I do not expect prospective students to have a science background beyond, say, a course in high school physics or completion of a lower-level astronomy course here. The three books represent three distinct social philosophies, three stages in the history and development of the modern economy, and three different approaches to the role of the state in the modern world. The objectives of the course are to introduce students to the work of three seminal thinkers, the issues they stressed, the social philosophies on which their ideas were built, and the historical context of their ideas. Open to Honors students. Our main concern will be to discuss what we value, and why we value it, and how we arrive at such determinations.
Students are responsible for leading the discussions in the second half of the term.
Books ordered from Shaman Drum Book Store, 3l3 South State. Open to fourth term Honors only. This course is an argument about culture, and cultural values. Its focus will be on American culture and its values. We will be concerned with such things as the meaning of the idea of lifestyle for a culture, and what environment means.