Philosophy Course Descriptions

PHL 110: Philosophy of American Life and Business, 4 credits

Development and methods of American capitalism; nature, origins, and evolution of private property and free markets in agriculture, industry, trade and finance, with special reference to the United States, and their meanings in relation to American life, entrepreneurship institutions, the arts, and especially to business.

Goals and Objectives
By the end of this course, Northwood wants students to:

1. Understand the role of property rights in an economic system.
2. Understand the role of government in a free society.
3. Understand various systems of economic organization.
4. Understand the rise and fall of civilizations.
5. Understand the role of the founding fathers in the establishment of the U.S.
6. Understand the links between freedom and individual responsibility.
7. Appreciate the role of creativity in a free society.
8. Be able to explain the nature and contribution of entrepreneurship and competition in a free market.
9. Demonstrate appreciation of the personality, character and skills necessary for individual success in competitive business and enterprise.
10. Understand the benefits of Judeo-Christian ethics, mutual trust, and voluntary cooperation in a free society.
11. Understand the critics of free enterprise.

PHL 250: Honors Seminar, 1 credit

Philosophy honors seminar for sophomores.
Prerequisite: Approval of Academic Dean

Goals and Objectives
By the end of this course, Northwood wants students to:

1. Have pursued in greater depth one issue or aspect of philosophy or one philosopher's work that is relevant to the general subject of business.
2. Show improvement in critical thinking and analytical abilities.
3. Have developed sharper skills in constructing and defending arguments.
4. Have developed application and synthesis skills through seeking relationships between theory or abstract thought and practical experience.

PHL 300: Philosophy of Religion, 4 credits

Essence and meaning of religion as a pervasive phenomenon in human societies; faith and reason, nature of divinity, arguments for and against God's existence, religious knowledge and experience, morality, and the problem of evil.
Prerequisite: Junior Status

Goals and Objectives
By the end of this course, Northwood wants students to:

1. Have direct acquaintance with arguments of historical significance by authors such as Aquinas, Hume, Anselm, Augustine, Pascal, James or Kierkegaard.
2. Have direct acquaintance with arguments of contemporary significance by authors such as Plantinga, Lewis, Hick, Swinburne, Alston, Flew, Russell or Craig.
3. Articulate the relationship of the philosophy of religion to other branches of philosophy such as metaphysics, epistemology or ethics.
4. Understand and be able to critique various primary historical arguments within the philosophy of religion: Cosmological, Teleological, Ontological.
5. Explain the logical and existential significance of the Problem of Evil and various theodicies used to reply
6. Understand the significance of miracles in the philosophical study of religion
7. Understand various explanations of the relationship between faith and reason.
8. Discern fundamental differences among various arguments for God’s existence – traditional evidentiary arguments versus arguments of God as “properly basic,” for example
9. Understand philosophical inquiry into divine attributes
10. Explain the role of experience in studying the philosophy of religion.

PHL 301: Ethics, 4 credits

Analysis of the moral and ethical principles of our civilization and consideration of topics such as moral influence, responsibility, the Judeo-Christian traditions, humanism, and law and order.

Goals and Objectives
By the end of this course, Northwood wants students to:

1. Understand the necessity for a civilization to have a set of shared and accepted values.
2. Understand the characteristics of and relationship between absolute and relative moral theories.
3. Be able to explain the differences between the views that business is moral, amoral, or has its own set of ethics.
4. Be able to distinguish between etiquette, law, personal values, professional codes of conduct, and moral arguments in relation to practices, behaviors, and goals within business.
5. Understand the role of conformity in the business institution and its impact on moral (or lack of moral) practices.
6. Know the various arguments dealing with the assignment of moral responsibility within business and the special problems created in this area with the rise of the corporation.
7. Be able to construct valid, defensible ethical arguments on issues in business.
8. Understand the moral implications of a variety of economic theories and their resulting patterns of distribution.
9. Be able to recognize logical fallacies at work in arguments advanced in support or rebuttal of various business practices.
10. Be able to recognize and evaluate emerging trends in moral expectations from business.
11. Appreciate the difference between economic and moral arguments and their implications in evaluating the morality of business decision-making and practice.

PHL 330: Logic, 4 credits

Entails a thorough study of traditional (Aristotelian) logic, propositional logic, induction, informal fallacies, and scientific method. Topics discussed include: use and misuse of statistics, tools of basic economic analysis, memory training, fundamental principles of formal deductive reasoning, and rules of argumentation.
Prerequisite: Junior status

Goals and Objectives
By the end of this course, Northwood wants students to:

1. Be able to identify an argument and recognize its basic structure
2. Recognize informal fallacies and discern their significance in argumentation
3. Analyze arguments using categorical logic and Venn Diagrams.
4. Translate and analyze arguments using propositional logic.
5. Understand the basic inductive method and its application to moral, legal, and scientific reasoning.

PHL 350: Honors Seminar, 1 credit

Philosophy honors seminar for juniors.
Prerequisite: Approval of Academic Dean

Goals and Objectives
By the end of this course, Northwood wants students to:

1. Have pursued in greater depth one issue or aspect of philosophy or one philosopher's work that is relevant to the general subject of business.
2. Show improvement in critical thinking and analytical abilities.
3. Have developed sharper skills in constructing and defending arguments.
4. Have developed application and synthesis skills through seeking relationships between theory or abstract thought and practical experience.

PHL 401: Philosophy of American Enterprise, 4 credits

This course deals with advanced philosophical topics relating to the role of values, freedom, property rights, entrepreneurship, trade, and finance, in the evolution of American enterprise. Special attention is given to the results of the interactions of all factors.

Goals and Objectives
By the end of this course, Northwood wants students to:

1. Understand the role of property rights in an economic system.
2. Understand the role of government in a free society.
3. Understand various systems of economic organization.
4. Understand the rise and fall of civilizations.
5. Understand the role of the founding fathers in the establishment of the U.S.
6. Understand the links between freedom and individual responsibility.
7. Appreciate the role of creativity in a free society.
8. Be able to explain the nature and contribution of entrepreneurship and competition in a free market.
9. Demonstrate appreciation of the personality, character and skills necessary for individual success in  competitive business and enterprise.
10. Understand the benefits of Judeo-Christian ethics, mutual trust, and voluntary cooperation in a free society.
11. Understand the critics of free enterprise.

PHL 410: Critical Philosophical Problems, 4 credits

Critical philosophical problems of civilization, with emphasis on their current status. Problems include the relationship of the increase of knowledge and the use of science and, technology in our societies; human rights, war, peace, poverty, prosperity, private property, government control, religion, and other selected philosophical problems with international significance, implications, and relationships.
Prerequisite: Senior status

Goals and Objectives
By the end of this course, Northwood wants students to:

1. Understand the philosophical basis for ethical systems and their strengths and weaknesses.
2. Be able to analyze various philosophical moral approaches to life and death issues.
3. Be able to recognize common logical fallacies used in moral arguments.
4. Understand the critical link between philosophy and action.
5. Be able to present current social, economic, and religious issues in their philosophical dimensions.
6. Be able to think critically.
7. Possess a framework for analysis which places current philosophical issues in their historical and universal setting.