15 - Philosophy

This course provides students with the opportunity to study topics of interest to philosophers. Subject matter will vary.

This course provides a study of the nature of philosophy, its methods, various branches and general historical development. Introductions to logic and to the fundamental issues and theories concerning reality, knowledge and value are also presented.

This course provides students with the basic elements of informal logic in order to help them cultivate cogent reasoning skills. The students will learn to distinguish between cogent and fallacious reasoning by learning some of the basic elements of logical reasoning.  By applying their new skills, the students will be able to detect fallacies in political, educational, economic, and ethical venues, using contemporary and classic examples derived from diverse media. This course is highly recommended for LSAT preparation.

Students study the origin and development of the concepts of race and gender in a cultural context. One of the key questions concerns the extent to which these concepts are socially constructed. Other themes include sexuality, power, liberty and oppression.

This course examines the historical, psychological, anthropological, sociological, philosophical, literary, political, religious, and legal aspects of LGBTQ issues. It addresses the myths and fallacies at the heart of the debate and explores contemporary and global trends and implications.

A philosophical inquiry into classical and contemporary aesthetic theories from a multicultural perspective, this course examines such theories as romanticism, realism and naturalism. Topics to be explored include the nature of beauty, the relation of art to truth, politics and society. Among the philosophers covered are Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche and Dante.

This course explores the historical background and basic concepts of existential philosophy, including radical freedom, authenticity, commitment and transcendence. At least one literary work by an existential philosopher is studied, as well as selections from Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre and Marcel.

This course focuses on the main aspects of formal logic. It begins with a study of the basic functions of reasoning, language, and informal fallacies, followed by an investigation of symbolic logic, syllogisms, and induction.

Students explore the roots of Western civilization through a study of some of the great philosophers of the past. Among the philosophers studied are pre-Socratic philosophers, the Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas.

This course offers an examination into the meaning and relationship among love, hatred and resentment from historical and contemporary perspectives. The issues are presented on an individual and a social level. Philosophers to be studied include Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Scheler and Arendt.

Analysis and evaluation of various concepts of God and arguments for and against God's existence are explored. Related topics studied include suffering, the relation between God and the universe, the possibility of miracles, agnosticism and atheism and the varieties of religious experience, especially mysticism.

Students examine theories regarding the foundation of law and the distinction and relation between law and ethical norms. Competing theories of liberty, justice, responsibility and punishment are analyzed and compared to pertinent Supreme Court decisions.

A study of the fundamental ideas concerning self, nature, God and society found in the Asian, African and Native American cultures is presented. These ideas are compared with those in Western philosophy. This course fulfills the non-western humanities requirement for Education majors.

The nature of virtue and the good life is studied in conjunction with such issues as ethical absolutism versus ethical relativism, the relation between morality and legality and the relation between ethics and religion. This course fulfills the General Education Action and Values requirement.

Selected courses apply the concepts and theories of ethics to specific areas of human life, such as healthcare, business, society, the natural environment, and scientific research.

Selected courses are designed to supplement the regularly-scheduled philosophy courses in order to accommodate additional interests of students. Topics might include the works of an individual philosopher (such as Plato or Hegel), a philosophical perspective (such as pragmatism or phenomenology), or an issue or subject to which philosophy can be applied (such as race, power, love or literature).

This course examines the spectrum of political theories, ranging from the conservative to the radical. Issues discussed may include:  power, free speech, economic justice, and the rights of oppressed groups. The possible classical and contemporary theorists to be studied: Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Marx, Foucault, Rawls, Fanon, and hooks.

Focusing on international issues, this course investigates the meaning of rights from a historical and contemporary perspective.  The students will then examine the contemporary problems associated with human rights abuses as they pertain to refugees, penal matters, terrorism, organized crime and corruption, disarmament, and health.  Possible philosophers to be studied include John Locke, Immanuel Kant, John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and Jurgen Habermas.

Students examine the ideas of 19th and 20th century African-American philosophers, the issues raised and the problems they attempt to resolve. Examples include philosophical confrontations with slavery and racism (W.E.B. Dubois, Martin Luther King, Jr.), pragmatism and race (Alain Locke, Cornell West), gender and race (Angela Davis, bell hooks) and phenomenology and existential philosophy (Lewis Gordon).

This course is an introduction to philosophy in Latin America. We first raise the question, "Is there a Latin Philosophy?". We then explore the Latin American response to the perennial problems of European philosophy. Topics may include: human nature, epistemology, freedom and liberation, colonialism and oppression, racism, and ethnic and cultural identity.

This course provides a study of the development of Western philosophy from the end of the Middle Ages to the 19th century. Among the philosophers studied are Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant.

Students investigate recent developments in European philosophy, in particular those philosophies that have developed in light of existential and phenomenological thought. Topics include postmodernism, deconstruction and critical theory.

A philosophical examination of the presuppositions of science, the nature of the scientific method and scientific inference, the role of science and technology in human culture and the relationship between science and philosophy is provided.

This course explores viewpoints concerning the fundamental nature of reality and the process and limitations of human knowledge. Among the positions covered are idealism, realism, empiricism, rationalism, phenomenology and relativism. Topics include appearance and reality, mind and matter, space and time, and objectivity and subjectivity.

Students conduct research and write a term paper on a selected philosophical topic using primary source material. The paper should include interpretation of the primary text(s), as well as philosophical analysis and critical evaluation of the author's position. This course fulfills the advanced writing requirement.

Students will conduct research and write a thesis on a theme in political and social philosophy, as it pertains to philosophy of law. The thesis will be defended before a three-member committee selected by the student. Fulfills advanced writing requirement.

Students conduct individualized research on a selected philosophical topic.