History and Philosophy of the Western World Syllabus

This is a History and Philosophy of the Western World Syllabus. Note that it is a suggested syllabus. You can download the syllabus PDF at no charge by clicking the link.

This is what the suggested syllabus will look like. Modify it as suits your homeschool high schoolers’ needs:

7Sisters History and Philosophy of the Western World is a one-credit World History course that explores history through the influences of the great Western philosophers from ancient Greece to modern times. The course also looks at the influence of church history in Western history.

The course is level-able (from College-prep through Honors). Honors-level students choose enrichment exercises to explore as they build their World History credit. Instructions for Honors-level are included within the syllabus.

Suggested syllabus for: History and Philosophy of the Western World

• Text:

  • History and Philosophy of the Western World by Dr. Micah Tillman and Vicki Tillman from 7SistersHomeschool.com

• Other materials and experiences:

  • This is a level-able course. The text is written at College-prep level. To earn College-prep, Advanced or Honors credits, follow these guidelines:
    • Level 3 (College-prep) read the book, do the homework assignments.
    • Level 4 (Advanced) read the book, do the homework assignments PLUS choose twelve of the enrichment exercises (not from the same chapter) and complete the assignment.
      • OR You may replace two enrichment by reading articles or a book from the list and writing a two-page paper on the book.
    • Level 5 (Honors) read the book, do the homework assignments PLUS do all of the enrichment exercises.
      • OR You may replace two enrichment by reading articles or a book from the following list and writing a two-page paper on the book.
  • Suggested book list for leveling up:
    • Armchair Theologian Series: Martin Luther by Stephen D. Paulson (audio book is good)
    • Jesus’ Resurrection: Fact or Figment? by Willam Lane Craig
    • Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder (terrific book, weird last chapters- parents check out, first)
    • Superheroes: The Best of Philosophy and Pop Culture by William Irwin (one edgy word on first page, after that fun and intelligent)
    • Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (wait until after Lesson 13 to read this)
    • The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis (wait until after Lesson 13 to read this)
    • Common Sense by Thomas Paine
    • How Should We Then Live by Francis Schaeffer Trilogy by Francis Schaeffer
    • The Case for Christ by Lee Stroebel
    • OR biographies of any of the people mentioned in the text

• Course description:

  • History and Philosophy of the Western World is a one-credit World History course text that helps homeschoolers discover the ways that philosophers have impacted their world. Starting with the ancient Greeks, the text also covers the ways the world has impacted the philosophers. Because philosophers run the world (well, often a generation after they pass away). Teens develop good thinking skills while they gain a basic understanding of the philosophies that have driven world culture and politics since ancient times. This prepares them to help create new philosophic ideas that can change the world!

  • Topics covered in History and Philosophy of the Western World that are favorites with various homeschoolers include:

    • Ancient Greece, Ancient Turkey, and the Natural Philosophers
    • The Miletans
    • Ancient Italy and its Philosophers
    • Early Greek Philosophy
    • Early Athens and the Sophists
    • Greece Versus Persia
    • Socrates
    • Plato
    • Aristotle
    • Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Philosophers
    • Rome
    • The Middle Ages
    • St. Augustine
    • St. Thomas Aquinas
    • Early Church Reformers
    • The Renaissance
    • The Reformation Across Europe
    • The Baroque Period and Rene Descartes
    • British Empiricists
    • The Rationalists and the French Revolution
    • Immanuel Kant
    • The Romantic Philosophers and Georg Hegel
    • The Industrial Revolution
    • Kierkegaard and Existentialism
    • The Revolutionary Philosophers- Darwin and Marx
    • Twentieth Century Philosophers
    • Twenty-first Century Philosophers

• Leveling-up to higher levels, such as Honors

• This course is level-able. The text was designed to be a College Preparatory (Level 3) high school World History or elective credit.
  • For students who need a more average or simple credit (Level 2), follow instructions in this post.
  • For students interested in more powerful credits:
    • To earn an Advanced (level 4) credit, choose twelve of the Enrichment exercises (from different chapters) and complete the assignments.
      • Students may replace two Enrichment exercises by reading articles or a book from the provided list and writing a two-page paper on the book. For example, for an Advanced credit (level 4), you may do ten enrichment exercises and read one book with a two-page paper.
    • To earn an Honors (level 5) credit, choose an Enrichment exercise from each chapter and complete the assignment.
      •  For Honors (level 5), students may do twenty-three Enrichment exercises and read three books, each with a two-page paper. The table provided in the text may help you understand this information better.
      • There are additional ideas for leveling up in this post.
    • Rubrics for grading Enrichment exercises at this link.

