As Christians, we know that all truth is found in an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Philosophy—the quest for ultimate truth through human reason and observation—can never achieve such a comprehensive experience of Reality.  Yet it is an inescapable fact: the way we see ourselves, and the world, has been shaped by the great philosophers of our Western tradition.  To truly understand ourselves, we need to understand their ideas, and how they have impacted us.

 In this course, we will investigate the works of twelve important philosophers, from Plato and Aristotle down to Jean-Paul Sartre.   We will examine the questions they ask, the reasoning they employ, and the insights they produce.  All of these will be weighed and evaluated from an Orthodox Christian perspective. The goal of the course is to help students transform their cultural intellectual heritage into something that informs, broadens, and deepens their faith experience.

Instructor:

Matthew Gallatin is a noted author (Thirsting for God in a Land of Shallow Wells), speaker, and podcaster (Pilgrims from Paradise).  Matthew received his M.A. in Philosophy from Gonzaga University, and taught philosophy at Gonzaga University and North Idaho College for 17 years.

Course Requirements:

God and the Philosophers is a course designed for upper level high school students.  Participants should plan to spend 30-45 minutes a day on the course.  For each philosopher we study,  students will write a short reflective paper (2-4 pages) in which they will adress specific questions raised by the instructor.  There will also be a midterm and final exam.

Textbook:

Pomerleau, Wayne, Twelve Great Philosophers:  An Historical Introduction to Human Nature (Ardsley House Publishers, 1997).  New and used copies available through Amazon.com.

Students will also be assigned excerpts from the writings of the philosophers we study.  These texts are available free online.