Department Chairman: Son Le, Ph.D
Email: son_le@wvmccd.cc.ca.us
Phone: (408) 855-5269
Counseling: (408) 855-5031
Philosophy
Courses (PHIL)
1 ·
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY 3 units
CAN PHIL 2
Lecture 3 hours
Acceptable for credit: University
of California, California State University
This course is an introduction
to philosophical problems and the various approaches to their solutions.
The student will be exposed to selected traditional philosophical systems
with emphasis upon how these systems are relevant to solving the problems
of contemporary existence. The course will explore answers to such questions
as: What is reality? What, if any, is the nature of man? Are human acts
free or determined? What is knowledge? What, if anything, makes an act
right or wrong?
Credit/No Credit Option
2 · INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC
3 units
CAN PHIL 6
Lecture 3 hours
Acceptable for credit: University
of California, California State University
This course is an introduction
to the problems and techniques of traditional and modern logic comprising
both deductive and inductive inference. The student will learn how to
distinguish arguments from non-arguments, to identify and void common
fallacies in reasoning, to test for validity truth functional arguments
and categorical syllogisms, to construct proofs of validity in truth functional
logic and quantificational logic and to understand the nature of inductive
reasoning and its relationships to the sciences.
Credit/No Credit Option
3 · INTRODUCTION TO PROBLEMS IN ETHICS
3 units
CAN PHIL 4
Lecture 3 hours
Advisory: READ 53.
Prerequisite: ENGL 1A.
Acceptable for credit: University
of California, California State University
This course critically
examines questions of value and obligation. The course will explore the
ethical theories of Aristotle, Confucius, Buddha, Kant, and the utilitarians.
The student will apply these ethical theories to case studies in bioethics,
sexism, racism, and environmental eithics. Much of the course is devoted
to critical thinking and writing skills. The course requires the student
to write a sequence of ethical "position papers," which are
evaluated for both quality of analysis and English composition skills.
Credit/No Credit Option
4 · PATTERNS IN COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS
3 units
Lecture 3 hours
Acceptable for credit: University
of California, California State University
This course is an introduction
to the critical, comparative study of religion. The student will be introduced
to the responses offered by various religions to perennial problems of
human life with emphasis upon the relevance of religious experience to
contemporary existence.
Credit/No Credit Option
5 · INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 3
units
Lecture 3 hours
Acceptable for credit: University of California, California State
University
This course will introduce
students to a critical study of some major social and political problems:
What is society? What is a state? What is freedom? What is authority?
What is the nature of political obligation? What constitutes justice?
What constitutes a right? What are the relationships, if any, between
the individual and society?
Credit/No Credit Option
7 · INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
3 units
Lecture 3 hours
Acceptable for credit: University of California, California State
University
This course is of special
interest to students of the sciences. The course will introduce the student
to a critical examination of some problems in the philosophy of science:
(1) What is causality? (2) What counts as an explanation in science? (3)
How is explanation different from prediction? (4) What is the nature of
evidence? (5) What are the relationships between a scientific theory and
the world?
Credit/No Credit Option
8 ·
INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN PHILOSOPHY
3 units
Lecture 3 hours
Acceptable for credit: University
of California, California State University
This course is an introductory
survey of the main philosophical currents of the thought of India, China,
and Japan. The student will be encouraged to explore the answers offered
by Asian philosophers to such questions as: What is ultimate reality?
What is the self? How is personal freedom to be achieved? This course
will be of particular interest to students who encounter elements of Asian
thought in art, music, history and other disciplines and who are interested
in understanding the intellectual forces which have shaped the cultures
of Asia.
Credit/No Credit Option
9 · INTRODUCTION TO SYMBOLIC LOGIC
3 units
Lecture 3 hours
Acceptable for credit: University
of California, California State University
This course is an introduction
to the concepts and methods of modern symbolic logic, both sentential
and quantificational. The student will learn to do truth value analysis
of statements, translate complex natural-language arguments into both
sentential and quantificational logic, construct advanced formal proofs
of validity in both sentential and quantificational logic, and explore
the metalogical issues of consistency and completeness of formal systems.
The relevance of symbolic logic to areas such as set theory and computer
science will also be explored.
Credit/No Credit Only.
10
· INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF ART
3 units
Lecture 3 hours
Acceptable for credit: University of
California, California State University
This course investigates
the following questions: 1) What, if any, constitutes a work of art? 2)
What are the relationships, if any, between art and life? 3) Is there
any rational procedure, if any, for evaluating a work of art? The student
will be invited to investigate these questions as they relate to various
forms such as poetry, music, drama, and the like. Other questions in the
philosophy of art may also be considered to respond to students' interests.
Credit/No Credit Only.
17 · LOGIC AND CRITICAL THINKING
3 units
Lecture 3 hours
Advisory: READ 53.
Prerequisite: ENGL 1A.
Acceptable for credit: University
of California, California State University
This course is an introduction
to critical thinking and critical writing. The student will learn techniques
of practical reasoning and argumentation, with emphasis on the application
of these techniques in the writing of a sequence of argumentative essays.
Topics include: analytical reading, argument analysis, recognizing propaganda
and stereotypes, clarifying ambiguity, meaning and definition, evaluating
evidence, logical correctness vs factual correctness, and common fallacies
in reasoning (both formal and informal). Analytical reading strategies
are emphasized. Sample arguments for analysis are drawn from readings
in philosophy and from culturally diverse sources in other fields.
Credit/No Credit Option
Mission
College
3000 Mission College Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95054-1897
408-988-2200
comments