# Philosophy (PHIL) courses

Solano Community College · 2025-2026 Catalog · 6 courses

Source: https://solano.elumenapp.com/catalog/catalog2025-2026/department/philosophy

"Offered" lists sections in this catalog year's class schedules: Spring 2026.

### PHIL 001 — Introduction to Critical Thinking and Reasoning

- **Units:** 3
- **Hours:** 3 hours lecture weekly, 54 contact hours total
- **Advisory:** Eligibility for ENGL C1000 or ENGL 001E
- **Transfers to:** CSU, UC
- **Offered:** Spring 2026, 2 sections (/c/solano-community-college/schedule/spring-2026/phil.md)
- General Education: SCC: Area 1B

Study of the basic skills of good reasoning needed for the intelligent and responsible conduct of life. Topics include: argument structure and identification, validity and strength of arguments, common fallacies of reasoning, use and abuse of language in reasoning, principles of fair play in argumentation. Critical reading and writing is required.

### PHIL 003 — Introduction to Philosophy

- **Units:** 3
- **Hours:** 3 hours lecture weekly, 54 contact hours total
- **Advisory:** Eligibility for ENGL C1000 or ENGL 001E
- **Transfers to:** CSU, UC
- **Offered:** Spring 2026, 1 section (/c/solano-community-college/schedule/spring-2026/phil.md)
- General Education: SCC: Area 3; Cal-GETC: Area 3B

A general introduction to the central methods and recurring problems in the Western philosophical tradition. Topics of inquiry are theories of knowledge, theories of existence, philosophy of religion, free will and determinism, and the mind-body problem. Critical reading and writing are required.

### PHIL 004 — Introduction to Ethics

- **Units:** 3
- **Hours:** 3 hours lecture weekly, 54 contact hours total
- **Advisory:** Eligibility for ENGL C1000 or ENGL 001E
- **C-ID:** PHIL 120
- **Transfers to:** CSU, UC
- **Offered:** not on the Spring 2026 schedule
- General Education: SCC: Area 3; Cal-GETC: Area 3B

An examination of the concept of morality and values, representative ethical theories including their applications to moral problems. The course includes classical texts of philosophy and examines several contemporary issues in applied ethics, exploring them from a variety of perspectives.

### PHIL 005 — Critical Thinking: The Philosophic Grounds of Literacy

- **Units:** 3
- **Hours:** 3 hours lecture weekly, 54 contact hours total
- **Prerequisite:** ENGL C1000
- **Transfers to:** CSU, UC
- **Offered:** not on the Spring 2026 schedule
- General Education: SCC: Area 1B; Area 3

A course designed to educate students in the fundamental principles of sound and cogent thinking and reasoning expressed primarily in argumentative essays. More specifically, the course is a practicum in critical literacy, i.e., the written practice and refinement of fundamental skills and dispositions required in effective argumentation, critical analysis and evaluation, conceptual inquiry, and discursive expression in general. The study of exemplary argumentative writings from a variety of philosophical, social, and political sources is integral. Objective exams and critical essays are required. This course fulfills the IGETC critical thinking requirement.

### PHIL 006 — Introduction to Political Philosophy

- **Units:** 3
- **Hours:** 3 hours lecture weekly, 54 contact hours total
- **Transfers to:** CSU, UC
- **Offered:** not on the Spring 2026 schedule
- General Education: SCC: Area 4; Cal-GETC: Area 3B; Area 4

An inquiry into fundamental political concepts in political thought (e.g. justice, freedom, equality, power, authority, obligation and citizenship) as expressed by major political thinkers. Includes the study of basic skills, criticisms, and methods in political inquiry relevant to the life and education of citizens. Critical reading and writing is required.

### PHIL 400 — Bioethics

- **Units:** 3
- **Hours:** 3 hours lecture weekly, 54 contact hours total
- **Prerequisite:** Admission into the Biomanufacturing Baccalaureate degree program. and Permission of faculty required. ENGL C1000, STAT C1000
- **Offered:** not on the Spring 2026 schedule
- Not transferable

Builds upon a philosophical and critical thinking foundation to train students to be able to model sound ethical decision making in the life science and medical fields. The course requires application of moral theory to a variety of problems in the life science and medical fields such as: genetic engineering, stem cells, allocation of resources, medically assisted dying, genetic screening, genetic alteration, abortion and reproductive rights, and experiments on human or animal subjects. Enrollment in this upper division General Education course is limited to students enrolled in the Bachelors of Science in Biomanufacturing program.