as thinkers representative of the great traditions in Philosophy.