Courses
Courses primarily for undergraduates:
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.SS.
It has been rumored that the unexamined life is not worth living. Philosophy is an attempt to begin examining life by considering such questions as: What makes us human? What is the world ultimately like? How should we relate to other people? Is there a god? How can we know anything about these questions? Understanding questions of this kind and proposed answers to them is what this course is all about.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.SS.
Basic principles of critical reasoning and argument evaluation. A consideration of basic forms of argumentation in science and everyday life. Application to contemporary issues and controversies.
(Cross-listed with LING). (3-0) Cr. 3. S.
Introduction to fundamental logical concepts and logical symbolism. Development of natural deduction through first order predicate logic with identity. Applications to arguments in ordinary English and to philosophical issues. Linguistics majors should take LING/PHIL 207 as early as possible.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.SS.
Investigation of moral issues in the context of major ethical theories of value and obligation; e.g., punishment, abortion, economic justice, job discrimination, world hunger, and sexual morality. Emphasis on critical reasoning and argument analysis.
(3-0) Cr. 3. S.
This course will examine a range of arguments on diversity issues. Topics will include: the social status of women, the moral status of sexuality and homosexuality, the nature and role of racism in contemporary society, the relationship between biology, gender roles and social status, and various proposals for change from a variety of political perspectives.
Meets U.S. Diversity Requirement
(Cross-listed with CL ST). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: PHIL 201
Survey of ancient Greek philosophy, focusing on the pre-Socratics, Plato, and Aristotle. Questions concerning being, knowledge, language, and the good life are treated in depth.
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. S., offered even-numbered years.
Prereq: PHIL 201
Readings from philosophers such as Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, and Locke. Changing conceptions of knowledge, self, and deities in response to Galileo's new science and post-reformation challenge to ecclesiastical authority.
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. S., offered odd-numbered years.
Prereq: PHIL 201
Readings from philosophers such as Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Development of Enlightenment thought. Issues include idealism, causation, freedom, and knowledge regarding science, ethics, and deities.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: PHIL 201
The thought of Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and their contemporaries. Various perspectives on the philosophy of history, the nature of reason and subjectivity, the contrast between dialectical and nondialectical philosophy, and the relationship between philosophy and society.
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. F., offered even-numbered years.
Prereq: PHIL 201
Major movements of 20th and 21st century thought, such as Phenomenology, Critical Theory, Post-structuralism, Postmodernism, and Feminism. Issues include the assumptions and limits of Western metaphysics, the nature of reason, the relationship between language and power.
(3-0) Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: 6 credits in philosophy, including PHIL 201.
Major movements in recent and contemporary philosophy such as realism, logical positivism, ordinary language philosophy, and naturalism. Russell, Wittgenstein, Quine and other leading figures. Topics include knowledge of the material world, mind, language, values, and philosophical method.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: PHIL 201
An investigation of Existentialism and its critics in historical and cultural context. Emphasis on existential phenomenology and French existentialism, and on criticisms. Existential Marxism and Heidegger's later philosophy.
(3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. S., offered odd-numbered years.
Prereq: PHIL 230 or junior classification
In-depth study of some of the central moral problems arising in medicine, e.g., abortion, euthanasia, patients' rights, health care professionals' duties and responsibilities, allocation of medical resources. Major moral theories will be examined and applied.
(Cross-listed with CJ ST). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: PHIL 201 or PHIL 230
Extent of our obligation to obey the law; what constitutes just punishment; how much of the immoral should be made illegal? Relation of these questions to major theories of law and the state. Discussion of such concepts as coercion, equality, and responsibility.
(Cross-listed with ENV S). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: 3 credits in philosophy or junior classification
Thorough study of some of the central moral issues arising in connection with human impact on the environment, e.g., human overpopulation, species extinction, forest and wilderness management, pollution. Several world views of the proper relationship between human beings and nature will be explored.
(3-0) Cr. 3.
Prereq: PHIL 201 or PHIL 230 or PHIL 235
In-depth study of some central moral issues in the life sciences, e.g., genetic screening and testing, genetically engineered plants and animals, risk analysis, biotechnology patents, research ethics, biodiversity, the impact of biotechnology on society and the environment. Major moral theories will be discussed and applied. (PHIL 336 contains almost no similarities to PHIL 331.).
(Cross-listed with W S). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: 3 credits in philosophy or women's studies recommended
A critical, theoretical examination of the oppression of women, especially as it relates to issues of race, class, and sexual orientation. How concepts such as sex and gender, self and other, nature and nurture, complicate our understanding of what it means to be a woman. Historical and contemporary feminist philosophers addressing topics such as violence, sexuality, pornography, political power, family structure and women's paid and unpaid labor.
Meets U.S. Diversity Requirement
(Cross-listed with CJ ST, POL S). Cr. 3.
Prereq: Sophomore status
An exploration of competing conceptions of liberty in American political thought and debates about how liberty should be protected by the law. Contemporary debates about topics such as health care, drugs, property, speech, religion, and sex.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: PHIL 201 or PHIL 230
Is liking all there is to appreciating works of art or natural beauty? We will examine our appreciative experiences, talk about such experiences (e.g., art criticism), and what makes them valuable. Do the different arts have common values? How are their differences important?.
(Cross-listed with T SC). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: 6 credits of social science or T SC 341 and 3 credits of social science
Moral and other philosophical problems related to developments in technology. Topics may include conditions under which technological innovations contribute to human emancipation, relationship of technology and democracy, utility and limits of technical rationality, and problems of ensuring that benefits of technological advance are communally shared. Topics discussed with reference to such issues as contemporary developments in microelectronics, technology transfer to the Third World, etc.
