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Fulfills GE Requirement: Letters
Sec. 1, 2 Angela Wentz Faulconer
This class is an introduction to moral philosophy. All of us have intuitions about right and wrong. Moral philosophy invites us to question and to better understand the positions we take on moral questions. Moral philosophy gives us tools for 1) combating moral relativism and 2) weighing one position on a moral issue against another. We will focus on issues like whether moral judgments are merely matters of personal opinion (they aren’t), whether being just is always in one’s self-interest, what it means to treat others as ends in themselves and why it is wrong to treat someone as a mere means. We will talk about different approaches to moral philosophy from measuring actions by their utility in achieving our goals (happiness or the good, for example) to the difference between asking what are the right actions to take versus asking what sort of person one should be. This will be a heavily participatory, discussion-focused class. You should be prepared to share your thoughts and questions every class period.
Sec. 1, 2 Angela Wentz Faulconer
This class is an introduction to moral philosophy. All of us have intuitions about right and wrong. Moral philosophy invites us to question and to better understand the positions we take on moral questions. Moral philosophy gives us tools for 1) combating moral relativism and 2) weighing one position on a moral issue against another. We will focus on issues like whether moral judgments are merely matters of personal opinion (they aren’t), whether being just is always in one’s self-interest, what it means to treat others as ends in themselves and why it is wrong to treat someone as a mere means. We will talk about different approaches to moral philosophy from measuring actions by their utility in achieving our goals (happiness or the good, for example) to the difference between asking what are the right actions to take versus asking what sort of person one should be. This will be a heavily participatory, discussion-focused class. You should be prepared to share your thoughts and questions every class period.
Fulfills GE Requirement: Civilization 1
Glen Cooper
Phil 210 covers history and philosophy of science from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia, through the Greco-Roman period, the Islamic period, medieval Europe, and finally to the culmination of the ancient cosmology on the eve of the Scientific Revolution. Students acquire a thorough understanding of the ancient “Unified Field Theory”, in which all disciplines of natural philosophy were interconnected—astronomy, biology, physics, medicine, proto-chemistry, astrology, etc. Philosophical questions from epistemology and metaphysics that concern the possibility of scientific knowledge are emphasized. Students learn how the aristocratic Greek disdain for mechanics and craftsmen prevented a technological or industrial revolution in the ancient world—in spite of the fact that they possessed the knowledge to have accomplished this. Islamic contributions to science are underscored, because they are still little known or appreciated in the West. The foregoing represents about 5/6 of the semester.
With the advent of Copernicanism and Vesalianism, as well as the critique of ancient knowledge during the Renaissance, the ancient unified worldview began to crumble, and was replaced (eventually) by the modern perspective. The trajectory of the entire course leads to the final 1/6 of the semester, which is a critique of the ancient cosmology. This takes the form of the final group project, the Trial of Galileo, where students, portraying different historical characters, and bringing their knowledge of the ancient cosmology to bear, debate the manifold issues involved in the confrontation between Galileo and the Church. In this way students acquire a much deeper appreciation of the scientific revolution (which is discussed in detail in Phil 211) than they might have otherwise.
Unusual aspects of Phil 210 include: hands-on projects, including constructing and using astrolabes and natal charts; detailed discussion of science in Islamic civilization and its legacy to the West; and the role-playing in the Trial of Galileo re-enactment.
Glen Cooper
Phil 210 covers history and philosophy of science from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia, through the Greco-Roman period, the Islamic period, medieval Europe, and finally to the culmination of the ancient cosmology on the eve of the Scientific Revolution. Students acquire a thorough understanding of the ancient “Unified Field Theory”, in which all disciplines of natural philosophy were interconnected—astronomy, biology, physics, medicine, proto-chemistry, astrology, etc. Philosophical questions from epistemology and metaphysics that concern the possibility of scientific knowledge are emphasized. Students learn how the aristocratic Greek disdain for mechanics and craftsmen prevented a technological or industrial revolution in the ancient world—in spite of the fact that they possessed the knowledge to have accomplished this. Islamic contributions to science are underscored, because they are still little known or appreciated in the West. The foregoing represents about 5/6 of the semester.
With the advent of Copernicanism and Vesalianism, as well as the critique of ancient knowledge during the Renaissance, the ancient unified worldview began to crumble, and was replaced (eventually) by the modern perspective. The trajectory of the entire course leads to the final 1/6 of the semester, which is a critique of the ancient cosmology. This takes the form of the final group project, the Trial of Galileo, where students, portraying different historical characters, and bringing their knowledge of the ancient cosmology to bear, debate the manifold issues involved in the confrontation between Galileo and the Church. In this way students acquire a much deeper appreciation of the scientific revolution (which is discussed in detail in Phil 211) than they might have otherwise.
