How do gardens and gardening turn into a good human life and a just society? How do gardens and gardening relate to one’s religious commitments or practices? In this course, we will explore gardens from around the world, diverse gardening practices, and how they support various conceptions of a good human life, just societies, and how they relate to different religious beliefs and practices. We engage with documentaries about gardens from around the world. We explore local gardens, and even grow our own lettuce. We will come to understand how gardening practices can help us to cultivate intellectual virtues, moral virtues, and aesthetic sensibilities. This course is cutting-edge, since the ‘philosophy of gardens and gardening’ is a budding field of inquiry.
One prior RPH/PRT course.