PHILOSOPHY ELECTIVES
Dr. Chris Herrera:
Ancient Philosophy
Dr. Benfield: Knowledge, Beief, Truth
Dr. Garrett: American Philosophy
Dr. McDermid:
Philosophy of Biology
Dr. Rogers: Feminist Legal Theory
RELIGION
ELECTIVES
Dr. Ibrahim: The Qur'an
and Prophetic Tradition
Dr. Johnson: Religion and
Psychology
Dr. Johnson:
Religion & Culture
Dr. Kogan: New Testament:
Jesus and the Gospels
Dr. Kogan: Contemporary Jewish Thought
Dr. Vail: Death, Dying,
Afterlife
Philosophy
Electives
PHIL 310 – Knowledge,
Belief & Truth/ HONP 301 01
An introduction to
current philosophical thinking on the nature of truth and on what is
required for knowing a true proposition. The main text will be
Richard Feldman's brilliant essay Epistemology, published in
2003 by Prentice-Hall. Questions considered will include "Do I
need any evidence for what I believe?" "Can I ever be totally
sure of anything?" "If I know a proposition to be true, does that
mean than anyone who disagrees with me is wrong?"
A group project will
involve interviewing a person who does mission-critical or zero defects
work to ascertain how that person obtains the certain knowledge such
work requires. The course is required for the PHIL major but all
majors are welcome. It is especially useful students planning
careers in law or law enforcement.
PHIL 331 01- Ancient Philosophy
An introduction
to the major figures of classical philosophy in the ancient world.
The course will focus on the writings of Plato and Aristotle, the
two greatest and most influential thinkers in ancient philosophy.
The course will also cover the beginnings of philosophy in the
Pre-Socratics. The course will examine issues including truth,
beauty, and goodness; democracy and freedom; knowledge, reason, and
experience; and reality, time, space, infinity, and God.
PHIL
231
–American Philosophy
This course deals with major developments in American philosophy
in the great, creative period from 1865 to 1940. During this period, American
thinkers found a distinctive voice and, for the first time, attained
international recognition for the new ideas and methods they contributed to
philosophy. The course will concentrate on three major thinkers - Charles Peirce,
William James, and John Dewey - whose work spanned this period and each of whom
brought a distinctive method and vision to its shared interests. Among the
topics to be taken up in the course are the following:
-
the invention of "pragmatism," defining knowledge
and truth in terms of human action rather than abstract theory,
-
the interpretation of the human mind as a "stream of
consciousness," emphasizing the continuity and relatedness of human
experience,
-
the invention of "semiotics" as a new, systematic
approach to understanding the complexity of meaning in human life,
-
the use of new theories of meaning and mind to show that all
knowledge is fallible and therefore to understand better why all knowledge,
including scientific knowledge, is constantly changing and growing,
-
the development of the radical view that reason and logic
are themselves not necessarily eternal truths but rather practical,
evolutionary attainments of mankind that, like anything else, must be
justified by their results,
-
the application of these new, practically oriented methods
of thinking to understand better the nature of religious belief, the nature
of ethical values, and the justification of larger social ideals such as
democracy and freedom.
PHIL
290 01 – Philosophy of Biology/ HONP 301 02
PHIL
476 01- Feminist Legal Theory
An examination of the
philosophical basis of legal doctrines as they apply to women.
This course will explore the political, economic, and social status of
the sexes. Women's rights and women's legal status in politics,
employment, education, and the family will be explored. Cross
listed with JURI 476 and WMST 476.
Prereq: PHIL210 or WMST
301 or one JURI or LSLW course at 200 level or above or departmental
approval.
Religion
Electives
RELG 352 The Qur'an and Prophetic Traditions
This course is designed to
introduce students to Islamic sacred texts, the Qur’an and Prophetic
Traditions. Students will be acquainted with the structure and
meanings of the Qur’an in addition to studying different schools of
interpretation past and present. The course also focuses on
investigating the role of the Qur’an and Prophetic Traditions in
shaping Islamic beliefs and religious practices. A special attention
will be given to the concerns of Muslim minorities in the West in
addressing questions related to the Qur’an and Prophetic Traditions.
The course also provides a comparison between some Qur’anic themes
and those in other religious writings especially the Bible.
RELG 221 01, 221
02 - Religion and Culture
This course
takes an historical approach in studying the interactions of Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam with the broader cultures they impact and
inhabit. Hard-working students will learn amazing amounts of religious
and secular history (especially Western) throughout the
course. In the second half of the course, students will be immersed in
fascinating (sometimes troubling) topics/foci, gaining
insight into dynamics still very much driving us (and driving us
crazy) in our new century and millennium.
Students
must attend the classes, survive two tough tests, and faithfully work
at weekly written assignments. (thought questions,
analyses, long summaries of videos viewed during class, etc.) Fulfills
the 1983 General Education Requirement (GER)-Humanities, Philosophy/
Religion. Fulfills the "New"
GER".
RELG 225 –
Religion and Psychology
A
survey of 20th-century religious reflection in the light of psychological
analyses. We begin with an introduction to classic
views of the religious person reached by such figures as Freud, Jung, Fromm, and Maslow. Then we examine the implications of such psychology for
religious thought and life, as these were understood by leading representatives of
Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Protestant traditions. (This interface of
20th-century religious and psychological traditions
includes introduction to the impacts of Marxist,
feminist, and later critical insights.) The approach stresses
common required readings, videos, and classroom lectures, plus discussion
whenever possible. Besides the common readings, course requirements
include two tests, one outside-reading-report, and a series of formal
written summaries and reflections.
RELG 301 01 –
Contemporary Jewish Thought
The
writings of Rosenzweig, Buber, Heschel, Rubenstein, Fackenheim,
Plaskow, Wyschogrod and other Jewish religious thinkers will be examined. They
will be studied in the context of the religious crisis of modern
society which has generated Existentialism, Death of God theology
and radical shifts in Jewish life (The Holocaust and the rebirth of
Israel). Students will be introduced to popular Jewish religious
practice in America and elsewhere as well as to the major Jewish
Theologians of our day.
RELG 204 - New Test: Jesus & the Gospels
An examination of the
life and teachings of Jesus as interpreted in the theological treatises
known as the Gospels (with special stress on Mark and Matthew). Emphasis
will be placed on the texts themselves, the philosophical and theological
viewpoints of the writers in the context of the history and thought of
ancient Hebrew and Hellenistic culture. This is a basic course for
all students. Especially recommended for students of literature and
history. A follow-up course, Paul and the Early Church (RELG 206), will be
offering in Spring, 2009.
RELG 218 –
Death, Dying & Afterlife
This
course is designed as a study of cross-cultural religious beliefs and
practices concerning death, dying, and the afterlife. It will cover the
grieving process, rituals of death, symbolic ‘deaths’ (initiations) and
belief in limbo states, soul-survival, ghosts, heaven, hell, and
reincarnation. From the standpoint of varied religious traditions, we
will explore what dies and what lives on? Is death simply the next stage
of a long moral and spiritual journey, or is it the end? How does death
teach us about the values important to a good life? Why do people so
often fear death, yet enjoy watching frightening films? Specifically, we
will cover such varied topics as Egyptian mummies and myths, early
Christian martyrdom and ideas of resurrection of the body, Muslim
understandings of how angels teach and guide the
soul after death, soul choices in the Tibetan Book of the Dead and six Buddhist
rebirth-realms, Hindu and Buddhist karma and samsara (the cycle of rebirth),
psychic communication beyond the grave, and holidays that commemorate death or
placate spirits, such
as Halloween and Mardi Gras.
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