Course Offerings (Fall 2023)

Philosophy Courses

Fall 2023
Courses marked with * contribute to satisfying General Education Requirements

*PHIL 1000: Introduction to Philosophy

Credit will not be given for both this course and PHIL 1001, which is the honors version of this course.

Section 1: TTH 9:00 - 10:20, 116 Stubbs, Blakley

Major works on such themes as appearance and reality, human nature, nature of knowledge, relation of mind and body, right and good, existence of God, and freedom and determinism.

Section 2: TTH 10:30 - 11:50, 116 Stubbs, Blakley

Major works on such themes as appearance and reality, human nature, nature of knowledge, relation of mind and body, right and good, existence of God, and freedom and determinism.

Section 3: MWF 10:30 - 11:20, 220 Stubbs, Wells

This course provides an introduction to philosophy through a survey of a number of figures and themes in western philosophy. We will especially consider the relationships between belief, understanding, reason, and self. Along the way we will ask, for example: What do I believe, what should I believe, and on what grounds? Can the use of reason lead to social and historical progress? Are there boundaries and limits to what we can know? What is the self? If we are free, then are there justifiable limits that can be placed on one's choices and actions by others? Why is democracy something of value to us? What ought our relationship to the natural world be? Figures we will discuss include (but are not limited to): Plato, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche, Mill and Aldo Leopold.

Section 4: MWF 11:30 - 12:20, 220 Stubbs, Wells

This course provides an introduction to philosophy through a survey of a number of figures and themes in western philosophy. We will especially consider the relationships between belief, understanding, reason. and self. Along the way we will ask, for example: What do I believe, what should I believe, and on what grounds? Can the use of reason lead to social and historical progress? Are there boundaries and limits to what we can know? What is the self? If we are free, then are there justifiable limits that can be placed on one's choices and actions by others? Why is democracy something of value to us? What ought our relationship to the natural world be? Figures we will discuss include (but are not limited to): Plato, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche, Mill, and Aldo Leopold.

Section 5: MWF 12:30 - 1:20, 220 Coates, E. Cogburn

We will study key classic and contemporary texts in the Western Philosophical tradition alongside related short stories that operate as thought experiments to help us to work out the issues raised in the philosophy. Issues covered should include: the problem of the external world, free will or lack thereof, oppression and liberation, human responsibility, the meaning of life, and animal and ecological ethics.

*PHIL 1001: Honors Introduction to Philosophy

Same as PHIL 1000, with a special honors emphasis for qualified students. Credit will not be given for both this course and PHIL 1000

Section 1: MW 6:00 - 7:20, 204 Coates, E. Cogburn

We will focus on the philosophy of Buddhism, starting with one or two popular books like Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind Beginner Mind and Alan Watts' The way of Zen, and then going to some contemporary overviews like Garfield's Engaging Buddhism: Why it Matters to Philosophy and Mark Siderits' Buddhism as Philosophy. Students will at the end be well placed to continue further study in philosophy and perhaps also find themselves a little bit closer to the good, the true, and the beautiful.

PHIL 2010: Symbolic Logic I

Also offered as LING 2010

Section 1: TTH 12:00 - 1:20 19 Allen, Roland

Classical propositional and first-order predicate logic; syntax and semantics of formal languages; translation between formal languages and English; formal methods of proof.

PHIL 2020: Ethics

Credit will not be given for both this course and PHIL 2050, which is the honors version of this course.

Section 1: TTh 10:30 - 11:50, 139 Allen, Kelley

What am I morally obligated to do? What should I care about and pursue for its own sake? This course introduces students to the philosophical study of ethics by investigating these fundamental and perplexing questions of human existence. The course is divided into three parts. First, we'll investigate the normative ethics of behavior by asking questions such as whether the rightness or wrongness of an action depends solely on its consequences or whether the intentions of the person performing the action also matter. Second, we'll focus on well-being and ask what kind of life would be best for you to lead. The third part of the course examines controversial topics such as immigration, affirmative action, and abortion. More generally, the course is designed to help the student become a better thinker and writer, especially as it relates to the utilization of ethical concepts, terms, and reasoning.

Section 2: TTH 1:30 - 2:50, 220 Coates, Blakley

Classical and recent theories of obligation and value, including works of philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hume, and Nietzsche; topics including freedom, rights, justification of moral judgments.

Section 3: TTH 3:00 - 4:20, 220 Coates, Blakley

Section 4: MWF 2:30 - 3:20, 220 Stubbs, Wells

In this course we examine major positions in the history of ethical theory, as well as their applications and challenges to them. In the most basic sense, this course asks: What is right? How ought we act? How ought we live? In considering these primary questions, we will ask further: How ought we treat, and what do we owe, each other? Where do these obligations and responsibilities come from, i.e., what are their foundations? Our aim will be not only to understand these questions in theory, but to grapple with how they challenge us to live our lives, give us meaning, and determine what we value. Our task is to consider who we are and who we want to (or, perhaps, who we ought to) become. In pursuing this task, we will consider virtue ethics, stoic ethics, Kantian ethics, utilitarianism, and care ethics. We will also consider critiques of morality. In the final portion of the course we will examine the concept of oppression and its relation to ethics.

