WesMaps - Wesleyan University Catalog 2012-2013       Summer Session       Winter Session       Home       Archive       Search
CS92PROD
Primate Encounters

PHIL 266
Spring 2013 not offered
Crosslisting: ENVS 266, SISP 266
Certificates: Environmental Studies, Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory

What does it mean to see ourselves as primates, as close evolutionary relatives to other great apes and distant kin to old-world and new-world monkeys? In this course we will explore the wide-ranging philosophical implications of answers to this question by examining the evolution and behaviors of other primates, the ideas and assumptions (often gendered) of primatologists watching primates, and the thoughts of observers of the primatologists watching primates. We will pursue topics in the philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and ethics. We will adopt a largely comparative perspective and examine philosophical, scientific, psychological, and popular writing (as well as films). We will end the course exploring how seeing ourselves as pimates might have implications for the survival of our primate kin, and, ultimately our own survival.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS PHIL
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (PHIL-Philosophy)

Last Updated on DEC-04-2024
Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email ? Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459