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ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Birmingham-Southern College Catalog 2017-2018
189
PL - Philosophy
PL 200 Ethical Choice (1)
A beginning-level course about moral decision making. Part of the course focuses on case
studies of ethical choices pertaining to property, welfare, violence, punishment, war, and
similar topics. The other part of the course is an introduction to ethical theory focusing on
the processes by which moral norms are established and critically evaluated.
PL 201 Introduction to Philosophy (1)
Basic problems and forms of inquiry that have shaped the Western philosophical
heritage. The course may focus on problems of morality, religion, political philosophy,
and theories about the nature and limits of human knowledge.
PL 207 Human Destiny (1)
An investigation into differing philosophical accounts of human existence and the idea of
destiny. The aim is to discover ways we might respond to enduring philosophic questions
concerning human destiny within a multicultural context. Topics include the meaning of
life, the relationships between soul and body, death and value, anthropocentrism and
teleology, gnosis and salvation, science and religion, freedom and prediction.
PL 208 Philosophy of Religion: In Search of Deity (1)
A philosophical examination of the human search for the transcendent/divine, primarily
in the Western tradition. The course considers topics such as the early roots of the search
for deity by looking at the origins of the Hebrew and Christian religions, the concept of
God in the Middle Ages, the atheistic reaction after the Enlightenment, existentialism and
religion, and neo-classical theology.
PL 241 Logic (1)
A study of semantics, traditional deductive logic, and an introductory approach to
symbolic logic.
PL 246 Asian Philosophies: From Atman to Zen (1)
An introduction to Asian philosophies, focusing on different notions of the self. Using
contemporary scholarship and critical translations of primary philosophical texts of India,
China, and Japan, students explore traditional problems of the self, from the early Vedic
atman
through developments and transformations in Japanese Zen.
PL 250 Contemporary Philosophy (1)
An examination of the major themes of philosophy in the twentieth century. Particular
emphasis is placed on how skeptical doubts concerning the idea and attainability of truth
have issued in an increasingly dominant form of cultural relativism in diverse arenas,
such as law and literature, anthropology, the history of science, and moral and political
theory.
PL 251 Ancient Philosophy (1)
Ancient philosophy from Thales to Plotinus.