Unusual aspects of Phil 210 include: hands-on projects, including constructing and using astrolabes and natal charts; detailed discussion of science in Islamic civilization and its legacy to the West; and the role-playing in the Trial of Galileo re-enactment.
Fulfills GE Requirement: Quantitative Reasoning
Sec. 1, 2 Michael Arts
Sec. 3 Ryan Christensen
Analyzing and constructing both deductive and non-deductive arguments; formal methods for evaluating deductive arguments; practical applications of critical thinking, including recognizing biases and avoiding fallacies.
Sec. 1, 2 Michael Arts
Sec. 3 Ryan Christensen
Analyzing and constructing both deductive and non-deductive arguments; formal methods for evaluating deductive arguments; practical applications of critical thinking, including recognizing biases and avoiding fallacies.
Fulfills GE Requirement: Civilization 2
Mike Hansen
Sec. 7, 8
The renaissance changed science, and the reformation changed religion—but perhaps neither changed anything more permanently than they changed philosophy. The old Greek paradigm for understanding the world through form and matter flourished through the medieval period in various transformations. But that classical world view faced new and urgent challenges when the renaissance provided a new understanding of matter and natural laws, and the reformation offered a new understanding of deity and creation. In philosophy 202, we will attempt to understand the reasons that drove that change, and to recognize these arguments as they continue to appear in 2021. We will read selections from primary texts, including some from Rationalists (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz), Empiricists (Locke, Berkeley, Hume), Idealists (Kant, Hegel), Industrialists (Marx, Smith), Existentialists (Kierkegaard), Pragmatists (Peirce, James, Dewey), and Analytic philosophers (Frege, Russell, Kripke). If the course were to have a motto, I suppose I would choose words from Spinoza: “The road to these things that I have pointed out now seems very hard, but it can be found. And of course something that is found so rarely is bound to be hard. For if salvation were ready to hand and could be found without great effort, how could it come about that almost everyone neglects it? But all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare” (Ethics VP42n).
Additional sections of Phil 202 are also available.
Mike Hansen
Sec. 7, 8
The renaissance changed science, and the reformation changed religion—but perhaps neither changed anything more permanently than they changed philosophy. The old Greek paradigm for understanding the world through form and matter flourished through the medieval period in various transformations. But that classical world view faced new and urgent challenges when the renaissance provided a new understanding of matter and natural laws, and the reformation offered a new understanding of deity and creation. In philosophy 202, we will attempt to understand the reasons that drove that change, and to recognize these arguments as they continue to appear in 2021. We will read selections from primary texts, including some from Rationalists (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz), Empiricists (Locke, Berkeley, Hume), Idealists (Kant, Hegel), Industrialists (Marx, Smith), Existentialists (Kierkegaard), Pragmatists (Peirce, James, Dewey), and Analytic philosophers (Frege, Russell, Kripke). If the course were to have a motto, I suppose I would choose words from Spinoza: “The road to these things that I have pointed out now seems very hard, but it can be found. And of course something that is found so rarely is bound to be hard. For if salvation were ready to hand and could be found without great effort, how could it come about that almost everyone neglects it? But all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare” (Ethics VP42n).
Additional sections of Phil 202 are also available.
Fulfills GE Requirement: Civilization 2
Sec. 4 Gordy Mower
This class meets the current GE standards for a modern Western Civilization class by surveying some of the outstanding cultural accomplishments in the modern period from about 1500 AD through the nineteenth century. It puts greatest emphasis on philosophical achievements. To meet the current standards, we read from a variety of sources beginning with Machiavelli and running through Hegel and Marx and beyond. We read from the Essays of Montaigne both as a prelude to reading The Tempest by Shakespeare and reading Meditations by Descartes. We read Locke, Hume, Kant, and Hegel. We cover other philosophers in lecture presentations. We close out the nineteenth century with an American novel: Democracy, by Henry Adams (great grandson of one US president, and grandson of another, son of Lincoln’s ambassador to England during the Civil War, and preeminent Harvard historian). The GE requirements stipulate that we read another novel. An array of philosophical twentieth century choices is offered that emphasize political ideas. Students work through one of these novels on their own. Alongside the philosophy and literature, we also attend to other cultural works in visual art, architecture, and music. Since the GE requirements stress that it is important to maintain a sense of overall historical trajectory, we also read, alongside our primary texts, the modern portion of a contemporary history of Western Civilization. Students demonstrate their knowledge of the topics of this course with four writing opportunities: a midterm, a term paper, a book review on a twentieth century novel, and a final exam. Much of the lecture material is given in video form to be viewed outside of the classroom, which leaves lots of class time for in-class learning activities to reinforce what students have learned on their own. Students, for instance, work together to formulate the questions that they would like to see on the midterm and final. The test questions are taken from these assignments, so the students know what questions will be on the tests, and they are the questions that they have made up themselves. Students come away from this class learning a great deal about Western Civilization in the modern era especially with respect to trends in modern philosophical thought.
