This course is an introduction to some central questions in philosophy. The course will be organized around Rene Descartes’ justly famous Meditations on First Philosophy. As we reconstruct and evaluate Descartes’ arguments, we will look at a number of other historical and contemporary treatments of the philosophical issues Descartes wrestles with. Among our main topics will be: the problem of skepticism, the nature of the human mind and its relation to matter, the possibility of rational arguments for the existence of God, and the possibility of immortality and the nature of personal identity

The course pack is the only mandatory course materials. All required readings will be covered in the course pack.