Courses at the 300 and 400 levels are not open to first-year students, and courses at the 400 level are not open to sophomores. Any course prerequisite can be waived with the permission of the instructor.
|
01:730:101
Logic, Reasoning, and Persuasion (3)
Development of skills in reasoning. Consideration of what an argument is, how arguments go wrong, and what makes an argument valid. Application of techniques for clarifying meaning, evaluating, and constructing arguments.
Credit not given if student has already taken 01:730:201.
|
01:730:103
Introduction to Philosophy (3)
Examination of fundamental philosophical issues such as the meaning and basis of moral judgments, free will and determinism, theism and atheism, knowledge and skepticism, and consciousness and the brain.
|
01:730:104
Introduction to Philosophy (4)
Same as 01:730:103 with smaller weekly discussion section meetings, enabling students to develop their oral argumentative skills and to pursue issues discussed in lectures.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:730:103.
|
01:730:105
Current Moral and Social Issues (3)
Application of moral theory to selected contemporary issues. Possible
topics include abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, punishment, equality,
sexism, racism, affirmative action, privacy, obligations to the world's
needy, treatment of animals, drug use, and the meaning of life.
|
01:730:106
Current Moral and Social Issues (4)
Same as 01:730:105 with smaller weekly discussion section meetings, enabling students to develop their oral argumentative skills and to pursue issues discussed in lectures.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:730:105.
|
01:730:107
Introduction to Ethics (3)
Exploration of basic issues in ethical theory and metaethics. Topics may include consequentialism, deontology, virtue theory, constructivism, value relativism, the objectivity of values, value skepticism, free will, and the nature of the values and practical reasons.
|
01:730:108
Introduction to Ethics (4)
Same as 01:730:107 with smaller weekly discussion section meetings, enabling students to develop their oral argumentative skills and to pursue issues discussed in lectures.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:730:107.
|
01:730:109
Introduction to Formal Reasoning and Decision Making (3)
Fundamentals of logical, probabilistic,
and statistical thinking, as well as the basic principles of rational
decision making. Reasoning through data (and rhetoric) encountered on a daily
basis using elementary principles of deductive logic and inference.
|
01:730:150
Special Introductory Topics in Philosophy (3)
Introduction to philosophical thinking and method in the
context of a special topic in philosophy.
|
01:730:164
Introduction to Philosophy through Film (2)
Film as a stimulus for philosophical reflection. Issues include nature of morality, personal identity, knowledge, skepticism, free will, the problem of evil, and the good life.
This course is only taught in Winter/Summer Session.
|
01:730:201
Introduction to Logic (3)
Introduction to formal logic, covering truth functional propositional logic and quantification theory. Emphasis on developing symbolic techniques for representing and evaluating arguments.
|
01:730:205
Introduction to Modern Philosophy (3)
Study of the formative period of modern philosophy. Readings selected from works of Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.
|
01:730:208
Philosophy of the Greeks (3)
Introduction to the major philosophical thinkers of the ancient Greek world with special emphasis on Plato and Aristotle.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:190:208.
|
01:730:210
Philosophy of Language (3)
Examination of central issues in the philosophy of language concerning questions of meaning and reference.
Prerequisite: 01:730:201.
|
01:730:215
Introduction to Metaphysics (3)
Examination of central issues in metaphysics, such as
free will, personal identity, the nature of time, causality, necessity, and possibility.
Credit not given if student has already taken 01:730:415.
|
01:730:220
Theory of Knowledge (3)
The nature of belief, perception, certainty, justification, and knowledge.
Credit not given if student has already taken 01:730:412.
|
01:730:225
Introduction to the Philosophy of Science (3)
Study of scientific methodology using examples from a variety of scientific disciplines. Nature of scientific laws and theories, explanation, confirmation, objectivity, and changes in scientific knowledge.
