Course: PHI 100 1200

This course is an introduction to the methods and problems of philosophical inquiry. Students will be initiated into the major philosophical problems and theories from the ancients to the philosophers of our time – ethics, metaphysical relativism, the paradoxical relationship of happiness and goodness, human nature, epistemology, rationalism, empiricism, transcendentalism, freedom of the will, will to power, etc.
Philosophy begins with the recognition of a dissatisfaction with a situation and the intention to ameliorate wrongs and harmonize the world. In our classes we will trace some beginnings of philosophy from Plato to our contemporary time. We will explore the reasons for dissatisfactions and examine the solutions offered by different philosophical schools. As we inquire into philosophical responses to dissatisfaction with world, we will address seminal values such as morality, God, truth, knowledge, as well as their origins and their influences. We will also try to see how we are mis-formed by unexamined opinions and values, and ask what might be an appropriate response to this mis-formation. We will be led in our studies by the Socratic demand for self-examination in its many modifications throughout history.