Philosophy
Division V Chair: S. Gowler
Program Chair: E. Pearson
Philosophy Faculty: J. Butler, R. Hoag, E. Pearson, and J. Polish
Website: http://www.berea.edu/phi/
Courses: PHI Courses
Major/Minor Requirements: Philosophy B.A.; Philosophy Minor
The Philosophy Program offers courses in the discipline of Philosophy. In this discipline, the Program provides opportunities to explore diverse philosophic points of view, to develop abilities to reflect critically and constructively on a wide variety of important questions, and to cultivate abilities to communicate well through constructive engagement with others’ ideas and ways of thinking. Students are encouraged to develop their own intelligence and capacities for careful thought in addressing texts and topics both historical and contemporary.
Philosophy
Study in philosophy engages questions about how one should live, our place in the universe, the nature of thought, and ways of knowing. Philosophic inquiry involves carefully structured, thoughtful engagement with others and with texts. Courses are designed to enhance students’ abilities to pursue informed, adequate responses to philosophic questions about various topics of both historical and contemporary concern.
The Philosophy curriculum provides a major and minor for students who are interested in a variety of careers to seek the breadth, depth, and reasoned rigor of philosophic thinking. The Program offers for all students introductory courses to explore the character of Philosophy, and complements studies in other fields such as law, medicine, politics, science, religion, art, and education. Students in Philosophy have successfully pursued further graduate study in various fields, have entered the world of work in many kinds of organizations, and have addressed social issues through law and other means.
Students completing the major in Philosophy:
- Are better able to identify, evaluate and construct sound arguments about texts, issues, and practices in the areas of the discipline, both in writing and orally;
- Are better able to support, with relevant sophistication and subtlety, their own views about philosophic texts and issues, both in writing and orally;
- Understand more fully significant texts, ideas, theories, and thinkers within the history of Western philosophy;
- Understand more fully philosophy’s potential to inform thought about contemporary issues of public policy, law, science, morality, etc.;
- Understand more fully distinctive aspects of, and diversity within, the discipline of philosophy.
Philosophy Course Sequencing Table:
Please be aware that the table below represents current planning and is subject to change based on faculty availability and student interest. It is not meant to represent any guarantee to the student that the courses will be offered in the term in which they are currently planned.