AU Student

Course Description

Philosophers have used metaphors, allegories and thought experiments to discover, develop, explain and evaluate their theories since the beginnings of human thought. In fact, Nietzsche went as far as to say “metaphors are as close to the truth as man can ever get”. In this module, we collect, explore, explain, contextualise, dissect and admire some of the finest examples of these philosophical metaphors and allegories from Plato’s Cave to Descartes’ Tree of Science, and cover thought experiments including different versions of the Trolley Dilemma and Robert Nozick’s Experience Machine. The questions raised through these devices are linked to the main branches of philosophy (Logic, Ethics, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Existentialism, Philosophy of Religion), and examining them gives us a unique window on the evolution of philosophical thought. What is right and wrong, the question of free will, ethics, justice and faith are some of the major areas you will be invited to think about – through metaphors.