Credit not given if student has already taken 01:730:425.
|
01:730:249
Bioethics (3)
Exploration of moral issues in medicine and medical research. Course will typically focus on issues raised by the creation and termination of life and include topics such as abortion, stem cell research, cloning, prenatal screening for disability, right to medical care, human experimentation, genetic enhancement and eugenics, animal experimentation, the diagnosis of death, and euthanasia. May require some thinking about issues in metaphysics, such as the nature of personal identity.
|
01:730:250
Environmental Ethics (3)
Ethical matters concerning the environment; moral justification for coercing individuals and corporations, just distribution of resources, moral rights of animals; study of topical issues such as clean air standards, population control, land use.
|
01:730:251
Ethics and Business (3)
Social and moral problems that arise in the context of business: profit
motive, corporate social responsibility, use and abuse of corporate
power, truth in advertising, consumer rights, strikes, stockholders'
rights, preferential hiring.
|
01:730:252
Eating Right: The Ethics of Food Choices and Food Policy (4)
Skill development for careful reasoning
about difficult issues in life by analyzing food ethics. Includes in-depth arguments based on
aesthetic, moral, cultural, or religious values and moral obligations and their
consequences in everyday life.
|
01:730:253
Human Nature and Human Diversity (4)
Critical analysis of facts, theories, and philosophical
issues regarding human diversity in a variety of domains. May include: sex and gender; race;
religion; diet; morality and norms; conceptions of the self; perceptions and
cognition.
|
01:730:255
Introduction to Social and Political Philosophy (3)
Survey of philosophical writings on the origin and nature of the state. Topics include the individual and the state, the social order, nature and limitation of state authority, political obligation, and liberties of citizens.
|
01:730:258
Philosophy and the Black Experience (3)
Analysis of what constitutes the black experience and analysis of issues in the black experience, such as racial integration, racial separatism, racism, and black values.
|
01:730:260
Philosophical Ideas in Literature (3)
Philosophical issues in literary works. Topics such as freedom and determinism, conceptions and reality of the self, the quest for meaning, and the existence of evil.
|
01:730:261
Philosophical Ideas in Science Fiction (3)
Philosophical issues in science fiction. Topics such as time travel, personal identity, the mind-body problem, nonhuman rationality, and parallel worlds.
|
01:730:263
Philosophy and the Arts (3)
Introduction to the major issues in the philosophy of art, with emphasis on the implications of recent developments in film, music, and painting for art theory.
|
01:730:264
Philosophical Ideas in Film (3)
Use of film as a stimulus for philosophical reflection; investigation of film by applying the analytical rigor of philosophy. Issues to be examined include nature of morality, personal identity, knowledge, skepticism, free will, the problem of evil, and the good life.
This course is only taught in Winter/Summer Session.
|
01:730:265
Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (3)
Basic issues in the philosophy of religion, East and West: existence and nature of God; problem of evil; faith versus knowledge; mysticism and its claims; the problem of religious language; and attacks on religion by Hume, Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud.
|
01:730:268
Introduction to Existentialism (3)
Study of the works of some recent existentialist philosophers and the ways in which their analysis of human existence affects their views of freedom, choice, and action.
|
01:730:295
Areté - Part I (1)
Supervised process of editing of the
undergraduate philosophy journal, with review of weekly submissions.
Prerequisites: At least two courses in philosophy or outstanding performance in a philosophy class.
|
01:730:296
Areté - Part II (1)
Supervised process of editing of the
undergraduate philosophy journal, with review of weekly submissions.
Prerequisites: At least two courses in philosophy or outstanding performance in a philosophy class.
|
01:730:297
Sophomore Advanced Seminar (3)
Intensive study of some classic philosophical text (e.g., Kant's
Critique of Pure Reason) or central philosophical question (e.g.,
the mind-body problem). Extensive writing of papers and discussion of
reading material.
Prerequisites: Outstanding performance in at least one course in philosophy and permission of instructor.
|
01:730:301
Socrates and Plato (3)
The thought of Socrates and Plato in the Platonic dialogues. The
Socratic method; moral theory. Plato's early dialectic, theory of
innate knowledge, theory of forms.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy equal to or greater than 01:730:103.
|
01:730:302
Plato and Aristotle (3)
Major work of Plato, such as the Republic; Aristotle's critical
reaction and alternative theories in metaphysics, psychology, logic,
ethics, and politics.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy equal to or greater than 01:730:103.
|
01:730:303
The Practice of Philosophy: Modes of Philosophical Argument (3)
Examination of various modes of
argumentation in the Western philosophical tradition. Specific topics of focus will vary by instructor/semester.
