Courses

PHIL 101   Introduction to Philosophy   3 credits
An introduction to the central philosophical questions that have historically spanned and conceptually founded Western civilization. The course surveys key thinkers, philosophical movements, and academic fields of the discipline. Questions regarding the meaning of existence, the freedom of the self, the nature of a just society, and the workings of human knowledge expose students to the pursuits of metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, philosophy of science, moral and political philosophy, and ethics.

PHIL 197   Special Topics   1-6 credits

PHIL 201   Logic   3 credits
An introduction to historical and contemporary approaches to philosophical methodology, logic, systems of classification, methods of validation, and symbolic logic.  Emphasis is placed on critical inquiry into the relationship between formal logic and empirical knowledge, while focusing on the real-world implications of the assumptions of formal mathematical and symbolic logic.  Prerequisite:  PHIL 101.

PHIL 297   Special Topics   1-6 credits

PHIL 335   Ethics   3 credits
An examination of influential moral philosophers and contrasting theories concerning how one “ought” to live, from ancient Greek and Eastern philosophers to contemporary thinkers.  Central questions of the course explore the “good life,” critique ideologies that limit ethical options, and imagine how to expand individual choices in cultivating a just society. The course concludes with student applications of ethical theories to current global issues.  Prerequisite: PHIL 101.

PHIL 345   Philosophy of Religion   3 credits
An exploration of the significance of faith in our human worldview.  Through a comparative approach to major world religions, students investigate the underlying assumptions behind the ways of “knowing” God and participating in the “divine,” and how those assumptions diversely manifest themselves culturally, metaphorically, and psychologically.  Prerequisite:  PHIL 101.

PHIL 355   Philosophy of Science   3 credits
An exploration of the ongoing relationship between philosophy and science, and an examination of how philosophical movements have informed some of the major shifts in scientific paradigms throughout history.  The course concludes with an examination of how scientific revolutions potentially “de-center” humans and reorient the relationship between the self and the world.  Prerequisite:  PHIL 101.

PHIL 397   Special Topics   1-6 credits

PHIL 492   Independent Study  1-6 credits

PHIL 497   Special Topics  1-6 credits