Philosophy
Department of Philosophy
Nancy Schauber, Chair
Professors McWhorter, Shapiro
Associate Professors Goddu, McCormick, Schauber
Assistant Professor Belkind
Note: All 200-level courses are open to first-year students. All 300-level courses presume some previous exposure to philosophy or a related area of study.
The Philosophy Major
Note: The grade point average of the coursework in philosophy comprising the major must be 2.00 or above with no more
than one grade below C- (1.7).
10 units, including
PHIL 251 Symbolic Logic
PHIL 271 Ancient Greek Philosophy
PHIL 272 Modern Western Philosophy
PHIL 353 Philosophical Methods: Majors'/ Minors' Seminar
6 units in electives as follows
- 1 300-level elective chosen from Category I courses
- 1 300-level elective chosen from Category II courses
- 2 additional 300-level electives
- 1 elective at the 200-level or above
- 1 elective at any level which may include FYS 100 taught in Philosophy
The Philosophy Minor
Note: A grade of not less than C- (1.7) is required in each course comprising the minor.
5 units, including
PHIL 271 Ancient Greek Philosophy
PHIL 272 Modern Western Philosophy
Three units of electives in Philosophy
- 2 units at the 300-level or above
- 1 unit at any level, which may include FYS 100 taught by faculty from the Philosophy department
Category I
PHIL 314 Philosophy of Science
PHIL 343 Twentieth-Century Analytic Philosophy
PHIL 344 Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy
PHIL 362 Philosophy of Religion
PHIL 365 Action, Responsibility and Free Will
PHIL 370 Philosophy of Mind
PHIL 373 Epistemology
Category II
PHIL 336 Nineteenth-Century European Philosophy
PHIL 337 Social and Political Philosophy
PHIL 350 Topics Seminar: Historical
PHIL 359 Thinking and Seeing: Philosophy and the Visual Arts
PHIL 360 Ethics
PHIL 363 Power and Politics
PHIL 364 Philosophy of Law
PHIL 375 Ethics and Practical Reasoning
PHIL 380 Topics Seminar: Issues
Courses
PHIL
101 Introduction to Philosophical Problems and Arguments
Introduction to philosophy as a working discipline, with emphasis on analysis of problems and proposed solutions. Sample topics: Is there a thing that can be called the self? What is the meaning of life? What is the relationship between knowledge and opinion? Can individuals be held responsible for their actions?
General Education Requirement: FSLT
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
120 Contemporary Moral Issues
Philosophical introduction to the application of moral reasoning. Aims to clarify, organize, and sharpen our ideas about moral concerns of everyday life, and to examine and critique prominent moral theories. Topics may include abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, animal rights.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
221 Feminist Political Theories
Provides students with background in major political theories that feminists have employed and developed over the past 200 years. These include classical liberalism, Marxism and various forms of socialism, and some existentialist, post-structuralist, and post-colonial theoretical work. Students will study these feminist theoretical frameworks in depth and also will consider serious criticisms of them. (Same as Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies 221.)
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
239 Existentialism and Postmodernism
Survey of themes in 20th-century existentialist and postmodern philosophy. Issues to be addressed include freedom, selfhood, embodiment and historical situation, and knowledge in the absence of transcendence. Students will read works by such thinkers as Heidegger, Sartre, Beauvoir, Fanon, Levinas, Foucault, and others.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
250 Topics Seminar: Historical
Selected topics in philosophy arranged historically. Recent topics: Kant, critical theory, Freud, Bertrand Russell's Radical Essays. May be repeated for credit when topic differs.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
251 Elementary Symbolic Logic
Introduction to modern logic beginning with truth-functions and covering formal proofs (propositional and predicate) to the level of multiply-general and relational statements. No mathematical applications. Recommended for pre-law and pre-computer studies.
General Education Requirement: (FSSR)
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
260 Philosophical Problems in Law and Society
Examination of purpose and justification for legal limits on individual liberty, with special attention to problems of liability and punishment.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
269 Environmental Ethics
Examines various ethical approaches to environmental problems. Topics may vary from year to year but typically will include such issues as treatment of nonhuman animals, resource depletion, environmental justice, genetic engineering, and climate change.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
271 Ancient Greek Philosophy
Introduction to ancient Western philosophy, with emphasis on Plato and Aristotle. Discussion of both the development of philosophical thought and topics such as: What is knowledge? Why should I be moral? What is the good life? Readings drawn from primary texts.
General Education Requirement: (FSHT)
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
272 Modern Western Philosophy
Study of development of modern philosophy from Descartes to Kant. Readings from Descartes, Hume, and Kant; some attention may be given to other modern philosophers such as Leibniz, Spinoza, Locke, and Berkeley. Readings drawn from primary texts.
General Education Requirement: (FSHT)
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
275 Marx, Nietzsche and Freud
Study of three major thinkers of the European tradition, in the context of the cultural history of the 19th and 20th centuries. Their theories of history, psychology, and culture will be analyzed, and their conceptions of ethical and political possibilities will be critically compared. Readings from their major texts will be included.
