Philosophy

One of the hallmarks of being human is that we can suffer as well as flourish. Focusing on positive psychology and clinical psychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy, this course offers a sustained investigation of the conceptual and philosophical problems at the heart of the study of human well-being and human ill-being. Central topics include the nature of happiness and well-being; the nature and classification/diagnosis of mental disorder; the relation between mental health and mental illness (is happiness more than the mere absence of suffering?); differing perspectives on mental disorder (neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, existentialism, phenomenology); the implicit philosophical assumptions behind major psychotherapeutic traditions, especially concerning the good life. One guiding assumption of the course is that studying well-being and ill-being side by side can be mutually illuminating. By the end of the semester, students are equipped to interpret psychological theories and therapeutic practices through a philosophical lens, as well as consider how conceptions of the good life both inform and are informed by the science and practice of psychology.