Mission and Outcomes
Mission
The Moravian Philosophy Department sets out to awaken and nurture in students a curiosity for ultimate questions and a desire for an objective investigation into reality through critical, reflective, and imaginative processes. We strive to produce students with clear thinking abilities; good argumentative skills; tolerance of different beliefs, perspectives, and views, without thinking they need to be equally true; and sensitive to societal values, such as justice, tolerance, and rights - essential for a vibrant and flourishing democratic society.
Goals (What do we want to accomplish?)
- To introduce students to some of the major philosophers and philosophies of the Western and non-Western philosophical tradition.
- To cultivate students’ reasoning skills so that they can critically assess evidence, evaluate deductive and inductive arguments, and construct good evidentially based arguments.
- To teach students how to write and express their ideas and arguments clearly and persuasively.
- To teach students how to complete scholarly writings in philosophy.
- To teach students to view issues from multifarious perspectives.
Student Learning Outcomes (What do we want our students to learn/do?)
- To identify some of the most important philosophers of the Western and non-Western philosophical tradition and their corresponding philosophical views, doctrines, and theories.
- To recognize the basic study of logic as an analysis of components of arguments and the structure of deductive and inductive arguments.
- To distinguish between good deductive and inductive arguments, and fallacious arguments.
- To recognize the relationship between truth, evidence, and justification and how the function of arguments to these central philosophical arguments.
- To recognize the importance of considering various perspectives of a given philosophical or ethical issue.
- To critically assess the frameworks through which one understands and evaluates philosophical issues.
- To demonstrate good and clear writing skills.
For Majors and Minors Only - To accurately describe and critically analyze chief doctrines, theories, and ideas of prominent philosophers and philosophical views of the past and present.
- To critically interpret and explain primary philosophical texts.
- To construct good evidentially based deductive and inductive arguments to defend or refute philosophical views.
- To critically assess and evaluate objections of your views, to consider different perspectives, and to fairly assess opposing views.