HPS208H1

How We Think About Life

What is the difference between living and non-living things? How should living things be classified? How do various kinds of life relate to each other and to the non-living environment? These are perennial questions, dealt with by every culture throughout history, and still debated today. This course surveys historical and cultural contexts of efforts to understand life, taxonomy, and ecology, and modern questions in the philosophy of the life sciences. The historical and cultural approach will help us to understand changing views, similarities, and differences among various understandings of life. And our approach to philosophy will be critical, asking what the best arguments for various current views are. Topics covered may include ecology, evolution, heredity, natural history, taxonomy, and definitions of life.