A university education points beyond itself toward the goal of living happily, justly, wisely, and lovingly with other humans. College coursework is thus as a sort of ‘intellectual apprenticeship’ for those who will go on to create, challenge, reform, and sustain society’s institutions. I design my courses to be both ambitious and accessible, and for the same reason: ideas matter.
Described below are the courses that I have taught the most frequently and/or most enjoyed teaching. I’m happy to share my syllabi and other materials; just ask.
The Good Life (PHIL 125)
This is a “Philosophy as a Way of Life”-style course. It covers six conceptions of a life well-lived: The Pleasant Life, The Virtuous Life, The Communal Life, the Humanitarian Life, The Devout Life, and The Empowered Life. In connection with each of the six, students study a classical text and a contemporary text; consider an ‘exemplar’, i.e. an individual who lived her or his life accordingly; and engage in a ‘practicum’, i.e., an immersive assignment that lets students ‘try on’ that conception’s guiding values. In a culminating narrative essay, students describe how the course has shaped their views and how they intend henceforth to live accordingly.
Logic Sequence: Elementary Logic & Critical Thinking (PHIL 145) / Advanced Logic (PHIL 425)
The first course in this sequence drills the basic skills needed to recognize, reconstruct, and evaluate arguments—especially moral and political ones—in both formal and informal rhetorical contexts. Students learn a natural deduction system, Venn diagrams, and a series of inductive argument forms such as argument from analogy and inference to the best explanation. (See my Inductive Reasoning text here.) Students then apply these skills by analyzing an essay of their choosing on a topic in Applied Ethics. The second course in the sequence adds predicate logic, modal logic, and deontic logic to the set of skills. It culminates with an analysis and critique of the majority and minority opinions from a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Human Nature (PHIL 290)
Three different “schools of thought” regarding human nature are covered, in a broadly chronological way: teleologists, such as Aristotle and Aquinas, who emphasize that which is ideal or ‘proper’ for humans; mechanists, such as Thomas Hobbes and Charles Darwin, who emphasize the biological mechanisms behind human behavior; existentialists, such as Soren Kierkegaard and Simone de Beauvoir, who emphasize the self-defining character of human existence. The course is punctuated by class periods focused on particular, relevant topics within applied ethics, such as disability, sexuality, dignity, technology, and so on. Students develop a research project throughout the semester on a topic related to human nature.
Philosophy of Mind (PHIL 315)
The course covers contemporary theories of (a) mental content, i.e., thoughts and other mental states’ being about something); (b) consciousness, i.e., sensations and other mental states’ feeling like something. The final unit of the course consists of a student research workshop: each student writes a research paper on a particular mental faculty or function and then shares their work with the class.
Neuroethics (NSCI 393)
This is a capstone seminar for Neuroscience students (co-taught with a Psychology professor). Topics discussed include personhood, human uniqueness, free will and the law, neural manipulation, neuro-diversity, the neuroscience of religious experience, and brain-death.
Theory of Knowledge (PHIL 410)
The first half of the course focuses on large conceptual questions: how is the concept of knowledge best analyzed? Under what circumstances are beliefs sufficiently justified to count as knowledge? How is justification best understood? The second half of the course applies these conceptual discussions to particular domains. How is knowledge possible—if it is at all—in the context of perception, testimony, intuition, empirical science, morality, and religion? In a culminating unit, we turn our attention to knowledge-like states that aren’t—or aren’t exclusively—belief-based, such as practical know-how, understanding, faith, trust, and wisdom.
Metaphysics (PHIL 420)
The course covers seven great “mysteries”: time, existence, causation, properties, free will, personhood, and value. After each unit, students provisionally defend their preferred theory. Two of these short writings assignments are expanded into research papers.
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