PHIL 106: Philosophy and Current Issues

General Course Description:

This course explores the complexities of current issues primarily through the lens of freedom, liberation, and individual and collective moral responsibility. In particular, we will explore, envision, and evaluate the extent to which our political, economic, and social freedoms are tied to things like schooling, the reliance on prison, the U.S. health care system, immigration policies, wage labor, apartheid, and other current issues.

Required Books:

None – readings will be provided through Canvas.

Course Specifics:

• Syllabus

• Student Inquiry Projects

  • Essentially, the Student Inquiry counts for 25% of the final grade. It is organized into four levels. Passing a level involves completing various smaller assignments and earning a particular score on the exam for the level. Each exam is composed of an in-class portion and an at-home portion. Until Level 4, the at-home portion is not graded. Students simply receive feedback on their at-home work. At least one section of each exam asks students questions about their at-home work. This is the way that I attempt to provide students with the opportunity to benefit from longer, self-directed projects while circumventing the concern that students can simply use AI to pass the class.

  • Below, I’ve posted anonymized examples of student work from the course. I select the examples by having the students vote on their favorite ones after each exam.

Three Dimensions of Philosophical Questioning

Philosophical questions rarely fit neatly into a single category. A question may concern what is real, how we know something, and what we ought to believe or do.

This triangle represents three fundamental dimensions of philosophical inquiry: metaphysics, epistemology, and normativity.

Explore the questions below. Hover over a question or its point in the triangle. Click to read the student's response and join the conversation.

Questions from the Classroom

Click a question to explore the student's response.

Why this question matters

Read the student's full response

Join the Conversation

Is this question located in the right philosophical territory?
What do you think the answer is?
What do you think makes the question significant?

Public comments for this question will appear here.

How to Read the Triangle

The triangle is not meant to divide philosophical questions into three rigid categories. Instead, think of the corners as three poles within a larger philosophical space.

Metaphysics

Questions concerning what exists, what is real, what things are like, and what fundamentally makes the world the way it is.

Epistemology

Questions concerning knowledge, belief, evidence, truth, justification, and how we can know what we claim to know.

Normativity

Questions concerning what ought to be the case, what we ought to believe or do, and what gives us reasons.

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