Introduction to Philosophy. Examination of major philosophical issues and the ways major philosophers have dealt with them. An introduction to the rules of clear and effective thinking. Attention is given to the logic of meaning, the logic of valid inference, and the logic of factual inquiry.
Main emphasis is upon deductive logic.
Students are introduced to the elements of symbolic logic as well as to traditional modes of analysis. Philosophy of Religion. A study of the issues raised for philosophy by contemporary religious thought. A survey of philosophical thought in the United States from colonial period to present, with emphasis on the work of Peirce, James, and Dewey. An inquiry into the central problems of values applied to human conduct, with an examination of the responses of major ethical theories to those problems.