Philosophy

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: Identify important questions and conceptions within a range of traditional subfields of Philosophy (Epistemology, Metaphysics, Logic, Ethics, and Aesthetics), distinguish from among divergent interpretations those that are better supported and those that are less well supported, construct well supported interpretations of diverse viewpoints and reason well about written and oral discourse.
• Objective 1a: Evaluate information concerning central issues within a range of traditional subfields of Philosophy for quality, validity and bias to determine if it is objective and reliable.
• Objective 1B: Evaluate the relationship of language to logic and analyze, criticize and rationally justify points of view concerning central issues within a range of traditional subfields of Philosophy.
• SLO #2: Reason inductively and deductively, reach conclusions concerning central issues within a range of traditional subfields of Philosophy based on sound or cogent inferences drawn from unambiguous statements of knowledge or belief.
• Objective 2a: Distinguish fact from non-factual judgment, belief from knowledge and fallacious reasoning from correct (invalid or weak) reasoning in respect to central issues within a range of traditional subfields of Philosophy.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: Identify important questions and conceptions within a range of traditional subfields of Philosophy (Epistemology, Metaphysics, Logic, Ethics, and Aesthetics) as they are addressed within a range of classical Asian philosophical traditions (Hindu, Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist), distinguish from among divergent interpretations those that are better supported and those that are less well supported, construct well supported interpretations of diverse viewpoints and reason well about written and oral discourse.
• Objective 1a: Evaluate information concerning central issues within a range of traditional subfields of Philosophy as they are addressed within a range of classical Asian philosophical traditions for quality, validity and bias to determine if it is objective and reliable.
• Objective 1b: Evaluate the relationship of language to logic and analyze, criticize and rationally justify points of view concerning central issues within a range of traditional subfields of Philosophy as they are addressed within a range of classical Asian philosophical traditions.
• SLO #2: Reason inductively and deductively, reach conclusions concerning central issues within a range of traditional subfields of Philosophy as they are addressed within a range of classical Asian philosophical traditions based on sound or cogent inferences drawn from unambiguous statements of knowledge or belief.
• Objective 2a: Distinguish fact from non‐factual judgment, belief from knowledge and fallacious reasoning from correct (invalid or weak) reasoning in respect to central issues within a range of traditional subfields of Philosophy as they are addressed within a range of classical Asian philosophical traditions.
• Objective 2b: Distinguish between philosophy and religion, philosophical views and religious views.
• SLO #3: Demonstrate the ability to engage in ethical reasoning necessary to exercise responsibility as an ethical individual, professional, local, and global citizen.
• Objective 3a: Apply ethical reasoning skills to ethical issues addressed within a range of classical Asian philosophical traditions and work toward a personal resolution of ethical issues.
• Objective 3b: Express an appreciation of ethical principles addressed within a range of classical Asian philosophical traditions as applied to personal and civic choices.
• Objective 3c: Realize and apply the responsibility to use knowledge wisely.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: identify important questions and conceptions within Ethics, distinguish from among divergent interpretations those that are better supported and those that are less well supported, construct well supported interpretations of diverse viewpoints and reason well about written and oral discourse.
• Objective 1a: evaluate information concerning central issues within Ethics for quality, validity and bias to determine if it is objective and reliable.
• Objective 1b: evaluate the relationship of language to logic and analyze, criticize and rationally justify points of view concerning ethical issues.
• SLO #2: reason inductively and deductively concerning ethical issues, reach conclusions about ethical issues based on sound or cogent inferences drawn from unambiguous statements of knowledge of belief.
• Objective 2a: distinguish fact from non-factual judgment concerning ethical issues, belief from knowledge and fallacious reasoning from correct (invalid or weak) reasoning concerning ethical issues.
• Objective 2b: apply ethical reasoning skills to ethical issues and work toward a personal resolution of ethical issues.
• SLO #3 (PSLO #3): demonstrate the ability to engage unethical reasoning necessary to exercise responsibility as an ethical individual, professional, local, and global citizen.
• Objective 3a: show an appreciation of ethical principles as applied to personal and civic choices.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: Critically evaluate views concerning abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, or other topics addressed in the course.
• SLO #2: Compare and contrast differing theories concerning abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, or other topics addressed in the course.
• SLO #3: Analyze and evaluate arguments from primary sources concerning abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, or other topics addressed in the course.
• Assess presuppositions underlying various views concerning abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, or other topics addressed in the course.
