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Course Information

Philosophy

 

Course code(s): PHIL

PHIL 110: Introduction to Philosophy, Cr. 3.
An introduction to basic problems and types of philosophy, with special emphasis on the problem of knowledge and nature of reality. Approved by Arts and Sciences for the Cultural Studies (Western Tradition) requirement.
 
PHIL 111: Ethics, Cr. 3.
A study of the nature of moral value and obligation. Topics such as the following will be considered: different conceptions of the good life and standards of right conduct; the relation of nonmoral and moral goodness; determinism, free will, and the problem of moral responsibility; the political and social dimensions of ethics; the principles and methods of moral judgment. Readings will be drawn from both contemporary and classical sources.
 
PHIL 111H: Ethics—Honors, Cr. 3.
Honors equivalent of PHIL 111.
 
PHIL 112: Religion and Culture, Cr. 3.
A study of traditional patterns of encounter with the sacred. Topics considered will typically include the secularization of Western culture and religious elements in contemporary American culture. Approved by Arts and Sciences for the Cultural Studies (Western Tradition) requirement.
 
PHIL 120: Critical Thinking, Cr. 3.
This course is designed to introduce students to the structure of successful reasoning. Topics covered will include language, definitions, vagueness and ambiguity; recognizing arguments; distinguishing between arguments and explanations; patterns for diagramming arguments; informal fallacies; nondeductive reasoning (the structure of explanations); and disciplinary reasoning (the structure of arguments as encountered in such disciplines as ethics or business). Students who have earned credit in PHIL 150 are encouraged not to register for PHIL 120.
 
PHIL 150: Principles of Logic, Cr. 3.
A study of the principles and methods employed in the logical appraisal of arguments. Topics covered will include informal fallacies; syllogistic logic and Venn diagrams; sentence logic (truth tables and rules of inference); and first-order predicate logic, up to but not including definite descriptions and identity.

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PHIL 206: Philosophy of Religion, Cr. 3.
An introduction to the philosophic study of religion. Topics covered will include the nature and origin of religion, a critical examination of the idea of God, the nature of evil, immortality, and worship.
 
PHIL 240: Social and Political Philosophy, Cr. 3.
A study of the dominant types of social and political thought from Plato to Dewey, and including Marx, Rousseau, and Hegel. Approved by Arts and Sciences for the Cultural Studies (Western Tradition) requirement.
 
PHIL 250: Inductive Logic, Cr. 3.
P: 150 or consent of instructor. A presentation and analysis of various types of nondeductive logical inference, those used in the physical and social sciences and in everyday problem-solving situations. Some basic work may be done in statistics and probability calculus. Familiarity with deductive logic is required.
 
 
PHIL 260: Philosophy and Law, Cr. 3.
A discussion of philosophical issues in the law. Topics will include a critical examination of such basic concepts in law as property, civil liberty, punishment, right, contract, crime, and responsibility; and a survey of some main philosophical theories about the nature and justification of legal systems. Readings will be drawn from both law and philosophy.
 
PHIL 275: The Philosophy of Art, Cr. 3.
A survey of the principal theories concerning the nature, function, and value of the arts from classical times to the present.

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PHIL 301: History of Ancient Philosophy, Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: 110. A survey of ancient Western philosophy from Thales through Plotinus. Selected readings on and by the Presocratic philosophers, Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic, and Roman philosophy. This is the first in the five-course history of philosophy sequence (PHIL 301, 302, 303, 304, 405), but any one of these may be taken without the others, and they may be taken in any order, although it is preferable to take them chronologically. Approved by Arts and Sciences for the Cultural Studies (Western Tradition) requirement.
 
PHIL 302: History of Medieval Philosophy, Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: 110; Recommended: 301. A survey of medieval philosophy, with selected readings from major thinkers. Topics covered include the Greek and Jewish background of Medieval thought; the development of Christian Platonism; the rise of the universities and scholastic philosophy; the recovery of Aristotle and the period of High Scholasticism; the development of logical analysis; the rise of experimental natural philosophy and the decline of scholasticism. Detailed attention will be given to Augustine, Anselm, Abelard, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham.
 
PHIL 303: History of Modern Philosophy, Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: 110; Recommended: 301. Readings in, lectures on, and discussions about the major and minor philosophical figures from the Renaissance through Kant. This includes fairly intensive study of the works of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Contemporary nonphilosophical figures such as Newton and Calvin may also be considered.
 
PHIL 304: 19th Century Philosophy, Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: 110; Recommended: 303. A study of the major movements and directions of 19th century philosophy, including such figures as Hegel, Comte, Mach, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Mill, Royce, and Peirce.
 
PHIL 305: Philosophical Theories of Feminism, Cr. 3.
This course focuses on an analysis of ancient, medieval, and contemporary philosophical theories of gender and the role that these theories play in current political structures. In addition to classical readings, current philosophical issues such as pornography, abortion, family values ideology, body and self-image, biological determinism, and racism in the context of historical ideologies are discussed.
 
PHIL 312: Medical Ethics, Cr. 3.
A critical examination of various issues, such as abortion, euthanasia, the healthcare system, and experimentation on humans. Topics will be dealt with from medical, ethical, religious, and legal perspectives.
 
