50:730:100 Topics in Philosophy (R) (3) An introduction to philosophy with a special focus on particular philosophical issues in, for example, epistemology, ethics, social and political philosophy, or other areas of philosophy. Course content varies from year to year.

50:730:111 Introduction to Philosophy (R) (3) An exploration of philosophical problems, such as truth, justice, mind, and person, with a view to surveying the field and locating particular philosophical specialties within it such as logic, ethics, and metaphysics.

50:730:141 Critical Thinking (R) (3) An introductory course designed to develop and refine critical thinking skills. These include, but are not limited to, the identification, analysis, construction, and evaluation of arguments. Topics drawn from among the following: inductive arguments (such as those based on analogical and casual reasoning), fallacies, deduction, definitions, theories, and systems of classification.

50:730:181 Problems of Identity (R) (3) This introductory course is concerned with questions about personal identity and the self ("What am I?" "Who am I?"). Topics and readings will be selected from among several areas of philosophy, such as metaphysics, philosophy of mind, social and political philosophy, and aesthetics.

50:730:201 Introduction to Logic (R) (3) An introduction to modern symbolic logic, with an emphasis on methods for the evaluation and construction of deductive arguments, and on the concepts of validity, consistency, and implication. Topics selected from among the following: informal fallacies, logic and ordinary language, induction, the scientific method, the logic of Aristotle, and the relation between logic and other areas in philosophy.

50:730:211 History of Philosophy I (R) (3) The beginnings and early developments of Western philosophy. Readings selected from among the pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, Maimonides, Aquinas, and Occam. Topics may include the nature of argument, political loyalty and political dissent, justice, normative ethics, causality, and the existence of God. Formerly 50:730:301.

50:730:212 History of Philosophy II (R) (3) The career of philosophy from its modern beginnings in Descartes. Readings selected from the classical modern period, from Descartes through Kant, and also from such contemporary approaches as existentialism and analytic philosophy. Topics include the relationship between mind and body, the origins and extent of human knowledge, skepticism and belief, and the meaning of personal identity. Formerly 50:730:302.

50:730:215 Eastern Philosophies (G) (3) An introduction to the philosophical traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, focusing on the issues of metaphysics, mysticism, epistemology, ethics, and the nature of consciousness.

50:730:216 Africana Philosophy (D) (3) Africana (or African-American) philosophy, the modern intellectual tradition of the African diaspora in North America and the Caribbean, deals with philosophical issues related to identity, race, and culture; the phenomenon and experience of oppression and liberation; and contemporary philosophical concerns about the black past, present, and future.

50:730:226 Ethics (R) (3) An examination of the quest for certainty with respect to the nature of human goodness, including the relation of duty to pleasure and happiness, the nature of moral obligation and responsibility, the resolution of conflicts between individual and social values, and the possibility of objective justification of value judgments.

50:730:256 Philosophy of Literature (3) An exploration of philosophical questions about literature, including interpretation in criticism, the nature of critical evaluation, truth in fiction, and metaphor. Specific literary work selected to serve as a base for the discussion of these philosophical issues.

50:730:260 Ethics and Business (3) An examination of basic questions and perplexities of commercial and corporate life. Are the economic imperatives of free enterprise compatible with ethical imperatives of brotherliness? Are there some ethical principles so general that they are applicable in every case? Can one be good at business and also be a good person? Can conflicts among duties to family, company, and self be resolved? Contemporary case studies augmented with basic texts in ethics.

50:730:303 Topics in Medieval Philosophy (3) A study of the major philosophers in the medieval world.

50:730:305 Advanced Topics in Ancient Philosophy (3) A study of major philosophers in the ancient world.

50:730:307 Nineteenth-Century Philosophy (3) Movements in 19th-century philosophical thought. Readings from such philosophers as Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and Kierkegaard.

50:730:308 Contemporary Philosophy (3) Concentration on the existentialist and analytic traditions, with attention also given to such philosophers as Bergson and Whitehead.

50:730:313 Seventeenth-Century Philosophy (3) Critical examination of major issues in 17th-century philosophy as discussed in works selected from, for example, Descartes, Malebranche, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, or others. Course content varies from year to year, either by dealing primarily with particular issues (metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, social and political philosophy, or aesthetics, for example) or by dealing primarily with the works of one philosopher.

50:730:314 Eighteenth-Century Philosophy (3) Critical examination of major issues in 18th-century philosophy as discussed in works selected from, for example, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, or others. Course content varies from year to year, either by dealing primarily with particular issues (metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, social and political philosophy, or aesthetics, for example) or by dealing primarily with the works of one philosopher. Consideration of some 17th-century philosophers may also be included in addressing the apparent conflict between rationalism and empiricism.

50:730:315,316 Contemporary Moral Issues (3,3) A consideration of such issues as prejudice and discrimination, abortion and fetal research, poverty and hunger, crime and punishment, war and death, and suicide and euthanasia.

50:730:319 Modern Social and Political Philosophy (3) Critical examination of the philosophical problems involved in theories of the state and society. Topics include the nature and justification of political obligation, civil disobedience, violence, natural rights, and justice.

