The aim of this course is to introduce students to philosophy. Since its inception, however, philosophers have disagreed about what exactly philosophy is (Is it a way of life? Or is it the study of a certain subject matter?) and, accordingly, about what the value or purpose of philosophy is (Is philosophy valuable because the philosophical life is the best kind of life? Or is philosophy useful because it establishes the foundations of science?). In this course, we examine various answers that have been given to these questions by looking at the greatest philosophers “in action” – that is, by reading some of their best and most influential philosophical works. In the course of our examination, we will discuss, among other things: The relationship between philosophy and science; the nature of knowledge; what we ought to do and why we ought to do it; what the good life is; and arguments for the existence of God. By the end of this course, students should have a very general understanding of the history of philosophy and a general understanding of some of the most influential and interesting ways of conceiving of, and doing, philosophy.
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In this course, we will reflect on the philosophical practice of rational argument and on how it might be useful in the context of divisive and hostile social and political debates. The course comprises four Units. In Unit I, we will consider the purpose of rational argumentation. We will examine common answers to the question, “Why engage in rational argument?” In Units II and III, we will focus on a single public debate and the arguments advanced by stakeholders in it. This semester, we will take free speech as our exemplar problem. In Unit II, we will study highly regarded arguments advanced by the competing sides in the debate, getting ourselves ‘up to speed’ on the controversy. In Unit III we will engage with participants and stakeholders in the debate – visiting them and having them visit us. In Unit IV, we will build on our work in Units I, II and III by returning to the question of how rational argument functions, and what good it might bring to public controversies. Many of our current social and political disagreements seem to be interminable – to produce deeper division, not closer consensus. In Unit IV, we will try to understand why this is so. Why do some philosophical, political or moral divisions seem to defy rational resolution? Can philosophical practice offer at least a partial way out?
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We begin this course with a critical examination of a well-known contemporary moral debate, namely, that concerning the moral status of abortion. We consider arguments from a variety of ethical perspectives (deontological, consequentialist, virtue ethics, etc.), drawing out the different moral considerations appealed to in these various arguments. We then turn to the history of ethics, starting with Aristotle, and proceeding through Aquinas, Locke, Kant, and Mill. As we progress through this history, we see the historical contexts in which those considerations appealed to in the abortion debate (and, more generally, in modern moral reflection) originated. Students thus come to understand the philosophical systems which best articulate, defend, and criticize their own moral beliefs, whatever those beliefs happen to be.
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In this class, we focus on understanding what justice is and, in particular, on understanding what social justice is. In trying to come to understand what justice is, we examine the most influential and best-developed views of what justice is. Thus our approach is historical—we try to understand the views of past philosophers. In the course of the semester, students come to see that their own views—the views that they perhaps think are obvious, or that they perhaps think they have discovered—are in fact descendants of views first and (in many cases) best articulated by Aristotle, or Locke, or Rawls, or Marx, etc.
Students come away from the course understanding better what exactly certain conceptions of justice and social justice are committed to and why. Further, by considering various, conflicting conceptions of justice, students are more likely to avoid falling into cantankerous, heated, and unproductive disagreement over issues of justice. For they will be better prepared to understand the philosophical framework which renders intelligible the views of people who disagree with them. |
The purpose of this course is twofold. First, it is to give students a general understanding of ancient philosophy. And while there are many interesting philosophers from this era, this course focuses on the two greatest—Plato and Aristotle. Their writings formed the primary foundation for all learning for nearly two thousand years. And though some of their ideas have been discredited (e.g., geocentrism), there are many philosophers today who believe that certain Aristotelian or Platonic claims about, for example, the human good, human nature, or the metaphysical structure of reality are true (or, at least, are plausible and on the right track). By the end of this course you will have a basic understanding of Plato's greatest work, the Republic, and a basic understanding of Aristotle's philosophical system. This basic understanding will help students: 1) Understand the history of philosophy and the history of ideas; 2) pursue further studies of ancient philosophy (Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, Pre-Socratics, etc.); more importantly, it will 3) stimulate, foster, and help students think through ideas; and, most importantly, it will hopefully help students 4) to come closer to the truth about things (such as the human good, human nature, the virtues, and the nature of reality, among other things).
The second aim of this course is to make students better readers, writers, and thinkers. We read these texts carefully with an aim towards figuring out as precisely as we can what Plato and Aristotle's claims and reasons are. The papers students write require them to do careful exegesis of the text, with the aim of making them clearer, more accurate writers. And reading and writing with a view to clarity about claims and reasons helps students to become better thinkers. For by practicing this way of reading and writing, students equip themselves with the abilities needed to clarify and evaluate both their own ideas and the ideas of others |
The purpose of the course is for students to learn the political and philosophical perspective put forward within Catholic Social Teaching. In fulfilling this general purpose, the course will fulfill two more specific purposes: it will demonstrate to students 1) how faith and reason relate to one another within the Catholic intellectual tradition (and more specifically, it will demonstrate the heavy reliance on reason when it comes to political questions) and 2) the viability of the political and philosophical perspective provided by Catholic Social Teaching—a perspective which is a plausible, intriguing, and attractive alternative to the political perspectives characteristic of our political culture.
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