• SLO #4: Formulate reasons to justify one’s beliefs concerning abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, or other topics addressed in the course.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: Identify, distinguish, and evaluate deductive and inductive patterns of reasoning.
• Analyze text to find inferences and to determine whether they are invalid or unsound.
• SLO #2: Explain and apply the basic evaluative concepts of logic, including validity, strength, soundness, and cogency.
• Construct arguments with various properties, such being valid but unsound.
• SLO #3: Identify various formal and informal fallacies of reasoning in multiple contexts.
• Evaluate information in speeches, newspapers, books, and scholarly journals to find examples of reasoning that include affirming the consequent, denying the antecedent, false dilemmas, equivocation, and ambiguity.
• SLO #4: Analyze patterns of sentential logic using formal techniques such as truth tables and natural deduction.
• Determine whether a conclusion is a logical consequence of a set of premises, by using the truth conditions for negations, disjunctions, conjunctions, and conditionals.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• distinguish an argument from a description, explanation, or report.
• distinguish deductive from inductive arguments.
• recognize the logical form of an argument or argument type.
• symbolize arguments in the languages of propositional and predicate logic.
• evaluate the validity of arguments using truth tables.
• evaluate the consistency and equivalence of sets of sentences using truth tables.
• evaluate the validity of arguments using natural deduction.
• comprehend the distinction between semantic and syntactical methods of argument evaluation.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: Identify important questions and conceptions within the history of classical (or ancient) philosophy, distinguish from among divergent interpretations those that are better supported and those that are less well supported, construct well supported interpretations of diverse viewpoints and reason well about written and oral discourse.
• Objective 1a: Evaluate information concerning central issues within the history of classical philosophy for quality, validity and bias to determine if it is objective and reliable.
• Objective 1b: Evaluate the relationship of language to logic and analyze, criticize and rationally justify points of view concerning central issues within the history of classical philosophy in the context of reading ancient primary texts critically
• SLO #2: Reason inductively and deductively, reach conclusions concerning central issues within the history of classical philosophy based on sound or cogent inferences drawn from unambiguous statements of knowledge or belief.
• Objective 2a: Distinguish fact from non-factual judgment, belief from knowledge and fallacious reasoning (invalid or weak) from correct reasoning in respect to central issues within the history of classical philosophy.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: identify important questions and conceptions within the history of modern philosophy, distinguish from among divergent interpretations those that are better supported and those that are less well supported, construct well supported interpretations of diverse viewpoints and reason well about written and oral discourse.
• Objective 1a: evaluate information concerning central issues within the history of modern philosophy for quality, validity and bias to determine if it is objective and reliable.
• Objective 1b: evaluate the relationship of language to logic and analyze, criticize and rationally justify points of view concerning central issues within the history of modern philosophy in the context of reading primary texts critically
• SLO #2: reason inductively and deductively, reach conclusions concerning central issues within the history of modern philosophy based on sound or cogent inferences drawn from unambiguous statements of knowledge or belief.
• Objective 2a: distinguish fact from non-factual judgment, belief from knowledge and fallacious reasoning (invalid or weak) from correct reasoning in respect to central issues within the history of modern philosophy.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: identify important questions and conceptions within contemporary philosophy, distinguish from among divergent interpretations those that are better supported and those that are less well supported, construct well supported interpretations of diverse viewpoints and reason well about written and oral discourse.
• Objective 1a: evaluate information concerning central issues within contemporary philosophy for quality, validity and bias to determine if it is objective and reliable.
• Objective 1b: evaluate the relationship of language to logic and analyze, criticize and rationally justify points of view concerning central issues within contemporary philosophy.
• SLO #2: reason inductively and deductively, reach conclusions concerning central issues within contemporary philosophy based on sound or cogent inferences drawn from unambiguous statements of knowledge or belief.
• Objective 2a: distinguish fact from non-factual judgment, belief from knowledge and fallacious reasoning (invalid or weak) from correct reasoning in respect to central issues within contemporary.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: identify important questions and conceptions within Philosophy of Religion, distinguish from among divergent interpretations those that are better supported and those that are less well supported, construct well supported interpretations of diverse viewpoints and reason well about written and oral discourse.
• Objective 1a: evaluate information concerning central issues within Philosophy of Religion for quality and bias to determine if it is objective and reliable.
• Objective 1b: evaluate the relationship of language to logic and analyze, criticize and rationally justify points of view concerning central issues within Philosophy of Religion.
• SLO #2: reason inductively and deductively, reach conclusions concerning central issues within Philosophy of Religion based on sound or cogent inferences drawn from unambiguous statements of knowledge or belief.
