Welcome to the Department of Philosophy at Lehman College. In just four years, the department has changed considerably, with three new tenure-track faculty members, a new department chair, and a growing number of new adjunct faculty members. The range of our course offerings, and the number of our courses, has also increased.
See our searchable database below for Department of Philosophy courses from 2012-13 to 2021-22. Feel free to browse the database by academic year, subfield category of course, level of course (graduate, undergraduate, crosslisted), quarter(s) of course, or instructor to find more specific information about our course offerings, including course descriptions.
For more detailed descriptions and access to previously offered courses, please proceed to the Academic Bulletin. Course offerings from previous semesters can be found on the sidebar. CAS – COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES. PH 100 A1: Introduction to Philosophy. Professor Derek Anderson M W F 10:10 AM – 11:00 AM
PHIL 699 Advanced Tutorial and Dissertation for Candidates in fields related to Philosophy 1 – 3 Units. This course enables students in departments offering the Ph.D. to pursue intensive directed study with a faculty member in Philosophy, on …
The four main branches of philosophy are metaphysics, epistemology, axiology, and logic.Aug 5, 2016
There are 7 branches of Philosophy, namely, Metaphysics, Axiology, Logic, Aesthetics, Epistemology, Ethics and Political Philosophy.Sep 21, 2021
The main branches of Philosophy are Logic, Epistemology, Ontology and Ethics.
These include Essentialism, Perennialism, Progressivism, Social Reconstructionism, Existentialism, Behaviorism, Constructivism, Conservatism, and Humanism. Essentialism and Perennialism are the two types of teacher-centered philosophies of education.May 1, 2017
6 - Seven thinkers and how they grew: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz; Locke, Berkeley, Hume; Kant. Why do we study the history of philosophy?
Socrates of Athens (l. c. 470/469-399 BCE) is among the most famous figures in world history for his contributions to the development of ancient Greek philosophy which provided the foundation for all of Western Philosophy. He is, in fact, known as the "Father of Western Philosophy" for this reason.
The Department of the History of Philosophy covers the entire history of philosophy from the Presocratic philosophers up to today, applying a division into four periods (ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary).
The ensuing article on the history of Western philosophy is divided into five sections—ancient, medieval, Renaissance, modern, and contemporary. A threefold distinction between ancient, medieval, and modern philosophy was prevalent until recent times and is only as old as the end of the 17th century.
Ontology is the branch of philosophy that studies concepts such as existence, being, becoming, and reality. It includes the questions of how entities are grouped into basic categories and which of these entities exist on the most fundamental level.
This chapter introduces philosophical perspectives on education by discussing five major educational thoughts or philosophies (Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, Existentialism, and Postmodernism) and five main educational theories (perennialism, essentialism, progressivism, reconstructionism, and critical theory).Jul 27, 2016
They are Perennialism, Essentialism, Progressivism, and Reconstructionism. These educational philosophies focus heavily on WHAT we should teach, the curriculum aspect.
Foundations of Education refers to a broadly-conceived field of educational study that derives its character and methods from a number of academic disciplines, combinations of disciplines, and area studies, including: history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, religion, political science, economics, psychology, ...
derived from neuroscience, psychology and cognitive science). Key philosophical topics covered include dualism, physicalism, idealism, consciousness and free will. Key scientific issues covered include methods and assumptions underlying research in psychology and neuroscience, introspection, essentialism, dehumanizing, and work on free will and consciousness. No pre-requisites other than curiosity are required, however students will benefit from having previously taken courses in philosophy, neuroscience, psychology and/or computer science. Students are expected to complete the assigned readings with care and attention, and to participate in discussion. The goal is for students to leave with an understanding of the rich ways in which different approaches can shed light on the human mind, including an appreciation of the limits of scientific inquiry into the mind.
19th century philosophy is full of drama. Before the turn of the century, Kant had pronounced transcendent metaphysics impossible yet various attempts were made in the new century to revive speculation around or against Kant’s critical considerations. Schopenhauer built a metaphysical system incorporating Kant’s view that space and time are the forms of phenomena and interpreting Kant’s thing-in-itself as the Will that manifests itself through them. Hegel built the most comprehensive and complex metaphysical system that human history had seen or would see. He constructed his system of Absolute Idealism with a critique of Kant’s critique of reason. But a number of philosophers made special efforts to dismantle Hegel’s system. Kierkegaard attacked it from an existential and religious perspective. Rudolph Feuerbach reinterpreted Hegel on a materialist basis. Marx appropriated Hegel’s idea of dialectic and combined it with materialism to produce a theory of society and history that he made serve a revolutionary cause. Nietzsche’s significance consists not so much in his critique of his predecessors as in his forecast of the shape of future thought. His thought has only recently begun to be understood in depth and appreciated. Radical ideas he expressed ahead of their time, such as civilization as defense of self-deception, perspectival relativity of human belief and value, eternal recurrence as postulate required for human authenticity, and the need for human transcendence of belief in the transcendent and acceptance of the immanence of the ground of being, are live topics in today’s philosophical discourse. Prerequisite: 101 or consent of instructor for 355, consent of instructor for 455.
Specific topics covered include: abortion; obscenity and sin; civil disobedience; affirmative action; surrogatehood; and the death penalty. This course is open to and attended by both law students and students of the colleges. Students of the colleges are graded on a separate system than the law students.
