This course examines the question, When does a belief count as knowledge? It addresses the relevance of the knower in knowing, the role of proof and evidence, and the major historical and contemporary theories of epistemology such as skepticism, relativism, and empiricism.

A comparative introduction to normative social theory. An examination and critique of alternative grounds for claiming that an action, attitude, social rule, or social institution is morally right or wrong.

In this course students learn the basic principles of propositional and first-order logic. Emphasis is on developing understanding and skill in constructing valid deductive arguments and recognizing fallacious reasoning. Informal and inductive logic will also be introduced with a survey of common informal fallacies.

This course explores the implications of the biblical doctrines of creation, fall, redemption and providence for the academic study of philosophy. It stresses the Christocentric nature of the world in which we live, the relationship between the inclination of the heart and the human ability to know and the utter dependence of the created order upon the providential activity of the Creator from one moment to the next. Particular attention will be given to topics such as the Creator/creature distinction, the noetic effects of sin and regeneration, the inherently theological nature of all knowledge and the relationship between general and special revelation.

This course surveys metaphysics as the study of the nature of reality and is concerned with identifying and understanding the fundamentally distinct sorts of things that exist such as properties, relations, time, causality, freedom, mind, numbers, sets and possible worlds. The course attempts to relate these things to the doctrine of creation and to the dynamics of God’s acting according to his plan for his purposes in Christ. This is a course in worldview integration for those majoring in physical and social science, mathematics, or in any of the humanities.

This course considers how individuals have thought and written about politics from a philosophical perspective. It seeks to understand both Ancient and Modern perspectives, and it will emphasize Christian political thought. It will also consider normative considerations about justice and the nature of political rights.