(Cross-listed with RELIG). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: 6 credits in philosophy
The value and truth of religious life and belief. Mystical experience; religious faith and language; arguments for God's existence; the problem of evil; miracles; and religion and morality. Historical and contemporary readings.
(3-0) Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: 6 credits in philosophy, including PHIL 201.
A survey of classical and contemporary views on some basic metaphysical issues. Issues discussed include: Does God exist? Do you have a mind and, if so, how does it relate to your body? What is the nature of cause and effect? Do objects have any essential properties? How can we account for properties objects have in common?.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: 6 credits in philosophy including PHIL 201.
This course focuses on significant topics in theory of knowledge, including the value of true beliefs, the role of sense experience in supporting our theoretical views, and the place of reason in human nature. Historical and contemporary views will be considered.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: PHIL 201 or 6 credits in a science
Introduction to the philosophy of science. A variety of basic problems common to the natural and social sciences: the nature of explanation, the structure of theories, the unity of science, and the distinction between science and nonscience.
(3-0) Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: PHIL 201 or 6 credits in the social sciences
Methodological, ideological, and doctrinal issues about the social and behavioral sciences against the background of influence of the natural sciences. Focus is on the historical and cultural background of 19th and 20th century western thought.
Cr. R. F.S.SS.
Prereq: Permission of the department cooperative education coordinator; junior classification
Required of all cooperative education students. Students must register for this course prior to commencing each work period.
(3-0) Cr. 3. Repeatable, maximum of 6 credits. S.
Prereq: PHIL 230
Theoretical and normative issues in ethics, aesthetics, religious thought, or political philosophy. Topics vary each time offered.
(3-0) Cr. 3. Repeatable, maximum of 1 times. F.
Prereq: 3 credits in philosophy; PHIL 207 strongly encouraged
Personal identity, agency, free will, moral responsibility, causation, future contingents, and time will be discussed. What makes a person the same person over time? Do humans have free will? Are we not morally responsible if our actions are inevitable consequences of the past and the laws of nature? What distinguishes causes from non-causes? Are there facts about the future?.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: PHIL 201
Examination of concepts such as computability, intelligence, programming, and free will; and of arguments about whether any human capacity is forever beyond realization in a machine.
(3-0) Cr. 3. Repeatable, maximum of 6 credits. S.
Prereq: 6 credits in philosophy
Topics in epistemology. Possible topics include skepticism about the external world, the extent of a priori knowledge, rival accounts of moral knowledge, feminist perspectives on the theory of knowledge, and the value of true belief. Topics vary each time offered.
(3-0) Cr. 3. Repeatable. S.
Prereq: 3 credits in philosophy or 6 credits in a natural or social science
Philosophical treatment of a branch of science that has (or has had) significant social, political, religious and/or moral implications. Possible topics include: the IQ debate, implications of Darwinism, the Galileo affair, the role of values in science, critical analysis of current science policy (e.g., the Human Genome Project). Topics will be arranged to meet the needs of interested students. Often team taught by a philosopher and a scientist from the relevant discipline.
(3-0) Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: 3 credits in philosophy or 3 credits in biology
Biology is powerful, both as a science and in its effects on our culture. Philosophy of biology evaluates this power. Possible topics include: What makes sciences such as evolutionary theory, ecology or molecular biology so good at explaining things? What is life? Can evolution account for design? What role does chance play in evolution? Has there been progress in the evolution of life on earth? What can sociobiology tell us about human nature, behavior and culture?.
(3-0) Cr. 3.
Prereq: 3 credits in Philosophy or 3 credits in Physics
S. Conceptual and philosophical issues relating to the interpretation of theories in classical and modern physics. May include one or more of the following topics: the relationship between mathematics and the physical world; Newtonian physics (determinism and predictability); thermodynamics and statistical physics (the nature of probability; entropy and the direction of time); relativistic physics (indeterminism; realism and nonlocality; consciousness and the role of the observer).
Cr. 1-4. Repeatable, maximum of 9 credits.
Prereq: 6 credits in philosophy; permission of instructor, approval of chair.
Guided reading and research on special topics selected to meet needs of advanced students.
No more than 9 credits of Phil 490 may be counted toward graduation.
Cr. 1-4. Repeatable, maximum of 9 credits.
Prereq: 6 credits in philosophy; permission of instructor, approval of chair.
Guided reading and research on special topics selected to meet needs of advanced students.
No more than 9 credits of Phil 490 may be counted toward graduation.
Cr. R. F.S.
Prereq: Graduating senior
Final presentation for graduation and the future. Outcomes assessment activities.
Offered on a satisfactory-fail basis only.
Courses primarily for graduate students, open to qualified undergraduates:
(Cross-listed with POL S). (3-0) Cr. 3. Alt. S., offered odd-numbered years.
Prereq: 6 credits of philosophy or political science
Examination of theories of justice proposed by contemporary political philosophers. Analysis of the philosophical foundations of perspectives such as liberalism, libertarianism, communitarianism, socialism, feminism. Normative assessments of socio-political institutions.
Cr. 1. SS.
Topics include moral theory, pedagogical issues in teaching bioethics, and substantive current issues in bioethics.
Cr. 2-4. Repeatable.
Prereq: Permission of instructor, 9 credits in philosophy
Cr. 2-4. Repeatable.
Prereq: Permission of instructor, 9 credits in philosophy
Cr. 2-4. Repeatable.
Prereq: Permission of instructor, 9 credits in philosophy
Cr. 2-4. Repeatable.
Prereq: Permission of instructor, 9 credits in philosophy
Cr. 2-4. Repeatable.
Prereq: Permission of instructor, 9 credits in philosophy