Course Goals and Organization
Philosophy 2
Mr. Graves
This course provides an
introduction to philosophy through a study of two of the major areas
traditionally identified as within the province of philosophy. It is a philosophy course, so it will
seek clarity, precision, and thoroughness. However, it is also a one-semester,
introductory course; so our intention will be to discover, rather than to
exhaustively examine, the issues and methods presented.
The following is a very basic
description of what we will attempt to achieve in this class, and some of the
means by which we will attempt to achieve it.
Basic
Course Objectives
The course will aim to
develop:
1.
A working grasp of some of
the goals, tools, areas, issues, approaches, and processes of
philosophy;
2.
An appreciation for the
asking of philosophical questions, and for the seeking of answers through
critical and imaginative reflection, and through systematic inference and
abstraction;
3.
A fundamental sense of the
necessity for, difficulties of, and consequences arising from, working through
ethical and political problems, for individuals and
communities;
4.
A number of skills, including
reflection, questioning, analyzing, organizing, interpreting, creative
imagining, and presenting information -- both orally and in writing -- in a
full, clear, precise manner;
-through a study of selected
ethical perspectives and problems.
Basic
Course Organization
The course will be comprised of
four main sections, which we will complete in the order listed
below:
1.
A brief introductory
exploration of the tools of philosophy
-- particularly logic and argumentation;
2.
An examination of the types
of ethical theories underlying the work
of (applied) ethics:
a. Absolutist/Relativist;
b. Action-based/Virtue-based;
c. Deontic/Consequentialist;
d. Rationalist/Empiricist.
3.
A study of some fundamental
political theory as it has evolved in
the West:
a. Democratic/Undemocratic/Antidemocratic;
b. Contract Theory.
4.
An investigation of one or
more classic and contemporary ethical/political problems.
Basic
Course Approach
The course will
involve:
1.
Analysis of arguments we study, and of the perspectives from which
they come;
2.
Honest
reflection on ideas, arguments, and
perspectives offered;
3. Practice on refinement of
appropriate skills, through --
4. Participation in all phases
of coursework.