The nature, scope, methods, basic problems and major types of philosophy. Satisfies Philosophical/Religious Perspectives GenEd; satisfies SEEDS Ethical Inquiry student learning outcome in alignment with Educated Citizenry value.
The nature of ethical judgments, the meaning of moral concepts, the conditions of moral responsibility and the methodological presuppositions of ethical theories in philosophy and religion. Satisfies Philosophical/Religious Perspectives GenEd requirement; satisfies SEEDS Ethical Inquiry student learning outcome in alignment with Educated Citizenry value.
The first part of this course considers different conceptions of happiness (aka well-being) by critically examining ancient and contemporary theories of happiness such as hedonism, desire satisfaction theory, and objective theories of human welfare. By studying this material we learn that being happy does not necessarily entail living a meaningful life. The second part of the course explores the differences between happiness and meaning in life by examining contemporary theories of meaning in life, such as Richard Taylor's subjectivist theory and Susan Wolf's fitting fulfillment theory. Satisfies SEEDS Ethical Inquiry student learning outcome in alignment with Self Discovery and Self Care value.
The forms of deductive and inductive argument in traditional logic, the fundamentals of modern formal logic. Satisfies Philosophical and Religious Perspectives GenEd requirement; satisfies SEEDS Effective Writing I student learning outcome in alignment with Educated Citizenry value.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. A historical survey of major ethical theories in the Western philosophical tradition, from ancient times to the present.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106; RELG 100. A study of the meaning of morality in the modern world of business. Course contains balance of theory and practice as it examines behavior of business against background of conflicting ethical theory.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. A study of moral decision making in regard to specific moral problems arising in such areas of contemporary medical research and practice as experimentation on human subjects, euthanasia, abortion, information rights of patients, and eugenic sterilization. Mutually Exclusive with MEDH 204.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. An examination of philosophical approaches to current issues related to law and justice. Close attention will be paid to one or more of the following specific issues: freedom of religion, freedom of expression, gay rights, reproductive rights, or civil disobedience and political protest.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. The nature of society and the state, their relation to each other and to the individual, and an evaluation of some main political and social ideals. Satisfies SEEDS Political and Civic Life student learning outcome in alignment with Educated Citizenry value.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. An exploration of the ethical issues related to human sexuality and/or intimate relationships. The focus in this course is on conflicts and/or problem areas related to love, sex and desire and the ways ethicists address them. Ethical issues to be discussed include: monogamy, promiscuity, gay marriage, abstinence education, transgender identity, pornography, prostitution, and sexual abuse.
Prerequisite(s): WRIT 105 or HONP 100 or PHIL 100 or PHIL 106. What is American liberty? While everyone agrees that liberty is a core American value, debate about the meaning of liberty abounds. One individual or group can be accused of being an ‘enemy of liberty’ by some while being heralded as a ‘friend of liberty’ by others. Then, there is the glaring, violent contradiction at America’s origin: the liberty of some was made possible only in virtue of the subjection—enslavement or eradication—of others. Our love of liberty binds us together and, at the same time, tears us apart. For these reasons, it is reasonable to ask, not only what is liberty, but also is it even worth defending? The proposed course will take up these questions and reflect on the complexities and contradictions surrounding our conception of liberty by examining various, often competing definitions of liberty. Through this examination, students will acquire a deeper understanding of different ideas of American liberty, and the cultural-historical contexts from which they emerged. Short, impactful readings in the history of American political thought—from the early modern era until the present day—from a wide variety of voices will be connected to contemporary issues such as sexual and reproductive freedom, marriage, guns, public health, environmental protection, gender, privacy and property and artificial intelligence.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. The major American philosophers and philosophical movements with emphasis on Peirce, James, Royce, and Dewey.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. The major movements in contemporary philosophy, studied through writings of leading exponents.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. This course introduces students to the major movements and thinkers in Asian philosophy. It acquaints students with Asian philosophical interpretations of experience and reality found in both classical and contemporary Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism in Eastern cultures. Offered as PHIL 137 through Winter 2013. To become PHIL 237 effective Spring 2013. Meets Gen Ed - Global Cultural Perspectives. Meets World Cultures Requirement.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. The major themes and concepts of existentialism in selected writings of the existentialist philosophers.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. The major philosophies of art in the history of Western thought. The conceptual network of ideas of the thinker in question will be delineated, and connections shown between the thinker and the philosophical and artistic themes of that period.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106 or RELG 100 or RELG 101 or RELG 102. The nature and shape of religious experience, criteria for meaning within religious thought and language; metaphysical and epistemological implications of such questions as the nature and existence of god, and the possibility of life after death.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. An intermediary level course concentrating upon argumentation and rhetorical devices as they actually function in everyday conversation, philosophical discussion, forensic debate, etc. Arguments will be examined with an eye to penetrating purely formal structure and discovering the underlying dynamics which contribute to cogency in a given context. Satisfies SEEDS Effective Writing II student learning outcome in alignment with Educated Citizenry value.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. The epistemological character of scientific thought and the relevance of scientific findings for the clarification and eventual resolution of traditional philosophical issues. Satisfies SEEDS Scientific Reasoning student learning outcome in alignment with Engagement, Agency and Leadership value.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. Philosophical issues arising from the study of mental processes including the relation of a person to the body, life after death, and the possible reduction of consciousness to a brain process.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. Survey of the philosophical aspects of sport along with development of philosophical ideas about sport from the origins of competitive sport to the present. Special attention will be paid to such classic issues as the ontological status of games, sport as moral education, and athletics as substitutes for war.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. An examination of what technology is, how we relate to it, and how it affects our lives. The investigation draws upon core subfields of philosophy—ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, and metaphysics—as well as specific philosophical theories of technology.