[Cross-listed as RLGN 221] We will survey the origins of Indian philosophical thought, with an emphasis on early Buddhist, Hindu and Jain literature. Our concern will be the methods, presuppositions, arguments, and goals of these schools and trajectories of thought. What were their theories on the nature of the person, the nature of reality, and the nature and process of knowing? What were the debates between the schools and the major points of controversy? And, most importantly, are the positions/ arguments internally incoherent?
[Cross-listed as CLSC 301] Western philosophy from the early Greeks to the Skeptics. Emphasis on the pre-Socratics, Plato and Aristotle. Recommended preparation: PHIL 101 and consent of department. Prerequisite: 101 or consent of instructor.
Ethical theory can be understood as dividing up into three general categories: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Metaethics, generally construed, is understood as the area of ethical investigation which concerns the meaning and nature of ethical concepts, and whether we can have any secure knowledge about ethical concerns. Normative Ethics is the area of ethics which is concerned to spell out principles by which human beings can conduct their actions and lives. Applied Ethic s relates to specific issues of concern to human beings, such as abortion, the environment. Prerequisite: Phil 101 or 205.
In this course, students will learn something about factors affecting the creation and flow of knowledge and ideas about Africa and discuss the relative importance of the “nation-state” as an idea in Europe, pre-colonial Africa, and postcolonial Africa. Prereq: PHIL 101.
Graduate Philosophy Courses. The practice of graduate and professional work in philosophy: reading, writing, presentation, critique and revision; rigor of argument and clarity of expression; areas and methods of inquiry; cooperation and dialogue in inquiry; conferences, professional activities, and employment .
Hegel’s dialectic and its bearing on both the history of philosophy and issues about science, politics, art and religion. PHL 417 - Seminar in 19th Century Philosophy. This course is an in-depth look at the main currents in European philosophy during the 19th century.
Studying philosophy will help you think analytically, understand and clarify ideas, as well as challenge your own beliefs and assumptions. Socrates was put to death for corrupting the youth; really, ...
Socrates was put to death for corrupting the youth; really, he was only doing what any good philosophy teacher would do: asking students questions as a way to challenge their own ideas, and beliefs.
The Department of Philosophy offers a broad range of courses emphasizing the techniques and concerns of the Anglo-American analytic tradition. All courses emphasize precise use of language, attention to the logical structure of arguments, and sensitivity to appropriate evidence. Students wishing to study a specific philosophical problem or philosopher in depth may pursue independent studies or, in exceptional cases, honors.
An introduction to the methods of philosophy including logical analysis and traditional philosophical problems such as the nature and extent of knowledge, the dilemma of freedom and determinism, the justification of the belief in god, personal identity, and the mind-body problem. [H]
An investigation of the principles of correct reasoning through the use of formal techniques. By employing these techniques, students will learn to assess the validity of arguments and to find counterexamples to invalid arguments. Formal languages studied include propositional and predicate logic, and may also include languages of modal and deontic logic. Some metalogic may also be covered, including proofs of the soundness and completeness of some of the deductive systems studied. [Q]
A general introduction to the philosophy of mind, addressing four key philosophical issues: the nature of psychological explanation, the mind-body problem, the possibility of artificial intelligence, and the nature of persons. [H] (Prerequisite: one course in Philosophy or Psychology)
A survey of the philosophical systems of Frege and Russell, with analysis of the implications of that work for the development of analytic philosophy in the 20th century. Readings drawn exclusively from primary texts. [H] (Prerequisite: PHIL 200, or instructor permission)
A study of a selected topic in Philosophy, presupposing no previous studies in the area and aimed at students in second or third year. The topics will vary from year to year. More detailed information concerning course content and Antirequisites may be obtained from the Department prior to registration.
It begins with a historical overview of the philosophy of psychology to introduce the student to the issues. The second part of the course is methodological, investigating the nature of psychological explanation. Part three considers the role of representation in cognition and problems about how representations fit within a scientific world-view. Part four connects psychological concepts to their biological basis and raises issues about how psychology and neuroscience are related. Part five covers issues about perception and experience. The final section addresses issues of personhood and how the notion of a self fits together with the various processes considered in earlier sections.
In his treatise Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), the French philosopher René Descartes put forward the idea that “minds”, in so far as they are thinking things, differ from physical bodies, which do not think. Descartes’ claim that the mind and body are separate substances—a view referred to as “substance dualism”—prompted philosophers and scientists to wonder: How can minds be studied scientifically if they are not a part of the physical world?
A system of natural deduction is introduce d for proving statements and assessing natural language arguments. A formal language is introduced along with techniques for translating between this formal system and natural language. Truth tables are used to test for truth-functional properties.
This course considers the work of Albert Einstein and its impact, focusing mainly on the theories of relativity and cosmology. Mathematics will be kept to a minimum, and no physics background will be assumed. The course starts with special relativity, as formulated by Einstein in 1905.
An introduction to aspects of science not covered in traditional science courses. This includes history of science, scientific methodology, ethical dimensions of conducting and applying research, and conceptual issues in specific disciplines. The role of the media in disseminating science and how science shapes public policy will be discussed.
This course is a survey of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical writings, including texts from his early, middle, and late periods. Among the topics to be considered are his critique of morality, his perspectivalism, his theory of aesthetic creation and artisitic experience, his doctrine of eternal recurrence, and his declaration of the death of God.