The Ethics of Aristotle

This course focuses on the views of Aristotle (387–321 B.C.) about morality by means of a careful study of his Nicomachean Ethics. Often called “the philosopher of common sense,” Aristotle offers an extremely balanced account of many ethical questions. The goal of this course will be to present his ideas clearly and to suggest ways in which the thought of a philosopher from so long ago still bears tremendous relevance for our own age. After providing some important background about Aristotle’s general approach to philosophy, this course will turn to the text of his main work on ethics. In the first book (and then again in the tenth), he argues that the chief goal of human life must be something desirable for itself and not merely as a means to something else. He then reviews the perennial candidates for this goal, including pleasure, wealth, and honor, before arguing that the only satisfactory answer to the question is happiness. Everything else, including pleasure, wealth, and honor, may contribute to a happy life and may even be necessary conditions for it, but only a life of genuine virtue will make one truly happy.

Introduction to Formal Logic

The courses begins by examining the human mind and seeing the ways in which logic is and is not a natural part of the way we think. We’ll look at some of our cognitive biases, ways in which social psychologists have demonstrated that the brain naturally works against good inferences. Humans can be rational beings, but it takes work to realize the pitfalls we need to avoid. Then, we’ll introduce a wide range of logical concepts. We will rigorously introduce the notion of an argument and examine both the types of arguments—deductive and inductive—and the criteria by which we assess an argument—validity and well-groundedness. We will learn that arguments have two parts: conclusions (that which is being argued for) and premises (the support given for the conclusion). Next, we’ll focus on informal logic—that is, considerations of well-groundedness, the criterion of assessment that considers the truth of an argument’s premises. We’ll learn to spot common fallacies, reasoning errors that sound good to the ear but that undermine the support for the conclusion.

Our Night Sky

This course offers you a tour of the night sky and the constellations and other objects we can see in the heavens during each of the four seasons of the year. The goal is to give you a foundation for navigating the sky on your own with a pair of binoculars or a small telescope. Along the way, you will also learn about the sciences of cosmology and astronomy and a bit about the mythology of ancient peoples. We selected Our Night Sky for our curriculum, partly in tribute to Aristotle who wrote that  "Wisdom begins in wonder." Nothing quite stirs wonder like viewing the myriad stars and countless galaxies of the vast night sky. It inevitably fills us with wonder and awe - "What are we? What are we a part of? Where are we going?" So the ancients wondered. This was also recognized in the Integrated Humanities Program ("IHP") at the University of Kansas in the  1970s, by Profs. Senior, Quinn and Nelick, in that famous program, the motto of which was Nascentur in Admiratione - "Let them be Born in Wonder." Philosophy is thus born, and so this course could be placed under the heading of either philosophy or science.