PHIL 1101 Introduction to Philosophy

Description

Introduction to Philosophy introduces students to five areas of philosophical inquiry and the questions basic to each: ethics (What is the nature of the good?), epistemology (What is the nature of knowledge and truth?), metaphysics (What is the nature of reality?), the philosophy of religion (What are the proofs for God’s existence?), and social/political philosophy (What is the nature of a good state?). Using primary texts and class discussion, students will explore the answers philosophers such as Plato, Mill, Kant, Hume, Locke, and Nietzsche have offered.

Credits

3

Prerequisite

STSK 0095 or placement by multiple measures

Corequisite

None

Topics to be Covered

1. Why Philosophy

2. Reality and Being

3. Human Nature

4. Philosophy and God

5. Knowledge Sources

6. Truth Test

7. Aesthetics

8. Political Philosophy

9. Social Philosophy

Learning Outcomes

1. Discuss the fundamentals of the question’s philosophers have been asking for over two thousand years in the areas of what is truth, what is beauty, what is the right way to live, is there a God, and can we know anything for certain.

2. Understand that various cultures have different thoughts concerning these questions.

Credit Details

Lecture: 3

Lab: 0

OJT: 0

MnTC Goal Area(s): None