academic-catalog2011.. - LAU Publications - Lebanese American ...

Department of Humanities
PHL 210 Critical and Creative Thinking
Students will be taught how to read out
arguments in ordinary language – for instance
in opinion pieces in newspapers and magazines
or in short philosophical passages – and to
identify the kind of argument, and to analyze and
evaluate those arguments. Students will also
be introduced to formal modes of reasoning in
categorical and symbolic logic. Finally, students
will be trained in thinking creatively about
certain passages from the established great
figures in the philosophical tradition.
PHL 211 Symbolic Logic
This course introduces the concepts and
principles of symbolic logic, in particular the
distinction between valid and invalid arguments,
the determination of logical relations between
sentences, the formal analysis of sentences
so that the logical relations between them can
be determined, the definition and construction
of a formal language, the evaluation of truth,
truth-functions, quantifiers and their use in the
analysis of arguments, and predicate logic.
PHL301 Ethics
Ethics is classically the study of what is right, just,
appropriate, or desirable, all of which are among
the various meanings given to “the good”, the
central concern of ethics. Typically, this course
will have historical, theoretical, and applied
dimensions: the historical dimension will provide
acquaintance with the various kinds of ethical
and moral theory that have emerged over the last
two and half millennia; the theoretical dimension
will examine the content of these ideas closely;
and the applied dimension will sharpen the
student’s ability to think through distinctively
ethical and moral problems.
PHL302 Theory of Knowledge
Theory of knowledge, known as “epistemology”,
is a fundamental and enduringly significant
branch of philosophy. Despite many historical
transformations (some of which will be examined),
it has had stable aims, among which are the
definition of knowledge, the distinction between
knowledge and belief, the methodologies and
procedure by which knowledge is acquired, and
how to deal with skepticism. These issues will
be raised and explored with reference to both
ancient and modern texts.
PHL303 Metaphysics
Metaphysics is the broad philosophical study
of the basic form, structure, essence, and
elements of reality or “being”, and in its classical
form it tries to provide a unified account of how
the cosmos hangs together and what makes
the cosmos what it is. This course may variously
emphasize metaphysical topics in religion,
physics, and/or mind. Overall, the course will
survey philosophers’ quest to grasp the basic
nature of reality (perhaps with that of some
physicists and biologists who have recently
joined philosophers in their timeless quest).
PHL 311 Philosophy of Religion
This course will address fundamental
philosophical questions arising from all major
religions in the worlds, including the three
Abrahamic faiths as well as the older Asian
traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism,
Confucianism, and Daoism. The course will
deal with common religious themes such as
Transcendence (or the Sacred or Mystery),
religious experience, religious language,
symbolism, the relationship between faith
and reason, the relationship between science,
mythology, and religion, and religious pluralism.
PHL321 Philosophy of Art
The course deals with (1) how we can discern
whether something qualifies as art, in what
sense our aesthetic judgments are subjective
or objective, what qualifies as a good, bad,
correct, or an incorrect interpretation of an
artwork, and whether we can learn from art
(epistemological issues); (2) the nature of
art and artworks and the kinds of experience
associated with them, how art relates to reality,
the creative process, and aesthetic experience
(metaphysical issues); and (3) the moral
dimension of art (moral issues).
PHL322 Philosophy in Literature and Film
(already exists as Existentialism in Literature)
Modern novels and films have often been far
more effective than the work of philosophers
in engaging readers with some of the most
important questions of life, such as the
existence of God, the meaning of life, the role
of art in shaping human beings, the nature
of time, truth, and reality, our relationship to
nature, and so on. This course will therefore
turn to literature and/or film to immerse
students in situations that bring urgent
philosophical issues to the foreground with
great power and conviction.
PHL323 Philosophy of History
The principal aim of this course is a critical
consideration of the claim that there has been
genuine progress in global history, especially
morally. Typically this course will study the
work of G.W.F. Hegel and use it as a departure
point, but other variations are possible. These
variations will be based on the work of Hegel’s
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