2003 - 2004 Philosophy Courses

Introduction to some of the principal themes, works, figures, and topics in the Western philosophical tradition. Questions involving truth, value, human nature, knowledge, decision making, and rationality are examined.

Teaches the skills involved in clear thinking and intelligent reading applicable to all studies. Includes identification of fallacies in argumentation, a short treatment of deductive logic, and exercises in textual interpretation necessary for approaching the diverse genre of an educated person. An emphasis is placed on sound decision-making in life. This course is a prerequisite for all upper division philosophy courses.

This course will introduce students to studies in the humanities. Through reading and discussing works of literature, philosophy, and history students will investigate a theme. Investigation of this theme will introduce students to the history, methodologies, and practices of disciplines in the humanities. Themes have included: Human Freedom, Great Issues in Western Civilization, The Meaning of Love, and Human Nature. Same as ENGL/HIST 200FN.

A treatment of ancient and medieval philosophy. Prerequisite: PHIL 102. Taught as a sequence in alternate years.

A treatment of modern and contemporary philosophy. Prerequisite: PHIL 102. Taught as a sequence in alternate years.

Moral philosophy from ancient to recent times. Problems involving value judgments, personal freedom and moral responsibility, and the application of philosophy to current issues in such areas as law, business, and biomedicine.

Significant philosophical topics or themes are explored in certain sub-disciplines of philosophy. Examples of such courses are: The Ethics of Violence, Philosophy of Language, Advanced Topics in Logic, Existentialism and Phenomenology, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Literature. Prerequisite: PHIL 102. May be taken more than once for credit.

A concentrated study of one or two related philosophers and the major themes of their important works. Prerequisite: PHIL 102.

Introduction to modern sentential and predicate logic. The nature of deductive and inductive argument, truth, validity and soundness, and the relationship between formal expression and natural language, with an emphasis on the application of formal logic to the analysis of arguments in ordinary language. Prerequisite: PHIL 102.

An examination of moral issues resulting from human use of the natural environment. Focuses on future responsibility as it results from action in the present, an examination of traditional secular and religious conceptions of morality which may have contributed to the "environmental crisis," and a consideration of alternative views such as zoocentrism, biocentrism, ecocentrism, ecofeminism, the "land ethic," and ecojustice. Prerequisite: PHIL 102.

Philosophical issues in religion, including the nature of God, religious belief, the problem of evil, the prospect of immortality, and religious experience and its interpretation. Prerequisite: PHIL 102. Same as REL 311.

A required seminar for senior philosophy majors, focusing on research, analysis, and writing techniques aimed at a particular topic or question in philosophy, in preparation for the production of a senior thesis in PHIL 490. Prerequisite: Philosophy major or consent of instructor.

A tutorial-based course used only for student-initiated proposals for intensive individual study of topics not otherwise offered in the Philosophy Program. Prerequisite: consent of instructor and school dean.

Offers students the opportunity to integrate classroom knowledge with practical experience. Prerequisites: junior or senior standing (for transfer students, at least 15 hours completed at Westminster), minimum 2.5 GPA, completion of the Career Resource Center Internship Workshop, and consent of program director and Career Center Internship Coordinator.

A required seminar for Philosophy majors, continuing the work begun in PHIL 390. Prerequisite: PHIL 390.