Sec. 4 Gordy Mower
This class meets the current GE standards for a modern Western Civilization class by surveying some of the outstanding cultural accomplishments in the modern period from about 1500 AD through the nineteenth century. It puts greatest emphasis on philosophical achievements. To meet the current standards, we read from a variety of sources beginning with Machiavelli and running through Hegel and Marx and beyond. We read from the Essays of Montaigne both as a prelude to reading The Tempest by Shakespeare and reading Meditations by Descartes. We read Locke, Hume, Kant, and Hegel. We cover other philosophers in lecture presentations. We close out the nineteenth century with an American novel: Democracy, by Henry Adams (great grandson of one US president, and grandson of another, son of Lincoln’s ambassador to England during the Civil War, and preeminent Harvard historian). The GE requirements stipulate that we read another novel. An array of philosophical twentieth century choices is offered that emphasize political ideas. Students work through one of these novels on their own. Alongside the philosophy and literature, we also attend to other cultural works in visual art, architecture, and music. Since the GE requirements stress that it is important to maintain a sense of overall historical trajectory, we also read, alongside our primary texts, the modern portion of a contemporary history of Western Civilization. Students demonstrate their knowledge of the topics of this course with four writing opportunities: a midterm, a term paper, a book review on a twentieth century novel, and a final exam. Much of the lecture material is given in video form to be viewed outside of the classroom, which leaves lots of class time for in-class learning activities to reinforce what students have learned on their own. Students, for instance, work together to formulate the questions that they would like to see on the midterm and final. The test questions are taken from these assignments, so the students know what questions will be on the tests, and they are the questions that they have made up themselves. Students come away from this class learning a great deal about Western Civilization in the modern era especially with respect to trends in modern philosophical thought.
Fulfills GE Requirement: Civilization 1
Fulfills GE Requirement: Letters
Sec. 7, 8 Katharina Paxman
This course covers the history of western philosophy from approximately 700 B.C. to 1500 A.D. Naturally, there is far too much that went on over that 2000 plus year period to cover in one semester. We will aim to consider some key texts, figures, and ideas linked by one possible historical narrative that may be used to connect them. In doing so, we will not only gain an appreciation for particular philosophers and philosophical movements as they have contributed to the history of Western thought, but we will also gain an appreciation for the act of cobbling together one particular perspective on the immense reality that is the history of human civilization. We will build our story of the development of classical Western thought around a particular question: What is truth? This question will serve as a focal point to which we will return frequently as we examine particular thinkers and philosophies.
The class begins by investigating the Greek pre-Socratic philosophers, then explores the giants of Greek philosophy: Socrates and Plato in the early dialogues that lead to Aristotle’s Nicomachean ethics and politics.
Fulfills GE Requirement: Letters
Sec. 7, 8 Katharina Paxman
This course covers the history of western philosophy from approximately 700 B.C. to 1500 A.D. Naturally, there is far too much that went on over that 2000 plus year period to cover in one semester. We will aim to consider some key texts, figures, and ideas linked by one possible historical narrative that may be used to connect them. In doing so, we will not only gain an appreciation for particular philosophers and philosophical movements as they have contributed to the history of Western thought, but we will also gain an appreciation for the act of cobbling together one particular perspective on the immense reality that is the history of human civilization. We will build our story of the development of classical Western thought around a particular question: What is truth? This question will serve as a focal point to which we will return frequently as we examine particular thinkers and philosophies.
The class begins by investigating the Greek pre-Socratic philosophers, then explores the giants of Greek philosophy: Socrates and Plato in the early dialogues that lead to Aristotle’s Nicomachean ethics and politics.
Sec 7 Chad Conrad
Our section of philosophy 110 is a little different from traditional introductory classes. The units we cover are philosophy of education, epistemology, ethics, and philosophy of religion. There are many short readings and short writing assignments, along with some creative assignments (art, poetry, etc.). Considerable student input is encouraged and even required.
