David H. Calhoun Gonzaga University Philosophy Courses
	Web-based resources for most of my courses are now available on Gonzaga University's Blackboard site (http://blackboard.gonzaga.edu).  Courses listed below with live links feature some resources on this web server.

PHIL 101  Critical Thinking
What is a good argument?  How do arguments work?  What makes some arguments better than others?  The purpose of this course is to equip students to recognize and analyze argumentation as it occurs in a variety of contexts such as editorials, discussions, speeches, argumentative essays, and philosophical texts.  To accomplish this, we will study the components of good arguments, different types of arguments, common ways in which arguments can go wrong, and techniques of criticizing and constructing arguments.

PHIL 201  Philosophy of Human Nature
Human beings seem uniquely to be the biological entities on this planet that ask, What are we? and, Who are we?  Humans desire to know what kind of beings they are and in what relationship they stand to the rest of the world.  The study of human beings and reflection on what it means to be human have gone on since our earliest recorded civilizations.  The questions involved in this study and reflection have varied from time to time and place to place, but some questions seem to recur.  Are all human beings also persons?  What do intellectual, linguistic and emotional abilities indicate about the make-up of human beings?  When can humans be held morally accountable for what they do?  Do human beings survive death?
     Throughout much of Western intellectual history, the answers to these questions have usually been tied to views about the human soul.  This course seeks to tell a storyóa story we might call, "The Loss of the Soul."  The course provides an overview both of some of the authors who have discussed human nature and the soul, and attempts to show the general movement of this discussion from the time of the ancient Greeks to our own times.  We will try to trace out the loss of the soul in two sensesófirst, in terms of its disappearance from our cultural conversation and, second, in terms of the harm wrought by its disappearance.
   regular semester sections

PHIL 401/501  History of Ancient Greek Philosophy
It is often said that ancient Greece is the birthplace of western philosophy.  The primary objective of this course is to explore the writings and arguments of the major thinkers that compose this philosophical revolution.
Consequently, the course is both philosophical and historical.  It is primarily philosophical in the sense that we will be surveying major works by the most significant thinkers in ancient Greece, attempting to understand the key components of their philosophical theories and the reasoning by which they support these theories.  It is historical insofar as we will examine carefully the interrelations between the views of different thinkers and also, to the extent possible, explore the relevance of historical context to the ideas propounded by these thinkers.
     The course will follow five major historical periods in ancient Greek philosophy: (1) pre-Socratic philosophy, in which a series of philosophers sought to explain the fundamental principles of reality in rational terms and to develop technical skills for succeeding in life;  (2) Socrates, the central figure of ancient Greek philosophy who, although he wrote nothing, marked a decisive change from the previous development of philosophy and significantly influenced those who followed;  (3) Socratesí student Plato, who gradually developed his own philosophical positions in response to his teacher;  (4) Platoís student Aristotle, who labored to make philosophy scientific and systematic; and (5) the post-Aristotelian philosophical schools of skepticism, Epicureanism, and Stoicism, and the syncretistic revival of Platoís philosophy by the Neo-Platonists.

PHIL 424/524  Existentialism
Few philosophical movements have had such broad and enduring popularity as existentialism.  As the name suggests, existentialism focuses on the uniqueness of human existence and explores the problems and possibilities of the human situation.  The course will treat existentialist themes such as individuality and selfhood, self-knowledge and self-development, freedom and social coercion, and the crisis of meaning precipitated by the modern skepticism concerning absolute truth, love, and religious faith.
     Course readings will include primary texts of philosophical existentialism by Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Sartre.  In addition, we will read works of existentialist fiction by authors such as Dostoevsky, Kafka, Camus, and Walker Percy.  The course format will stress discussion over lecture, and hence will presume commitment and engagement on the part of students.
 

PHIL 432/532  Philosophy of Education
Philosophy of Education is a systematic reflection upon the variety of activities and practices by which we seek to impart knowledge and information and develop human capacities.  As such, it involves sustained inquiry into (1) the aims or goals of the educational process (the hoped-for end result of the activities and practices), (2) the most effective means to attain those goals (teaching methods), and (3) the proper content or subject matter of education (the curriculum).  Further, since education concerns the set of processes by which young people are introduced to and brought into participation in their culture and society, educational philosophy necessarily includes (4) reflections about the role of individuals in the social and political order.  Questions related to these four key themes include:

ïWhy is learning important in the first place?
ïWhat is the object of knowledge?
ïWhat sorts of things ought we to know, and why?
ïHow does one come to know something?  How does one communicate knowledge?
ïCan moral values be taught?  Should they?  If so, what values should be taught, and how?
ïWhat happens in the teaching/learning process?
ïWhat counts as successful teaching?

PHIL 465/565  Philosophy of Religion
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the philosophical treatment of religion and religious themes, particularly the key issues of rational arguments for the existence of God, rational objections to and critiques of theism (particularly the problem of evil), and the tension in religious life between reason and faith.  The course will begin with a general examination of religion, noting especially what count as supports for or disconfirmation of religious life.  The major part of the course will study ìnatural theology,î which investigates attempts to provide rational grounding for religious faith.  The second part will examine the most serious objections to theism, including the problem of reconciling evil in the world with the idea of a powerful and loving God.  Finally, we will explore the role of reason and faith in religion, and look at several specific problems raised by the philosophical treatment of religion.
 

PHIL 438/538  Philosophy of Love and Friendship
From the time of the Greeks, love and friendship have played important roles in philosophical investigation of ethics, political theory, and even theories of knowledge.  Analysis of the phenomena of love and friendship reveals a great deal about human desire, the structure of human psychology, character, concern for others, and religious devotion.  In this course we will study several influential accounts of love and friendship, noting the implications of each view for issues such as happiness and the good life, proper treatment of others, and self-love.  Readings will be from a diverse group of authors, including such figures as Plato, Aristotle, Kierkegaard, and C. S. Lewis.

PHIL 587  Graduate Seminar: Philosophical Anthropology
Throughout the history of a philosophy, a number of distinct approaches to understanding the metaphysical nature of human beingsómost importantly materialism, idealism, and dualismóhave been proposed and defended by philosophers.  Yet the modern era is marked by the apparent triumph of a particular form of materialism that is thematically and methodologically linked with Darwinian biological natural selection and physicalist reductionism.  What is the case for this modern consensus?  What are the implications of this view for related matters such as culture and values?  What are criticisms of neo-Darwinism?  Are there alternatives available that adequately embrace the available data of human faculties and capacities?  Has the classical notion of soul been discredited thoroughly by modern science?
 
 

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