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This course aims at introducing you to some classic writings in topics of humanity, and more important, inspiring some intellectual reflection over your own life experience. Themes of the reflection will be orientated into three directions, namely “Self and Human Potential”, “Faith and Human Limitation”, and “Self in Social Institutions”.
This is a textbook that aims at familiarizing the students with texts, thoughts, and reflections on classics in the field of humanities. Selected excerpts span over 3,000 years and many different cultures. They are translated into English from Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, French, and German, and there are also original excerpts in English and Chinese. The book consists of three parts: Self and Human Capacity, Faith and Human Limitation, Self in Social Institutions. In this textbook, you will run across the great minds of Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Zhuangzi, the three major religious traditions- Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, Huang Zongxi, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, and Karl Marx.