Prerequisites: 01:730:103 or 104 and 201, and permission of instructor. Not open to first-year students.
|
01:730:304
The Origins of Medieval Philosophy (3)
Emergence of a distinct medieval philosophical style (Philo of Alexandria); the Platonic legacy in Augustine and Boethius; the development of philosophical theology in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy equal to or greater than 01:730:103.
|
01:730:305
Philosophy in the High Middle Ages (3)
Impact of Aristotle in the Muslim-Jewish world (Averroës and Maimonides); the development of medieval science; Christian Scholasticism (Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus).
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:306
Between Medieval and Modern Philosophy (3)
Critique of Aristotelian philosophy; the emergence of a new or "secular" Aristotle; the revival of Plato in the Italian Renaissance; and the "new science" of Galileo.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy equal to or greater than 01:730:103.
|
01:730:307
Descartes, Locke, and the 17th Century (3)
Early development of modern views about the nature of the physical
world; relation between the mental and the physical; the nature of
one's self; skepticism and certainty. Readings from Descartes, Locke,
and others, such as Spinoza, Leibniz, and Hobbes.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:308
Hume, Kant, and the 18th Century (3)
Some major works of Hume and Kant with some attention to other 18th-century philosophers. Comparison of views on the structure of consciousness, space and time, the limits of knowledge, the foundations of natural sciences, mathematics, and metaphysics.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:309
Nietzsche (3)
Nietzsche's critical philosophy and
its excoriation of Platonism, metaphysics, Western morality, and religion, as
well as his positive philosophy, primarily his epistemology. Topics may include the revaluation of
values, perspectivism, naturalism, asceticism, time, and the self.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:310
Contemporary Movements in Philosophy (3)
Major movements in 20th-century philosophy, such as American
pragmatism, development of logic, logical positivism, existentialism,
phenomenology. Philosophers such as Peirce, James, Frege, Russell,
Carnap, Wittgenstein, Sartre, Heidegger, and Husserl.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:311
Classical Jewish Philosophy (3)
Major trends and figures in medieval Jewish thought; Jewish Platonism
(Solomon ibn Gabirol); Jewish Aristotelianism (Maimonides); the
critique of philosophy (Hallevi); Jewish philosophy in the Renaissance.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:563:311.
|
01:730:312
Modern Jewish Philosophy (3)
Thinkers and systems in modern Jewish philosophy, including
interpretations of Jewish tradition, Jewish Kantianism (Cohen, Buber),
Jewish existentialism and postmodernism (Rosenzweig, Levinas), the
Holocaust, and Jewish feminism.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:563:312.
|
01:730:315
Applied Symbolic Logic (3)
Use of deduction techniques (see 01:730:201) to formalize various subject matters such as modal logic, set theory, formal arithmetic, and relevance logic.
Prerequisite: 01:730:201.
|
01:730:319
Philosophy of Mathematics (3)
Introduction to some of the central
topics in philosophy of mathematics. Connection between mathematical knowledge and logical knowledge;
metaphysics of mathematical objects; connection between mathematics and natural
science.
Prerequisites: 01:730:103 or 104, and 201. Recommended prerequisite: 01:730:215 or 220.
|
01:730:320
Knowledge and Assertion (3)
Introduction to the intersection of
epistemology and philosophy of language, focusing on whether or not knowledge
is the norm of assertion.
Prerequisite: 01:730:103 or 104. Recommended prerequisite: 01:730:220 or 210.
|
01:730:328
Philosophy of Psychology (3)
Conceptual and methodological issues about information, mental illness, innate structure, developmental stages, rationality, and deviance. Behaviorism, reductionism, cognitivism, and structuralism.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:329
Minds, Machines, and Persons (3)
Comparison of the nature of the human mind and that of complex machines. Consequences for questions about the personhood of robots.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:330
Ethics of War and Conflict (3)
Exploration of moral issues raised by collective violence through critical examination of the traditional theory of just war. Topics may include foundations of the right of self-defense, notion of a just cause for war, preventive war, humanitarian intervention, distinction between legitimate and illegitimate targets of attack, basis of moral liability to attack in war, proportionality in the consequences of war, terrorism, interrogational torture, and relation between the morality of war and the law of war.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:341
Ethics through History (3)
An examination of some of the most important moral theories in the history of philosophy. Possible authors include Plato, Aristotle, Butler, Hume, Kant, Mill, and Nietzsche. Some contemporary philosophers may be discussed as well.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:342
Social and Political Philosophy through History (3)
An examination of some of the most important social and political theories in the history of philosophy. Possible authors include Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Mill, and Marx. Some contemporary philosophers may be discussed as well, including Rawls and Nozick.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:343
Marx and Marxism (3)
Central introduction to Marx's thought. Topics such as
materialism; dialectics; analysis of capitalism; class and class
struggle; and social revolution, a political program for socialism.
