Below are the core readings organized by course units. Please keep in mind that an online text may be an alternative version or a different translation of the featured text. 

Syllabus, Spring 2014
Syllabus, Fall 2014 (Seminar for Freshmen) 

Introduction

Ecclesiastes. The Bible: Authorized King James Version. New York: Oxford UP, 2008. 

A Life Worth Living

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. 2nd ed. Trans. T. Irwin. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1999.
Epicurus. The Essential Epicurus: Letters, Principle Doctrines, Vatican Sayings and Fragments. Trans. E.M. O’Connor. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1993.
Epictetus. The Handbook. Trans. N. P. White. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1983.
Aurelius, Marcus. The Emperor’s Handbook. Trans. C. Scot Hicks and David V. Hicks. New York: Scribner, 2002.
Pico della Mirandolla, Giovanni. “Oration on the Dignity of Man.” In Renaissance Philosophy of Man. Edited by Ernst Cassirer, Paul Oskar Kristeller, and John H. Randall jr.
Francesco Petrarch. The Ascent of Mont Ventoux. In Renaissance Philosophy of Man. Edited by Ernst Cassirer, Paul Oskar Kristeller, and John H. Randall jr.
Confucius. The Analects. Trans. Raymond Dawson. Oxford World Classics, Oxford University Press, 2008.
Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching: An Illustrated Journey. Trans. Stephen Mitchell. London, UK: Frances LincolnLtd, 2009.
Merton, Thomas. The Way of Chuang Tzu. New York: A New Directions Book, 2010.

Crises of Meaning

Camus, Albert. “The Myth of Sisyphus.” In The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. Trans. Justin O’Brian. New York: Vintage, 1991.
Chekhov, Anton. Ward No.6. In Stories. Trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. New York: Bantam Books, 2000.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. The Wall. Trans. Lloyd Alexander. In The Wall and Other Stories. 3rd ed. New Directions, 1969.
Schopenhauer, Arthur. “On the sufferings of the world” and “On the vanity of existence.” In Studies in Pessimism, On Human Nature, And Religion: A Dialogue. Trans. T. Bailey Saunders. Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 2008.
Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilyich. In The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories. Trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. New York: Vintage, 2010.
______. A Confession. In A Confession and Other Religious Writings. Trans. Jane Kentish. New York: Penguin Classics, 1988.

Recovery of Meaning

Rahula, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada. New York: Grove Press, 1974.
Frankl, Viktor. Man’s Search for Meaning. Boston: Beacon Press, 2006.
Hesse, Hermann. Siddhartha. Trans. Hilda Rosner. New York: Bantam Books, 1971.