Section 5: MWF 3:30 - 4:20 220 Stubbs, Wells

PHIL 2033: History of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy

Section 1: TTH 10:30 - 11:50 209 Coates, Nathan

In this course, we will look at works of Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, the ancient skeptics, Stoics, alongside medieval thinkers including Augustine. All ancient philosophers argued that we all seek to live a good, happy life (eudaimonia). We will look at the different views these thinkers had about what this good, happy life consisted in, what one needs to live such a life (for example, friends, knowledge). We will also cover important contributions these philosophers make to metaphysics and epistemology also. We will be reading the texts closely, seeking to understand their claims, and their reasons for making those claims. (Logic courses are not required but if you have taken any, they will be very helpful.)

PHIL 2034: Honors Tutorial in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy

To be taken concurrently with PHIL 2033. 1 hr. of tutorial instruction per week for honors students.

Section 1: TTh 10:30 - 11:50 , TBA Nathan

PHIL 2745: Knowledge and Reality

Section 1: W 3:30 - 6:20, Roland

Introduction to central epistemological and metaphysical questions: mind and matter; causation and free will; space and time; meaning and truth; the nature of knowledge and justified belief; perception, memory, reasoning, and testimony as sources of knowledge and justified belief.

PHIL 3001: Existentialism

Prereq: PHIL 2010 or consent of instructor

Section 1: TTH 3:00 - 4:20, 54 Allen, E. Cogburn

Basic themes of existentialist philosophy, the works of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Jaspers, Heidegger, Camus, Marcel, and Sartre.

PHIL 3020: Special Topics in Philosophy: Sex, Race, and Science

Also offered as WGSS 4500

Section 1: TTH 1:30 - 2:50, 248 Woodin Hall, Goldgaber

This course brings a philosophical lens to historical and contemporary scientific and medical accounts of gender/sex, sexuality, and race. We consider the epistemological consequences of a long history of controversial and biased science. What sorts of cultural beliefs (about race, sex/gender) have stood in the way of scientific objectivity? What ameliorative approaches might ensure more objective science? What light can contemporary philosophical accounts of race, gender and sex shed on scientific claims? We consider the way cultural beliefs influence scientific/medical knowledge and practice and how technological developments can both transform and entrench cultural and scientific beliefs. By critically examining controversial science we consider the dynamic nature of our understandings of who we are, how we differ and how social inequality and hierarchy is created, perpetuated and challenged.

PHIL 3062: Introduction to Political Philosophy

Section 1: TTH 12:00 - 1:20, 234 Coates, Bacon

Fundamental concepts and theories that deal with justice and liberties of individuals, entitlements and distributive justice, the role and limit of State power.

PHIL 4786: Selected Topics: Games

May be taken for a max, of 6 sem. hrs. when topics vary.

Section 1: TTH 1:30 - 2:50, 276 Lockett, Kelley

Game play is a central feature of the human experience. This course investigates both the nature and value of games. The course is primarily an investigation of two main texts: Bernard Suit's The Grasshopper and C. Thi Nguyen's Games: Agency as Art. We will discuss such topics as the distinction between game play and other kinds of human activities; the role of agency in game play; the role of the game designer in shaping that agency; the motivational structures involved in game play; the aesthetics of game play; and the potential of games to transform--sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse-- our values and choices in everyday life. Our primary aim is to use the tools of philosophy (e.g., clarifying concepts, making distinctions, crafting though experiments, formulating arguments, presenting objections) to understand and evaluate the Suitsian analysis of games and Nugyen's views on the relationship between games and human agency. The course is designed to help students formulate and defend their own views about the subject matter and to improve their ability to answer difficult theoretical questions systematically with the use of reason and careful argumentation.

PHIL 4922: Plato

Prereq: PHIL 2033 or equivalent

Section 1: TTH 3:00 - 4:20, 162 Coates, Nathan

What is knowledge? What do experts know? Are there such things as political experts? What knowledge do rulers need to have? What kind of knowledge do we need to live a good life? These are some of the questions we will consider in this course. We will read some of Plato's dialogues Protagoras, Republic, Meno, and Gorgias, as well as selections from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Politics. We will also consider Aristotle's criticisms of Plato's views as well as some of his own views on the same questions. (At least one course in logic is required for the course. If you have not done any logic courses, please contact Prof. Nathan before enrolling.)

PHIL 4940: Aesthetics

Section 1: MW 4:30 - 5:50, 204 Coates, J. Cogburn

We will focus on the philosophy of mass art, reading closely Noel Carrol's magisterial doorstop "A Philosophy of Mass Art" and then using Carrol to philosophically investigate some of the broader humanities scholarship on one genre of mass art: professional wrestling, known in Japan as the sport of kings.

Phil 4946: Philosophy of Law

Section 1: MWF 11:30 - 12:20, 137 Howe Russell, Levy

Overview of substantive criminal law, including basic criminal concepts, statutes, cases, policies, problems, and theories.

PHIL 7903: Seminar in Continental Philosophy

Section 1: TTH 4:30 - 5:50, 211 Coates, Goldgaber

This course will look at classical, modern and contemporary (Continental) justifications and critiques of punishment (and other state sanctioned forms of violence). We examine in particular the fate of Nietzsche's "will to punish" in the work of Foucalt, Derrida and most recently Didier Fassin. Graduate students from across the humanities and social sciences are welcome.