Grades 11-12
Elective
Two Years
Prerequisites: junior standing, permission of Global Scholars Program Coordinator
Philosophies of Knowing is the centerpiece of the Global Scholars Program. The course provides an introduction to epistemology by giving students practice in reflecting on how they know what they know. The first year is spent considering the “The Philosophic Enterprise” and “The Role of Language in Human Affairs.” During the first semester, students spend considerable time studying the nature of metaphysics and epistemology. During second semester, they study the nature of language itself; the interrelationship of language, thought, and perception; the rhetorical uses of language; and how language informs logic.
With this background, students move during the second year to the exploration of ethics during the first semester, aesthetics during the second semester. During the first semester, students examine the knowledge claims of philosophy and the knowledge claims of religion. They also explore the nature of moral judgments, how value systems are derived, and ethical problems and decisions. The final semester is divided roughly in half: the first quarter is devoted to the study of aesthetics, the second, to recapitulating what has been learned throughout the course and making formal connections from one discipline to another. The final portion of the last quarter is spent preparing the presentation of their individual research projects.
It is fair to think of this course as an extended exercise in reading-talking-thinking-writing, for a considerable amount of time is spent in class discussion as preparation for writing in-class and out-of-class essays on a wide range of topics. Preparation for such writing also involves reading numerous small pieces aimed at provoking critical thought and some larger pieces, both primary and secondary sources, which explore philosophical concepts in some depth. Considerable care is taken, however, to see that this not become a college philosophy course taught at the high school level in which the student is expected to master an introductory text in philosophy. Instead, the focus remains clearly on “introducing” students to philosophical inquiry and enabling them to make personal sense of the many courses they are required to take during the high school experience, that is, helping them leave high school with a clearer understanding of what a liberal education means.