Cavanaugh's course is an enquiry-driven seminar class sponsored by the NEH's Enduring Questions program, and endeavors to answer the questions:
- What is wisdom?
- Who is wise?
- Will wisdom make us happy?
- Why pursue wisdom?
The course will attempt to answer these questions by incorporating concepts of Socrates, Confucius, Descartes and the French existentialist Simone Weil; by reading the Tao Te Ching and novels such as Brave New World; by watching movies like The Matrix and Gattaca.
The class will also visit the San Francisco Asian Art Museum to see fascinating ancient objects related to Confucianism.