GET1029/GEK1067 Life, the Universe, and Everything, is the philosophy exposure module for NUS FASS. You can count it either as fulfilling the FASS humanities requirement (and thus gateway to the Philosophy Major, the Philosophy Minor, or the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Major), or towards the “T” Pillar of the NUS General Education requirement, but not both.

The course is designed to expose students to philosophical discussion by engaging with a variety of philosophical issues and arguments–from the ethical to the political, the metaphysical to the epistemological. Some of the questions we will consider include: How can it be fair to hold people responsible for what they do, given that they’re products of forces (like genes and environment) over which they ultimately have no control? Do you have a moral obligation to assist those in dire need before spending on luxuries for yourself? Does the government have a right to make you pay for things you don’t want? Does the fact that you can think and feel mean that you have an immaterial spirit of some kind, or are you just a highly organized collection of atoms? Where did the universe come from? For some, the search for answers to these questions becomes a journey of discovery leading to heightened intellectual clarity. At the very least, students can expect to come away from the module with a clearer view of their options on a variety of existential questions, and by way of that, gain a better understanding of the challenges and joy of doing philosophy.

For an explanation of the reference in the module title, and the URL chosen for this blog, see this (wikipedia).