PHL199H1

Ethics and Fiction

The goal of this seminar is to investigate selected ethical questions via works of fiction, considering how, and with what effect, fiction functions as an ethical medium. We will reflect on what fiction can teach us about pressing challenges of the human condition; themes to be discussed will vary from year to year, but may include choice and responsibility, freedom, friendship, empathy, integrity, and our relation to the divine and to death. Genres studied may range over novels, short stories, plays, and narrative poetry. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.