Philosophy, Religion, and the Meaning of Life

What gives meaning to human existence? Consider two pivotal Western approaches to the question—the Humanist-philosophical and monotheistic wisdom traditions—and delineate the key metaphorical figures of the Hero and the Saint. Consider also the value of a commitment, not to an answer about meaning, but to a way of life based in questioning.

Explore the notion of Mystery—the tension between meaning and absurdity—as the fundamental condition of human existence. Deepen your encounter with the Hero and the Saint as human archetypes using the metaphor of the genome, as the two figures represent identity traits that can be passed on across time and cultures.

Focusing on the Greek epic Hero, probe the worldview against which the Hero's journey unfolds. From Homer's Iliad, identify the core concepts of "necessity," "fate," and "heroic excellence" as they define the Hero's life mission and task. Consider the notion of agon—the struggle of the Hero to fulfill his or her destiny.

This lecture explores a new form of cultural expression, Greek drama, and a further incarnation of the Heroic ideal, the tragic hero. Follow the emergence of the Greek dramatic festival, and contemplate Aristotle's and Nietzsche's seminal ideas on tragic drama, where beauty and transcendence arise from a willing embrace of life and death.

In his account of the trial of Socrates, Plato was instrumental in shaping the primary legacy of Greek culture to the modern world: the figure of the citizen-hero. Ponder the deep implications of Socrates' heroic virtue and philosophical identity in his commitment to personal integrity and to "not-knowing" as the ultimate wisdom.

What is the reward, the "payoff" in the Hero's journey? Discover Plato and Aristotle's poignant answers to this question. Study Plato's core ideas in the Republic, equating meaning and transcendence with living justly, and Aristotle's ethics, where virtue and integrity of character become the wellspring of happiness.

Learn the meaning of heroic citizenship in Roman Stoic philosophy, as movingly expressed by Epictetus and the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Consider an "interior divinity" and self-esteem rooted in clarity of mind and purposeful embrace of one's personal fate. Consider also how the Hero archetype shapes our own modern human identity.

Enter the worldview underlying our second archetypal figure: the Saint. Probe the heart of the creation story in Genesis, in two encounters with Mystery: Creation itself, in the relation of God to man as one freedom to another, and the "other side" of freedom—the possibility of refusal called "sin."

From the biblical story of Abraham, you encounter the three fundamental features of the Saint's identity: a calling by God, a promise or covenant with God, and a testing of that bond. Reflect deeply on the nature of the covenant relationship and on the enigmatic meaning of Abraham's sacrifice.

Within the single figure of Moses, we find the archetypes of Prophet, King, and Priest, which embody the three features of the Saint's identity. Explore the meaning of these roles in the stories of Elijah, King David, and Job. Probe the core value of sacrifice in awakening the sense of life's sacredness.

In this lecture, discover how Jesus appears in the Saintly tradition as a radical innovator—creating a dramatically new understanding of the covenant of God with humanity. Contemplate the profound symbolic effect of the Resurrection as a transformation of human identity through the possibility of forgiveness.

The achievements of Saul of Tarsus, later Saint Paul, mark a critical moment in early Christianity. Follow the dynamic thrust of his journey as he opposes the original apostles, proclaiming the universality of Jesus's mission, and uniting in his actions the qualities of Heroic citizenship with those of Saintly faith.

Augustine follows Saint Paul as a pivotal figure in the path of "conversion"—the attempt to integrate Heroic and Saintly ideals to find a more powerful human identity. Trace Augustine's dramatic life, from his restless youth to his compelling embrace of Christianity and his developing vision of a perfect world order.

The culture of Islam shows underlying links to both the Greek and Christian worldviews. Study the five "pillars" of Islamic faith and the journey of Mohammed as both religious leader and political ruler. Reflect on Islam's divergence from Christianity and Judaism and on the nature of conflict between religious cultures.

The medieval notion of romantic love marks the birth of the modern Western conception of individuality. See how both Saint Francis and Dante converted the Romantic impulse to serve a mystical, intimate connection with God—God incarnated in the human identity of woman, whose love is transforming

In the Enlightenment, a series of critical cultural changes marked the ascendency of secularism and the Heroic worldview. Consider the far-reaching implications of Martin Luther's challenge to papal authority, the victory of empirical science, and the ideologies of capitalism and the nation-state as new formulations of human identity.

Nineteenth-century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard reacted violently against the current of European cultural evolution in the wake of the Enlightenment. Investigate Kierkegaard's radical rejection of Hegelian rationalism and his passionate, subjective vision of faith rooted in the Saintly sacrifice of Abraham and a spiritual acceptance of universal absurdity.

In the 19th century, the work of Marx, Darwin, and Freud represented a multilevel reassertion of the Humanist-Heroic worldview, based in radical reinterpretations of history. Assess Marx's "historical materialism" and Darwin's biological determinism as theories of meaning, and Freud's conception of the ego as the struggle of the tragic hero.

