This course will provide an opportunity where you can create a performance or media piece for “The Philosopher’s Cabaret,” see each other’s work, share ideas, and provide friendly feedback, while acquiring the skills you need to succeed in your philosophy courses. At its core, the event will be a friendly, peer-judged contest based on a philosophical theme. Throughout the course, we will develop the overall philosophical theme for the cabaret, as well as developing individual performances or media pieces that showcase your ability to understand and apply philosophical concepts. The event will also create a space where participants can explore what is means to: create visual and participatory art in the early 21st century; live philosophically; and engage in creativity and critical thinking.

Philosophy is “an attempt, using reason alone, to gain an understanding of ourselves and of the world we live in. It is a search for what is the best kind of life to lead and what ideals are best worth pursuing.” (The Study of Philosophy, 10)

Considers human conduct, the rules and institutions of moral order, and philosophically examines a range of today’s moral issues, such as the just distribution of the social good, abortion, euthanasia, the environment, war, and world hunger.

Lecture 3 hours.
May be offered as an honors section.

This course combines historical and contemporary sources as a way of introducing and discussing various topics in philosophy as they relate to our current state of societal affairs and as they have been dealt with by some of the most influential thinkers in Western history. The course introduces numerous philosophical themes that will help us better understand the relationship among cultural, economic, political, and social forces and their impact on human behavior, as well as issues at the intersection of philosophy, including religion and psychology. In addition, the very notion of “philosophy” will be explored – for example: What is philosophical thinking and why is it important? To what degree are we alone in terms of our philosophical thinking? What is the connection between our overall sense of valuation and our ways of being in the world? 

Literature serves as an awesome example of philosophy in action. Think about it, like characters in a novel we move in and out of others’ lives as we move in and out of life itself. Each of us leaves distinct traces in the world. Each of us plays multiple parts as we create joy and suffering, tragedy and transcendence, freedom and enslavement, certainty and doubt, harmony and chaos, love and hate, belonging and loneliness, clarity and confusion, truth and falsity. So why does Sartre say, “hell is other people”? … Find out!

The medium of film, although little more than a century old, has overtaken just about all other artistic media in its powers to mold our beliefs, desires, fears, and even our identities—sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. To this extent, film invites philosophical reflection in two broad ways: First, films can serve as a vehicle for philosophical ideas. Second, the experience of watching films has a way of reflecting back upon itself and nudging us to ask what film is in a deeper sense.

Introduces techniques for representing truth-functional statements using letters and symbols, determining the validity of arguments using such statements, and demonstrating validity through formal proofs using a natural deduction system. Covers both propositional and quantificational logic through to first-order predicates and identity.

Lecture 3 hours.