UMBC Summer & Winter Blog
Ever considered the moral motivation of characters in The Dark Knight? The Joker, one might say, strives for a Hobbesian “state of nature” by trying to eliminate social values. Thomas Hobbes argued that social structures eliminate the inclinations of the state of nature, which pit all men in a war against one another. Bruce Wayne, on the other hand, could be considered moral using […]
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PHIL 100: Introduction to Philosophy allows you the opportunity to earn Arts and Humanities GEP as you’re introduced to the fascinating world of philosophical concepts and methods. Explore historic and modern answers to perennial philosophical questions such as how one might gain knowledge of reality, whether persons have free will or are determined, and what a person’s identity over time can […]
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Earn Arts and Humanities GEP as you enter the minds of Philosophers such as John Stuart Mill or Immanuel Kant and discover their moral inquiries: What is right and wrong? How should we live? When is it right (if ever) to lie, kill other people, or eat animals? Is the good of the group or the good of the […]
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Ethical theories focus on identifying the best possible life for human beings to live. In this course we will explore answers to the questions “what is the good life?” and “what ought I to do?” offered by historical and contemporary sources. Some answers focus on character traits, others on desirable consequences of actions, some on obligations, and still others on […]
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Register for PHIL 248: Introduction to Scientific Reasoning and discover what guides your judgement and how you reason. How do you decide on a course of action? What logical process do you take to form a conclusion? In PHIL 248, students discuss several fascinating issues, including deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, and the justification of inductive inferences, examples of inductive reasoning, the nature of science and its […]
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