Modal logic is the logic of necessity and possibility, and by extension of analogously paired notions like validity and consistency, obligation and permission, the known and the not-ruled-out. This a first course in the area. A solid background in first-order logic is essential. Topics to be covered include (some or all of) the main systems of propositional modal logic, Kripkean “possible world” semantics, strict implication, contingent identity, intensional objects, counterpart theory, the logic of actuality, and deontic and / or epistemic logic. The emphasis will be more on technical methods and results than philosophical applications.

This course examines the modern definition of freedom, and the obligations that people accept in honoring it. It investigates how these obligations are captured in the principles of our political associations. This course also studies how the centrality of freedom plays out in the political thought of such authors as Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Burke and Montesquieu, as well as debating which notions of freedom inspire and sustain the American experiment by careful reading of the documents and arguments of the founding of the United States.
This course is part of the Concourse program at MIT.

Welcome to the A Modern Formal Logic Primer website. The Primer was published in 1989 by Prentice Hall, since acquired by Pearson Education. Pearson Education has allowed the Primer to go out of print and returned the copyright to the author. It is now available without charge for instructional and educational use.

Each volume is broken into individual chapters. And each volume has an associated solutions manual (the last item under each volume). There is a file with corrections to both the text and the answer manual. Also note a file with the diagrammatic summary of the rules that appeared on the inside cover of the published version of the primmer. All files are in Adobe Acrobat PDF 6 format. – they require version 6, or newer, of Adobe, which can be down loaded here. All files are fully searchable.

This work is based on the work of Walter Ott & Alex Dunn

Short Description:
This is a textbook (or better, a workbook) in modern philosophy. It combines readings from primary sources with two pedagogical tools. Paragraphs in italics introduce figures and texts. Numbered study questions (also in italics) ask students to reconstruct an argument or position from the text, or draw connections among the readings. The introductory chapter, Minilogic and Glossary, are designed to present the basic tools of philosophy and sketch some principles and positions.

Long Description:
Description from original book author Walter Ott

This is a textbook (or better, a workbook) in modern philosophy. It combines readings from primary sources with two pedagogical tools. Paragraphs in italics introduce figures and texts. Numbered study questions (also in italics) ask students to reconstruct an argument or position from the text, or draw connections among the readings. And I have added an introductory chapter (Chapter 0 – Minilogic and Glossary), designed to present the basic tools of philosophy and sketch some principles and positions.

The immediate goal is to encourage students to grapple with the ideas rather than passing their eyes over the texts. This makes for a better classroom experience and permits higher-level discussions.

Another goal is to encourage collaboration among instructors, as they revise and post their own versions of the book.

You’re invited to use the book in your courses.

This version of the Modern Philosophy textbook was created on August 28, 2013 as part of the BC Open Textbook project.

Word Count: 180248

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

This is a textbook (or better, a workbook) in modern philosophy. It combines readings from primary sources with two pedagogical tools. Paragraphs in italics introduce figures and texts. Numbered study questions (also in italics) ask students to reconstruct an argument or position from the text, or draw connections among the readings. And I have added an introductory chapter (Chapter 0 – Minilogic and Glossary), designed to present the basic tools of philosophy and sketch some principles and positions. The immediate goal is to encourage students to grapple with the ideas rather than passing their eyes over the texts. This makes for a better classroom experience and permits higher-level discussions. Another goal is to encourage collaboration among instructors, as they revise and post their own versions of the book.

Lillie invites the viewer for a trip back in time to the Mogao Caves in China.

This course will focus on issues that arise in contemporary public debate concerning matters of social justice. Topics will likely include: euthanasia, gay marriage, racism and racial profiling, free speech, hunger and global inequality. Students will be exposed to multiple points of view on the topics and will be given guidance in analyzing the moral frameworks informing opposing positions. The goal will be to provide the basis for respectful and informed discussion of matters of common moral concern.