50:730:320 Philosophy of Law (3) Introduction to philosophical issues concerning the nature of law and its relations to morality and to power. Focuses on the concepts of justice and punishment, the function of law, and types of legal argument. Legal materials include cases drawn from constitutional law, contracts, torts, and criminal law.

50:730:322 Philosophy of Religion and Democracy (3) An application of social, political, legal, and ethical ideas to the topic of religion and democracy. Can political theory defend religious freedom and tolerance? Should religious arguments be used to justify laws such as regarding abortion or homosexual marriage? Does liberalism privatize or disenfranchise religious citizens? These and other vital questions for contemporary politics will be examined from various perspectives such as liberalism, communitarianism, and discourse ethics. Credit not given for this course and 50:840:322.

50:730:326 Philosophy of Religion (3) An exploration of religious issues which are live options. Examples: Do science and reason leave any room for faith? Without a belief in a supreme being who is supremely good, is life pointless? Can an atheist be moral? Can God's existence, or human immortality, be proven? Do religious experiences occur, and do they prove anything? Credit not given for this course and 50:840:326.

50:730:327 Philosophy of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality (D) (3) This course considers challenges to mainstream philosophy by way of addressing the following questions: Are philosophical conceptions of rationality gender-biased? Do women and men have a distinctive way of understanding the world, or of evaluating ethical situations? In what ways are our conceptions of femininity and masculinity created and reinforced through cultural and social norms? How do assumptions about sex, gender, and sexuality shape and limit research in natural and social sciences? In what ways are feminist and multiculturalist goals potentially at odds? Is sex and sexuality the public's business? We will consider applications of these questions to a variety of contemporary debates concerning parenting, pornography, sex education, same sex marriage, sexual harassment laws, and sexual reassignment.

50:730:332 Intermediate Logic (R) (3) A continuation of 50:730:201, with an emphasis on application. Predicate logic with identity, soundness, and completeness. Topics selected from among axiomatic theories, nontruth-functional logics (such as modal, deontic, and epistemic), set theory, and issues in the philosophy of logic and language. Prerequisite: 50:730:201 or permission of instructor.

50:730:333 Evil (3) Examines the phenomenon and meaning of evil, especially "moral" evil. Key questions pursued are how evil may be explained, why humanity is capable of it in the first place, whether it belongs to some or all people, how to differentiate its perpetrators and its victims, whether evil is compatible with the existence of a good God, and how one may judge the difference between evil and good. These and other fundamental questions are pursued through a range of classic, historical, and contemporary texts and in relation to examples of evil in today's world.
Credit not given for this course and 50:840:333.

50:730:334 Philosophy of Science (3) Examination of major philosophical issues concerning science. Topics selected from among science and pseudoscience; scientific explanation, method, theories, laws, and falsification; scope and limits of science; revolutions in science; science and ethics.

50:730:344 Existentialism and Phenomenology (3) An examination in the historical setting of Husserl's phenomenology and such philosophers as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Jaspers, Buber, Marcel, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty.

50:730:349 Biomedical Ethics (3) An examination of ethical theories and their application to such issues as abortion, cloning, physician-patient relations, genetic manipulation, and health care justice. Credit not given for this course and 50:840:349.

50:730:361 Philosophy of Art (3) A study of selected texts on the philosophy of art from the Greeks to contemporary writers, with the purpose of investigating the relationships among the arts, and the status of art and the aesthetic judgments as modes of discovery and communication.

50:730:367 American Philosophers (3) Examination of the principal philosophers in 19th- and 20th-century America. Critical discussion of the transcendentalists, the idealists, Pierce, James, Dewey, and Whitehead.

50:730:390,391,392 Special Topics in Philosophy (3,3,3)

50:730:412 Theory of Knowledge (3) An investigation of what it means to know. Topics include theories of meaning, evaluation of evidence, the meaning of and criteria for truth, and the nature of belief. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or permission of instructor.

50:730:415 Metaphysics (3) A study of the major problems of metaphysical theory, focusing on modes of existence and the presuppositions, methodologies, and consequences of different metaphysical systems. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or permission of instructor.

50:730:417 Analytic Philosophy (3) Examination of methods of analysis as they appear in such writers as Russell, Moore, Wittgenstein, and Carnap, and in contemporary linguistic philosophy. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or permission of instructor.

50:730:418 Philosophy of Mind (3) Critical examination of the mind-body problem and various proposed solutions. Topics selected from among immortality, freedom, artificial intelligence, parapsychology, psychological theories, the unconscious, reasoning, emotions, and intentions. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or permission of instructor.

50:730:430 Advanced Logic (3) Topics from among such "deviant" logics as many-valued and intuitionistic logics, foundations of mathematics, paradoxes, nontruth-functional logics, and issues in the philosophy of language and logic. Prerequisite: 50:730:332 or (with permission of instructor) 50:730:201.

50:730:451,452,453,454,455,456 Advanced Seminar in Philosophy (3,3,3,3,3,3) The focus could be either a concentrated study of a particular text, philosopher, or school of thought, or an examination of a particular philosophical concept, methodology, or problem. Course content varies from year to year.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or permission of instructor.

50:730:495,496 Independent Study in Philosophy (BA,BA) An individual reading and research project under the guidance of a member of the philosophy department in an area of interest to the student. Prerequisite: Permission of department.