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 ethical concepts, the conditions of ethical responsibility and the methodological presuppositions of ethical theories in philosophy. This course includes a community-service assignment. 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.
A critical examination of the major ethical theories in the Western philosophical tradition (ancient, modern, and contemporary). Emphasis is placed on the ways in which each theory determines via reasoning which actions are ethical and which are unethical.
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.
We want our lives to go well. We want to be satisfied, content, happy. Philosophers typically refer to this as well-being. But we also want to live meaningful lives. What does it mean for a life to be meaningful? Meaningfulness is related to but different from well-being. According to some theories, meaningfulness is also different from morality. Although philosophers have been writing about some of these issues for centuries, it is only relatively recently that a subfield has taken shape in mainstream, analytic philosophy that is focused explicitly on meaningfulness. In this course, we will study this new philosophy, and we will also trace connections to the tradition—including the continental tradition.
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): Phil 100, 102, 105, or 106. To this day, Stoicism remains one of the most influential schools of philosophical thought. For Stoics, philosophy was not an abstract intellectual pursuit, but a practical guide to life aimed at achieving ‘eudaemonia’ or well-being. This 200-level Philosophy course offers a comprehensive study of Stoicism. Designed to be engaging for students from diverse academic backgrounds—including natural sciences, social sciences and business, as well as philosophy majors and minors—this course helps students to grasp the basic principles of Stoic thought and invites them to examine how Stoic principles can be applied to their own lives. Students will read primary texts from key Stoic philosophers, including Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius. Topics will include the Stoic idea of nature, the relationship between emotions and reason, and the Stoic approach to adversity and suffering. Through discussions, personal writing, and small group activities, participants will analyze the Stoic framework for ethical living. This course is accessible to all students interested in philosophical inquiry and personal development, regardless of their major.
Prerequisite(s): Phil 100, 102, 105, or 106. Nearly two centuries ago, the term "feminism" referred to "qualities of females." By the mid-19th century, feminism had become a critical-philosophical movement questioning these so-called "feminine" or "womanly" qualities and how they were established. Building on the work of many before her, Simone de Beauvoir inaugurated feminist philosophy by asking, "What is a woman?" in The Second Sex. This course will follow a key trajectory in feminist philosophy since de Beauvoir. This course is divided into three parts: first, we will examine The Second Sex, focusing on her claim that “one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” Next, we’ll explore Judith Butler’s response to De Beauvoir and her influential ‘performative theory of gender’. Finally, we’ll consider critical responses to Butler and alternative theories. Through close readings of primary texts, we’ll investigate the relationships between sex and gender, nature and culture, mythology and history, desire and power, as well as intimacy and violence. The course will explore what it means to "be" or "become" gendered, and the lived experience of its construction. It will conclude with a reflection on transgender and gender-nonconforming identities, considering possibilities and limitations for understanding personal identity as inseparable from sex and gender.
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. Mutually Exclusive with AMSD 221.
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.
An investigation into the relationships between technologies and ethics; a critical study of the ways in which technologies embody and project values. Questions such as the following are examined: What are the ethical implications of various applications of A.I.? Are race, class, or gender prejudices built into certain technologies? Should there be limits to free speech online? What are the ethical consequences to online anonymity? What are the ethical effects of data gathering and sharing? Is drone warfare ethical? Do self-driving cars make ethical decisions? What are the effects of new technologies on the environment and sustainability? Broadly speaking, ethics is concerned with how we should live, so this course will also examine the impact of technologies on living a good life, that is, the impact of technologies on well-being.
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): PHIL 100 or PHIL 102 or PHIL 106 or CSIT/LNGN/PHIL/PSYC 288. Questions about artificial intelligence (AI) have been of interest to philosophers since at least the 1950s. For example: What exactly is AI? What assumptions underlie the belief that AI is even possible? How will we know if we have achieved AI with human-level intelligence? How would we program an “ethical” AI? What should we think about the relationship between AI and human creativity? Does AI represent an existential threat to humanity? This course explores the rich body of philosophical work on questions of this sort. Through this exploration, we’ll come to better understand the philosophical assumptions that underlie contemporary debates, and concerns, about the rise of AI.
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): 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 100, 102, 105, or 106. What does "I" refer to? Philosophers disagree about the nature of the self/subject/person. This course examines the metaphysical complexities of the self, and the epistemological complexities of how we might know the self. Both continental and analytic philosophies are critically examined. This course also considers whether different conceptions of the self imply different approaches to well-being.
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.