Philosophy of the Weird and Bizzare

Lions, tigers and bears—they exist. But what about ghosts, demons, Bigfoot, psychics, and other reported unexplained phenomena? The world is full of claims of the preternatural and supernatural anomalies, of strange apparitions and cryptids, of creatures beyond our ken. How are we to navigate such claims? At the fundamental level this is a course in which we will think about the weird and bizarre. At the meta-level we will also be thinking about thinking about the weird and bizarre. We will have guest speakers who will share their experiences of the weird & bizarre. We will practice being kind and charitable listeners, evaluating standards of evidence, and thinking about the phenomenology of experience all while navigating the treacherous waters of naïve credulity and crude skepticism.  Believers and skeptics welcome!

Four (4) 90 min sessions/course. Cost: $59