The department seeks to initiate students into three distinctive human quests: the search for meaning, the search for justice, and the search for the foundations of knowledge. The process of initiation is intended not only to provide an introduction to outstanding literature in the field but also to assist the student in effecting a personal appropriation of the search and in developing the necessary skills for its pursuit. Active class participation is an essential part of this process; hence, failed courses cannot be made up by examination alone.

The department diploma requirement is successful completion of any one-trimester course; this requirement applies only to those who attend Phillips Academy for three or four years. Four-year students fulfill their requirement in the Lower year. Courses are offered at a variety of levels. All courses involve four class periods.

PHRE-240 Religious Discoverers
(not offered in 2007–2008)

PHRE-300 Asian Religions: An Introduction
(F-W-S)
Four class periods.Not open to Juniors.The aim of this course is to introduce students to religious studies through examining some of the traditions that originated and flourished in Asia and are practiced by people throughout the world today. Using an approach that is both critical and empathetic, students will explore the fundamental structures of belief, meaning, and practice that constitute the traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, the diversity within each of these traditions, and their multiple manifestations throughout the world. In doing so, students also will explore their own essential questions of meaning in dialogue with these traditions. Texts include The Bhagavad-Gita and The Dhammapada.

PHRE-310 Religions of the Book:
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
(F-S)
Four class periods. Not open to Juniors. This course introduces students to the religious traditions that originated in the Middle East, flourished in and formed theWest, and are practiced by people throughout the world today. Using an approach that is both critical and empathetic, students will be introduced to the origins and history of each tradition. They will become acquainted with the fundamental structures of belief and meaning that shaped adherents’ lives, the rituals that formed and renewed them, and the social teachings that moved them to action. In doing so, students will learn something about the character of each religious path and about the questions to which we all seek answers.

PHRE-320 Perspectives on the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
(F)
Four class periods. Not open to Juniors. The Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, is the one scripture shared by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It begins the story of monotheism in the West and introduces persons and principles who figure significantly in all three traditions. Students will consider the text’s literary qualities, religious significance, and historical setting. Class discussions and written exercises stress close reading and critical analysis of this core narrative of a people under God.

PHRE-330 The New Testament Perspective
(W-S)
Four class periods. Not open to Juniors. The course will consider, in their cultural and historical context, the person and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, the development of the early Christian community, and the religious claims of that community concerning the Christ.

PHRE-340 Introduction to Ethics
(F-W-S)
Four class periods. Not open to Juniors. Students in this discussion course will be introduced to a variety of approaches to ethical reflection. Through the use of classical texts and personal and literary stories, students will develop a common vocabulary with which to understand and critically evaluate their moral experience.

PHRE-360 Proof and Persuasion
(F-W-S)
Four class periods. Not open to Juniors. A practical introduction to informal logic and to the philosophical study of language. Some of the questions raised are the following: What is the difference between a good argument and a poor one?What are the common fallacies of thought? What are the limitations of logic? What are the meaning of “meaning” and the truth about “truth?” The course stresses the development of individual skill in argument and includes a critical examination of the patterns of thought one encounters every day in magazines, in newspapers, and on television.

PHRE-370 Views of Human Nature
(F-W-S)
Four class periods. Not open to Juniors. A critical examination of selected traditional and contemporary views of human nature with the following questions in mind: Do we have a characteristic nature?What are our basic needs, purposes, rights, obligations, and values? To what extent are our actions determined by heredity and instinct? Are we free? Are we responsible for our actions? Do the answers to any of these questions differ for males and females? Given an understanding of human nature, how should we structure society to satisfy our needs and take advantage of our potential? Class discussions and written exercises are designed to encourage participants to develop views of their own against a background of a basic understanding of the readings.

PHRE-420 Responses to the Holocaust
(W)
Four class periods. Open to Uppers and Seniors, and to Lowers with permission of the instructor. An exploration of the Holocaust through diaries, memoirs, films, works of fiction, and later nonfiction reflections on the phenomenon. Questions to be engaged will include the following: What was it like for the victims? What was it like for the perpetrators? Who were the bystanders? How could it have happened?What elements from Jewish, Christian, and secular tradition contributed to its possibility? What inspired and motivated resistance, and how were resistance efforts sustained? How have various Jewish, Christian, and secular thinkers responded to the challenge of this event? What have been some of its effects on our own feelings about life and human beings? Texts may include Night, Between Dignity and Despair, The Sunflower, Tales of the Master Race, Ordinary Men, and The White Rose. Films may include Night and Fog, One Survivor Remembers, Weapons of the Spirit, and America and the Holocaust.

PHRE-430 Law and Morality
(F-W-S)
Four class periods. Open to Uppers and Seniors, and to Lowers with permission of the instructor. A critical examination of issues that arise out of the relationship between law and morality. Questions of concern include the following: For what reasons, if any, should an individual obey or disobey the laws of society?Which kinds of governments (monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, etc.), if any, are legitimate? To what degree should society restrict the freedom of individuals through laws on matters like abortion, pornography, race, and sexual relations? Class discussions and written exercises are designed to encourage participants to develop views of their own against a background of basic understanding of the readings. These include selections from the works of Plato, Hobbes, Rawls, and Martin Luther King Jr.

