PHI 2204 ETHICS
Four hours. Ethics involves the exploration of fundamental questions of meaning and value: What is the nature of the good life? How ought we to treat one another? Are there basic rights all people enjoy, and, if so, what are they? Are there universal standards of morality, or are right and wrong relative to culture, historical period, or individual opinion? The course explores these questions through various philosophical theories and their practical applications.
Gen Ed: MV, Ql
PHI 2208 LOGIC
Four hours. Logic is the study of methods of correct reasoning. As such it can be approached both from “formal” and “informal” perspectives, both of which feature in the course. Informal logic involves critical thinking techniques that are practically useful in everyday argument and debate. Formal logic, also known as symbolic logic, involves mathematical models that reveal the underlying structure of reasoning and are applicable for various purposes, including most notably computer programming. The course emphasizes how both approaches are useful for solving real-world problems from various fields.
Gen Ed: Qn
PHI 2209 GREAT PHILOSOPHERS I
Four hours. This course explores the thought of key figures in the development of Western thought from the dawn of philosophy in the 6th century B.C.E. to the rise of modernity. The emphasis of the course is on understanding the relevance of the philosophical thought of the past to the challenges of the contemporary world. The course includes but is not necessarily limited to the following thinkers, traditions, and schools of thought: Pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic philosophers, medieval philosophy (especially Augustine and Aquinas), and Renaissance humanism.
Gen Ed: MV, Ql
PHI 2219 WORLD RELIGIONS AND PHILOSOPHIES
Four hours. Same as REL 2219. Introduces students to the origins; founders; historical development; scriptures; fundamental concepts, such as views of ultimate reality, the meaning of life, and human hope; religious practices; personal and social ethics; culture context and impact; and contemporary relevance of the world’s living religions and their associated philosophies.
Gen Ed: MV, SW (Glb, Aw), Ql
PHI 2224 BUSINESS ETHICS
Four hours. The application of ethical standards to business decisions. After an initial survey of ethical theories and models for decision-making, students will engage actual business dilemmas in which they will be required to make and justify decisions
Gen Ed: MV, Ql
PHI 3309 GREAT PHILOSOPHERS II
Four hours. Prerequisite: One other course in philosophy or permission of the instructor. This course explores the thought of key figures in the development of Western thought from the beginning of the modern period to the present. The emphasis of the course is on understanding the relevance of early modern and contemporary philosophical thought to enduring questions about the human condition. Students in the course develop a creative project applying one or more philosophers’ ideas to a contemporary problem. The course includes but is not necessarily limited to the following thinkers, traditions, and schools of thought: Descartes, Continental rationalism, British empiricism, Kant, idealism, existentialism, and analytic philosophy.
Gen Ed: MV, Ql
PHI 3359 AESTHETICS
Four hours. Prerequisite: One other course in philosophy or permission of the instructor. A survey of the major theories in aesthetics from the history of philosophy as well as contemporary issues in the field. This course also relates aesthetic theory to specific art forms (e.g., painting, literature, theatre, music, film.) Among the topics addressed are the relationships among art, beauty, and reality, the roles of feeling, emotion, and cognition in artistic experience and creation, the connections between art and interpretation, and the mutual relevance of art and philosophy.
Gen Ed: MV, SW (Aw), FA (In), Ql
PHI 3365 THEOLOGICAL & PHILOSOPHICAL THEMES IN CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE
Four hours. Same as REL 3365. Prerequisite: Successful completion of coursework that satisfies Effective Communication SLOs A and B. This course is an examination of the religious and philosophical themes in major literary works of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.
Gen Ed: MV, EC-C
PHI 3388 FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS IN THEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY
Four hours. Same as REL 3388. Prerequisite: Successful completion of coursework that satisfies Effective Communication SLOs A and B. This team-taught course examines philosophical and theological perspectives on such matters as classical arguments for God’s existence, atheistic critiques, the relationship between reason and revelation, life after death, the ground of morality, the problem of evil, religious experience, and religious language.
Gen Ed: MV, Ql, EC-C
PHI 4429 GREAT POLITICAL THINKERS
Four hours. Same as POS 4429. From Plato to the present, the course explores the writings of the world’s greatest political theorists on such topics as the state, the ideal state, the individual in the state, natural law, institutional religion and the state, revolution, the state of nature, sovereignty, the social contract, moral law, separation of power, the universal state, the dialectic, capitalism, class conflict, anarchism, liberty, libertarianism, and justice. Emphasis is placed on the question of how relevant are these concepts for our times.
Gen Ed: MV
PHI 4459 KNOWLEDGE, TRUTH AND REALITY
Four hours. Prerequisite: One other course in philosophy or permission of the instructor. This course explores fundamental philosophical questions about knowledge, reality, and their relationship at an advanced theoretical level. Examples of questions addressed include: What is the nature and structure of reality? What are the nature, ground, and limits of human knowledge? Are reality and our knowledge of it fully objective or do they involve relativistic and/or subjective elements? What is the relationship between our linguistic descriptions of reality and reality itself? What are the relationships among the natural/social sciences, philosophical theory, cultural constructions, and subjective experience?
Gen Ed: MV, Ql
PHI 4953-4954 HONORS IN PHILOSOPHY
Six hours distributed over 2 semesters. Prerequisites: Restricted to seniors in the Philosophy program. Seniors must have a cumulative 3.5 GPA, a GPA of 3.66 in Philosophy, and have completed at least half of coursework at FSC. Students in the course sequence will work with the professor teaching the course on research projects centered on a particular theme.
PHI 4999 CAPSTONE SEMINAR IN PHILOSOPHY
Two hours. Prerequisite: Senior standing or consent of the professor. A senior seminar in which students assess, articulate and evaluate ideas in philosophy using critical reasoning, and produce original work to be presented to faculty and peers.