Welcome to SPACE, our adult continuing education program which offers interactive monthly courses for personal enrichment! Learn more here.
Being Scheduled
Mixed Lecture/Discussion
Low intensity
Days and Times
As soon as we obtain enough interest in this class we will be in touch to work out a meeting time that works for the group. Thank you for keeping your December 2026 availability up to date!
This class needs more pre-enrollment by November 1 to get confirmed.
This module is a standing candidate which means it will be ready to launch as soon as it gets enough interest. Token holders can set aside a Token to reserve their seat for class and help it get confirmed.
What is the meaning of life?
This module examines four of humanity's most influential answers to that question. We will begin with a central ancient Hindu text, The Bhagavad-Gita, where students will learn about meaning from detached action and devotion to cosmic order. Students will then turn to Ancient Greece and learn about Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, where the philosopher located meaning in rational flourishing, virtue, and friendship. Next, students will confront the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament through The Book of Job, which challenges easy answers through the experience of unjust suffering. Finally, we round out our discussion with the modern views of Friedrich Nietzsche and his work Twilight of the Idols, declaring traditional values dead and demanding we create our own meaning.
Students will learn to identify the core arguments of each text and trace the tensions that run through the human conversation about meaning: reason versus faith, action versus contemplation, self versus community, tradition versus freedom. Through four lectures and four discussion periods, students will build a personal toolkit for articulating and living their own thoughtful response to the biggest question ever asked.
This hybrid module will follow an 8-session structure as shown below:
This module examines four of humanity's most influential answers to that question. We will begin with a central ancient Hindu text, The Bhagavad-Gita, where students will learn about meaning from detached action and devotion to cosmic order. Students will then turn to Ancient Greece and learn about Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, where the philosopher located meaning in rational flourishing, virtue, and friendship. Next, students will confront the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament through The Book of Job, which challenges easy answers through the experience of unjust suffering. Finally, we round out our discussion with the modern views of Friedrich Nietzsche and his work Twilight of the Idols, declaring traditional values dead and demanding we create our own meaning.
Students will learn to identify the core arguments of each text and trace the tensions that run through the human conversation about meaning: reason versus faith, action versus contemplation, self versus community, tradition versus freedom. Through four lectures and four discussion periods, students will build a personal toolkit for articulating and living their own thoughtful response to the biggest question ever asked.
This hybrid module will follow an 8-session structure as shown below:
| Outline | 8-Session Structure |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Lecture 1: The Bhagavad Gita - Duty and Cosmic Detachment |
| Discussion 1: Discussion about Lecture 1 material | |
| Week 2 | Lecture 2: Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics - Virtue and Human Flourishing |
| Discussion 2: Discussion about Lecture 2 material | |
| Week 3 | Lecture 3: The Book of Job - Suffering and the Limits of Reason |
| Discussion 3: Discussion about Lecture 3 material | |
| Week 4 | Lecture 4: Nietzsche's Twilight of the Idols - The Death of God and the Call to Self-Creation |
| Discussion 4: Discussion about Lecture 3 material |
Recorded Sessions
All live sessions will be recorded and shared with enrolled students so everyone can review the material or catch up if they can’t attend live.
Note: If a recording does not appear as expected, please let us know at [email protected]. Thank you!
Required Texts
There are no required texts for this module.
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