Sam Houston State University Courses.
Introduction to Philosophy: Together in this class we will consider a number of philosophical questions: What is the basis of reality? Does it follow laws, does it have a purpose, or is it meaningless? How should we determine what is true? Do humans have free will? Are their destinies determined? How should we arrange society to be best? What is the nature of race and gender?
We will be thinking through these questions with many philosophers. Our goal is to arrive at more informed answers to these questions, all the while developing our skills at critical reflection and discussion. The course does not presume any prior experience with philosophy. It only requires an active mind and serious engagement with the material.
Course objectives
Gain a basic understanding of the subject (e.g., factual knowledge, methods, principles, generalizations, theories)
Learn to apply course material (to improve thinking, problem solving, and decisions)
Develop skill in expressing oneself orally or in writing
Learn to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view
Critical Thinking: The objectives for this course are:
To gain a basic understanding of the subject (e.g., factual knowledge, methods, principles, generalizations, theories)
To learn to apply course material (to improve thinking, problem solving, and decisions)
To develop specific skills, competencies, and points of view needed by professionals in Logic most closely related to everyday critical thinking
As noted in the course description, the goal of this course is to improve our ability to think critically. This involves understanding what it means to think critically or reason well and do lots of practice in order to begin gaining this skill. We already think or reason about many things, but do we always think or reason well about them? We will discover that we sometimes do not, even though we may think we do. The most immediate benefit derived from the study of logic [critical thinking] is to acquire the skill needed to construct sound arguments of one’s own and to evaluate the arguments of others. We will do this by focusing on how best to use reasons and evidence to motivate support for our positions, by learning about unhealthy attitudes and opinions which endanger us, others, or society as a whole, and by drawing connections between good uses of logic and healthy, productive dialogue useful for developing a democratic and/or functional society.
Students will be expected to use Blackboard during the course for class announcements and supplemental material not found in required text.
This course will involve reading material, videos, lectures, quizzes, and assignments on the following topics.
Introduction and Basic Concepts
Language
Informal Fallacies
Categorical Propositions
Analogical and Legal Reasoning
Causality
Hypothetical/Scientific Reasoning
Fort Hays State University Courses.
Ethics in the Professions and Business: This course provides an examination of ethical issues in the professional lives of people in science, education, medicine, law, and business arising from the challenge of maintaining personal integrity in the face of apparent conflicts of duty.
Ethical Issues in the Professions and Business intends to:
help the student to develop the skill of thinking critically about the ethical dimensions of professional practice;
acquaint the student with reasoned responses that have been made to the challenges to the moral life and to enable the student to analyze and evaluate moral beliefs and reasoning independently.
help the student to understand the variety of views of the goals of human activities and institutions, views which, in turn, shape the practices of these individuals and institutions;
help the student cross disciplinary boundaries and gain a more holistic understanding of the nature of the scientific, educational, medical, legal, and business professions;
generate in the student a continuing interest in understanding the ethical dimensions of one’s life and exploring the timeless problems of the moral life that are rooted in the nature of human existence; and
help the student become more skilled in thinking critically, and to develop both the cognitive and non-cognitive elements necessary for sound, ethical decision making.
Critical Thinking for the Professional: An examination of the elements and application of critical thinking to the professional practitioner.
Critical Thinking for the Professional intends to:
acquaint the student with a variety of elements involved in reasoning independently.
help the student to develop the skill of thinking critically in the context of professional practice;
generate in the student a continuing interest in understanding and applying the elements of critical thinking to one’s life both professionally and personally.
help the student become more skilled in thinking critically, and to develop both the cognitive and non-cognitive skill necessary for clearly evaluating ideas and successful overall decision making.
Ethics: This course takes up the central problems in trying to think rationally about moral questions and critically examines the best-known efforts by philosophers to deal with these problems.
