Philosophy (PHIL)

Introduces philosophical method and typical philosophical issues, such as the existence of God, life after death, freewill, the nature and sources of knowledge and the nature of justice.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

Meets: Humanities and the Arts: PHIL

A survey of the history of philosophical thought in the West from its beginnings to the 20th century, emphasizing its social and political context and its relations to the sciences.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall.

Meets: Humanities and the Arts: PHIL

Examination in depth of a selected figure, movement, or issue in the history of philosophy. Original sources in translation are studied. May repeat for credit.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Occasionally.

Emphasis on basic skills of critical thinking, in particular the construction and analysis of arguments in everyday life. Formal and informal arguments are investigated.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Yearly.

Covers epistemological topics such as experience and perception, innate knowledge, skepticism and rational belief, and the nature of truth. May repeat once for credit with different topic.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall (even years).

Explores metaphysical issues such as free will, cosmology, the nature of reality, space and time, causality, particulars and universals, and humanity's place and meaning in the universe. May be repeated once for credit with different topic.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Spring (odd years).

Introduces major philosophical issues in religion, including the existence of God, the supernatural, the problem of evil, life's meaning, faith, reason, religious belief, science and morality and the nature of religious commitment.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

Meets: Humanities and the Arts: PHIL

Examines the nature of ethics and its relationship to law and religion. Discusses and appraises typical meta-ethical challenges to the possibility of ethics, such as relativism, subjectivism, positivism, naturalism, and egoism. Examines the most important normative ethical systems: virtue ethics, deontology, and utilitarianism, with particular emphasis on the work of Aristotle, Mill and Kant.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall, Spring.

Meets: Humanities and the Arts: PHIL

The works of the classical Greek political philosophers, Thucydides, Plato and Aristotle. Cross-listed with: POLS 207.

Prerequisites: One of the following: POLS 105, PHIL 101, HIST 118.

Offered: Occasionally.

Explores topics as the nature of scientific methods and theories; explanation, prediction, confirmation, and reduction; the relations among the sciences, culture, and values; and science versus pseudoscience. May be repeated once for credit with different topic.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Occasionally.

Objectivity and criteria of art criticism, the nature of aesthetic experience, and nature of art. May be repeated once under different topics by consent of department chair.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Occasionally.

Discussion of contemporary moral problems and related theoretical issues, focusing on such issues as sexual morality, punishment, abortion, racism, sexism, warfare and civil disobedience. Community-based learning designation.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Yearly.

Meets: Humanities and the Arts: PHIL, Community Based Learning

Introduces some major thinkers and movements of contemporary Continental philosophy, including the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida. Examines many current misconceptions about topics including reason, morality, historical relativity, artificial intelligence, the criminal justice system, modern terrorism.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Occasionally.

An examination of the philosophy of the Pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Epicureans, Skeptics and Cynics, and the Neoplatonists. Not open to students with credit in PHIL 360.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Fall.

An examination of the philosophy of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant, and their contemporaries. Not open to students with credit in PHIL 361.

Prerequisites: None.

Examines scholarly research as well as techniques for the development and assessment of philosophical arguments and positions. PHIL 201 recommended.

Prerequisites: One philosophy course and concurrently enrolled in a second philosophy course; or POLS 116 or POLS 209 or POLS 310 or POLS 320.

Offered: Occasionally.

Selected topics in philosophy will be examined.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Yearly.

Examination in depth of a selected figure, movement, or issue in the history of philosophy. Original sources in translation are studied. Research paper required. May repeat for credit.

Prerequisites: One PHIL course or consent of instructor.

Examines elementary propositional and predicate logic; language and axioms of set theory; operations on sets; well-orderings, ordinals, transfinite induction and recursion; cardinals; the axiom of choice; combinatorics; reading and writing of proofs in mathematics.

Cross-listed with: MATH 303.

Prerequisites: MATH 222; or PHIL 201 and consent of instructor.

Offered: Fall.

Examines topics in epistemology, philosophical logic, philosophy of language, and/or philosophic method. May repeat once with different topic.

Prerequisites: PHIL 201 or PHIL 203.

Offered: Fall (even years).

The works of modern political thinkers such as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, Hegel, Marx and Nietzsche. Cross-listed with: POLS 306.

Prerequisites: One of the following: POLS 105, PHIL 101, HIST 119, HIST 120.

Examines contemporary philosophical works including themes of the meaning of equality, liberty, autonomy, gender, race and community in contemporary society. Cross-listed with: POLS 307.

Prerequisites: One political science or philosophy course.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines topics such as the nature of scientific methods and theories; explanation, prediction, confirmation, and reduction; the relations among the sciences, culture, and values; and science versus pseudoscience. May be repeated once for credit with different topic.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines topics relating to the fundamental nature of reality and of the human condition (e.g., freewill, mind/body, the meaning of life, etc.). May be repeated once for credit with different topic.

Prerequisites: PHIL 204 or PHIL 205 or consent of instructor.

Offered: Spring (odd years).

Examines topics in moral theory or political theory or special issues such as relativism, science and morality, liberalism, Marxism, fascism, sexism, and human rights. May be repeated for credit with different content.

Prerequisites: PHIL 206 or consent of instructor.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines how law and politics interact with personal and social identity, including race, gender, and class. Cross-listed with: POLS 321.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Occasionally.

An examination of ethical issues arising in connection with criminal justice in particular, punishment, legal and police ethics, and the justice of institutions associated with criminal justice.

Prerequisites: One course in PHIL, CRMJ 101, or consent of instructor.

Examines topics in popular culture such as the philosophy of film, the philosophy of sex and love, and the philosophy of zombies and vampires. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing.

Offered: Fall, Spring.

Examines moral conflicts that arise in the various fields associated with human biology. Analyze issues that physicians, patients, and policymakers confront in the provision of health care, the pursuit of medical research, and the allocation of finite health resources.

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or above.

Offered: Occasionally.

Examines business from the perspective of ethics and morals. Covers topics such as: environmentalism, financial incentives, affirmative action, globalization, conflicts of interests, and whistle-blowing.

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing.

Offered: Occasionally.

Introduces the central questions of ethics as they relate to the environment and environmental issues.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Occasionally.

Introduces major thinkers and movements of contemporary Continental philosophy. Focuses on the work of Friedrich Nietzsch, Martin Heidegger, Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida.

Prerequisites: None.

Offered: Occasionally.

An examination of the philosophy of the Pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Epicureans, Skeptics and Cynics, and the Neoplatonists. Research paper required.

Prerequisites: One philosophy course or consent of instructor; Not open to students with credit in PHIL 260.

An examination of the philosophy of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant, and their contemporaries. A research paper will be required. Not open to students with credit in PHIL 261.

Prerequisites: One philosophy course or consent of instructor.

Offered: Spring.

Selected topics in philosophy will be examined.

Prerequisites: 6 credits in philosophy or consent of instructor.

Offered: Occasionally.

Provides opportunities to serve as intern in a relevant organization to incorporate critical thinking and analysis. Increases awareness of the role of philosophy in public life.

Prerequisites: One philosophy course; junior standing; consent of instructor and department chair.

Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

Topics individually arranged.

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and department chair.

Offered: Occasionally.