|
01:730:345
Philosophy and the Law (3)
Examination of normative problems in law. Topics such as justification of punishment; limits of the law; nature of excuses; negligence; strict liability; and mens rea requirement.
|
01:730:347
Philosophical Issues in Feminism (3)
Clarification and analysis of feminist thought. Critical study of scientific theories of sex differences. Issues such as the family, abortion, nature of persons, prostitution, discrimination, pornography.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy equal to or greater than 01:730:103 or one course in women's studies.
|
01:730:352
Plato (3)
Philosophy of Plato through close readings of selected dialogues supplemented by relevant readings in other ancient and contemporary philosophers.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:190:352 or 01:490:352.
|
01:730:358
Philosophy of Law (3)
Examination of the nature and purpose of law and legal systems; analysis of judicial decision making and the role of discretion.
|
01:730:360
Philosophical Aspects of Cognitive Science (3)
Exploration of ways in which research and discoveries in cognitive science influence, and have been influenced by, philosophical theorizing. Topics include consciousness, innate knowledge, mental representation, and the nature of rationality.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:362
Philosophy of Literature (3)
Consideration of such questions as the definition of literature, the ontology of literary works, the nature of fiction, the emotional reaction of the audience to fiction, the problem of interpretation, the problem of literary value, and the experience of silent reading as opposed to the experience of literature as performance.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:363
Philosophy of Criticism: Art and Literature (3)
The nature of art criticism and its place in the art world. Emphasis on the approaches to interpretation of literary works, including discussion of relevant issues in philosophy of language, as well as discussion of criticism in the visual arts and music.
|
01:730:364
Aesthetics of Film (3)
Problems in the philosophy of art raised in theory and practice of film. Variety of films screened in conjunction with the course.
|
01:730:365
Philosophy of Music (3)
Concept of musical expression; music as language; music and drama; music and representation; the nature of the musical work.
|
01:730:367
American Philosophy (3)
Study in its historical setting of inquiry into the nature of experience, truth, goodness, and society by American philosophers including James, Peirce, Dewey, Royce, Lewis, and Whitehead.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy equal to or greater than 01:730:103.
|
01:730:368
Hindu Philosophy (3)
Upanishads, Patanjali, Bhagavad Gita; theories of matter, energy, states of consciousness; meditation. Yogas of knowledge, action, devotion. Karma. Ethics. Comparison of Hindu and Western cosmology.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:840:358.
|
01:730:369
Buddhist Philosophy (3)
Interdependence, impermanence, relativity; suffering; path to liberation; meditation; karma as cosmic justice; death and rebirth. Compassion as central ethical value. Theravada, Mahayana, and Tibetan Buddhism.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy. Credit not given for both this course and 01:840:369.
|
01:730:370
Contemporary Philosophy of Religion (3)
Modern philosophical discussions of religious language and experience; the possibility of religious knowledge; the nature of religious discourse; mysticism and truth; divine omniscience; religious morality.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy equal to or greater than 01:730:103.
|
01:730:371
Philosophies of Death and Dying (3)
Theories of death and dying in different metaphysical systems; Plato; Eastern philosophy; existentialism; thanatology. Extinction versus continuity of consciousness. Attitudes toward death and ethical values.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy equal to or greater than 01:730:103. Sophomores by permission only.
|
01:730:374
Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism (3)
Basic characteristics and tenets of Islam as a religion: the early theological controversies; the major thinkers and mystics and their interaction with the other aspects of Islamic civilization.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:840:374 or 01:685:374.
|
01:730:375
Topics in Philosophy (3)
An intensive writing course on a central topic in philosophy. Topics will vary with instructor.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:393,394
Independent Study (1-4,1-4)
Individual study in some philosophical topic under the direction of a member of the department.
|
01:730:397
Junior Advanced Seminar (3)
Intensive study of some classic philosophical text (e.g.,
Kant's Critique of Pure Reason) or central philosophical question (e.g., the
mind-body problem). Extensive writing of papers and discussion of reading
material.