PHRE-440 Nonviolence in Theory and Practice
(S)
Four class periods. Open to Uppers and Seniors, and to Lowers with permission of the instructor. Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. are wellknown figures who successfully applied nonviolence to conflict situations in the 20th century. Is nonviolence still a viable option for us today? This course includes study of Gandhi, King, and contemporary practitioners who assert that nonviolence is both a viable and a necessary means of combating all forms of violence, including terrorism. Readings will include works by Gandhi, Bondurant, King, Sharp, the Dalai Lama, and other contemporary practitioners.

PHRE-450 In Search of Meaning: Suffering, Resistance, and Hope
(F)
Four class periods. Open to Uppers and Seniors and to Lowers with the permission of the instructor. This is a two-credit, interdisciplinary, Senior-level course; students also must sign up for English 572/1. The range of human capacity for cruelty and compassion, cowardice and heroism, and blindness and vision has marked the 20th century and continues to unfold before us. From South Africa to Bosnia and from China to the United States, experiences of suffering, resistance, and hope raise important issues of human responses to political and social oppression. What are the origin, nature, and purpose of suffering? What are the sources of individual and collective resistance? Is hope futile in the face of escalating violence? By looking through the multiple lenses of philosophical texts, literature, and film at particular global struggles, students shall explore these and other questions in a seminar format.

PHRE-460 Bioethics: Medicine
(F-W)
Four class periods. Open to Uppers and Seniors, and to Lowers with permission of the instructor. Modern medical research and practice present society with new opportunities and huge challenges, and doctors are guided by both ethics and science in the search for new remedies, the treatment of patients, and the struggle for just social and health care policies on a national and global scale.

This course provides a brief introduction to ethics, its application to issues in medicine and medical research, and its role in setting public policy. Topics include the physician/patient relationship, professional codes, international standards in drug development, stem cell therapies, and the provision of health care to those in need.

PHRE-470 Bioethics: The Environment
(S)
Four class periods. Open to Uppers and Seniors, and to Lowers with permission of the instructor. We are facing unprecedented environmental challenges to climate, life forms, human health and population, and essential resources.We tend to treat such issues simply as scientific or political problems. In reality, ecological controversies raise fundamental questions about what we human beings value, the kind of beings we are, the kinds of lives we should lead, and our place in nature. Sustainability is not possible without a deep change of values and commitment. In short, environmental problems raise fundamental questions of ethics and philosophy. This course seeks to provide a systematic introduction to those questions. Each of the following courses may require more than the standard four to five hours per week of homework.

PHRE-500 Existentialism
(S)
Four class periods. Open to Uppers and Seniors. The term existentialism covers a broad range of attitudes and values joined together by an emphasis on human existence. The authors brought together in its name share a characteristic concern for the problems of meaning, identity, and choice that confront men and women in everyday life. The lectures, discussions, and readings are designed to help us locate and express these problems as they confront each of us in our own lives, and to assist in understanding and resolving them by drawing on the experiences and insights of the major existentialist thinkers. Readings include Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek; FriedrichNietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra; Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit and Being and Nothingness; and Sören Kierkegaard, The Sickness unto Death.

PHRE-510 Global Justice
(F) (formerly In Search of Justice)
Four class periods. Open to Uppers and Seniors. What is justice?What is the meaning and worth of calls to fight injustice and to strive to make the world more just? What does the search to understand and promote justice entail in our increasingly interconnected world? Human population growth, environmental degradation, imbalances between rich and poor countries, the activities and influence of multinational corporations, civil and international war, transnational crime, terrorism, and cultural imperialism: all of these present important ethical and political challenges.What principles, practices, and institutions hold the most promise for securing a desirable future? Through reading, writing, research, presentations, and discussion, participants will work together to develop a deeper understanding of a variety of ways these questions can be addressed thoughtfully and effectively. Texts will include One World: The Ethics of Globalization, by Peter Singer, and Globalization and the Challenges of the New Century, edited by O’Meara, Mehlinger, and Krain.

PHRE-520 Great Philosophers
(W)
Four class periods. Open to Uppers and Seniors. Participants in this upper level course in philosophy will explore a single idea and the questions that arise in its elucidation and application. Topics will change from year to year and may include love, globalization, leadership, or competition. Important thinkers from a variety of traditions and points of view will be consulted. Final projects will include presentations of the results of individual or group research.The topic for 2008 will be the nature, worth, and future of love.

PHRE-530 Islamic Cultural Studies
(W)
Four class periods. Open to Uppers and Seniors. Islamic Cultural Studies is an introduction to Islam, with an emphasis on its diverse political, cultural, religious, and social expressions. Consideration will be given to origins and formative developments, but the focus of the course will be on contemporary manifestations in a variety of geopolitical regions. Topics for investigation will be based on student interest and may include gender, modern political conflicts and expressions, art, literature, music, architecture, philosophy, and religious practices. Students will engage in a final research project and presentation that will be constructed in consultation with the instructor.