Syllabus

Introduction to Philosophy

Professor Robert Zomermaand

 

Week 1

Introduction to philosophy – what is philosophy?

Assignments:

• Readings and presentation
• Quiz on content of readings and presentation
• Reading from Alvin Plantinga  Advice ….

Week 2

Arguments and Logic

Assignments:

• Read article on the building of an argument
• Watch PPt on how to write a philosophy paper (for beginners)
• Quiz on arguments
• “Fun with Fallacies”
• Logic and the Christian Faith
• Reading from A. Plantinga  Advice ….
• Quiz on fallacies

Week 3

Ancient Philosophers

Assignments:

• Watch videos re Pythagoras, Hippocrates, and Democritus
• Reading from A. Plantinga  Advice ….
• Read article on Plato
• Quiz on Plato’s Allegory of the cave
• Watch presentation on Aristotle's Golden Mean
• Quiz on Aristotle’s Golden Mean
• PPt re Art in Ancient Greece
• Quiz on Art and Philosophy in Ancient Greece

Week 4

What is Real? An Introduction to Ontology

Assignments:

• Video introducing the issue
• Read excerpts from  Philosophy: The Power of Ideas Moore & Bruder, 2011,
• Quiz on Moore and Bruder
• Read article re George Berkeley
• Quiz on George Berkeley
• Reading from A. Plantinga  Advice ….
• The Ontology of Nicholas Wolterstorff
• Quiz on Wolterstorff

 

Week 5

Does God Exist?

Assignments:

• St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
• Peter Kreeft on the Arguments for the Existence of God
• Quiz on Arguments for the Existence of God
• Reading from A. Plantinga  Advice ….
• Alvin Plantinga on the argument for God in the New York Times
• Quiz on NYT article

Week 6

Epistemology – What Do We Know?

Assignments:

• Video about what epistemology is focused on
• Reading from A. Plantinga  Advice ….
• Article re optical illusions
• Video re perception blindness
• Radio lab audio re our perception of reality
• Descartes on Epistemology
• Quiz on Descartes
• Article By John Suppe on the Epistemology of Christianity in the Light of Modern Science
• Quiz on Suppe

Week 7

Anthropology -- On Being Human

Assignments:

• Reading from A. Plantinga  Advice ….
• Reading excerpted from Richard Nolan re Biblical Anthropology
• Quiz
• Reading from Wayne Jackson re Soul and Spirit
• Article on soul from the Holman Bible Dictionary
• Quiz
• Article on Body and Soul from Jewish point of view
• Quiz

Week 8

Time   What is Time?

Assignments:

• Three videos re time and how it is discussed in philosophical circles
• Quiz
• St. Augustine on the reality of time
• Reading from A. Plantinga  Advice ….
• Article on a Christian Approach to Time
• Quiz on  Christian Approach to Time

Week 9

Soren Kierkegaard

Assignments:

• Article from Sparks Notes re Kierkegaard’s philosophy in Fear And Trembling
• Quiz
• Video on Kierkegaard from a secular point of view
• Article on Fear and Trembling and Repetition in Kierkegaard
• Quiz
• Reading from A. Plantinga  Advice ….
• Video: RC Sproul digs into the philosophy of Soren Kierkegaard
• Quiz

Week 10

The Mind, the Heart, the Soul

Assignments:

• Video with Alvin Plantinga
• Reading from A. Plantinga  Advice ….
• Article from Mark Goldblatt re the Soul
• Quiz
• N.T. Wright on the Mind, Soul, Spirit from a Biblical Theologian’s Perspective
• Quiz
• Book Review of A Review of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Religion: Illusions, Delusions, and Realities about Human Nature by Malcolm Jeeves and Warren S. Brown
• Quiz

Week 11

Ethics

Assignments:

• Reading from A. Plantinga  Advice ….
• Article re the field of ethics
• Quiz
• Article with excerpts from Scripture and N. Wolterstorff
• Quiz
• Video – Ravi Zacharias teaches us How to Measure Our Actions
• Quiz

Week 12

Herman Dooyeweerd

Assignments:

• Plantinga's whole article
• Quiz on Plantinga article
• Article on Introduction to Herman Dooyeweerd in four paragraphs
• Excerpt’s from Basden’s Summary of Dooyeweerd’s Philosophy
• Quiz
• A presentation of the various aspects of reality in Dooyeweerd’s Thought