ID
7342

Morality and Politics

An examination of such questions as: Are there conditions under which value judgments can be rationally defended? If there are such grounds, what are they? If not, what consequences, if any, follow from ethical skepticism? Can value judgments about individuals or societies be justified on rationally acceptable grounds? Application of theories to moral problems.

Intro to Philosophy: Knowledge

The tools and techniques of philosophical reasoning: reading argumentative prose; analyzing conceptual models; writing critical essays. Problems of knowledge: the criteria of reliable knowledge; the formulation and justification of beliefs the sources and limits of knowledge; beliefs about the physical world, the past and future, and other minds. Critical standards applied to related metaphysical issues: theism, mind and self-identity, determinism.