Philosophy

Direct questions to Dr. Buckels: cbuckels@serrahs.com

Why take a Philosophy course?

Critical and creative thinking skills are the ultimate portable skills, so they are also essential in a world where technology is ever evolving, changing careers and often rendering traditional job training obsolete. A Philosophy course helps prepare students for a variety of careers and educational settings, as well as for life-long learning.

Studies have shown that students who take philosophy courses do better than most other students on tests such as the GRE and LSAT (See here, for example). Increasingly, businesses are also seeing the benefit of having employees who can think critically and creatively, which is the expertise philosophy cultivates (Examples: Huffington Post; Washington Post; Forbes; NY Times; The Atlantic; BigThink.com).

This course complements several one semester courses nicely: psychology, since we cover Philosophy of Mind; computer programming, since we practice logic; and business courses, since we focus on the critical and creative thinking skills for which businesses are often looking. 

What do we do in the course?

We read, discuss, and critique philosophical writings, problems, and thought experiments. We learn how to construct and critique arguments, we do a brief orientation to the history and areas of philosophy, and we complete an in-depth study of at least one area of philosophy (see below for examples - students help choose the areas on which we focus). Students are invited to wrestle with philosophical problems themselves before being introduced to possible solutions, and then they are invited to critique those solutions before being introduced to responses from professional philosophers. The primary objective is for students to be able to think through complex problems from a variety of angles and generate creative solutions, which they are also able to criticize themselves. 

Areas of Philosophy

Metaphysics: the study of what kinds of things exist, such as God, concepts, numbers, free will, time & space, etc., and what they are like

Epistemology: the study of knowledge, including skepticism

Ethics: the study of right actions, including theories such as Utilitarianism, Deontology, and Virtue Ethics

Philosophy of Mind: the study of the mind, including whether it is identical to the brain and the problem of consciousness

Political Philosophy: the study of what political systems are legitimate, best, and/or most just.