" This course will focus on issues that arise in contemporary public debate concerning matters of social justice. Topics will likely include: euthanasia, gay marriage, racism and racial profiling, free speech, hunger and global inequality. Students will be exposed to multiple points of view on the topics and will be given guidance in analyzing the moral frameworks informing opposing positions. The goal will be to provide the basis for respectful and informed discussion of matters of common moral concern."

This course is an examination of philosophical theories of action and motivation in the light of empirical findings from social psychology, sociology, and neuroscience. Topics include belief, desire, and moral motivation; sympathy and empathy; intentions and other committing states; strength of will and weakness of will; free will; addiction and compulsion; guilt, shame and regret; evil; self-knowledge and self-deception; and, virtues and character traits.
This course is a CI-M course.

This course introduces students to the basic concepts and methods of moral and political philosophy. Its primary focus is on the development of moral reasoning skills and the application of those skills to contemporary social and political issues. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Discuss several major theories of justice and morality, including utilitarianism, libertarianism, social contract theory, deontology, and the ethics/politics of virtue; Demonstrate how moral and political dilemmas are handled differently by each set of theoretical principles; Develop their analytical skills through interpreting the consequences of various moral principles and revising principles to correspond with their own conceptions of justice; Discuss the relationship between morality and politics; Formulate their own positions concerning moral and political principles, especially in regards to particular issues discussed in this course; Discuss the origins of western democratic politics and constitutional government; Address a range of difficult and controversial moral and political issues, including murder, the income tax, corporate cost-benefit analysis, lying, affirmative action, and same-sex marriage. (Philosophy 103)

This unit was designed to give freshmen a small writing task that is similar to the ACT writing. "The Most Dangerous Game" generates great conversation of the ideas of morals and ethics, and this writing task allows students the opportunity to explore their own morals and ethics.OBJECTIVES: The learner will...identify the main points of an argument and connect arguments to supportive materialargue a chosen side using supportive detailsconstruct personal beliefs about morals and ethicswrite and edit a short argumentative essay collaborate with peers

This is an Online Educational Resource to help students learn how to break down readings to understand them better.  This is based off PHIL 1000 OL1 at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.  It shows an example discussion and ways to break down sentences/quotes from the readings.  There are also tips that might be helpful when taking an online class.  

Education is one of the main processes of the development and formation of individual’s personality. It is very important to keep the education of young people at high level in order to provide a country with decent population and its future skillful generation. In my opinion, the progress of education as an overall system for everyone is a rational idea. However, it is not able to satisfy the needs of all students. Keeping this in mind, each student should develop his or her own philosophy of education in order to get the maximum benefits from this process. The same matter should be taken into consideration by teachers in order to help each student to become not only part of a class, but also a hard-working person who will be willing to face any challenges and difficulties during educational process.     As for me, I think that my philosophy of education is based on several principles. First of all, it is necessary to understand the purpose of education. Education helps not only to understand some laws, principles, or concepts, but also apply them from the practical point of view. The theoretical knowledge is worth nothing if a student cannot apply it in the real life. Consequently, the educational process should be accompanied with practical lessons as much as possible. In addition, it is also necessary to make students not only learn, but also think about what they learn and how acquired knowledge will help them in the future.It is very essential to understand the essential role of a student in the education. Students being a part of this process usually come to the classrooms and listen to their teachers. However, in order to provide a complete and effective process of education, I believe that they should act not only as passive consumers of presented information, but also actively and independently explore additional material. I mean that they should go beyond the scope of information that they learn in school, college, or university, and look for the additional sources, materials, or other solutions in order to expand their knowledge with new facts and ideas. At present time, when modern students have such advancements as the Internet, it is much easier to perform such behavior.My philosophy of education also includes the role of a teacher as a main unit in educational process. The teacher should be not only a broadcaster who delivers the information to students, but also motivate students to actively participate in all class activities and cooperate with each other. The teacher has to help each individual to reveal the hidden potential and lead him or her from the beginning till the final stage. It is important for the teacher not to choose only several students and actively work with them. The teacher should give the equal possibilities for all students with certain attention on their creative abilities. The role of the teacher should not be limited by his or her work only in classrooms. It is also the responsibility of the teacher to work within the local community and cooperate with parents. He or she has to serve as a role model for students and show them how to respect the elderly and how to interact with them.                   I believe that the philosophy of education presumes an active position of all members in the learning process. All their efforts should be directed with the aim to enrich students with knowledge, teach them think creatively, and provide equal conditions of education for all of them. Education should be filled with many practical lessons. It has to determine not only the future career path of each individual, but also shape and develop his or her unique personality.   So, education is first and foremost a comprehensive development, so I propose to read also my article on one controversial topic "FASHION INDUSTRY SHOULD STOP ABUSE ANIMALS" 

