Scholars Online Philosophy Courses
Philosophy can be considered in three aspects: historical, topical, and methodological.
In its historical aspect, philosophy studies individual philosophers, talks about their intellectual background, strives for a full picture of their ideas, and asks whether those ideas have continuing validity today.
In its topical aspect, philosophy studies “great questions” about truth, beauty, and moral obligations. This study typically surveys views of multiple philosophers.
In its methodological aspect, philosophy asks questions about the methods used in other fields of study. The course in reasoning is of this type. It looks at reasoning in different fields (logic, practical reasoning, science, law, ethics, theology) and asks how those instances of reasoning are similar and how they are different.
Some early Christian thinkers felt that Christian truth was so important and so final that philosophy should be forgotten. But philosophy has survived and many of its significant figures were Christian or heavily influenced by Christianity. Our philosophy courses are inspired by the view that Christianity is true and that philosophical study (historical, topical and methodological) can illuminate Christian truth. Philosophical study can also provide intellectual tools to help our students evaluate and respond to opponents of Christianity, whose views they will inevitably encounter.
Class Examples
In order to prevent disruption of the teacher's curriculum and to secure the student learning environment, Scholars Online does not allow non-members to visit live class sesssions. We have, however, included a log from an actual chat session, changing only student names to protect their privacy. The content and flow of the course discussion has been preserved, so that you can get a sense of how the chat environment works. Note that while this is a non-audio class, students and teachers may enter HTML tags and unicode characters (unlike simple IRC sessions), and the log is preserved for student review.
Individual courses
If you would like to see a couse not yet listed, please use the EMAIL US link below to contact Scholars Online Administration with your course request.
Students who were enrolled in courses from previous years will find the teacher, text, and course description information available from the student's unofficial transcript, which can be reached from the parent's Account Management Center, or from an alumni's own Account Management Center.
To see details about an individual course, click on the black triangle to the left of the course name
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Reasoning • 2011 listing - for reference only • Grade 10 or above
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Primary Instructor
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Sections [Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting at the time enrollment opens and the scheduled start of classes. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Karl OlesClasses meet from September 16, 2011 to June 1, 2012Friday 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM ETTuition: $350.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | Participants in this course will learn about:
How does formal logic work and what does it show about reasoning in general?
How does practical reasoning (the kind we engage in every day) work?
What kind of reasoning has been used in science?
What is distinctive about legal reasoning?
How can we apply the lessons learned to the analysis of moral reasoning?
How can we apply the lessons learned to the analysis of theological reasoning?
How can we supply missing premises or conclusions in incomplete reasoning?
Each student will prepare two papers analyzing samples of reasoning drawn from moral, political or theological examples.
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | The weekly workload will vary. Most weeks will involve discussion of materials presented in class, and some will involve review of short content available in the course book or online as background for discussion. There will be two projects analyzing complex arguments.
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Prerequisites
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| | The course briefly introduces formal logic and then looks at practical reasoning and reasoning in science, law, politics, morals, and theology. The emphasis is on learning skills necessary to analyze arguments on topics of general public interest, such as arguments about global warming, health care, pacifism, the good life, and the nature of God. No prior coursework is required, but some familiarity with the kinds of issues listed above is desirable.
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Recommended background
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| | Describe recommended prior study
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Instructor's Notes
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| | There will be one required text, A Rulebook for Arguments, Fourth Edition, by Anthony Weston, supplemented by materials provided by the instructor or available online.
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Textbooks and Materials
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A Rulebook for Arguments (Edition: 4) Weston, Anthony
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| | This text is required. ISBN: 9780872209541 Best sources: Scholars Online Bookstore
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Reasoning • Offering for 2012 • Grade 10 or above
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Primary Instructor
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Sections [Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting at the time enrollment opens and the scheduled start of classes. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Karl OlesClasses meet from September 14, 2012 to May 31, 2013Friday 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM ETTuition: $350.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
|
|
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Description
| |
| | Participants in this course will learn about:
How does formal logic work and what does it show about reasoning in general?
How does practical reasoning (the kind we engage in every day) work?
What kind of reasoning has been used in science?
What is distinctive about legal reasoning?
How can we apply the lessons learned to the analysis of moral reasoning?
How can we apply the lessons learned to the analysis of theological reasoning?
How can we supply missing premises or conclusions in incomplete reasoning?
Each student will prepare two papers analyzing samples of reasoning drawn from moral, political or theological examples.
|
|
|
Meetings
| |
| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
|
|
|
Homework
| |
| | The weekly workload will vary. Most weeks will involve discussion of materials presented in class, and some will involve review of short content available online as background for discussion. There will be two projects analyzing complex arguments.
|
|
|
Prerequisites
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| | The course discusses common aspects of reasoning in different fields. After a brief look at propositional formal logic, the focus is on practical reasoning, reasoning in science, law, politics, morals, and theology. The emphasis is on learning skills necessary to analyze arguments on topics of general public interest, such as arguments about global warming, health care, pacifism, the good life, and the nature of God. No prior coursework is required, but some familiarity with the kinds of issues listed above is desirable.
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Recommended background
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| | Describe recommended prior study
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Instructor's Notes
| |
| | There will be one required text, A Rulebook for Arguments, Fourth Edition, by Anthony Weston, supplemented by materials provided by the instructor or available online.
|
|
 |
Textbooks and Materials
| |
|
A Rulebook for Arguments (Edition: 4) Weston, Anthony
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| | This text is required. ISBN: 9780872209541 Best sources: Scholars Online Bookstore
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| To enroll in any of the courses listed above, log into your Scholars Online Account Management Center using the login link at the bottom of any page and select the member you wish to enroll. If you do not have an account, you may create one using the Membership and Enrollment link in the SiteMap to the left of any page. |
Scholars Online is accredited by the Northwest Accreditation Commission.
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