Scholars Online Philosophy Courses
We are beginning to work out a new philosophy sequence. We are excited to be able to repeat this introductory course in reasoning for the 2010/2011 academic year.
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
To see details about an individual course, click on the black triangle to the left of the course name
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Introduction to Reasoning • 2009 listing - for reference only • Grade 9 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 in April 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 18, 2009 to May 28, 2010Friday 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:
• What is reasoning?
• What are some ways to distinguish between good and bad reasoning?
• How does formal logic work and what are some of its limits?
• What is distinctive about inductive/scientific reasoning?
• What is distinctive about legal reasoning?
• What is distinctive about moral reasoning?
• What is distinctive about theological reasoning?
Each student will prepare a final project analyzing the reasoning in a sample of reasoning drawn from moral or political 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 review of short content available online as background for discussion. A few weeks will involve homework in formal logic and spotting fallacies. There will be an end of term project to analyze an extended argument.
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Prerequisites
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| | The course covers reasoning in science, law, morals, and theology. No prior coursework is required, but some familiarity with these areas 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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Introduction to Reasoning • Offering for 2010 • 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 in April 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, 2010 to June 3, 2011Friday 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.
|
|
|
Description
| |
| | Participants in this course will learn about:
• What is reasoning?
• What are some ways to distinguish between good and bad reasoning?
• How does formal logic work and what are some of its limits?
• What is distinctive about inductive/scientific reasoning?
• What is distinctive about legal reasoning?
• What is distinctive about moral reasoning?
• What is distinctive about theological reasoning?
Each student will prepare a final project analyzing the reasoning in a sample of reasoning drawn from moral or political 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 in the course book or online as background for discussion. There will be an end of term project to analyze an extended argument.
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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, morals, and theology. No prior coursework is required, but some familiarity with these areas 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
| |
| | 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 has been provisionally accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools.
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