• Objective 2a: distinguish fact from non-factual judgment, belief from knowledge and fallacious reasoning (invalid or weak) from correct reasoning in respect to central issues within Philosophy of Religion.
• Objective 2b: distinguish between philosophy and religion, philosophical views and religious views.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: identify important questions and conceptions concerning world religions, distinguish from among divergent interpretations those that are better supported and those that are less well supported, construct well supported interpretations of diverse viewpoints and reason well about written and oral discourse.
• Objective 1a: evaluate information concerning central issues within world religions for quality and bias to determine it if is objective and reliable.
• Objective 1b: criticize and rationally justify points of view concerning central issues within world religions.
• Objective 1c: reach conclusions about central issues concerning world religions based on accurate interpretations of religious doctrines.
• Objective 1d: distinguish amongst philosophy, religious studies, and religion.
• SLO #2 (PSLO #3): demonstrate the ability to engage in ethical reasoning necessary to exercise responsibility as an ethical individual, professional, local, and global citizen.
• Objective 2a: demonstrate the ability to engage in rational discourse regarding issues in world religion in an ethically responsible manner.
• Objective 2b: demonstrate a critical appreciation of the role world religion has played in human spirituality and morality.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: identify important questions and conceptions concerning Biblical Studies, distinguish from among divergent interpretations those that are better supported and those that are less well supported, construct well supported interpretations and reason well about written and oral discourse.
• Objective 1a: demonstrate skills in text criticism, exegesis, and hermeneutics.
• Objective 1b: evaluate interpretations within Biblical Studies for quality and bias to determine if it is objective as opposed to faith-based.
• Objective 1c: criticize and rationally justify interpretations within Biblical Studies.
• SLO #2: reach conclusions concerning interpretations within Biblical Studies based on accurate methods of text criticism, exegesis, and hermeneutics.
• Objective 2a: distinguish amongst philosophy, biblical studies, and religion.
• SLO #3 (PSLO #3): demonstrate the ability to engage in ethical reasoning necessary to exercise responsibility as an ethical individual, professional, local, and global citizen.
• Objective 3a: demonstrate the ability to engage in rational discourse regarding Biblical Studies in an ethically responsible manner.
• Objective 3b: demonstrate appreciation of the influence of the bible on humanity's literary, moral, and philosophical traditions.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• understand and appreciate the nature and methods of social science.
• grasp certain important content of the history and topical areas of social and political philosophy.
• develop general and transferable critical thinking abilities that accompany rigorous study of philosophy.
• analyze methodologically the presuppositions and criteria used in solutions.
• cultivate a critical habit of mind enabling one to recognize, reflect, analyze, and then appropriately accept or reject one's institutional systems and alternatives.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Employ the general and transferable critical thinking and communication abilities developed by the rigorous study of academic philosophy (SLO 1).
• Demonstrate the ability to engage in upper-division work in the discipline of Philosophy.
• Apply the basic methodology of contemporary analytic philosophy (e.g. assess, critique, deduce, evaluate, research, support, justify, analyze, debate, defend, detect, distinguish, examine, etc.) to understand traditional Asian, as well as contemporary American, martial arts.
• Recognize and explain the fundamental ethical, metaphysical, and epistemological tenets of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism (SLO 2).
• Describe and explain the influence of the fundamental ethical, metaphysical, and epistemological tenets of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism on the traditional study of (Asian) martial arts.
• Demonstrate the ability to navigate a seminar environment (SLO 3).

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO 1: Demonstrate understanding of philosophical issues concerning the existence, nature, and attainment of happiness from a diversity of cultural perspectives.
• SLO 2: Compose argumentative essays concerning the philosophy of happiness, which demonstrate an understanding of the relationship of language to logic; to analyze, criticize, and advocate ideas, to reason inductively and deductively, and to identify the assumptions upon which particular conclusions depend.
• Distinguish fact from judgment, knowledge from belief, truth from falsehood.
• Use elementary inductive and deductive processes.
• Recognize common logical errors or fallacies of language and thought.
• SLO 3: Write effective abstracts and responses, stance/position papers, proposals, evaluations and analyses of cause concerning the philosophy of happiness in which they demonstrate an understanding of the diction and structural differences between the Upper, Middle and Lower styles in English, and demonstrate an ability to determine which of these styles is appropriate to the tone, purpose and audience of their essay.
• Demonstrate an ability to use the advanced principles of clarity (agent-action-goal) and coherence (concatenation, focus maintenance, clear orientation and subject control), concision and emphasis to develop more sophisticated writing skills appropriate to upper-division college essays.
