PHI 151. Introduction to Philosophy
MWF 1–1:50, McMillin Hall 209
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last updated: May 16, 1999
There are three major areas of philosophy: ontology (science of being), epistemology (theory of knowledge) and ethics (theory of morality). The course will consist of three parts corresponding to these three areas. We will begin with a discussion of one of the more vexing and interesting issues in ontology (the science of being), viz. whether the Judeo-Christian God exists. We will read historical and contemporary philosophers discussing reasons for believing or disbelieving that God exists, and indeed questioning the rationale of the very idea of asking for reasons in matters of religious beliefs. We will then proceed to ask abstractly what knowledge is, and consider various skeptical arguments designed to show that we do not know what we ordinarily think we know (e.g. that the world exists). Lest you think that science can rescue such doubts, you will see that scientific knowledge itself is subject to a very serious skeptical doubt that it can gives us knowledge of the future (the problem of induction). The third part of the course will be concerned with the discussion of the moral life. We will begin with the question whether ethics is at all possible. We will discuss two major philosophical theories that attempt to answer the question what it is to be moral: utilitarian and Kantian ethics. Finally, we will see whether the skills we have acquired can help us in considering some tough issues in practical ethics. If time permits, we will consider the basic question in political philosophy, viz. what is the justification of government.

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