William O'Meara's World of Philosophy & Religion

Welcome to the homepage of Dr. Bill O'Meara, Professor of Philosophy and Religion at James Madison University. I came to JMU in 1971 when it was still Madison College and before Harrisonburg had a McDonald's. Links to my course syllabi, assignments, encylopedias in philosophy, hints on writing papers, constructing arguments, avoiding fallacies, and links to the internet are included below. My academic interests include Phenomenology and Existentialism, American Philosophy and Pragmatism, the thought of Karl Marx, the social nature of the self and morality, contemporary Catholic theology, the Christian scriptures, world religions, computer-assisted instruction, and critical thinking. My personal interests include: my grandchildren Philosophy 101 Syllabus: Lectures, Study Guides, Assignments Coffee Break

WEB Resources for Students

• Glossaries and Dictionaries of Terms in Philosophy
• Fallacies in Argument: Names, Definitions, Examples
• Guides for Writing Philosophy Papers
• Guide to Issues in Philosophy with Resources and Links
• The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Primary Texts of Philosophers from Ancient Greece to the Present World
  
  
• Classroom: Philosophers; Philosophy Encyclopedias; Writing Papers; Avoiding Fallacies; Discussion Groups
• Three Critical Questions: Fact, Reasoned Judgment, and Mere Opinion
• Universal Intellectual Standards; Valuable Intellectual Traits; Critical Thinking; Why Students and Teachers Sometimes Reason Uncritically
• Basic Analysis of Deductive and Inductive Arguments in General (with specific analysis of the deductive and inductive aspects of the three steps of scientific method:
1. 1 Observation of Facts and Generalization
2. 2 Hypothesis and Deductive Pedictions
3. 3 Experiment and Conclusion
   
   
• Multiple Site Shareware Search Engine
• JMU Library
• Internet Resources
• Link to the JMU Homepage
• Yahoo - A Guide to the WWW
• What's Cool Search Engine
• Learning to Think Critically about Sources on the Internet
  
  
• Evolution/Creation TalkOrigins Freq. Asked Questions
• The Why Files by National Science Foundation
• "Cargo Cult Science" by Richard Feyman
  
  
• Confucius and Self-knowledge
• Research on the Gospels: The Historical Jesus and the Christ of Faith
• WWW Sources in World Religion for Religion 101
• Resurrection Narratives in the Four Gospels: Contradictory or Harmonious (The analyses of Willi Marxsen and Raymond Brown, Contemporary Biblical Scholars)
• Beyond Toleration: An essay on Truths and Values in the World Religions
• Fallacies to Avoid in Writing on the Problem of Evil

Click here to send me an e-mail with suggestions for me to add to my resources for students or if you wish to ask me any questions: omearawm@jmu.edu