• Demonstrate a highly-developed ability to use the thoughts, facts, and experiences of other to support their own assertions effectively and to cite those thoughts, facts and experiences when appropriate to the Upper Middle Style.
• Demonstrate the ability to limit the topic appropriately to a scope that can be developed appropriately in the length of the composition • demonstrate an ability to select examples, details, data and other evidence to support a thesis.
• Demonstrate (in taking stances or criticizing the arguments of others) an ability to rephrase written argument accurately, producing a faithful distillation of the central meaning of the text or the writer’s ostensible intention.
• Demonstrate a clear awareness of the specific audience of the essay and of any special limitations or opportunities imposed or provided by the rhetorical situation, and demonstrate an ability to respond to those limitations and opportunities appropriately by adjusting the arguments and the language of the essay appropriately.
• SLO 4: Read analytically and evaluate ideas concerning the philosophy of happiness in focused class discussion and in written techniques, read competing points of view of concerning the philosophy of happiness and determine their own stance on the subject and be able to express that stance logically and effectively, demonstrating an ability to identify and state the main idea, thesis or unifying theme in expository or argumentative discourse; to point out instances of inferential reasoning and deductive and inductive logic.
• Distinguish between opinion, judgment and what may be taken as a fact, and describe an appropriate process of verification in establishing whether an utterance is factual or not.
• Recognize and articulate assumptions (including unstated assumptions) in an argument.
• Draw and justify inferences made about the intention of the writer and point out logical fallacies or slanted or propagandist use of language.
• SLO 5: Demonstrate in writing about the philosophy of happiness more sophisticated structure, coherence and emphasis; demonstrate their understanding of the elements of style, with particular emphasis placed on the role of grammar as an element of style.
• Demonstrate an understanding of some of the principles of classical rhetoric and of the Upper Middle Style found in most American journals-of-record.
• Demonstrate an understanding of opposing viewpoints on issues and develop their own stances on those issues.
• Demonstrate an ability to argue cogently in a number of modes, including but not limited to making proposals, making evaluations and positing the existence of causal relationships.
• SLO 6: Demonstrate the ability to engage in upper-division work in the discipline of Philosophy.
• SLO 7: Demonstrate the ability to navigate a seminar environment.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: Actively engage in intellectual inquiry beyond that required in order to pass a course of study (College Wide Learning Outcome – Area 4).
• Discuss and outline a proposal of study (that can be accomplished within one semester term) with a supervising instructor qualified within the discipline.
• Design an independent study (to be completed individually or by collaboration of a small group) to foster special knowledge, skills, and experience that are not available in any one regularly scheduled course.
• Use information resources to gather discipline-specific information.
• SLO #2: Utilize modes of analysis and critical thinking to apply theoretical perspectives and/or concepts in the major discipline of study to significant problems and/or educational activities (College Wide Learning Outcome – Area 3).
• Analyze and apply the knowledge, skills and experience that are involved in the independent study to theoretical perspectives and/or concepts in the major discipline of study.
• Explain the importance of the major discipline of study in the broader picture of society.
• SLO #3: Communicate a complex understanding of content matter of the major discipline of study (College Wide Outcome – Area 3).
• Demonstrate competence in the skills essential to mastery of the major discipline of study that are necessary to accomplish the independent study.
• SLO #4: Identify personal goals and pursue these goals effectively (College Wide Outcome – Area 4).
• Utilize skills from the “academic tool kit” including time management, study skills, etc., to accomplish the independent study within one semester term.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• SLO #1: identify important questions and conceptions concerning world religions, distinguish from among divergent interpretations those that are better supported and those that are less well supported, construct well supported interpretations of diverse viewpoints and reason well about written and oral discourse.
• Objective 1a: evaluate information concerning central issues within world religions for quality and bias to determine it if is objective and reliable.
• Objective 1b: criticize and rationally justify points of view concerning central issues within world religions.
• Objective 1c: reach conclusions about central issues concerning world religions based on accurate interpretations of religious doctrines.
• Objective 1d: distinguish amongst philosophy, religious studies, and religion.
• SLO #2 (PSLO #3): demonstrate the ability to engage in ethical reasoning necessary to exercise responsibility as an ethical individual, professional, local, and global citizen.
• Objective 2a: demonstrate the ability to engage in rational discourse regarding issues in world religion in an ethically responsible manner.
• Objective 2b: demonstrate a critical appreciation of the role world religion has played in human spirituality and morality.