Ethics intends
to help the student to develop the skill of thinking critically about ethical questions, enabling him/her to better analyze and evaluate moral beliefs and arguments;
to acquaint the student with the classical theories which have attempted to answer such questions. These theories, it is emphasized, are not only of interest in themselves, but are also important because of their historical influence on Western culture and values. Since many of our present-day beliefs and institutions have been shaped in part by these classical theories, understanding them helps the student to understand better his/her own culture and to become clearer about his/her own values;
to introduce those students without previous course work in philosophy to the nature of philosophical inquiry in general, giving them an idea of what philosophical questions are and how philosophers go about trying to formulate and defend reasonable answers to them;
to generate in the student a continuing interest in philosophical minds of the past, accompanied by the realization that many of these thinkers are important not only as historical influences but as human beings speaking insightfully to timeless problems and queries rooted in the nature of man’s existence;
to provide majors and minors with a background in ethical theory sufficient to enable them to pursue more advanced study of moral philosophy; and
to help students become more skilled in thinking critically, in recognizing the structure of arguments, and in assessing their cogency.
Topics in Race, Class, and Gender: This course explores the questions of what race, gender, and class are; how oppression along these lines occurs; what methods are useful for studying them; how we can challenge oppression; and the nature of intersectionality. The goal is to equip students to more effectively engage with the contemporary manifestations of race, gender, and class.
Topics in Race, Gender, and Class intends
to help the student to develop the skill of thinking critically about race, gender, and class, enabling her/him to better analyze and evaluate social-political beliefs and arguments;
to acquaint the student with the common methods, concepts, and practices used in the study of these topics. It will be shown how our society still holds misconceptions about the nature of identity and the role it plays in our lives. As many parts of society are informed by these misconceptions, studies of race, gender, and class will uncover the significant amount of work yet to be done to overcome racism, sexism, and classism;
to introduce those students to the nature of philosophical inquiry in general, giving them an idea of what philosophical questions are and how philosophers go about trying to formulate and defend reasonable answers to them;
to generate in the student a continuing interest in philosophical minds of the past and present, accompanied by the realization that many of these thinkers are important not only as historical influences but as human beings speaking insightfully to timeless problems and queries rooted in the nature of human existence;
to provide majors and minors with a background in social-political theory the ability to pursue more advanced study of social-political philosophy; and
to help students become more skilled in thinking critically, in recognizing the structure of arguments, and in assessing their cogency.
Marian University Courses.
Social and Political Philosophy: An investigation of political activity at all levels of society. This course studies the workings of government, the politics that occurs outside of the governmental sphere, and the foundational arguments that justify or challenge all of the structuring of power involved therein. Our focus will be on the importance of politics for human society, the hopes one can reasonably entertain for such politics, and the possibility and desirability of various conceptions of utopia.
Understood in its broadest sense, the term ‘politics’ refers to how a thing is organized. The term ‘society’ can similarly be applied to any two entities which are associated. By this measure, there is a political and social element to all aspects of our lives. To fully understand the implications of our actions, and arrange them in a way that allows everyone to flourish, it is necessary to study the theories underlying both politics and society. In so doing, we can begin to see possibilities for improvement while also preventing dystopian visions of the future from coming to pass. Our class will explore numerous visions and dangers posited by thinkers from the Western philosophical tradition. After beginning with the question of what Social and Political Philosophy is, we will look at how politics was conceived of by Plato. Next, we will explore the social contract theories of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, looking at how their concepts of the state of nature, sovereign, and public shaped our own political system. Marx’s materialist theory will be brought in at this point to provide a critique of social contract theory and an alternative vision based on the study of social trends. After Spring Break, we will introduce the question of how social practices affect politics. We will begin with a study of race, exploring two different schools of thought: integration and nationalism. Following that, we will look at the three waves of feminism and how they are both similar to and different from one another. After spending one week discussing sexual orientation, the semester will close with a week examining the way our understanding of culture has affected our thinking.
