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Course Objectives

This course satisfies the Core 4PH (philosophy) requirement, whose goals for the student are:

1. to discuss the approaches that philosophers take to fundamental human questions, and

2. to acquire the vocabulary and skills necessary to engage in philosophical inquiry, especially through developing your ability to understand and evaluate arguments.

These goals are furthered by (a) your careful reading of the texts, (b) classroom and small group discussion, and (c) selecting and reflecting up brief passages from the course readings.

Philosophy is a discipline in the humanities, and so our goals here are different from those in the natural and social sciences — although the findings of these other areas of inquiry are often of great importance in philosophy.

Philosophy is concerned less with the accumulation of facts, than with the education of the individual. My primary goal – and the goal of the humanities in general – is to help each individual increase their level of self-understanding. This is not a small matter, and it lies at the heart of any human existence that is worth living.

So here’s the deal:

During the next three weeks of hard work and occasional confusion, you will:

(1) describe the general areas of Western philosophy and some of its perennial concerns;

(2) demonstrate a basic command of logical reasoning and conceptual analysis;

(3) critically evaluate arguments and beliefs – in particular, you should be able to think more critically about your own assumptions and beliefs;

(4) discuss with more depth, and with greater appreciation of different perspectives, some of the most pressing questions confronting each of us as human beings, such as:

Is there an objective difference between right and wrong, and true and false? If there is, can we know this difference?

What do I owe other people? Are there better and worse ways for organizing our communal existence?

Can we prove or disprove the existence of God? Is any knowledge of the divine possible?

What is it to be human?

After this course is over, most of you will never again be asked to explain Descartes’s argument against skepticism or Kant’s moral theory, but each of you will be required to live your life, and this you can do, if you choose, with intelligence, self-awareness, understanding, and compassion. What shape your life takes is up to you, but philosophy can give you useful tools for shaping it.

You will be asked in this course to learn and understand various concepts and theories and arguments. In doing this, you will also develop your ability to think critically and creatively about the world around you, and about the role you see yourself playing in it.

More detailed learning objectives are listed under each day on the schedule.