GE-413 Introduction to Philosophy

Everyone has a philosophy, and church workers meet these ideas every week. Learn to reason well and to weigh the great questions of what is real, true and good.

Following Faith Seeking Understanding, with the OpenStax textbook beside it, this course teaches philosophy's main questions, methods and thinkers. It begins with good reasoning and with the wisdom of Africa, the Americas, India and China, and of Greek, Jewish, Christian and Islamic thinkers. Then it asks what is real, whether God exists, how we know and what is good, and ends with how we should live together. You learn to state a view fairly, at its best, and to weigh it from Christian teaching.

What you will study

• What philosophy is and how to reason well
• Wisdom among the nations: Africa, the Americas, India and China
• Athens and Jerusalem: Greek, Jewish, Christian and Islamic thinkers
• What is real, and who am I?
• Does God exist? Arguments, critics and the problem of evil
• How we know, and what is good
• Ethics in practice: life and death, research, the environment and business
• Power, the common good and modern thought

Course materials

• Faith Seeking Understanding, a WWES textbook
• Introduction to Philosophy, an OpenStax textbook