Our section of philosophy 110 is a little different from traditional introductory classes. The units we cover are philosophy of education, epistemology, ethics, and philosophy of religion. There are many short readings and short writing assignments, along with some creative assignments (art, poetry, etc.). Considerable student input is encouraged and even required.
Fulfills GE Requirement: Letters
Introduction to Philosophy: Well-Being and the Good Life
Sec. 3, 8, 10 Jacob D. Hogan
Anciently, philosophy was viewed as the path to happiness and well-being (eudaimonia). Though philosophy (as an academic discipline) has different aims today, happiness and well-being remain greatly desirable elements of well-lived lives.
In this course, we will examine what philosophy has to say about “the good life” and how to attain it. Some of the ideas about “the good life” we will study this semester are, without exaggeration, foundational to Western culture (e.g., ever heard or used the phrase “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”? But do you know who developed that idea in the first place?).
The following (non-exhaustive) questions will lead our search. What is the best life for a human being to live? Is “the good life” a happy life, or are there points of divergence between goodness and happiness? Does life have a meaning, and if so, how is that meaning sought / created / expressed / discovered? Do we need God for life to be meaningful? Can the “good life” look different for different people, or are any features of “the good life” universal? If so, what are they?
Additional sections of Phil 110 are also available.
Introduction to Philosophy: Well-Being and the Good Life
Sec. 3, 8, 10 Jacob D. Hogan
Anciently, philosophy was viewed as the path to happiness and well-being (eudaimonia). Though philosophy (as an academic discipline) has different aims today, happiness and well-being remain greatly desirable elements of well-lived lives.
In this course, we will examine what philosophy has to say about “the good life” and how to attain it. Some of the ideas about “the good life” we will study this semester are, without exaggeration, foundational to Western culture (e.g., ever heard or used the phrase “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”? But do you know who developed that idea in the first place?).
The following (non-exhaustive) questions will lead our search. What is the best life for a human being to live? Is “the good life” a happy life, or are there points of divergence between goodness and happiness? Does life have a meaning, and if so, how is that meaning sought / created / expressed / discovered? Do we need God for life to be meaningful? Can the “good life” look different for different people, or are any features of “the good life” universal? If so, what are they?
Additional sections of Phil 110 are also available.
David Jensen
Our unifying theme in Philosophy 420 will be reference and representation, in particular with regard to names and descriptions. This has been one of the most important and vibrant areas of discussion in the philosophy of language during the past century. We will approach these topics by reading Frege, Russell, Strawson, Donnellan, Kripke, and Putnam. We will conclude with some discussion of "applied" issues in the Philosophy of Language (e.g. offensive language. . .)
Our unifying theme in Philosophy 420 will be reference and representation, in particular with regard to names and descriptions. This has been one of the most important and vibrant areas of discussion in the philosophy of language during the past century. We will approach these topics by reading Frege, Russell, Strawson, Donnellan, Kripke, and Putnam. We will conclude with some discussion of "applied" issues in the Philosophy of Language (e.g. offensive language. . .)
Travis Anderson
This Advanced Topics in Ethics course will focus on the emergent field of Care Ethics and its intersection with Virtue Ethics and Contractarianism (Social Contract Theory). Many prominent advocates of contemporary Care Ethics have also written widely in either Virtue Ethics or Contractarianism, and accordingly take an Aristotelian or contractarian approach when theorizing the merits of an ethics built around love, empathy, and caregiving—especially the kind of caregiving practiced in the home (and exemplified by Jesus in the New Testament). We will read key texts to date in all three ethical theories with an eye to identifying their shared commitments and values, and to evaluating their respective strengths and weaknesses. Throughout the course we will also discuss religious views of morality, and how Care Ethics might embody a secular, universalist approach to implementing religiously affirmed moral values.
This Advanced Topics in Ethics course will focus on the emergent field of Care Ethics and its intersection with Virtue Ethics and Contractarianism (Social Contract Theory). Many prominent advocates of contemporary Care Ethics have also written widely in either Virtue Ethics or Contractarianism, and accordingly take an Aristotelian or contractarian approach when theorizing the merits of an ethics built around love, empathy, and caregiving—especially the kind of caregiving practiced in the home (and exemplified by Jesus in the New Testament). We will read key texts to date in all three ethical theories with an eye to identifying their shared commitments and values, and to evaluating their respective strengths and weaknesses. Throughout the course we will also discuss religious views of morality, and how Care Ethics might embody a secular, universalist approach to implementing religiously affirmed moral values.