• Grading scales:

  • Grading Scale (adjust to your needs):
    • Attendance 10% (if in co-op or group class) 
    • Engagement 40% (or 50% if student is working individually, because attendance is not taken)
      • (For co-op:this includes passing around homework,- so you must keep homework current to get a good participation grade. For individual: this includes attitude and timeliness of assignments.)
    • Assignments 50% (must be neatly written and stapled, or neatly typed; and handed in according to syllabus)
    • Papers or other projects(if leveling up, must be neatly done, stapled together, and handed in according to syllabus)

• Due dates of homework, projects, reading/books, papers and exams:

  • Tests cover:
    • Test One: Chapters One through Four
    • Test Two: Chapters Five through Eight
    • Test Three: Chapters Nine through Twelve
    • Test Four: Chapters Thirteen through Sixteen
    • Test Five: Chapters Seventeen through Twenty
    • Test Six: Chapters Twenty-one through Twenty-four
    • Test Seven: Chapters Twenty-five through Twenty-nine
  • Parents add dates to the syllabus for weekly homework, papers, reading/books, tests.

History and Philosophy of the Western World Student Schedule:

Week 1 Ancient Greece, Ancient Turkey, and the Natural Philosophers

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 1. Answer questions.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 2 The Miletans

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 2. Answer questions.
• Review Chapter 1-2.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 3 Ancient Italy and its Philosophers

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 3. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 1-3.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 4 Early Greek Philosophy

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 4. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 1-4.
• Take Test One: Chapters One through Four.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 5 Early Athens and the Sophists

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 5. Answer questions.
• Review Chapter 5.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 6 Greece Versus Persia, Socrates

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 6. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 5-6.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 7 Plato

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 7. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 5-7.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 8 Aristotle

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 8. Answer questions.
• Prepare for Test Two: Chapters Five through Eight.
• Take Test Two: Chapters Five through Eight.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 9 Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Philosophers

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 9. Answer questions.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 10 Rome

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 10. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 9-10.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 11 The Middle Ages

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 11. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 9-11.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 12 St. Augustine

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 12. Answer questions.
• Prepare for Test Three: Chapters Nine through Twelve.
• Take Test Three: Chapters Nine through Twelve.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 13 St. Thomas Aquinas

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 13. Answer questions.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 14 Early Church Reformers

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 14. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 13-14.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 15 The Renaissance and Reformation

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 15. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 13-15.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 16 The Renaissance and Reformation across Europe: Italy, Spain, Holland

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 16. Answer questions.
• Prepare for Test Four: Chapters Thirteen through Sixteen.
• Take Test Four: Chapters Thirteen through Sixteen.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 17 The Renaissance and Reformation across Europe: Germany, Switzerland, France

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 17. Answer questions.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 18 The Renaissance and Reformation across Europe: Scotland and England

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 18. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 17-18.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 19 The Baroque Period and Rene Descartes

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 19. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 17-19.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 20 British Empiricists

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 20. Answer questions.
• Prepare for Test Five: Chapters Seventeen through Twenty.
• Take Test Five: Chapters Seventeen through Twenty.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 21 The Rationalists and the French Revolution

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 21. Answer questions.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 22 Immanuel Kant

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 22. Answer questions.
• Review Chapter 21-22.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 23 The Romantic Philosophers and Georg Hegel

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 23. Answer questions.
• Review Chapter 21-23.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 24 The Industrial Revolution, Kierkegaard and Existentialism

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 24. Answer questions.
• Prepare for Test Six: Chapters Twenty-one through Twenty-four.
• Take Test Six: Chapters Twenty-one through Twenty-four.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 25 Existentialism, Part 2

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 25. Answer questions.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 26 The Revolutionary Philosophers- Darwin and Marx

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 25. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 25-26.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 27 Twentieth Century Philosophers

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 26. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 25-27.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 28 Twentieth Century & Contemporary Philosophy, Part 1

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 27. Answer questions.
• Review Chapters 25-28.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 29 Twentieth Century & Contemporary Philosophy, Part 2

• Homework: Read Introduction and Chapter 29. Answer questions.
• Prepare for Test Seven: Chapters Twenty-five through Twenty-nine.
• Take Test Seven: Chapters Twenty-five through Twenty-nine.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 30-31 Your Turn: Final Paper and Projects

• Write a reaction paper following instructions in the text.
• For students leveling up to higher-level credit, complete needed Enrichment activity.

Week 32 Wrap up any missing Honors assignments

• For students working on Honors-level credit, complete any missing Honors assignments.