The phenomena that we perceive in our daily life often leave us with a feeling of wonder. Such a feeling prompts us to philosophize in order to make sense of them. It is worth noting that philosophy is quite distinct from empirical sciences in the sense that conducting experiments is not part of its methodology. Philosophy is distinct from mathematics as well insofar as it does not see rigorous proofs as the only solution to any questions under scrutiny. However, it does not follow that philosophers are less demanding than scientists or mathematicians. Quite the reverse. When philosophers seek to make sense of the natural world and the human life, they are never content with people’s common sense. They even tend to undermine people’s taken-for-granted opinions, and to show how questionable they are. In fact, philosophers may go so far as to accept nothing until they figure out why there’s something rather than nothing. In this sense, philosophical inquiry can be arguably said to be more fundamental, even more radical than empirical/mathematical sciences. Indeed, philosophy might be characterized by the way philosophers seek to make sense of the natural world and the human life. To put it bluntly, the way to philosophize consists in analyzing concepts, clarifying theses, putting forward arguments, conceiving counter arguments and pre-empting them, etc. In this course, we will explore some core issues in philosophy. More specifically, we address the following questions: (1) Can we have any knowledge of the external world? (2) Can we have knowledge of other minds? (3) What is knowledge? What are the sources of knowledge? (4) Is mind/soul irreducible to brain events? (5) Can there be a personal identity relationship between the current and the past “me(s)”? (6) Do we have free will? (7) Does God exist? (8) Is a benevolent God incompatible with a world where evil happens? (9) Does human life have any meaning? (10) Is it rational to fear death? (11) Why should I be moral? (12) Is morality objective? Can our moral judgments be justified? (13) What is the nature of causality? (14) What is law of nature? (15) How do scientists explain the observed phenomena? Does science aim to reveal the reality hidden behind the appearances?

This course aims to give students a clear understanding of certain central issues of philosophy, and to prepare them for an advanced study in philosophy.

1.Solomon, R. & Higgins, K. (2010) The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy, 8th edition, Wadsworth. 2.Gendler, T., Siegel, S. & Cahn, S. (2008) The Elements of Philosophy: Readings from Past and Present, Oxford University Press. 3.Solomon, R. (2008) Introducing Philosophy: A Text with Integrated Readings, 9th edition, Oxford University Press. 4.Perry, J., Bratman, M. & Fischer, J. (eds.) (2007) Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings, 4th edition, Oxford University Press. 5.Pojman, L. (2004) Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press. 6.Hospers, J. (1997) An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis, 4th edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc. 7.Nagel, T. (1987) What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy, Oxford University Press.