PHIL 331 Reflection Post

In Philosophy 331 Crime and Justice, I learned about the philosophical foundation and underpinnings of the justice system. Along the way, I developed skills in critical thinking, philosophical writing, and critical reading that make me a better thinker and communicator.

The content of the class was set up so that we read two philosophical articles on each of sixteen topics throughout the semester. Sometimes, these articles built on each other. Other weeks, these articles provided contrasting views on the same subject. I found reading excerpts from John Stuart Mill’s book On Liberty to be interesting. It was my favorite reading of the semester. Then, the class followed how Mill’s harm principle was built on by Joel Feinberg who proposed the offense principle which relied on Mill as a foundation. This is an example of how the content of PHIL 331 often built on itself and allowed me and the other students to compound our knowledge.

By the end of the class, I had learned competing theories on what actions the government can criminalize, why they have the authority to do this, what constraints belong on the authority of the government, and more.

Just as important as the content I learned, the skills that I gained along the way will stick with me when I no longer remember some of the content of this class. I became a better critical thinker by engaging with arguments from competing philosophical camps. I became a better philosophical writer through the weekly Medium posts and final paper. I also became a better critical reader by reading the two assigned articles every week and analyzing their arguments.

I am thankful for the knowledge and skills that I gained through my work in PHIL 331.