Philosophy

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Professors K. Corcoran, R. De Young, M. Halteman, D. Noe (chair), J. Smith (Gary & Henrietta Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology and Worldview), K. Timpe (William Henry Jellema Chair in Christian Philosophy)

The department offers a major concentration appropriate for pursuing philosophy at the graduate level and also for careers in various professions including higher education, law, the ministry, information technology, and government service. The core course in philosophy provides an essential foundation for Christian liberal arts education. Intermediate-level courses in a wide range of areas offer all students regardless of their field of study the opportunity for further exploration of basic issues of morality, science, gender, law, health care, and politics.

Programs

• Philosophy Major

• Philosophy Minor

• Philosophy Double Major

Courses

• PHIL 153 - Fundamental Questions in Philosophy
• PHIL 171 - Introduction to Logic
• PHIL 273 - Symbolic Logic

All intermediate courses presuppose completion of PHIL 153 .

• PHIL 251 - History of Western Philosophy I
• PHIL 252 - History of Western Philosophy II

All intermediate courses presuppose completion of PHIL 153  .

Students may take PHIL 201 , PHIL 202 , PHIL 203 , PHIL 204 , PHIL 205 , PHIL 207 , PHIL 208 , PHIL 212 , PHIL 215 for core credit in integrative studies.

Students may take PHIL 211  to fulfill Persons in Community core requirement.

• PHIL 201 - Philosophy of Social Science
• PHIL 202 - Law, Politics, and Legal Practice
• PHIL 203 - Understanding Natural Science: Its Nature, Status, and Limits
• PHIL 204 - God and Philosophy
• PHIL 205 - Ethics
• PHIL 207 - Justice and the Common Good: Studies in Political Philosophy
• PHIL 208 - Philosophy of the Arts and Culture
• PHIL 211 - Philosophy of Gender
• PHIL 212 - Ethical Dimensions of Health Care
• PHIL 225 - Chinese Thought and Culture
• PHIL 226 - African Thought and Culture
• PHIL 283 - Metaphysics

All advanced courses presuppose two or more philosophy courses, or one philosophy course plus junior or senior standing.

• PHIL 312 - Plato and Aristotle
• PHIL 322 - Aquinas
• PHIL 331 - Kant
• PHIL 333 - Kierkegaard
• PHIL 334 - Marx and Marxism
• PHIL 336 - Studies in Modern Philosophy
• PHIL 340 - Contemporary Continental Philosophy
• PHIL 341 - Contemporary Anglo-American Philosophy

• PHIL 318 - Minds, Brains, and Persons
• PHIL 365 - Ethical Theory
• PHIL 371 - Epistemology
• PHIL 375 - Philosophical Anthropology
• PHIL 378 - Philosophy of Language and Interpretation
• PHIL 390 - A Readings and Research
• PHIL 395 - Philosophy Topics: Problems in Systematic Philosophy
• PHIL 396 - Philosophy Topics: Figures and Themes in the History of Philosophy

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