HUMSC 401 Great Dialogues: Athens, Jerusalem, and Technological Society

Human Sciences (2009-2010)

What is the relationship between our Western technological world and its roots in the cultures of ancient Athens (representing the heroic life, the dramatic and tragic life, the political life, the examined life) and Jerusalem (representing liberation from oppression, the focus on justice and mercy, the divine challenge to humans playing god)? Do these cultures offer the potential to challenge the principles on which contemporary technological society rests or have they been surpassed? This course investigates how a dialogue with core texts offers ways of understanding these issues.