The unexamined life is not worth living. – Socrates

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.  – Henry David Thoreau

My life is my argument. – Albert Schweitzer

Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them . . . well, I have others. – Groucho Marx

The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next. – Henry Ward Beecher

Never mistake knowledge for wisdom.  One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.  –  Eleanor Roosevelt

Since ancient times, individuals have recognized that the study and practice of philosophy ennoble the spirit, empower the mind, and guide us through thoughtful and meaningful lives.  Literally meaning “love of wisdom,” philosophy has traditionally been a systematic search for answers to fundamental questions, including how to live, how to behave, and what to believe.  This study will introduce the student to readings and teachings by Eastern and Western classic, modern, and contemporary thinkers whose lives are inseparable from their philosophy.  By living philosophical lives, some of these thinkers transformed the world and gave rise to movements that include Confucianism, Epicureanism, Stoicism, Existentialism, and developed and promoted the notion of rights of humans, animals, and the environment.