Friedrich Nietzsche's writing played a pivotal role in the movement toward a re-conceptualization of the Heroic figure. Here you encounter Nietzsche's fictional character of Zarathustra and his revelation of the "Overman" that is to come, living out the will to self-mastery as a dynamic embrace of reality as it is and must be.

As Nietzsche did for the Heroic, Dostoevsky calls for the return of Saintly identity in a time of crisis. As Dr. Ambrosio reads from The Brothers Karamazov, chart Dostoevsky's mystical appeal for the covenant bond between human beings, and consider the ways in which the Saint and Hero, in reaching wholeness, cannot dispense with each other.

This lecture explores the ways in which 20th-century wars, totalitarianism, and political strife reflect a trauma or "death" of the human imagination. Consider how new means and magnitudes of destruction fracture the human sense of reality, calling for new structures of meaning that might be equal to the scope of humanity's challenges.

The scientific revolution that brought relativity theory and quantum mechanics derailed the Enlightenment conception of science as a purely objective, unchanging context. Explore the cultural backgrounds of scientific "paradigm shifts" and their poignant human consequences, as in the case of Robert Oppenheimer, the "father" of the atomic bomb.

Existentialism arose as a response to the dehumanizing threat to human meaning posed by the forces of totalitarianism. Study the core principles of Sartre's philosophy, asserting the possibility of Heroic freedom and meaning based in absolute responsibility for self. Consider de Beauvoir's insights into patriarchal oppression and gender as a meaning construct.

Albert Camus' Existential vision shows a contrasting methodology to Sartre's. In The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus, contemplate his notion of "rebellion" as a path to meaning and the human possibilities that arise from a refusal of comforting social conventions and the core awareness of an indifferent universe.

In Flannery O'Connor's writing we find the metaphoric identity of the Saint pushed to its limit by the inhumanity and cultural upheavals of the 20th century. Track her unique sensibility, steeped in a sense of Mystery, as she articulates the limitation of individual existence and the deep need for the Other.

This lecture explores the Holocaust's impact on the human search for meaning through the voices of Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas, and Elie Wiesel. Consider the Saintly impulse in the face of man's greatest horror, in the ultimate questions of responsibility to others and forgiveness for the death of humanity.

Samuel Beckett and William Faulkner articulate a cultural current affecting both Hero and Saint. In Waiting for Godot, investigate the crisis of meaning that shapes the characters' nonaction. Enter Faulkner's nonlinear fabric of time in The Sound and the Fury, suggesting a refusal of causal explanations for human experience.

Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, proposed a radical view of freedom, forged in the death camps. Learn about his empowering conception of meaning, rooted in the attitude taken to experience and suffering, as he affirms the human capacity, in all circumstances, to choose one's identity, one's "own way."

Simone Weil's philosophical writings reveal the qualities of the secular Saint, living both archetypal paths of meaning simultaneously. Uncover her moral and political worldview, based in an uncompromising vision of justice and in the human impulse to transcendent good as the foundation of true meaning and value.

This lecture delves further into the sensibility of Simone Weil, in her parallel hunger for social justice and for intimacy with divine truth. Trace her mystical spiritual conversion and her rejection of institutional religion, in choosing to live "at the intersection of Christianity and everything that is not Christianity."

Delineate the metaphor of the secular Saint in two contemporary lives. In Martin Luther King's words and actions, see how he moves freely between a call for political justice and for spiritual principle. Observe how Mother Teresa lived the way of the Saint in the world and the Heroic in her own internal struggle.

The highly sensitive medium of film is particularly well suited to portraying the contemporary blurring of the images of Hero and Saint. Trace these archetypes as they appear in the genres of Western, war, biblical, and fantasy films, and locate the traits of the secular Saint in the enduringly popular Casablanca.

Psychoanalyst Ernest Becker identifies the relationship of Hero and Saint as analogous to that of human life and death. Grapple with his conception of the necessity of confronting ultimate limitation and finitude, as integral to a "contemporary spirituality" that yields the possibility to always begin life anew.

How can we, as individuals, live the human search for meaning effectively in the face of humanity's current, unprecedented challenges? Consider the human stance and "binocular" vision of the secular Saint as we might respond through them to the crisis points of worldwide terrorism, globalization, and our imperiled environment.

In concluding, reflect on the commitment to questioning and responsibility that we've explored and its core implications for human living. Reflect also on the present-centered awareness of the human archetypes that live in and through us, as they affirm our own path to meaning, our humanity, our freedom.

Michelangelo embodies the struggle for integration, the struggle between life and death, as expressed through the visionary power of art. Uncover the Heroic substance of Michelangelo's life and the symbolic meaning in his David and the three incarnations of the Pietà as they express the stages of his own arduous journey.