Philosophy of Law: What is Law? This is a philosophical investigation into the depths of human society to discover the very nature and idea of law. Law is something that humans require to live with one another, it effects all humans, has been around for thousands of years, yet it is any abstract idea that can seem quite complicated and difficult to grasp. This class will shine the light of thoughtful examination on: different theories of law and jurisprudence; the difference between legal rules and ethical norms; the rights of citizens and the state; the legality of civil disobedience; the need for liberty and the limits of law; the ideal form of judicial reasoning; and theories of punishment.
Philosophy of Law is a class that acquaints students both with the meaning of justice in our society and with how legal scholars discuss concepts like obligation, consent, punishment, and more. It offers students interested in Criminal Justice the opportunity to reflect on the ethical and political issues that are currently occurring in law and law enforcement in terms of their impact on society as a whole. As a survey class, it will not study any one issue in great depth, but will cover a breadth of issues while relating them back to a set of core philosophical concepts. We will begin by exploring different theories of justice developed in the past and currently used in deciding what is right and wrong. The specific four theories we will examine are Utilitarianism, Deontology, Virtue Ethics, and Libertarianism. We will then look at various ways these theories are applied in legal theory currently by thinking about how the law defends or criticizes civil disobedience, what counts as evidence, the possibility of objectivity in the courtroom, what should count as a crime, and other legal questions. We will conclude class with a series of student-led discussions on topics of your choosing.
Bioethics: A course designed specifically for those concerned with ethical problems facing medical professional and generally for anyone with an interest in the relation of ethics to bio-medical issues. The course examines the nature of ethics and morality, the variety of ethical theories and normative ethical principles, and the practice of applying such concepts to specific cases and issues within the bio-medical sciences. Topics covered include issues in the professional-patient relationship, termination of life, reproductive rights and technologies, and allocation and public policy.
Bioethics is a relatively new field that has been rapidly growing in importance. Given how prevalent biological and technological advances are in our daily lives, it is not an exaggeration to say that this field has widespread implications for each and every person on the planet. Among the core questions taken up by this field are what it means to be human, how we relate (in both descriptive and normative terms) to other beings around us, when we are justified in exercising power over others, and the status of knowledge in our society. The topics this field engages include informed consent, health care, abortion, animal welfare, and neuroethics. The purpose of this class is to give students an overview of the questions the field of ethics takes up and how they are applied to certain issues within the field of bioethics. It will begin with a survey of key ethical theories—including virtue ethics, utilitarianism, deontology, and moral relativism—and spend a day looking at the question of race and gender in ethics. Following that, the class will examine how these theories are applied to certain subjects within the field of bioethics. The class will close with a week where students share their own interests in the field.
The Examined Life: This introductory philosophy course builds on the critical reading and thinking outcomes students will have achieved in the First Year Seminar, and prepares students for their future studies and for life by leading them to develop their abilities in three outcome areas: Interpretive Reasoning, Critical Reasoning, and Global Citizenship. Through engagement with historical, multicultural, and contemporary texts students will learn how to interpret texts, move from evidence to conclusions, and use their interpretations and conclusions to live a more examined life.
Course Content/Theme (Fall 2016): The 2016 US Presidential Election has been called “the most important election of our lives” by multiple news organizations (The Nation, Bloomburg, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post, among others). While this is an oft-used phrase—especially by political operatives hoping to encourage high voter turnout—its pervasiveness in our society speaks to the level of concern people have over the current political situation. Whether one is a Libertarian, Green, Republican, Democrat, or independent voter, a majority of people feel as though the current system is not working for them and want a change. Despite this widespread agreement there is very little consensus about what we should do. Significant percentages of the population each believe that completely opposing policies will lead us in the right direction, and that fundamentally different tactics are needed to institute those policies. In order to encourage critical thought about the state of our society, this class will engage questions of tactics, policy, and political ideology raised by this election. It will begin with several Platonic dialogues and examine how Socrates’ concept of a ‘gadfly’ is similar to or different from the contemporary notion of a ‘political outsider.’ Next, it will read parts of Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality and Social Contract in order to examine questions of inequality and disenfranchisement in our society. Third, it will study Mill’s Utilitarianism and engage questions of election strategy (e.g. should one vote for the party one most agrees with even if they have no chance of winning, or for the lesser of two evils). Fourth, it will read through several essays on race and gender before discussing the role each of these identities is playing in the election. And finally, it will close with Aristotle’s discussion of happiness and look at how art operates during election seasons.