This eight-session course, designed for a mixed group of first, second, third and fourth-year medical students, uses literary narratives and poetry to study ethical issues in medicine. This methodology emphasizes the importance of context, contingency, and circumstances in recognizing, evaluating, and resolving moral problems. The seminar will focus on developing the skills of critical and reflective reading that increase effectiveness in clinical medicine. Texts will include short fiction and poetry by authors such as Woolf, Chekhov, Carver, Kafka, Hurston, Marquez and Tolstoy. The instructor will provide necessary philosophic and literary context at the beginning of each session, the balance devoted to class discussion. During the course, students will keep a reading journal that examines the meanings of illness, the moral role of the physician, and the relevance of emotions, culture, faith, values, social realities, and life histories to patient care.

This course provides a broad overview of the theories of and approaches to the study of nationalist thought and practice. It also explores the related phenomena termed nationalism: national consciousness and identity, nations, nation-states, and nationalist ideologies and nationalist movements. The course analyzes nationalism’s emergence and endurance as a factor in modern politics and society. Topics include: nationalism and state-building, nationalism and economic modernization, nationalism and democratization, and nationalism and religious conflict.

This course examines the philosophical and theoretical foundations of constructionism as a paradigm for formulating and evaluating new theories for learning and approaches to education. One of the goals of this course is to help new learning researchers situate their work within the constructionist framework through readings and projects that will focus on the rich interplay between the process of knowledge construction and the development and co-evolution of ideas, learners, tools, and contexts.

This course is an introduction to problems about creativity as it pervades human experience and behavior. Questions about imagination and innovation are studied in relation to the history of philosophy as well as more recent work in philosophy, affective psychology, cognitive studies, and art theory. Readings and guidance are aligned with the student’s focus of interest.

Where do rights come from? In this lecture, Dr. Bill Glod of the Institute for Humane Studies explains the two approaches that philosophers use to derive rights, consequential and deontological, and their ability to provide a strong argument in favor of rights.

Negotiation and Conflict Management presents negotiation theory – strategies and styles – within an employment context. 15.667 meets only eleven times, with a different topic each week, which is why students should commit to attending all classes. In addition to the theory and exercises presented in class, students practice negotiating with role-playing simulations that cover a range of topics. Students also learn how to negotiate in difficult situations, which include abrasiveness, racism, sexism, whistle-blowing, and emergencies. The course covers conflict management as a first party and as a third party: third-party skills include helping others deal directly with their conflicts, mediation, investigation, arbitration, and helping the system change as a result of a dispute.
Learning and grading in 15.667 is based on: readings, simulations and class discussions, four self-assessments, your analysis of the negotiations of others, writing each week in your journal, and writing three Little Papers.

Short Description:
The Nicomachean Ethics (circa 322 BC) is an ethical treatise by Aristotle. In the text, Aristotle offers a defence of the idea of eudaimonism (human flourishing or happiness) which is achieved as a result of human choice in search of excellence and the good life.

Long Description:
The Nicomachean Ethics (circa 322 BC) is an ethical treatise by Aristotle. In the text, Aristotle offers a defence of the idea of eudaimonism (human flourishing or happiness) which is achieved as a result of human choice in search of excellence and the good life.

Word Count: 91976

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)