In this course we will examine arguments for a range of philosophical positions.  You will learn to extract arguments from texts and to assess these arguments critically.  We will read work from leading historical and contemporary philosophers, on questions central to the Western philosophical tradition. These questions include the following.  (I) Does it matter what you believe? If so, why?  (II) What is required for genuine knowledge? What, if anything, can we know about the external world?  (III) Are a person’s choices fully determined by that person’s past circumstances? How does the answer to this question bear on the issue of moral responsibility?  (IV) What standard determines whether an action is ethically good?  What sort of political arrangements does justice require?