Course Content/Theme (Spring 2017): Thinking well is an attribute that has been historically prized by most, if not all, civilizations. Recently, disciplines that emphasize critical thinking, or scrutinizing any and all doctrines, have been marginalized or criticized as useless. To take two examples, Marco Rubio said during the 2016 presidential election that “I don’t know why we stigmatize vocational education…Welders make more money than philosophers. We need more welders than philosophers.” Similarly, the Obama administration has dramatically increased funding to STEM fields while ignoring the Arts and Humanities. There is no doubt that vocational and STEM educations add great value to society, but is there a price that comes with emphasizing those fields over others? Or, as some suggest, have the roles traditionally played by the Arts and Humanities now been outsourced to other disciplines? This class will explore those questions by asking what role critical thinking can and should play in society. We will begin with several Platonic dialogues and examine how Socrates’ concept of a ‘gadfly’ is similar to or different from roles played by different occupations in our society. Next, we will read parts of Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality and Social Contract in order to examine how issues of inequality affect our political and social systems. Third, we will study Mill’s Utilitarianism and discuss what consideration we should give to other peoples in deciding how to behave. Fourth, we will look at several essays on race and gender before exploring how much our critical thinking and behavior are affected by our racial and gender identities. And finally, it will close with Aristotle’s analysis of virtue and look at how we can include all different types of education in our society to be as happy as possible.
Mercyhurst University Courses.
Philosophical Inquiry: Philosophical Inquiry provides students with a broad, general, and interdisciplinary survey of the nature and scope of philosophy, introducing students to the major branches of philosophy and their respective issues as well as the various movements, principles, methods, and thinkers in the history of philosophy. Throughout, emphasis is placed on the nature and role of human reason in the development of philosophy and science in Western civilization. The course introduces students to philosophy’s various branches, such as metaphysics (theories of reality), epistemology (theories of knowledge), logic (principles and methods of sound reasoning), ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, and philosophy of religion, and it familiarizes students with the history of ideas across different historical periods (ancient, medieval, modern, and postmodern). The goal of the course is to increase and expand student knowledge of the key theories and ideas at the core of a liberal education and to develop those transferable cognitive, affective, and social skills and values that accompany a healthy spiritual, rational, and ethical life.
Course Content/Theme (Spring 2016): The first question that will be taken up by the course is the question of what revolution is. This will involve studying several important theories of revolution within the field of political philosophy, in particular social contract theory, Marxism, and the relatively new field of event ontology. Each of these theories will be explained separately while also related to each other, with special care being made to reveal how they each describe things like the State, history, and truth in order to make the claims that they do.
In the following two weeks of the course, documents from or accounts of particular revolutions will be examined in order to draw connections between the theory of revolution and its actual practice. These documents will be used to engage other questions of revolution as well, such as how it should be carried out to be successful, what dangers revolutionaries face, the potential for revolution to go awry or to be subverted, when a movement for political change becomes a revolution, and the role of violence. The American Revolution will be studied first, and will be presented as one of the first—if not the first—true revolutions of the modern era. Following that students will study the French Revolution, paying close attention to how it was both similar to yet quite different from the American Revolution. Subsequently, the revolutions that began and ended the Soviet Union will be studied in turn, as the class will examine both the Russian Revolution and the revolutions of 1989.
