Time Schedule:
Karen T Litfin
POL S 401
Seattle Campus
Topics can include, but are not limited to, analytical theory pertaining to justice, exploitation, and freedom; revolution and social changes; collective choice and action; sexuality and politics; critical theory; Marxist theory; post-structuralism. Content varies. Recommended: POL S 201.
Class description
Topic: Nature, Spirit and Political Theory Description: Taking questions of global ecology and sustainable development as a backdrop, this course explores a range of Western and non-Western understandings about the relationship between the nature and spirit, and investigates how that relationship might be shaped and mediated by social and political action. Central to the themes of the course will be an exploration of the differences between materialism and idealism with respect to environmental ethics. We will discuss these questions in the context of each of the following religious traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and pantheism. We will also investigate the political implications of philosophical and metaphysical approaches to the nature/spirit questions represented by the works by Plato, Plotinus, Hegel, Aurobindo, and Teilhard de Chardin.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
(offered in India) For Auroville Program students only
Recommended preparation
Text. Books will include Thomas Berry, The Great Work and Ken Wilber, The Marriage of Sense of and Spirit.
Class assignments and grading
Grades. Students will be asked to write a final paper that encapsulates their own worldview in light of what they have learned from the course.
