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PHIL 111

PHIL 111-002 A/B What is Philosophy?

PHIL111002
100 Level Course
Fall, Winter
6 Units
In-person
3
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  • None.

PHIL 151 (3.0 units)

one-way Exclusions
  • Lectures

  • Plato, “The Apology of Socrates” and Symposium
  • Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
  • Augustine, Confessions (selections)
  • Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy
  • Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (selections)
  • Michel de Montaigne, Essays (selections)
  • RenĂ© Descartes, Meditations
  • Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (selections)
  • Henry David Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods (selections)
  • Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

Instructor: Paul Fairfield
Section: 002
Term: Fall/Winter 2025-26

This course presents an historical introduction to Western philosophy from its inception in ancient Greece until the modern era. Major figures we shall study range from Socrates and Plato to René Descartes and Friedrich Nietzsche, among others, and topics will include the intellectual underpinnings of justice and ethics, the theory of knowledge, metaphysics, religion, and some others. We shall place some emphasis upon student writing, interpretation, and rational argument through a combination of exams and essays.

Learning Outcomes

Assessments

Assessments

Two exams and one essay