The relationship between Greek philosophy and Christian thought is explored. A survey of the Western philosophical tradition in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with special attention to Descartes, Locke, Hume, and Kant. A survey of major developments in Chinese and Indian thought, including Confucianism, Taoism, Vedanta, Jainism, and the philosophical schools arising out of Buddhism. A treatment of philosophical issues as they arise in religious experience and in theological thought, such as the nature of religious language, the enterprise of proving God's existence, and the prospect of defining or circumscribing religion. A survey of thinkers and themes in the Jewish philosophical tradition, drawing on both classical sources and more recent developments, such as Jewish reaffirmations in response to the Holocaust.
Special emphasis is devoted to issues in philosophy of religion and the foundations of ethics.
A philosophical consideration of art and art criticism, drawing on both classical and contemporary thinkers. Topics include beauty, expression, representation, aesthetic distance, the identity of the work of art, the relation of art to morality, and the influence of art on perception. Christian philosophy should be creation-wide in its scope, taking into account both the general history of philosophy and the special implications of ontological distinctions. In this course Dooyeweerd's design of a Christian philosophy receives special attention. A study of philosophical problems arising out of the presuppositions, methods and results of the natural sciences.