This is our catalog of courses. We will occasionally adjust the course listing to reflect the addition of new courses and the retirement of others.
Aristotle famously said, “all men by nature desire to know.” For over 2600 years, philosophers have grappled with life’s profound questions. Seeking answers, they left their conclusions behind, along with the arguments supporting them. In this course, we will be studying some of the better-known philosophical arguments in light of the issues they have addressed.
Total classes: 8
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th
Suggested credit: 2/3 semester Philosophy. Add other philosophy courses or extra reading for full credit.
Description
Aristotle famously said, “all men by nature desire to know.” For over 2600 years, philosophers have grappled with life’s profound questions. Seeking answers, they left their conclusions behind, along with the arguments supporting them. In this course, we will be studying some of the better-known philosophical arguments in light of the issues they have addressed. From Plato’s allegory of the cave to the five ways of St. Thomas Aquinas to Pascal’s wager, these arguments can serve as a brief introduction to the life and work of philosophers to anyone who would like to discover more about the “examined life.”
Outline
Session 1: Plato’s “allegory of the cave”, from the Republic
Session 2: Aristotle on happiness and moral virtue, from the Nicomachean Ethics
Session 3: St. Augustine on choosing evil, from the Confessions
Session 4: St. Anselm of Canterbury’s and René Descartes’ “ontological” arguments, from the Proslogion and the Meditations, respectively
Session 5: René Descartes on how I may know of my own existence, from the Meditations
Session 6: Blaise Pascal on the “wager” argument, from the Pensées
Session 7: St. Thomas Aquinas on the possibility of proving God’s existence, from the Summa Theologiae
Session 8: St. Thomas Aquinas’ “five ways”, from the Summa Theologiae
Materials and Homework
Course Materials: The reading materials will be provided FREE to you in the form of a pdf file. References to the readings made during the course will be to this version. Students are expected to read the short selections (about two pages, on average) carefully before each session.
Homework: Homework for each session will consist, first, of a close reading of the assigned materials. Written assignments will consist of students’ careful, short-essay responses to two or three prompts covering the last class’ material. You can expect to spend 1 or 2 hours outside of class on reading and assignments.
