Philosophy

This course examines the philosophy and sociology behind television series, as well as the reception of these shows and political and sociological ramifications of TV series, primarily in France and the US. The first part of the course focuses on critical approaches to media, philosophy, social science, and the reception of different forms of media. The second part of the course examines the series THE KILLING, GAME OF THRONES, THE WIRE, THE STATE, FAUDA, THE HANDMAID'S TALE, THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA, UNBELIEVABLE, MARE OF EASTTOWN, FARGO, and WE OWN THIS CITY. These series are investigated for their philosophical implications of dominance between humans, activism, and reactions to conflict. The final project involves the philosophical and social analysis of a TV series of the student's choice.

This course provides a critical introduction to Buddhism and interrogates the origins and transhistorical resonances of Buddhist thought, practice, and praxis. It examines the possibility of the Buddhist turn in critical theory, one which must be irreverent and far reaching in its approach, and engages with a polyphony of voices ranging from lamas and practitioners to psychoanalysts and philosophers. The course explores whether Buddhism can function as a comprehensive framework for rethinking philosophy, politics, psychology, and the aesthetic in our current moment. It rethinks debates concerning what Buddhism really is (religion, psychology, empiricism, spirituality, tools for living, etc.) and explores how Buddhism problematizes commonplace understandings of belief and reason, mind and body, idealism and materialism, immanence and transcendence, ontology and anti-foundationalism, dream and reality, desire and gratification, and pain and pleasure. The radical Buddha is rediscovered as both a person and allegorical nexus for rethinking the condition of the world and the condition of being in the world.

This course teaches students to think critically about human beings' interactions with and responsibility towards the broader global environment in the modern world. It contextualizes the moral and political questions arising out of this inquiry within the broader philosophical tradition, including its numerous critical discussions of the role of humankind in the natural world.

This course examines the ethical dimensions of everyday life in Singapore. It focuses on moral dilemmas that arise in the nation's pursuit of happiness, prosperity, and progress. The course explores how moral reasoning from multiple perspectives applies to local concerns such as equality, meritocracy, multiculturalism, immigration, and marriage. This challenges us to identify moral problems created by social and technological changes, combine ethical principles with practical constraints, and balance the interests of individuals and communities. How moral dialogue can be cultivated in Singapore's multicultural society, so as to manage diverse traditions and divergent values, is also considered.

This course is concerned primarily with the question of meaning: what is it for words or sentences to have meaning? In this course, students look at some of the most important theories offered by 20th-century philosophers in response to this question – theories that to this day continue to be hugely influential in linguistics and related fields. With each session focusing on the ideas of an individual thinker, students explore some of the most radical and provocative questions about language. 

Contemplative practices such as mindfulness and yoga, silent retreats and pilgrimages have seen a significant rise in popularity in recent years, in part driven by a rapidly growing body of scientific literature on the purported benefits of such practices for the relief of the ills of modern life, such as stress, anxiety, depression, but also as elements in the enhancement of human resilience and capacity. A sustained, critical and practical engagement with this field using a broad humanities approach can offer students an unusually rich and concrete experience in combining scholarly and personal inquiry. Through a close engagement with contemplative practices as objects of academic study and debate, as social phenomena in contemporary society, and as lived practices, this course provides an opportunity to explore fundamental questions in the humanities; for example, about the nature and meaning of being human; about consciousness, cognition and experience; about the relationship between mind and body; about freedom and connectedness; and about the relationship between the humanities and the sciences. The course introduces a rapidly growing field of research with considerable public interest to which humanities research makes significant contributions. By exploring contemplative practices in context, in theory, and in practice, students have an opportunity to develop a critical ability for assessing scholarly and popular claims about the nature and purported effects of contemplative practices. Literature for the course includes both scholarly texts about contemplative life and practice and historical and contemporary texts from contemplative traditions, including from classical philosophy, Christian, Sufi, and Buddhist contexts, as well as modern forms, such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.

The idea of imagination remains one of the most captivating and extensively discussed subjects throughout Western intellectual history and contemporary scholarship. It is an interdisciplinary topic interrogated in various disciplines such as phenomenology, politics, aesthetics, philosophy, psychology, theology, to name a few. The class examines imagination in its diverse applications and interpretations in how human beings in various cultural contexts encounter, experience, and conceive the world. It gives attention to distinctive ways non-Western cultures employ imagination in meaning-making, understanding and interaction with the world. It demonstrates imagination as a bedrock of cultural traditions, a resource for theological inquiries, social ethics, and transformations. The objectives are to explore the role of human imagination in the process of reality construction, interrogate how contextual understanding of ultimate reality shape imagination, gain in-depth knowledge about these debates on the theory of imagination in various disciplines, and develop imaginative skills to analyse and reflect theologically upon human reality.

Throughout human history, all societies have been confronted with questions about the world, themselves, and others. These questions arise at various stages in the development of civilizations, but once asked, persist throughout time. In this respect, philosophy should never be seen as a uniquely Western discipline, despite the Western tendency to view it as such. This course attempts to redress this imbalance. Once made aware of the issue of Eurocentrism in intellectual history early in their philosophical education, students then explore the richness of non-Western philosophical inquiry more fully. Each meeting consists of an explanatory lecture that introduces the various themes and topics covered in the course. Students then have the opportunity to raise their questions and learn from each other. Due to the multicultural nature of the course content, students also receive instruction on various methods for comparing and contrasting the philosophical themes under discussion. Assignments include the careful reading and study of the course material, the preparation of papers, and active participation in discussions.