Introduction to Philosophy

The Introduction to Philosophy examines chronologically some of the key thoughts and thinkers in the history of Western Philosophy to see how philosophical thought has progressed, and how it applies to other disciplines. Beginning with the question of what Philosophy is, the course moves through Classical and Modern eras to contemporary Continental thought. Philosophers considered include Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Kant, Nietzsche and Wittgenstein. Throughout the course the central ideas of key thinkers are examined at an accessible introductory level. By the end of the semester students will have a good grounding in areas such as knowledge of the external world, the existence of God and existentialism and will have learned ways of improving the quality of their critical thinking. The course will not only question what we think we know and how we come to know it, but allow students to identify the application of philosophical ideas and how they operate in the applied fields of religion, politics and morality.