The Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies is committed to creating an environment of dialogical inquiry both in and outside the disciplinary context.
Philosophy & Religious Studies
Featured Courses
PHIL 253: Environmental Ethics
Dr. Lawrence
TR / 2:00p-3:15p
#8778 (3 credits)
The course centers on the way that ethics helps us to understand environmental issues including sustainability, energy consumption, animal rights, habitat loss, biodiversity, land conservation, and pollution. We will explore cultural and philosophical ethical frameworks, as well as case studies, from across the globe, such as from Africa, Asia, Native Americans, as well as Western societies. Essential Studies: Humanities / Analyzing Worldviews.
PHIL 331: Contemporary European Philosophy
Subtitle: Work and Play
Dr. Stone
MW / 6:10p-7:25p
#8780 (3 credits)
What makes work, work? Why do we work so much and have so little free time? Should work define us more than how we spend our leisure time? What impacts do work and play have on our ability to live “the good life” (i.e., ethical and aesthetic lives) respectively? Is it possible to truly find edifying work, or are the majority of careers simply “bullshit jobs”? Are there better and worse ways to play? In this course seminar participants will consider philosophical arguments on the nature of work and play in contemporary society. We will consider arguments made by leading European philosophers as well as academics in other disciplines—e.g., anthropology, economic and political theory, and sociology—who have been heavily influenced by Continental philosophy.
PHIL 450: Philosophy, Economics, and Politics
Dr. Weinstein
TR / 12:30p-1:45p
#8781 (3 credits)
America is a capitalist society; the world is one giant market. Is this good or bad, and how does it inform what we want out of life? Should we be mad that others have more than us or should we just be happy if we have enough? And, what is enough anyway? These questions reveal that discussing politics alone just doesn’t give us the perspective to understand how the world interrelates. We need philosophy and economics as well, or none of it will make very much sense. In this class we will read Adam Smith and Karl Marx, Libertarian thinkers and welfare economists, and explore the history of distributive justice.
Our Programs
Both philosophy and religion are concerned with the fundamental human questions, as well as the traditions to which they are attached. Areas of investigation include but are not limited to questions regarding the meaning of life, the ability to live ethically, and the human quest for the sacred. These concerns form the core of liberal arts education.
