This course aims at providing explanations and use of certain concepts essential to resolving problems in philosophy. Our interest is not to solve the problems. Nor is it to arrive at definite answers. We will explore the philosophical issues to make you think more about these and, it is to be hoped, relevant aspects of the human condition in general.

Questions of interest to us include the following: Does God exist? Are there souls? What is a person? What is morality? What is justice? What are rights? How useful is an appeal to rights in moral evaluations? What, if anything, doe we really know? What are the limits to human knowlege?

These questions are of fundamental importance, and the issues we raise and discuss about them will be with you possibly for the rest of your life. I do not expect settled and thoughtful views from you at this stage. What is important is that you learn the basic thinking skills essential to reasoning productively about the relevant issues.