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Course Objectives

After three weeks of hard work, deep confusion, and more hard work, you will have:

(1) become acquainted with the nature of Western philosophy and some of its perennial concerns;

(2) further developed your logical and analytic skills for critically evaluating arguments and beliefs;

(3) had the opportunity to reflect on some of the most pressing questions confronting each of us as human beings, once our material needs are met: Is there a real difference between right and wrong, and true and false, and can we come to know this difference?  Are there good reasons either to accept or reject the existence of God?  What is it to be human?

You will be asked in this course to learn and understand various concepts and theories and arguments; but in doing this, you will also be developing your skills in thinking critically and creatively about the world around you, and about the role you see yourself playing in it.

After this term, most of you will never again be asked to explain Descartes’s argument against skepticism or Kant’s moral theory, but all of you will be required to live — and this you can do either intelligently or not, either well or not.  You can aim to live a life of wonder, filled with beauty, and seeking truth — or not.

More detailed learning objectives are listed on the Schedule with the assigned readings.