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A general overview of the history of philosophical development in the West from its inception with the Pre-Socratic philosophers of ancient Greece to the 20th century Anglo-American and Continental traditions. The contributions of seminal thinkers...

This course introduces students to a formal system of deductive logic with the aim of (1) developing better analytical skills and abilities and (2) helping students to see the logical structure of arguments and language. Additional topics include...

A historical survey of ancient philosophy from Thales to St. Augustine. Attention will be given to the pre-Socratics, the Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Epicureans, Plotinus, the early Church Fathers and St. Augustine.

A historical survey of medieval philosophy from St. Augustine to the late Scholastics. St. Augustine, the later Church Fathers, Boethius, John Scotus Erigena, Anselm, Abelard, Bonaventura, Aquinas, Ockham, Scotus and other medieval thinkers are...

A historical survey of modern philosophy from Bacon to Kant. Major emphasis is placed upon the Rationalists (Descartes, Leibniz and Spinoza), Empiricists (Locke, Berkeley and Hume) and Kant's synthesis of those two traditions.

A survey of major developments in philosophy between Kant and World War II. Emphasis will be on developments in Germany and France that also inspired both enthusiastic devotees and aggressive critics elsewhere. German Idealism (especially Hegel) will...

A study of "first philosophy," this course inquires into the nature of being, considered as such. It addresses such concerns as the legitimacy of metaphysics and its distinction from natural philosophy, the nature of substance and of causality, and...

A critical review of recent developments in ethical and value theory. Topics covered may include the dispute between utilitarianism and deontological theories, the nature of justification in ethics, the distinction between facts and values, and meta...

A philosophical examination of major social and political concepts such as authority, justice, law, obligation and rights. Special attention will be given to the use of these concepts in such ideologies as communism, fascism and democracy.