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Course name
How to Battle Relativism, Nihilism, and Other Errors with Sam Nicholson, Ph.D.
Recorded course taught by Sam Nicholson for High School Modern Philosophers
Summary

Instructor Access (optional grading support) for Unlimited Access families is available for this course for $40!

Truth matters. When confronted with claims that morality is relative, individual, or changing, how will you respond?

 Instructor: Sam Nicholson, Ph.D.

Instructor email: scn8v@virginia.edu

Course Description: In this introductory course, we will examine some of the most common and persistent philosophical errors in the Western tradition. We will discover that many of these errors (subjectivism, relativism, nihilism, hedonism) are neither new nor peculiar to the Modern era. We will see how they have been proposed and defended, and how they have been addressed and dealt with by luminaries such as Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and others. Students who complete this course will be equipped with the tools necessary to diagnose and correct some of the most intractable errors that presently dominate our culture.

Total classes

10

Duration

55 minutes

Prerequisites

None

Suggested grade level

9th to 12th grade

Suggested credit

¾ semester Philosophy

Outline

Course Schedule:

 Introduction, background, begin reading Plato's "Theatetus"

 Subjectivism, read Plato's "Theatetus"

Cultural Relativism, read Herodotus "Histories"

Skepticism, read Sextus Empiricus "Outlines of Pyrrhonism"

Skepticism, continue Sextus Empiricius "Outlines of Pyrrhonism"

Refutation of Skepticism, read St. Augustine "Contra Academicos"

Rationalism: read Rene Descartes "Meditations I-III"

Dualism: continue Rene Descartes "Meditations IV -VI"

Naturalism: read David Hume "On Miracles"

Naturalism: read David Hume "Enquiry on Human Understanding"

Materials

All texts for this class will be posted online from open-source translations or online archives. There is no purchase required.

Homework

Homework consists of daily readings. Plus, there will be three quizzes, a mid-term examination, and a final. Expect to devote one to two hours per day on reading and testing.

Course name
How to Battle Relativism, Nihilism, and Other Errors with Sam Nicholson, Ph.D.
Instructor
Sam Nicholson
Semester
Recorded
Category
Philosophy ➤ Modern Philosophers
Grade levels
High School
Start time
June 15th, 2020 at 12:00 AM ET
Course type
Recorded, free with subscription
Relative due dates
Relative due dates are disabled for this course.
Enhanced quiz security
Enhanced assignment security

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Sam Nicholson
scn8v@virginia.edu

View courses I am instructing

About Sam Nicholson

Sam Nicholson earned his PhD from the University of Virginia in 2011. He has published in peer-reviewed academic journals, and he taught at the University level for nearly 10 years. He has taught philosophy and logic at the high school level since 2016. 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. By day, he is the Facilities Supervisor at St. Thomas Aquinas parish in Charlottesville, VA.

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

  • Great Philosophers: Meet Aristotle

  • Hellenistic Philosophy

  • The Human Person (Franciscan Advantage Program)

© 2020 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.