PHIL 326: Business Ethics, Cr. 3.
Philosophic examination of such topics as morality and self-interest, freedom and coercion, distributive justice, limits of the law, moral and legal rights, fair equality of opportunity, justice between nations. These topics are seen from a new perspective when they are connected to discussions of fair wages and capitalism, legal constraints on manufacturers and advertisers, affirmative-action programs, environmentalism, and multinational corporations.
 
PHIL 327: Environmental Ethics, Cr. 3.
A study of traditional ethical theory applied to environmental issues such as population control, conservation, human rights and pollution, nuclear energy, extinction and animal rights, our obligations to future generations, toxic waste, and issues in agriculture.
 
PHIL 328: Ethics and Animals, Cr. 3.
A study of traditional philosophical positions on questions of animal rights. Topics covered typically include human rights and doctrines of duty and obligation, vivisection, animals and food, extinction, the pet industry, hunting, the fur industry, and animal-rights organizations.
 
PHIL 331: Religions of the West, Cr. 3.
A study of the origins and present institutions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This will include a brief study of the influences upon Western religion of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, and Persia. Approved by Arts and Sciences for the Cultural Studies (Western Tradition) requirement.
 
PHIL 351: Philosophy of Science, Cr. 3.
This course examines topics at the intersection of science and philosophy. Primary topics: fundamental principles of the scientific method; the nature of scientific change; the epistemology of science and the debate over scientific realism; scientific convergence and the future of science; consilience of science with nonscience; science and pseudoscience; science and human values. Secondary topics: the strange world of contemporary physics; ethical issues in scientific research; science and religion; science and education; science and the meaning of life.

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PHIL 425: Metaphysics, Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: At least one course in philosophy or consent of instructor. A concentrated investigation of some of the basic problems concerning essence, existence, time, space, substance, causality, permanence, and change. Readings and discussions will center on representative metaphysical thinkers.
 
PHIL 432: Theory of Knowledge, Cr. 3.
Prequisite: One course in philosophy or consent of instructor. An examination of some central issues in the philosophy of mind. Attention is given to such topics as the knowledge of other minds, the relation between mind and body, the nature of persons, and the analysis of certain relevant concepts such as action, emotion, and perception. Readings are selected primarily from the writings of contemporary philosophers.
 
PHIL 450: Symbolic Logic, Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: 150 or consent of instructor. Topics considered include advanced techniques of the logic of quantification, identity, and definite description, intuitive set theory, Russell’s paradox, and modal logic.
 
PHIL 480: Practicum in Applied Ethics, Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: Junior class standing and consent of instructor. Students will be assigned a definite task relevant to their educational interests in applied ethics. Students may be placed in appropriate cooperating local social-service agencies, educational institutions, legal services offices, businesses, or medical facilities.Work will be supervised by the department and the agency. Research and written reports will be required.
 
PHIL 493: Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Seminar, Cr. 1–3. (V.T.)
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. May be repeated for credit. Subject matter will vary.

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Dual Level, Undergraduate-Graduate

PHIL 510: Phenomenology, Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: 110. May be repeated for credit. A detailed, critical examination of some major issue(s) in phenomenology. Attention will be given to either the historical development or contemporary relevance of phenomenological philosophy. Readings will be drawn from the works of Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and others.
 
PHIL 514: Twentieth-Century Analytical Philosophy I, Cr. 3
Prerequisite: 150 and one other course in philosophy. The origins of contemporary philosophical analysis. An examination of the most important philosophical writings of Gottlob Frege, and Bertrand Russell, as well as the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus of Ludwig Wittgenstein.
 
PHIL 515: 20th Century Analytical Philosophy II, Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: 150 and one other course in philosophy. The development of philosophical analysis through logical positivism and the various forms of linguistic philosophy. An examination of some of the important writings of Moore, Ayer, Ryle, Wisdom, Austin, and the later Wittgenstein. Need not be preceded by PHIL 514.
 
PHIL 524: Contemporary Ethical Theory, Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: 110 or 111. A critical review of 20th century developments in ethical and value theory, with particular reference to the dispute between utilitarianism and deontological theories and to the problem of justification.
 
PHIL 525: Studies in Metaphysics, Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: 301 or 303. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor. An intensive and critical review of one or more of the basic problems of ontology and cosmology, such as substance, existence, causality, change, time, space, teleology, freedom, and universals. Variable content.
 
PHIL 530: Deconstructionist & Postmodernist Philosophy, Cr. 3
Prerequisite: 110 or 111. An examination of the main currents of deconstructionist and postmodernist thought in the latter part of the 20th century. Texts to be studied will be selected from the writings of Heidegger, Derrida, Foucault, Kristeva, Irigaray, Deleuze, Guattari, Lyotard, Baudrillard, and Rorty.
 
PHIL 575: Problems in Esthetics, Cr. 3. (V.T.)
Prerequisite: 275. An intensive examination of some of the characteristic questions of contemporary aesthetic theory. Variable content. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor.
 
PHIL 580: Proseminar in Philosophy, Cr. 3. (V.T.)
Prerequisite: 6 credits of philosophy. May be repeated for credit. Designed primarily for majors in philosophy. Other students may be admitted to the course with the special consent of the instructor. Topic to be selected by the department staff.
 
PHIL 590: Directed Readings in Philosophy, Cr. 1–3. (V.T.)
Prerequisite: 6 credits of philosophy, plus basic work in area to be investigated. May be repeated for credit. A reading course directed by the instructor in whose particular field of specialization the content of the reading falls. Approval of each reading project must be secured from the department.

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