At this point the class will shift to look at revolutions which were not simply aimed at changing the political structure of a society but the very practices and institutions that compose it. This type of revolution will be exemplified by the global student movements of 1968, American Black Radical thinkers, and Feminism. A special emphasis will be placed on the nature of these alternative revolutions as well as what the society those within the revolutions were calling for might look like. The class will end by studying documents from both the Arab Spring and Occupy movements. The question of revolution within the present day (i.e. would it be justified, what is there to revolt against, and how might a revolution today be similar/different than earlier ones) will be raised.
Course Content/Theme (Fall 2014, Spring 2015, and Fall 2015): As a way of introducing the field of philosophy, I am going to investigate with this class the question “How should we behave?” In addition to straightforwardly answering this question by exploring what guidelines, practices, rules, and advice we should use to shape our actions, we will approach this question from several other perspectives. First, we will study where we should look to find answers about how to behave. Do we learn behavioral principles from the sensible world, from a separate realm of absolute truth, or some combination of the two? Second, we will think about who we should dictate behavior for. What rules apply to the behavior of individuals, to the civic community, and to different social groups (races, genders, classes, sailing clubs, etc.)? How should behavior work at each of these levels? Third, we will look at the different types of answers that can be given to this question. Should behavior be guided by absolute and unbreakable rules, an understanding of one’s particular context, the maximization of pleasure, or the development of a virtuous character? Finally, we will talk about how different areas of study within philosophy (ethics, politics, metaphysics, aesthetics, etc.) influence answers to this question.
In order to connect class discussions to concrete examples, after reading each philosopher there will be a class devoted to studying how concepts from their philosophy are applicable to real-world cases drawn directly from current events. In these classes, we will think about what philosophies the people within the news story used to guide their behavior, and how we might want to critique or defend the actions that they took. The goal of this course is to acquire a better sense of how to accomplish the daily task of arranging our lives.
Resistance and Revolutions (taught as an intensive January-term course in 2015 and 2016): This is an intensive course dealing with the topic of revolution. Though we will start off with the question of what a revolution is, over the course of the J-Term we will engage questions related to revolutions that have ethical, metaphysical, ontological, and epistemological implications as well. While the class is primarily focused on political and social revolutions, revolutions in other areas may be referenced from time to time in order to draw out similarities and differences between how revolutions work in different fields. In order to give as comprehensive a picture of revolution as possible, revolutions throughout history will be studied, including the American, French, Russian, 1968, and 1989 revolutions. To engage the question of social revolutions we will look at American Black Radicalism (particularly within the 20th Century), while to engage the question of revolution in the present day we will look at the Arab Spring and Occupy movement.
The first question that will be taken up by the course is the question of what revolution is. This will involve studying several important theories of revolution within the field of political philosophy, in particular social contract theory, Marxism, and the relatively new field of event ontology. Each of these theories will be explained separately while also related to each other, with special care being made to reveal how they each describe things like the State, history, and truth in order to make the claims that they do.
In the following two weeks of the course, documents from or accounts of particular revolutions will be examined in order to draw connections between the theory of revolution and its actual practice. These documents will be used to engage other questions of revolution as well, such as how it should be carried out to be successful, what dangers revolutionaries face, the potential for revolution to go awry or to be subverted, when a movement for political change becomes a revolution, and the role of violence. The American Revolution will be studied first, and will be presented as one of the first—if not the first—true revolutions of the modern era. Following that students will study the French Revolution, paying close attention to how it was both similar to yet quite different from the American Revolution. Subsequently, the revolutions that began and ended the Soviet Union will be studied in turn, as the class will examine both the Russian Revolution and the revolutions of 1989.
At this point the class will shift to look at revolutions which were not simply aimed at changing the political structure of a society but the very practices and institutions that compose it. This type of revolution will be exemplified by the global student movements of 1968 and by American Black Radical thinkers. A special emphasis will be placed on the nature of these alternative revolutions as well as what the society those within the revolutions were calling for might look like. The class will end by studying documents from both the Arab Spring and Occupy movements. The question of revolution within the present day (i.e. would it be justified, what is there to revolt against, and how might a revolution today be similar/different than earlier ones) will be raised.
Duquesne University Courses.