Prerequisite: Outstanding performance in at least one course in philosophy. By invitation only.
|
01:730:401
Plato (3)
Intensive study of selected works of Plato, with emphasis upon the later dialogues such as Theaetetus, Sophist, and Philebus.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy equal to or greater than 01:730:103.
|
01:730:402
Aristotle (3)
Topics in Aristotle's logic, physics, metaphysics, and philosophy of language.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy equal to or greater than 01:730:103.
|
01:730:403
Ancient Philosophy after Aristotle (3)
Philosophy in the Hellenistic and Roman world. Stoics, Sceptics, and Epicureans; Hellenistic-Jewish philosophy; the revival of Aristotle; and Plotinus and the neo-Platonic tradition.
Prerequisite: One course in Greek philosophy.
|
01:730:404
Spinoza (3)
Spinoza's theological political treatise: prophecy, miracles, and faith and
reason. Spinoza's ethics: God and his attributes, the human mind,
and human bondage and freedom.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy. Recommended: 01:730:205 or 307.
|
01:730:405
Kant (3)
Critical examination of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason; emphasis on metaphysical and epistemological views.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:406
Nineteenth-Century Philosophy (3)
Critical reaction to Kant and the philosophy of the Enlightenment: Fichte, Hegel. Rise of the social sciences. Antecedents of 20th-century intellectual movements.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:407
Intermediate Logic I (3)
Metatheory of propositional and first-order predicate logic. Completeness is proved and its consequences are explored.
Prerequisite: 01:730:201.
|
01:730:408
Intermediate Logic II (3)
Computability and recursiveness; metatheory of first-order theories; incompleteness theorems; special topics as time permits.
Prerequisite: 01:730:407.
|
01:730:409
Wittgenstein (3)
Detailed study of either Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and its relation to writings of Frege and Russell; or Philosophical Investigations and related writings.
Prerequisites: 01:730:201 and two additional courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:410
History of Analytic Philosophy (3)
Major figures or movements in the development of analytic philosophy. Topics may include: early analytic philosophy, with an emphasis on Frege, Russell, and Moore; development and assessment of logical positivism; and roots of contemporary metaphysics in Quine and Strawson.
Prerequisites: 01:730:201 and two additional courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:411
History of Epistemology (3)
Historical development of positions on one or more epistemological issues, such as knowledge of empirical and necessary truths, certainty and skepticism, or the scientific method.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy equal to or greater than 01:730:103.
|
01:730:412
Epistemology (3)
Topics such as belief, certainty, justification, knowledge, and skepticism are examined in detail.
Prerequisites: 01:730:201 and two additional courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:413
Social Epistemology (3)
How groups, communities, and interpersonal practices promote or impede the quest for knowledge and rationality.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:414
History of Metaphysics (3)
Historical development of positions on one or more metaphysical issues such as substance, change, causality, universals, matter, space, time, free will, necessity, possibility, and contingency.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy equal to or greater than 01:730:103.
|
01:730:415
Metaphysics (3)
Topics such as essence, particulars and universals, causation, space, time, and identity. The nature of metaphysical arguments and problems of ontology. Realism and its alternatives.
Prerequisites: 01:730:201 and one additional course in philosophy.
|
01:730:416
Leibniz (3)
Philosophical works of G.W. Leibniz. Particular attention will be paid to Leibniz's views on modality, substance, truth, free will, causation, the mind-body problem, innate ideas, and his claim that this is the best possible world.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy. Recommended: 01:730:205, 307, or 308.
|
01:730:418
Philosophy of Mind (3)
Mind-body problem and the nature of consciousness; rationality; intentionality; human freedom. Theories of dualism, physicalism, functionalism, and behaviorism.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:419
Philosophy of Perception (3)
Philosophical study of perception and of our access through it to knowledge and reality.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:420
Philosophy of Language (3)
Philosophical study of language and linguistics. Pragmatics, theories of learnability, meaning and reference, formal semantics, truth, indexicality.
Prerequisites: 01:730:201 and two additional courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:421
Semantics of Language (3)
The philosophical study of natural language semantics. Covers traditional questions about the semantics of names, predicates, adverbs, psychological ascriptions, and demonstrative and indexical expressions. Verbs of change. Comparative adjectives.
Prerequisite: 01:730:201.
|
01:730:422
Philosophy of Logic (3)
Is logic a theory? The status and use of alternative logics. What logics and other mathematical systems can tell us about language and relations among language, belief, and the world.
