Philosophical, Religious, and Ethical Inquiry

Inquiry encourages the pursuit of meaning.

3 credit hours | This Breadth exposes students to the theories and methodologies used in the discipline of Philosophy, Religious Studies, or Ethics. Courses only need to cover one of these areas.

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The Value of Philosophical, Religious, and Ethical Inquiry

Philosophical, religious, and ethical inquiry are related fields of analysis that invite students to engage critically with concepts, problems, traditions, and practices. These disciplines provide students with the tools to evaluate philosophical, religious, and ethical claims, to ask pointed questions about the world, and to discover how to attend to the philosophical, religious, and ethical convictions or assumptions that inform diverse peoples and traditions. In doing so, students build analytical and communicative skills and nurture respectful dialogue.

For courses on ethics, what separates PREI from the Civics and Individual Ethics Proficiency is the theoretical nature of the course. PREI courses focused on ethics introduce students to the discipline. CIE courses invite students to apply relevant ethical theories to particular contexts. Please note that a course may not carry both the PREI Breadth tag and the CIE Proficiency tag.

Student Learning Outcome

Students will demonstrate an understanding of philosophical, religious, or ethical concepts, traditions, or practices and their corresponding methods of inquiry.

 


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Philosophical, Religious, and Ethical Inquiry Rubric
CC Test and Transfer Credit
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Requirement Details

Courses are found in the departments of Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Sociology, among others.

  • JOUR 2302- Ethics of Convergent Media
  • PHIL 1301 – Elementary Logic
  • PHIL 1317 – Business Ethics
  • PHIL 3321 – Time, Space, and Metaphysics
  • RELI 3316 – Religion and Science
  • SOCI 3301 – Health, Healing, and Ethics

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Students will:

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of significant concepts, methods, or theories from a particular philosophical, religious, or ethical domain.
  2. Analyze or apply to a given problem domain the appropriate concept, method, theory, or argument from philosophy, religious studies, or ethics.
  3. Evaluate significant concepts, methods, theories, or arguments within philosophy, religious studies, or ethics.

Courses in this category:

  1. Familiarize students with concepts, methods, theories, and/or arguments within philosophy, religious studies, or ethics.
  2. Challenge students to engage and analyze these concepts, methods, theories, or arguments.
  3. Use primary and/or secondary sources from the domains of philosophy, religious studies, and/or ethics.
  4. Have philosophy, religious studies, and/or ethics as a central focus.
  5. May not be used to satisfy the Civics and Individual Ethics proficiency.
  6. Include an assessment assignment that requires students to demonstrate each of the skills in the Philosophical, Religious, and Ethical Inquiry Assessment Rubric. This assessment assignment should be one of the following: an objective exam, an essay question on an exam, an essay, or a research paper.