| Description |
In my sophomore year, I wanted to choose courses that helped me question my answers. Choosing a traditional major felt too restrictive, so I created my own major through the Bachelor of University Studies program. Titled "Philosophy for Life," my major includes courses from 13 academic disciplines organized into six categories that I felt are pertinent to a philosophy for life: The Self, Society and Culture, Humanity, Eastern Thought, Religion, and The Environment. This thesis is my attempt to unite these six categories into one coherent work. I perform a structuralist and philosophical analysis of the novel Cloud Atlas, focusing on themes that apply to the categories of my major. Since Cloud Atlas has six major narratives organized in a matryoshka doll fashion, I chose to organize the six categories of my major the same way. The first "Self" chapter introduces me, my major, and why I chose Cloud Atlas. The topics of the following chapters include Nietzsche's notions of will to power and eternal recurrence, the Buddhist concept of noself, religions in the novel as they relate to the idea of a "natural order" and to Isaac Sachs' model of time, the novel's critique of Horkheimer and Adorno's theory of the culture industry, conflicting statements between the character Adam Ewing and the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, and some of the novel's broader themes: predation and exploitation, the tension between individuals and collectives, and the motif of the Fall. Peppered throughout all the chapters are personal reflections on how I have questioned my answers in my undergraduate years. In the final "Self" chapter, I reflect on what my major means to me now as I move forward after graduation. |
