Courtney Dorian Schlosser is one of the founding members of the Philosophy Department. He was hired in 1971 to teach the History and Philosophy of Education. Since then his interests have concentrated on the ancient philosophical traditions of Greece, India and China. He has also traveled and lived in those regions of the world.

Professor Schlosser received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from George Washington University and Boston University. His areas of intellectual and scholarly work have included Existential Philosophy and Phenomenology, Pragmatic Philosophy, Religious Philosophies, Medieval and Modern Philosophies, Philosophy of Education, and the Ancient Philosophies of Greece, India and China. He regularly offers courses in these areas of knowledge as well as the Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics and Politics.

Professor Schlosser received a Fulbright grant for field studies in Chinese philosophies and contemporary civilization in 1995. He has used his sabbatical leaves from the college for studies and travel in India and China. He has studied through scholarships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the East-West Center of the University of Hawaii in the areas of Confucian Philosophy and Chinese Culture; Japanese Culture and Buddhist Philosophy.

He has held courses in Buddhist Philosophy at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and given talks at the Siddhaachalam Jain Ashram in New Jersey on a variety of topics.

He lives in Barre, Massachusetts and in Westport, Massachusetts. He and his wife grow organic vegetables and harvest native blueberries and apples for a more sustainable, healthy and peaceful world.

Selected Scholarly Activities:

 Freedom in Education: an Existential Viewpoint (1969)

 The Person in Education: a Humanistic Approach (Text and Anthology, 1976)

The Light of Nonviolence: the Jainist Philosophy of Acharya Sushil Kumarji (1997)

The Matrix of Philosophy: the Quest for Understanding, Wisdom and Nonviolence (Text and Anthology, 2001-2009)

Awakening to Wisdom: the Philosophy of Eckhart Tolle (2008)

The Tree of Philosophy: an Introduction (2009).

Courses Taught:

PH 100 Introduction to Philosophy

LASC—Human Behavior and Social Processes

The fundamentals of philosophy: its vocabulary, problems, and methods.

Offered every year. 3 credits. 

PH 101 Ancient Western Philosophy

An introduction to fundamental topics in Western philosophy through works by philosophers including Plato and

Aristotle.

Typically offered at least every two years. 

PH 102 History of Modern Western Philosophy, 1600-1800

LASC—Human Behavior and Social Processes; Thought, Language and Culture

Engages central topics of Western philosophy through study of important modern philosophers, typically from

Descartes through Kant.

Typically offered at least every two years. 

PH 130 Ethics: Human Conduct and Values

LASC—Human Behavior and Social Processes; Thought, Language and Culture

The nature of morality and value and their place in the world of human action.

Offered every year. 3 credits. 

PH 131 Medical Ethics

LASC—Human Behavior and Social Processes; Thought, Language and Culture

An introductory-level examination of various ethical issues such as abortion, euthanasia, cloning and other genetics

issues, access to healthcare, race and healthcare, and women’s health.

Typically offered at least every three years. 

PH 170 Ancient Chinese Philosophies in a Cultural Perspective

LASC—Global Perspectives; Thought, Language and Culture

Ancient Chinese philosophies of Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and neo-Confucianism in the context of

contemporary developments in China; Communism, Capitalism, and Western influences considered.

Offered every year. 3 credits. 

PH 171 Buddhism: Theory and Meditative Experience

Examines the origins, texts, principles, and practices of Buddhist philosophy including the Four Noble Truths and

Eightfold Path for individual practice.

Offered every year. 3 credits.

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PH 172 Asian Philosophies and Contemporary Perspectives

Studies the philosophies of India, China, Japan, and the vitality of ancient traditions in a time of cultural change:

Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Jainism, Hinduism and Islam.

Offered every year. 3 credits. 

PH 201 19th Century European Philosophy

LASC—Human Behavior and Social Processes; Thought, Language and Culture

Engages the radical new philosophical ideas developed on the European Continent in the 19th Century, beginning

with Hegel.

Typically offered at least every three years. 

PH 202 Selected Topic in 20th – 21st Century Western Philosophy

LASC—Human Behavior and Social Processes; Thought, Language and Culture

Addresses a specific topic in 20th – 21st Century Western Philosophy. The topic will be indicated in each PH 202

registration listing.

Typically offered at least every three years. 

PH 221 Existentialism and Phenomenology

LASC—Thought, Language and Culture

Examines the Existentialist movement of the first half of the 20th Century.

Typically offered at least every three years. 

PH 230 Religious Philosophies, East and West

An examination of the major religious systems, both oriental and occidental.

Offered every 2 years. 3 credits. 

PH 264 Philosophy of Education

Examines philosophical approaches to education through readings of various authors such as Plato, Rousseau,

Wollstonecraft, and Dewey.

Typically offered at least every three years. 

PH 302 Topics in American Philosophy

Prerequisite: EN 102

Treats a selected set of topics in the history of philosophy in the United States.

Offered every 3 years. 3 credits. 

PH 330 Philosophy, Human Potentiality and Consciousness

Prerequisite: One semester of philosophy

The application of philosophical knowledge to the problems of creative self-actualization and consciousness.

Offered every 3 years. 3 credits.