BAHRIA UNIVERSITY KARACHI CAMPUS

Name of Course: Introduction to philosophy

Course Instructor: Rehan Aziz
Credit Hour: 03

Course Code:

COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course is an introduction to the nature and aims of philosophy, to some of its central
problems and to the methods employed in philosophical discussion. Typical problems
shall be examined including the nature of reality, knowledge, values, and the self. The
course offers the students a broad introduction to philosophy, some major schools of
thought and other intellectual movements. It will describe the long intellectual journey
that has worked throughout the western history. The prevailing social, political and other
ideological debates will also widen the mental horizon of the students.

Weeks Topics
Introduction to the Course:
1st Why Study Philosophy?
Week 1. Philosophy: meaning & definition
2. Relationship to other disciplines like science and religion.
Introduction to logic.
Proposition & argument. Weak and Strong arguments
2nd Week
Inductive and Deductive arguments
Truth & validity.
The idea of God

The Divine attributes

3rd Week Arguments for the existence of God and criticism:

The argument from Design

Arguments for the existence of God and criticism: Ontological and

cosmological arguments

The problem of evil

4th Week
Quiz #1

5th Week Ethics

 Right and Wrong
Morality as a social contract
-------------constitutive of self interest

Issues in Morality
The utilitarian (consequence-based) theory of morality
Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
6th Week
applying utilitarianism
the trade-off between utility and rights
The deontological (duty-based) theory of morality

basing morality on intentions

the categorical imperative

7th Week
comparing the utilitarian and deontological theory

Quiz # 2

Politics

Conception of equality
8th
Week
Positive and Negative freedom

Democracy
What is Enlightenment?

9th Week Immanuel Kant essay What is Enlightenment?

Debate on Faith and Reason

Tolerance and Tolerant society

Tolerant individual

Idea of liberal democracy

10th Weak Tensions and Applications

Quiz # 3

Assignment #3

11th The external world

Week
 Commonsense realism

Cogito ergo sum

Representative realism

Science

The simple view of Scientific method

12th Week
The problem of Induction

Falsificationism: conjecture and refutation

Philosophy of Mind and Psychology

The Mind/Body problem

Behaviorism
13th
Type identity theory
Week
Functionalism

Quiz# 4

Art

Definition of Art

14th Week The family resemblance view

The idealist theory

The idealist theory

Presentations
15th Week
Revision
Suggested Readings:
1. Nigel Warburton. Philosophy. Basics. Routledge London & Newyork
2. Michael Lacewing. Philosophy for AS. Routledge London & Newyork.
3. Steven M. Kahn, ed. Classics of Western Philosophy
Hacket Publishing Company, Indianapolis/Cambridge 2002 (6th edition).

4. Forest E. Baird, Walter Kaufmann, eds., Philosophy Classics: From Plato to

Derrida, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 2004 (4th edition)
5. Jacques Maritain- An introduction to Philosophy
6. Daniel Kolak and Raymond Martin. Wisdom without answers. A brief
introduction to Philosophy

Note: Some relevant handouts shall also be the part of the syllabus.

GRADING PLAN:

Quizzes 15%
Presentation 10%
Assignments 10%
Mid Term Exam 25%
Final Exam 40%
Total 100%

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Attendance: - Maximum absences allowed is 20% More than 20% will earn the
student a failing grade.