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Course name
Philosophy of the Human Person, Part Two (Eligible for College Credit)
Live course taught by Sam Nicholson for Spring 2025 High School Fundamentals of Philosophy
Summary

Continue with Part Two of this course as we move from the philosophy of the Ancients to the Modern & Contemporary world. Our goal is to cultivate critical thinking skills and foster philosophical literacy, empowering students to rationally evaluate competing claims about the human good, all within the framework of our Catholic faith.

Instructor: Sam Nicholson, PhD

Course Description: This two-semester course is a college-preparatory introduction to Philosophy offered in tandem with Franciscan University’s Advantage program. Our goal is to introduce students to the most fundamental questions about human nature, knowledge, and value. This introductory course will acquaint them with some of the canonical philosophical texts in the Western Tradition, spanning from the ancient world to the present. Our goal is to cultivate a sense of basic philosophical literacy and to learn how to think critically so that we can rationally evaluate competing claims about the human good.

Special notes

Special notes: Parts One and Two of this course are part of the Franciscan University Advantage Program for dual enrollment. They align with Franciscan’s PHL 113 for 3 college credits. For more information on the optional dual enrollment program and to see if your student is eligible, visit https://homeschoolconnections.com/resources/college-credit/

Total classes

13

Class dates

Fridays, January 10 to April 11, 2025 (No class March 7 for mid-semester break)

Starting time

2:30 PM Eastern (1:30 Central; 12:30 Mountain; 11:30 Pacific)

Duration

55 minutes

Prerequisites

Philosophy of the Human Person, Part One

Suggested grade level

10th to 12th grade (11th to 12th grade for optional dual enrollment credit)

Suggested credit

One full semester credit for Philosophy. Optional college credit is available through Franciscan University.

Outline

Course Outline: The Modern and Contemporary World

Week 1: Introduction, Early Modernity

  Read: Descartes “Meditations”

Week 2: Rene Descartes

              Read: “Meditations”

Week 3: George Berkeley

               Read: “Three dialogs between Hylas and Philonous” (excerpts)

Week 4: David Hume

               Read: “Treatise on Human Nature” (excerpts)

Week 5: Thomas Hobbes

               Read: “Leviathan” (excerpts)

Week 6: John Locke

               Read: “Second Treatise on Government” (excerpts)

Week 7: Jean Jacque Rousseau

              Read: “The Social Contract” (excerpts)

Week 8: James Madison

              Read: Federalist Papers (#10 and #51)

Week 9: Immanuel Kant

               Read: “Prolegomena” (excerpts)

Week 10: Karl Marx

                Read: “Alienated Labor”

Week 11: Friedrich Nietzsche

                Read: “Beyond Good and Evil” (excerpts)

Week 12: Sigmund Freud

                 Read: “Civilization and its Discontents” (excerpts)

Week 13: Jean Paul Sartre

                Read: “Transcendence of the Ego” (excerpts)

Materials

  • Our course texts will be distributed by the instructor, from a variety of sources both online and in a downloadable PDF format

Homework

There will be three quizzes, a mid-term examination, and a cumulative final exam. These will make up 45%, 25%, and 25% of your grade, respectively. The quizzes will be fully automated, but the midterm and final will include short answer questions graded by the instructor. The remaining 5% of your grade will be assigned on the basis of attendance and participation.

For students who opt into the dual-enrollment program, Franciscan University will offer additional testing to determine eligibility for college-level credit. This additional testing will comprise a midterm and a final exam.

Fees

Fee:  For all 13 classes: $237 if you register on or before November 15; $257 if you register after Nov. 15. (Registration closes one week before the first day of class. After that date, registrations are not guaranteed. There is a $20 surcharge for late enrollments after the course is closed.)

Course name
Philosophy of the Human Person, Part Two (Eligible for College Credit)
Instructor
Sam Nicholson
Semester
Spring 2025
Category
Philosophy ➤ Fundamentals of Philosophy
Grade level
High School
Course type
Live
Price
$257
Seats available
29 seats available
Seats remaining
22 seats remaining
Start time
January 10th, 2025 at 2:30 PM ET
End time
April 11th, 2025 at 4:00 PM ET
Access start time
December 27th, 2024 at 12:00 AM ET
Access end time
December 30th, 2025 at 12:00 AM ET
Enrollment availability start time
April 1st, 2024 at 5:14 PM ET
Early enrollment discount ends
November 15th, 2024 at 11:59 PM ET
Late enrollment penalty start time
January 3rd, 2025 at 12:00 AM ET
Enrollment availability end time
January 6th, 2025 at 12:00 AM ET
Relative due dates
Relative due dates are disabled for this course.

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Sam Nicholson
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About Sam Nicholson

Sam Nicholson earned his PhD from the University of Virginia in 2011. In addition to publishing in peer-reviewed journals, he has taught at the University level for nearly 10 years and has three years experience teaching logic at the high school level. He is an analytically trained Thomist with special interests in the Philosophy of Mind, the Philosophy of Science, and the Theory of Knowledge.

Dr. Nicholson is married to Homeschool Connections’ Victorian literature instructor Eleanor Nicholson. The Nicholsons homeschool their five children.

Click here for more info about Sam Nicholson!

Courses

  • Basic Symbolic Logic (Comprehensive Courses in Logic)

  • Basics of Inductive Reasoning (Comprehensive Courses in Logic)

  • How to Battle Relativism, Nihilism, and Other Errors

  • Rhetoric and Reasoning (Comprehensive Courses in Logic)

  • Modern Symbolic Logic (Comprehensive Courses in Logic)

  • Classical Syllogistic Logic

  • Theories of Knowledge

  • Virtue and Vice: Ancient Philosophy for Modern Catholics

  • Philosophy: Mind, Body, and Soul

  • Great Philosophers: Meet Plato

© 2025 Homeschool Connections; Sam Nicholson. All Rights Reserved.

  • This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections or purchasers of the course. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment, and in violation of US and International copyright laws.
  • You may print or download to your own storage extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.
  • Upon completion of the course, you must delete all copies of course materials from any storage on which you saved permissible extracts.

Violation of the above copyright policies may result in expulsion without any refund and/or legal action.

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