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Course Descriptions


 

SS 610  Introduction to Philosophy 

A study of the basic issues and traditions in Philosophy. Thinkers include: Socrates, Plato, Descartes, Kant, Rawls. Issues include: soul, truth, god, reality, knowledge, ethics, mind, freedom, religion, social and political thought.   

SS 620 Philosophy of Religion 

Central concepts in religious thought, such as God, faith, and immortality; problems of religious knowledge and revelation. Problems connected with the relation of theology and philosophy discussed with reference to selected medieval, modern, and contemporary texts. 

SS630 Ethics 

Basic concepts and problems of ethics. Nature of values, virtue, moral judgment, and obligation considered and illustrated through writings of the major philosophers of the Western tradition, including Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Spinoza, Kant, Moore, and Stevenson.  

SS 635 Business Ethics 

Explores the topic of business Ethics from legal, social and primarily philosophical perspectives focusing on basic issues, such as conflicts of interest, civil rights, social justice, ecology, consumerism, and corporate and individual responsibility. Various ethical principles and traditions are discussed in order to reveal ethical problems arising from business practices.  Codes of conduct of various professional associations are examined in order to discover how they attempt to regulate professional behavior.  

SS640 Medical Ethics

A consideration of the ethical implications of modern medical research and practice. Topics include professional versus universal ethics, the rights of patients, genetic engineering, truth and information in medicine, the concept of mental illness, experimentation on human subjects and public health policy. 

SS650 Logic 

Main principles of deductive and inductive inference with an introduction to classical and traditional logic. 

SS 660 Philosophy of Science 

Nature and methodology of Science; nature of hypothesis; scientific law; role of deduction and nature of experiment. Discussion of scientific method in social science as compared to physical science. 

SS 670 Aesthetics: the Philosophy of Art , Beauty, and Creativity 

An inquiry into the philosophy of art from Plato to modern times. Concepts such as form, beauty, style, aesthetic experience examined through the works of such authors as Aristotle, Kant, Lessing, Bell, Fry, and others.  

SS 680 Perspective on Death and Dying 

Designed to help the student gain insight into the phenomena of death and dying in America and other societies.  An interdisciplinary approach used to explore the meaning of death for a philosophy of life, drawing upon writings from medicine and nursing, the liberal arts, and the humanities.  Group discussions and guest lecturers.  

SS 750 Technology and Human Values 

Focus on the major social, economic, political, psychological and philosophical problems arising from our contemporary socio-economic order; the consequences of technological progress in American industrial society. 

SS770 Computers Society and Human Values 

A consideration of the impact computers have on society, emphasizing the effects on values produced by computerization and the responsibilities that computer professionals have. Topics include: the process of ethical decision making, privacy and confidentiality, computer crime, harassment, personal identification, checking honesty, mechanization, data secrecy, "computer" errors, computer decisions, proprietary rights, computer modeling, technological dependence, and professional codes. 

SS 810 Biblical Religion: Hebrew Scriptures 

The Old Testament ; its historical setting in the Near East; its concepts of the world and man’s relation to God and his fellow man; meaning of God; problems of good and evil; the Covenant of the patriarchs versus the Covenant of Sinai; the roles of the priesthood, judges, prophets,; national and historical aspects of the festivals; impact of Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian and Hellenistic rule. 

SS 820 Biblical Religion: The New Testament 

Examination of the origins of the writings and history as well as the text fo the New Testament.  Emphasis on such concepts as the new relationship of the Creator-God to his creatures; the concept of good and evil; nature of love and its redemptive role.  Cultural , moral, philosophical, and theological implications; significance and relevance of the New Testament viewed from a rational point of view. 

SS 830 The Koran 

Critical inquiry into the texts of the Koran.  The historical and syncretistic elements isolated.  The Islamic world view, creation of the universes, will and fate of man, necessity an freedom.  The cultural, theological, moral, and philosophical contributions of the Koran to the world.  

SS 840 Contemporary Religious Thought 

Studies in the “Death of God” theology, social concepts of the sacred, ecumenism, psychology of belief and contemporary world religions. 

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