Specializations in Philosophy

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History of Philosophy

The history of philosophy is conventionally divided into a number of historical periods: ancient (Greece and Rome), medieval, Renaissance and Enlightenment, and the 19th/20th centuries. Ancient philosophy, especially in the works of Plato and Aristotle, provides key ideas in metaphysics (theories of reality), epistemology (theories of knowledge), and value theory (including ethics and aesthetics). Subsequent thinkers adopted, modified, criticized, rejected, and invented, providing a wealth of ideas to be studied.   Key later thinkers include such individuals as Thomas Aquinas in the medieval period, Descartes in the Renaissance, Kant during the Enlightenment, and a host of thinkers from Hegel to Simone de Beauvoir in the 19th and 20th centuries - men and women concerned with the riddle of existence, the value of knowledge, and the understanding of ourselves and our world.

    Courses We Offer in the History of Philosophy

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African, African-American, and Asian Philosophy

These are philosophies that did not originate within Western traditions but that can be compared as well as contrasted with Western ones in terms of concepts, beliefs, and arguments. Both African philosophy and Asian philosophy are identified and discussed at CCSU in light of the most prominent primary and secondary sources. Social, political, and economic factors that have influenced these philosophies are considered in ways that are empathetic but also rigorous. Prominent discussions in African philosophy concern Nkrumah's concept of consciencism, Senghor's concept of negritude, and Nyerere's concept of ujamaa. Mbiti, Oruka, Hountondji, Appiah, and Wiredu are other important authors whose works are considered in this area. In Indian philosophy, discussions focus on the nature of the self and its connection to the greater whole. The problem of desire and the yoga disciplines are addressed in the context of the self. In East Asia, the focus is not only on harmony within the human order, as represented by the Confucian tradition, but also on harmony with the natural order, as represented by the Taoist tradition.

    Courses We Offer in African, African-American and Asian Philosophy

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Logic and Philosophy of Science

Logic is concerned with the principles of reasoning - including deduction (reasoning from premises to conclusions), induction (reasoning from partial information), abduction (reasoning to the best explanation), and critical thinking (assessment of everyday arguments). Symbolic or formal logic provides the theory and technique behind deduction. Logic finds multiple applications ranging from legal and medical reasoning to artificial intelligence and the foundations of mathematics and the sciences.  Philosophy of science critically examines the logic and the structure of scientific theories, their origin and development as cognitive structures, and addresses issues such as the nature and status of truth, objectivity, and progress in the natural sciences. Related issues involve the social context and implications of science, and its applications in technology.

    Courses We Offer in Logic and Philosophy of Science

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Continental Philosophy

Continental Philosophy originated in Europe in the Nineteenth Century (e.g. Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Neitzsche), more fully articulated in the Twentieth Century, first as phenomenology (Husserl), then in its offshoot existentialism (Sartre, de Beauvoir, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty), and more recently, in "post-modernism", "post-strucuturalism", and "deconstruction" (Heidegger, Foucault, Derrida).  Its main themes are critiques of the role of the subject in knowledge and action, problematics concerning history and epistemology, experience and theory, thinking and feeling (will and desire), truth and value (political, ethical and/or aesthetic), leading to, in contemporary thought, a distrust of "objectivity" based on a recognition of the radical contingency of our perspectives, and he relationship between power and knowledge.

    Courses We Offer in Continental Philosophy

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Theoretical and Practical Ethics

The ethics curriculum is designed to provide students with the critical tools necessary for formulating moral issues, clarifying moral concepts, and, hopefully, resolving the moral problems with which they and society are faced. As a theoretical inquiry, ethics addresses such questions as : What distinguishes right from wrong conduct? What kinds of character traits and attitudes should we foster in ourselves? Under what conditions do individuals possess rights? When may a practice, policy or a social institution be said to be fair or just rather than unfair or unjust? Theoretical ethics also considers how such questions are to be approached: what sorts of methods or procedures should be employed when evaluating conduct or formulating policies, and what should be done when these methods or procedures appear in conflict with one another? As a practical inquiry, ethics seeks to test and use its theoretical results in addressing ethical problems about subjects that range from health care and the environment to technology, business, and other social institutions. Should physician-assisted suicide be an acceptable practice? Should corporations recognize obligations to consumers, employees, or the public? Should the technology that makes cloning possible be permitted? Indeed, how should we go about assessing the worth of future technologies?

    Courses We Offer in Theoretical and Practical Ethics

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Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies

Courses in this specialization will examine the religious dimension of human beings. Typically, students who select this specialization will investigate the meanings of and justifications for the concepts and statements used to express various religious beliefs. Students will also utilize the existing program in religious studies, as well as the associated disciplines of anthropology, history, literature, psychology, and sociology, in particular. Thus, the critical apparatus of philosophy is employed within an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspective to study the nature, origins, language, and history of the varied human experiences designated as "religious." Prominent issues of interest concern the nature and import of mystical experience, the "natural" or "rational" proofs for god's existence, the problem of evil, and whether religious statements can be disconfirmed. The nature of the self is emphasized in Indian philosophy,while harmony with nature and with other people is emphasized in East Asian philosophy. African philosophy focuses on ancestor veneration and on the social utility of oracles.

    Courses We Offer in Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies

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