General Education Requirement: (FSHT)
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
280 Topics Seminar: Issues
Selected topics in philosophy arranged by issues. Recent topics: the emotions; science, pseudoscience, and the paranormal; intermediate logic; ethics, human and nonhuman. May be repeated for credit when topic differs.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
281 Philosophy of Art
Poses and considers the question "What is art?" Explores issues concerned with the creation of, interpretation of and social response to art. Examples are drawn from a variety of arts (e.g., literature, architecture, painting); readings from major philosophers of art, traditional and recent.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
314 Philosophy of Science
General introduction to philosophy of science. Topics may include distinguishing science from nonscience; the structure of scientific theories and explanations; the nature of scientific activity; and the relationship(s) of science with values, culture and society.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
336 Nineteenth-Century European Philosophy
Examination of movements and individuals; emphasis on Kierkegaard's and Marx's response to Hegel. Previous work in philosophy or good background in history and/or literature is presumed.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
337 Social and Political Philosophy
Examination of major theories in social and political philosophy, historical and current.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
339 Topics in Existentialism
Systematic study of conditions of human experience to develop and justify descriptive categories for understanding of persons and their world. Readings from Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
343 Twentieth-Century Analytic Philosophy
Critical examination of 20th-century topics and thinkers in the analytic tradition.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
344 Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy
Critical examination of 20th-century topics and thinkers in the French and German traditions.
Prerequisite(s): Philosophy 272.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
350 Topics Seminar: Historical
Selected topics in philosophy arranged historically. Recent topics: Kant, critical theory, Freud, Bertrand Russell's Radical Essays. May be repeated for credit when topic differs.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
353 Philosophical Methods: Majors'/Minors' Seminar
Reading, writing, critiquing, presenting, and defending philosophical essays. Techniques of analysis and interpretation. Required for majors; open to minors. Usually taken during junior year.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of department.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
357 Nietzsche
Devoted to analysis and understanding of some of the main philosophical themes and writing of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), such as critique of Western morality and religion; affirmation of creativity and life of this world; eternal recurrence of all things; and diagnosis of modern nihilism and suggestions as to how it might be overcome. Close reading of a number of texts by Nietzsche. Lecture/discussion format.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
358 Topics in Feminist Philosophy
Examination of recent and contemporary feminist theory. (Same as Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies 379 and Political Science 379.)
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
359 Thinking and Seeing: Philosophy and the Visual Arts
Devoted to exploring some questions having to do with the meaning and significance of the visual arts. Among topics of the course are relation between words and visual images; use of art as a way of learning about ourselves and the world; phenomenology of visual experience; and criteria for interpreting the meaning of art works. Theorists include G.E. Lessing and representative thinkers from such recent tendencies as phenomenology, existentialism, deconstruction, and psychoanalysis.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
360 Ethics
Critical examination of main types of ethical theory. Discussion of current topics and controversies, as well as fundamental questions about the object of morality and the objectivity and justification of moral evaluations.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
362 Philosophy of Religion
Is there such a thing as religious knowledge? Can a rational individual believe in God(s)? Alternative conceptions of use and meaning of theological language (description, ritual, belief formation, moral persuasion); Transcendence; Mysticism, and logic.
Prerequisite(s): One previous philosophy course or permission of department.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
363 Power and Politics
Examination and appraisal of classical liberal political philosophies--particularly their treatment of consent, rebellion, and political change--in light of 20th-century civil rights movements. Theorists studied include John Locke and various American revolutionaries such as James Madison. Movements studied are the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56, the Birmingham desegregation movement of 1963, and the gay and lesbian movement of the 1990s. Studies will evaluate liberalism as both a descriptive and prescriptive theory. Lecture/discussion format. (Same as Political Science 379.)
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
364 Philosophy of Law
Alternative ways of conceiving of law. Such legal concepts as right and strict liability. Such problems as nature of judicial decision-making process, tension between crime control and due process, rationale of legal punishment, insanity defense.
Prerequisite(s): One previous philosophy course.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
365 Action, Responsibility and Free Will
Examination of a core philosophical puzzle--can responsible action be both free and determined?--in writings of classical and contemporary philosophers. Seminar format, with multiple written and oral critiques, term paper, midterm, and final exams.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
370 Philosophy of Mind
Critical examination of fundamental questions in the philosophy of mind such as: How can we tell if something has a mind or is capable of thinking? What is the mind? What is thought? Consciousness? Do machines or non human animals have minds? What is the relationship between the mental and the physical? Between thought and action?
Prerequisite(s): One previous philosophy class.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
373 Epistemology
Explores central issues in epistemology. These include the nature of knowledge, justification, and rationality. Historical and contemporary readings will expose students to a wide variety of different approaches and answers to questions concerning the nature and scope of knowledge.
Prerequisite(s): Philosophy 271 or 272.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
375 Ethics and Practical Reasoning
A survey of basic issues about the nature of practical reason. Also considers associated issues about intentional action; persons; the good, moral demands; and the normativity of ethics.
Prerequisite(s): One previous philosophy class.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
380 Topics Seminar: Issues
Selected topics in philosophy arranged by issues. Recent topics: the emotions; science, pseudoscience and the paranormal; intermediate logic; ethics, human and nonhuman. May be repeated for credit when topic differs.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
386 Honors Seminar
Seminar for honors students on topic selected mutually by instructor and those enrolled. Permission of department.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
390 Independent Study
Faculty member directs student's reading and study.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of department.
Unit(s): .5-1
PHIL
395 Honors Thesis
Supervised completion of research thesis begun and approved in majors' seminar.
Unit(s): 1
PHIL
406 Summer Undergraduate Research
Documentation of the work of students who receive summer fellowships to conduct research [or produce a creative arts project] in the summer. The work must take place over a minimum of 8 weeks, the student must engage in the project full-time (at least 40 hours per week) during this period, and the student must be the recipient of a fellowship through the university. Graded S/U.
Prerequisite(s): Approval for summer Arts and Sciences fellowship by faculty mentor
Unit(s): 0
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