Prerequisite: 01:730:315.
|
01:730:424
The Logic of Decision (3)
Analysis of rational preference and nondeductive inference with special emphasis on the examination of alternative concepts of utility and probability.
Prerequisite: 01:730:201 or 315 or 407 or 408 or 422.
|
01:730:425
Philosophy of Science (3)
Detailed study of one or more of the following topics: explanation, confirmation, causation, the status of theoretical entities, objectivity, reductionism, unity of science.
Prerequisite: 01:730:225.
|
01:730:426
Philosophy of Physics (3)
Methodology of the physical sciences. Philosophical problems of space and time, measurement, and causation in modern physics.
Prerequisite: 01:730:225.
|
01:730:427
Philosophy of Social Sciences (3)
Explanation. Relation to natural sciences. Discussion of debates in areas such as structuralism, functionalism, classical modeling, path analysis, statistical testing, and construct validation.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:428
Topics in the Philosophy of Psychology (3)
Detailed philosophical study of topics such as psychological explanation; implications of psychotherapy; and theories of cognition, perception, learning, and personality.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:429
Philosophy of Biology (3)
Methodology of the biological sciences. Detailed study of one or more of the following topics: the nature of explanation, laws, and reduction in biology; debates about fitness, units of selection, replicators, and evolutionary theory.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:435
Philosophy of History (3)
Theories of history and historical explanation; comparison of the methodologies of history and science; problems of historical interpretation.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:441
Ethical Theory (3)
Examination of contemporary views in normative ethics and metaethics, or both. Possible topics include the nature of reasons and value, the justification of moral judgments, the meaning of moral terms, theories of right action, and competing approaches to moral theory, including skepticism.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:442
Moral Responsibility (3)
Exploration of our
responsibility for ourselves and our actions. Possible topics
include justification versus excuses for actions; different types of excuses
(e.g., ignorance of fact, morality, or law; insanity; alcohol-induced
impairment; duress); negligence and risk; moral luck; collective
responsibility; free will; and the justification for punishment.
|
01:730:445
Topics in Social and Political Philosophy (3)
Exploration of important authors or topics in social and political philosophy. Material may range from classical masterpieces to unpublished manuscripts.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:450
Topics in Moral Philosophy (3)
Explores at an advanced level some of the most important authors or topics in moral philosophy. Material may range from classical masterpieces to unpublished manuscripts. Topics will vary by instructor.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:459
Advanced Seminar in Ethics (3)
Examines some of the deepest and most fundamental issues in moral theory and practical reasoning. Topics may include nature of morality, nature of reasons, impartiality, universal laws, Kantianism, consequentialism, contractualism, normativity, attitudes to time, obligations to future generations, the structure of moral ideals, competing conceptions of good, and transitivity.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor required.
|
01:730:461
Topics in Aesthetics (3)
Generally will discuss three major works in the philosophy of art, each concerning one of the major arts: for example, literature, the visual arts, film, and music. Works by recent or contemporary authors, at the cutting edge of current research, studied in depth.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:465
Phenomenology and Existentialism (3)
Issues in phenomenology and existentialism, selected from Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty. Consideration of contemporary philosophical literature.
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.
|
01:730:470
Ethics and Practical Reason (3)
Investigation
of selected topics concerning reasoning about what to do. Possible topics
include the nature of reasons, values, normativity, irrationality, agency, intention,
free will, moral dilemmas, and problems raised by conflicts among values.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:475
Advanced Topics in Philosophy (3)
An intensive writing course on a central topic in philosophy. Topics will vary with instructor.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:480
Issues in Contemporary Philosophy (3)
Examination of some central issue(s) in contemporary philosophy. Topics vary from semester to semester.
Prerequisites: Two courses in philosophy.
|
01:730:492
Philosophy Writing Tutorial (3)
Intensive writing tutorial, intended to prepare individual papers for submission to an undergraduate philosophy journal or conference.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Open to philosophy majors only.
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01:730:493,494
Independent Study (1-4,1-4)
Individual study in some philosophical topic under the direction of a member of the department.
Open to philosophy majors/minors only.
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01:730:495,496
Senior Honors Thesis (BA,BA)
Thesis research
under the direction of a faculty adviser.
Prerequisite: Eligibility for departmental honors and approval of thesis topic by faculty adviser and director of undergraduate studies.
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