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 100 or CSIT 111 or LNGN 210 or PHIL 100 or PSYC 101. An introduction to the multidisciplinary field of cognitive science. Topics include: the mind-body problem, thought as computation and the computer model of the mind, the role of representation in mental activity. Emphasis will be upon the methodological approaches found in artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, cognitive anthropology, cognitive neuroscience, linguistics, and philosophy. Mutually Exclusive with CSIT 288, LNGN 288, and PSYC 288.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. Selected study of major fields in philosophy. Philosophy of science, philosophy of history, philosophy of law. Topics announced each semester. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. Selected study of major fields in philosophy. Philosophy of science, philosophy of history, philosophy of law. Topics announced each semester. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. Selected study of major fields in philosophy. Philosophy of science, philosophy of history, philosophy of law. Topics announced each semester. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. Selected study of major fields in philosophy. Philosophy of science, philosophy of history, philosophy of law. Topics announced each semester. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. Topics announced each semester. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106. Topics announced each semester. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level PHIL course. The major issues and theories concerning the relationship between knowledge, experience and reality.
Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level PHIL course. An examination of major philosophical theories concerning the nature of reality.
Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level PHIL course. An introduction to the philosophical issues of jurisprudence. Close attention is given to the status and nature of law, the concept of equality and the limits of law.
Prerequisite(s): JURI 210 or LAWS 200 or PHIL 206 or PHIL 212 or departmental approval. Theoretical foundations for developing models and methods of addressing legal problems. Principles of legal reasoning and argument in the Anglo-American common law tradition. Models of legal reasoning and methodology for resolving legal problems as developed within evolving social and philosophical notions of justice and fairness. Meets the Graduation Writing Requirement for majors in Jurisprudence, Law & Society. Mutually Exclusive with JURI 324.
Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level PHIL course. Seminar devoted to philosophical, mainly ethical and metaphysical, questions about death.
Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level PHIL course. The major philosophical systems and movements from the pre-Socratics to Plotinus with special emphasis on Plato and Aristotle. Meets the Graduation Writing Requirement for majors in Philosophy.
Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level PHIL course. The major philosophical systems and movements from the Renaissance to Kant. Meets the Graduation Writing Requirement for majors in Philosophy.
Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level PHIL course. The development of the analytic tradition in twentieth century philosophy; the logical and linguistic techniques employed.
Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level PHIL course or GLQS 201 or GSWS 301. This course surveys the four main movements of the continental (European) philosophical tradition: (1) 19th century German philosophy, (2) Marxism/critical theory, (3) phenomenology/existentialism, and (4) post-structuralism/postmodernism. This philosophical tradition runs from the 19th Century to the present day. Continental philosophy stands in contrast to the dominant, Anglo-American, "analytic" philosophical tradition. This course gives students the opportunity to examine the ways in which continental philosophers approach issues in the core subfields of philosophy, such as epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics. Students will also have the opportunity to explore similarities to and differences from the analytic philosophical tradition.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 200 or PHIL 212 or JURI 210 or LAWS 200 or GSWS 200 or GSWS 201. An examination of the philosophical basis of legal doctrines as they apply to women and feminist issues. The course will explore the legal arguments feminists have made for social and political equality. It will also examine whether gender bias is built into traditional jurisprudential theories. Women's rights and women's legal status in politics, employment, education, and the family will be explored. Mutually Exclusive with JURI 376 and GSWS 376.
Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level PHIL course. Selected study of major fields in philosophy. Topics announced each semester. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level PHIL course. Topics announced each semester. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level PHIL course. Topics announced each semester. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level PHIL course. Cooperative research seminars in major movements, problems, philosophers or works. Topic announced each semester. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level PHIL course. Cooperative research seminars in major movements, problems philosopher, or works. Topics announced each semester. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level PHIL course. Directed independent study and research in philosophy. Open to students with a minimum of 3.0 cumulative average in at least 9 semester hours of philosophy. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level PHIL course. Directed independent study and research in philosophy. Open to students with a minimum of 3.0 cumulative average in at least 9 semester hours of philosophy. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level PHIL course. Directed independent study and research in philosophy. Open to students with a minimum of 3.0 cumulative average in at least 9 semester hours of philosophy. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.
Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level PHIL course. Directed independent study and research in philosophy. Open to students with a minimum of 3.0 cumulative average in at least 9 semester hours of philosophy. May be repeated three times for a maximum of 12 credits.