Philosophy 200 Course Descriptions
The central theme for each Philosophical Perspectives course is chosen by the faculty teaching that section. This list of themes from courses taught recently gives a sense of the wide variety of approaches different professors take in the course. Explore Current Philosophical Perspectives Course Themes and Offerings
Fall 2025 PHIL 200 COURSES:
PHIL 200: Philosophical Perspectives: Faith, Reason, and Science
In this course we will discuss ancient Greek, Christian, and modern scientific approaches to questions about faith, reason, knowledge, and God. We will explore questions about the existential dilemmas of belief and unbelief that face us in our day by reading and discussing primary texts in the history of philosophy. Using Descartes’ Discourse on Method as the key text of the course we will discuss the rise of modern science and technology in the 17th century and beyond and address questions such as: Are humans unique in the universe? Is there any meaning to life? Does a God exist and what is God’s nature? How can we reconcile the existence of a divine being with the presence of evil and suffering in the world? What is the value of thoughtfulness, self-reflection, and dialogue, especially with respect to a possible relation to the divine? Along the way we will develop critical thinking skills by evaluating and developing philosophical arguments in speech and in writing.
PHIL 200 Philosophical Perspectives: Psychologies, Ancient and Modern
The course examines continuities as well as differences between ancient and modern/contemporary conceptions of our core humanity. We will explore the psychological ideas of two influential philosophers, Aristotle and Descartes, who not only epitomized their eras but also continue to shape contemporary thought.
Both philosophers addressed a wide range of topics, and our analysis will include those most relevant to psychology, beginning with their respective accounts of knowledge. Their ideas will also model for us how notions about psychology, that is notions about the nature of human beings, inform accounts of psychological health and fulfillment.
PHIL 200 Philosophical Perspectives: Theory of Knowledge
An investigation of fundamental human questions by way of classic works of philosophy.
PHIL 200: Philosophical Perspectives: Self-knowledge
Self-knowledge looks at the question of self-knowledge through the different philosophical starting points of Augustine, Aquinas, and Descartes. The central question is whether we know ourselves directly through ourselves or through something other ourselves. If other, what is that other?
PHIL 200: Philosophy of Nature
In this course we’ll think about what sorts of things are in the world, along with how (and what) we can know about them. To do this, we'll read texts in natural philosophy (philosophy of science) from the early modern period (the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries), with a special focus on the writings of women. We’ll focus on two kinds of things in particular: minds and bodies (or matter). To help us think about minds, we’ll read philosophical writings on the “mind-body problem:” how can minds and bodies interact with one another if they’re not the same kind of thing? To think about bodies, we’ll consider early inquiries into the nature of physical bodies and the role this played in developing theories of motion and collisions. Along the way, we’ll raise questions about methodologies, both philosophical and scientific, we ought to use when investigating the natural world.