Foundations Matter provides a panoramic view of the human journey seeking to understand the nature of reality and the nature of humankind.
The course explores the progression of ideas from the early musings of natural philosophers in the Classic Greek period to the emergence of present-day quantum physics, postmodernism philosophy and cognitive neuroscience. Through the framework of major worldviews in western civilization, the course examines the pursuit of knowledge and the interplay of concepts – such as truth and relativity -between two major branches of inquiry – physics and philosophy.
Insights garnered and conundrums uncovered are examined in classical physics (studying matter at macroscopic scales) and modern physics (peering into the substructure of the universe at subatomic and cosmic scales). Concurrently, the Delphic exhortation ‘Know thyself’ is examined scrutinizing the development of western philosophical and allied perspectives from psychology on the nature of consciousness and the self.
The interchange of ideas and influence of science and philosophy on each other informs a Weltanschauung of the age while disclosing existent parallels and puzzles and the enduring underlying abstract nature of reality.
Limited enrollment, register early. Open to all graduate students in FASE and FAS.
Commencing January 2026