Logic (Spring 2013): Logic is one of the most important and practical of all disciplines, since ultimately we are only as effective as how well we can rationally solve the problems of the everyday. While logic may not be able to give specific content, it does give us the proper means for using any content whatsoever, making it useful for all professions. Not only that, but since logic is concerned with form rather than content, by and large, the normal ambiguities of philosophical discourse are absent, leaving the precision of mathematics in its place. Furthermore, since we often already have a ‘feel’ for when arguments seem right or wrong, many times we have ultimately only to provide the real, logical justification for why our instincts or ‘gut feelings’ are right about an argument, giving us an leg-up (although, to be sure, these instincts are not always trustworthy). The study of logic should benefit our critical thinking and writing. Also, logic is fascinating in its own right.
Marxism (Spring 2013): Marxism as a philosophical theory presents one of the strongest challenges to capitalist doctrine, and one of the most cogent materialist analyses of society and ideology, that exists. As has been shown by its continued usage throughout history, it is adaptable for use in a variety of other political projects, philosophical theories, and cultural contexts. This course will present Marxism as arising from the background of the historical context of the French and Industrial Revolutions and in response to the dialectical idealism of the Hegelian philosophy. It will examine the different parts of the Marxist system, from its understanding of history to the Communist project it lays out. Afterwards, the various usages to which Marxism has been put will be taken up – in particular its thematization in the critical theory of the Frankfurt School, the humanist and structuralist projects of French Marxism, and the political projects of Leninism and Maoism. It will end with a discussion of the postcolonial usages of Marxism found in the work of Nkrumah.
Basic Philosophical Questions (Spring 2012 and Fall 2012): The aim of this class is to demonstrate the relevance of philosophical ideas to contemporary projects outside the field of philosophy itself. In order to do so, it will provide a spectrum of philosophical opinions from Ancient Greece to the Present which cover a variety of different types of philosophy (including political philosophy, ethics, epistemology, and ontology). After reading each author, one day of class will be devoted to studying some of the ways that the author’s thought has been taken up by individuals in other fields or other careers to demonstrate how the author’s thought is still utilized today. Questions covered by the class will include: What is necessary to have a virtuous society? Can we know of God’s existence? How does one reach indubitable knowledge? What is the origin of our value system? Does the world have an established meaning?
Basic Philosophical Questions (Fall 2011): What is our responsibility to others? Do we only owe them what the law requires, or do we have an ethical and social responsibility beyond that? Who do we have a responsibility to – our family, our culture, our entire world, or beyond? Who counts as an other, and are there different types of others we should be aware of? Finally, how does coming across others affect us, and how do we affect others? This class seeks to answer these questions through a survey of a variety of philosophical opinions about what it means to interact and respond to others within our world. It is divided into two parts, the first being a examination of otherness itself through the work of Plato, Rene Descartes, G.W.F. Hegel, Martin Heidegger, and Hannah Arendt, and the second being an examination of what it means that certain populations – such as blacks, women, subalterns, and animals – have taken on the role of otherness in our society. This examination will be carried out using the work of Franz Fanon, Simone de Beauvoir, Edward Said, and several individuals who have written about animal rights.
Basic Philosophical Questions (Spring 2011): How do governments justify their authority over individuals? In times of revolution, how do protesters and rebels justify their opposition to government control? This class seeks to provide a survey of some of the most frequently used arguments for government control and rebellion. Among the topics covered will be the proper structure of and proper limits to government, the nature of rights, what responsibility individuals have to each other and their government, what types of resistance and revolutions are permissible, and the relationship of resistance to power. As the semester progresses, the class will move into discussing some of the ideas put forth by individuals directly involved in resisting government power. Earlier theories of statecraft and revolution will be contrasted with later theories of resistance in order to provide an account of the origin and legitimacy of authority from both sides of the debate – both the inside and the outside. Questions of economic inequality, race, and gender will be raised in relation to the larger themes of authority and resistance.