Courses Serving the Traditional Subfields of Philosophy Philosophy as an academic discipline does have core content which can serve as the basis for an undergraduate philosophy curriculum. The broadest subfields of philosophy are logic, metaphysics, epistemology and ethics and the history of philosophy. Most Colleges Philosophy courses emphasize a particular subfield, although some courses, notably, Phi 101 Introduction to Philosophy, cut across these divisions. Logic provides sound methods to distinguish good from bad reasoning, a means to assess the support premises provide for conclusions, a method to determine the hidden assumptions and unforeseen commitments of the conclusion of an argument and a way to avoid errors in reasoning and expose unfounded beliefs. These kinds of epistemological questions lurk within every discipline.
Value judgements are an unavoidable aspect of both private and public life.
The History of Philosophy studies major philosophers such as Plato and Kant, historical periods in the development of philosophy such as the Enlightenment and major schools and movements in philosophy such as Empiricism and Pragmatism. 240 Existentialism Phi 101 Introduction to Philosophy is the core course of the Colleges Philosophy Department, both in terms of Student Credit Hours and the importance our faculty attaches to undergraduate education generally. This course is taught in several different ways, both in the Colleges and at other colleges and universities in the United States. The Philosophy Department does not endorse any one approach to Introduction to Philosophy as intrinsically superior to the others. Vocational Uses of the Colleges Philosophy Curriculum After taking their first philosophy courses, some Colleges students decide that they wish to pursue an undergraduate major in philosophy.