Benson Center Courses

Fall 2026

PHIL 3800-001/HUMN 3093-001: Philosophy and Poetry | T/TH 3:30 - 4:45 pm | Instructor Joseph Bottum | Syllabus 
Philosophy and poetry have been at war since ancient times: life to one perceived as death to the other. Though a number of writers have bleated weakly through the ages that, really, philosophy and poetry ought to get along, the hard thought of Plato remains for us to confront: The poets’ claims to knowledge are immoral when they’re false, and dangerous when they’re true. Typical college courses with such titles as “Philosophy and Literature” extract philosophical themes from literary works, assuming that the two work in tandem. This “Philosophy and Poetry” course, however, emphasizes the quarrel, seeking its origins—all to ask what philosophers understand that poets can’t, and what poets see that philosophers can’t. A serious reading and discussion seminar-style course, with planned class visits from leading scholars and poets.

PHIL 1010: Introduction to Western Philosophy: Ancient | MW 12:20 - 1:10 pm | Instructor Joseph Porter | Syllabus
What is justice? What is the nature of the good life? What is history? In this course, we will explore these and other fundamental ethical, social, political, and philosophical questions through a survey of great thinkers of the Western tradition from the ancient to the medieval period. We will focus on primary-source excerpts from some of the most influential works of all time, including Homer's Iliad, Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Cicero's De officiis, and the Bible.

PHIL 1800: Modern Social and Political Thought | MW 3:35 - 4:50 pm | Instructor Joseph Porter | Syllabus
Are all men - and women - created equal? Must government be founded on a social contract of some kind? Should we seize the means of production? We will explore these and other social, ethical, political, and philosophical questions through a survey of great thinkers from the Renaissance to the present. We will focus on primary-source excerpts from some of the most influential works of all time, including Hobbes' Leviathan, the Declaration of Independence, Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto, and Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality.

Auditors welcome – email bensoncenter@colorado.edu for assistance