Philosophy

PHIL 1100 – Critical Thinking

3 credits

This course is designed to improve the critical thinking skills associated with various forms of reasoning. The process of reasoning emphasized in this course involves identifying, analyzing, evaluating, and constructing arguments. Students will be able to identify formal and informal logical fallacies, both to avoid these in their own thinking and to criticize these in thinking presented to them. Throughout the course, we will focus on the principles of critical thinking as they apply to several different forms of reasoning including scientific, causal, statistical, legal, and/or moral reasoning with particular emphasis on how these principles present in primary source texts.

*PHIL 1101 – Introduction to Philosophy

3 credits | Prerequisite: ENGL 1101

This course is an introduction to theories and techniques in philosophy that may range from ancient to contemporary traditions. Is there such a thing as truth? Can you know you are not dreaming while you read this sentence? Does science tell us everything there is to know? Are some things more real than others? Are our minds purely physical, or are they something else? Are there better and worse ways to answer such questions? We will explore questions like these and many more!

*PHIL 1102 – Introduction to Western Philosophy

3 credits | Prerequisite: ENGL 1101

This course is designed to acquaint students with the value and various methods of philosophically examining life experiences, as well as to acquaint them with the historical development of Western philosophy from the Greeks to the modern age. Students are required to read at least one primary work by a major Western philosopher as well as to write short philosophical papers. In addition, students will be encouraged to raise philosophical questions about knowledge, experience, value systems and so forth.

*PHIL 1107 – Ethics

3 credits | Prerequisite: ENGL 1101

What kind of person should I be? How should we treat others? What makes actions right or wrong? Is there any reason to be moral? Is morality relative or subjective? How, if at all, can such questions be answered? This course is designed to acquaint students with formal theories and basic frameworks for ethical thanking, as well as with many of the major ethical issues and moral questions that dominate contemporary life. Students will gain familiarity with some canonical texts and develop skills of close-reading and group discussion when it comes to ethical inquiry.

A * preceding a course number indicates that the course is part of Ohio Transfer 36.