Philosophy might be described as the systematic study of the most substantial questions and phenomena that man attempts to inquire about. This course aims to give an overview of some of the more prominent topics that is common to both historical and contemporary philosophical theory. Among these topics dealt with in the course are arguments for the existence of God, the nature of knowledge and the question of skepticism thereof, theories of consciousness and mind, the determination of moral value, and the meaning of life itself. The orientation of the course will be what is sometimes called “analytic,” which emphasizes argumentation, evidence, and the pursuit of truth. The goal of the course is to give the students a thorough survey of material and thus provide them with a broad but well constructed literary philosophical background.

Required Text: Philosophical Problems: An Annotated Anthology. Editors: Laurence Bonjour and Ann Baker

Course Requirements: There will be 3 in class exams, each worth 25% of the course grade and a final research paper (about 5 pages in length) also worth 25% of the course grade.