April 28

The roles of philosophy in cultures around the world today are very different from the roles it played in ancient Greece and China. Today’s class will look critically at the ways that philosophy has developed over the last 150 years, especially in Western Europe and the US (though this also applies in many ways to other parts of the world). We will discuss the ideas of “field philosophy” and “meso-level” philosophy as potential ways to enhance the applicability of philosophy to our present societies, and also look at how these approaches mesh with the more individual-focused “philosophy as a way of life” approach we have taken this semester.