Introduction to Philosophy (110-0-20)

Instructors

Kenni Zellner

Meeting Info

TBA: Mon, Wed, Fri 1:00PM - 3:00PM

Overview of class

This introductory philosophy course will focus on teaching basic philosophical methods -- i.e., how to read, understand, and respond to philosophy. Our focus text will be Descartes' "Meditations on First Philosophy (1641)." (This is the "I think, therefore I am" text.) Each day in class we will read through the text line-by-line as we seek to comprehend Descartes' complex arguments. By "reading together" (the name I have given this method), we will gain an appreciation for philosophical prose and the effort it requires to produce and understand. Along the way, we may sprinkle in bits from other texts from the history of philosophy and/or secondary scholarship on the Meditations. But our primary goal will be to understand Descartes' canonical text and thereby develop tools for understanding philosophy more generally.

Class Attributes

Ethical and Evaluative Thinking Foundational Disci
Ethics & Values Distro Area
Face to face: In person, in campus space