A philosophical, critical examination of the different ways of knowing and thinking in the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences including ethical and religious perspectives. Emphasis is on the nature and purpose of philosophical inquiry as applied to selected issues within philosophy and the broader implications of these methods and questions for other disciplines and in everyday contexts.
Goals are more general and relate to the nature and purpose of education.
I hope this course contributes to your general education. Meeting the course objectives will greatly facilitate the achievement of the goals of general education. I introduce each topic with a lecture, but even during the lecture, I invite questions and comments. In fact, I thrive on questions that lead to open, serious, and honest debate. Many of the topics we study in this course lend themselves to good, healthy debate.