FSEM 155   Intro Philosophical Problems

Faculty Profile for Professor Lennertz

An introduction to philosophy through engagement with some of the field’s most storied and challenging problems. Students begin by becoming familiar with the philosopher’s method of using arguments to establish philosophical conclusions. After that, students investigate five important philosophical problems. First, students inquire into the relationship between our minds and our bodies. Second, students look at a couple of famous arguments concerning belief in God. Students then grapple with the question of what makes an action right or wrong. Next, students ponder whether humans have free will. Finally, students study a pair of problems concerning our understanding of knowledge and justification. Students gain an appreciation for the range of topics and problems that interest philosophers and the novel ways that different philosophers have approached them. While students study a number of famous historical works, the focus is not on cataloguing famous philosophers’ ideas, but on doing philosophy – that is, on engaging with the problems themselves. Students who successfully complete this seminar will receive credit for PHIL 101 and satisfy one half of the Human Thought and Expression area of inquiry requirement.

Professor Ben Lennertz’s research focuses on philosophical approaches to uncertainty - what it is and when it is rational. His teaching interests are in epistemology, the philosophy of language, the philosophy of mind, the history of philosophy, and logic.