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Philosophy Course Descriptions

  • PHIL 100. Introduction to Philosophy
    Credits: 4. Major philosophical problems, methods and positions, as set forth in selected historical and contemporary philosophical texts, including works by Plato, Descartes, Hume, and others. Fulfills humanities and social justice/environmental responsibility requirements.
  • PHIL 111. Ethics
    Credits: 4. Chief theories of the nature and principles of the moral life, with regard to both the ends human beings seek and the obligations which claim their commitment. Fulfills humanities and social justice/environmental responsibility requirements.
  • PHIL 150. Special Topics
    Credits: 4. Recent examples include Philosophy of Science, Free Will and Moral Responsibility. May also be offered at 250, 350 and 450 levels.
  • PHIL 200. Informal Logic
    Credits: 4. General aspects of reasoning and argumentation, including inferences, evidence and the construction and evaluation of arguments.
  • PHIL 221. Philosophy of Religion
    Credits: 4. Reason and religion: proofs of God’s existence, faith and reason, the problem of evil, morality and religion, religious language. Fulfills humanities requirement.
  • PHIL 231. Philosophy and Sexuality
    Credits: 4. Inquiry into the relationship between values and sexuality. Topics include pleasure, love, homosexuality, prostitution, monogamy, and sexual perversion. Fulfills social justice/environmental responsibility requirement.
  • PHIL 232. Philosophy and Gender
    Credits: 4. Interrelated topics in the metaphysics and phenomenology of gender. Questions include: What is it to be a woman or man? How do Western conceptions of gender affect individual experience? How do other aspects of peoples' identities (e.g., race, sexuality) enter the conversation? How do individuals move beyond harmful gender stereotypes? Fulfills humanities and social justice/environmental responsibility requirement.
  • PHIL 241. Computer Ethics
    Credits: 4. Ethical questions connected with computer technology. For example: What is distinctive about ethics in this context? How do digital media force people to reconsider longstanding notions of “ownership” and “theft”? How do computer technologies reflect or undermine the values of privacy and anonymity? How does electronic communication change one's understanding of what it means to be human? Fulfills humanities and social justice/environmental responsibility requirements.
  • PHIL 242. Environmental Ethics
    Credits: 4. Exploration of environmental topics from several theoretical, cultural and religious perspectives. Questions include: What are our responsibilities to the environment? To what extent are these responsibilities affected by the interests of other persons or groups? What is the source of these responsibilities and to whom are we obligated? Fulfills humanities and social justice/environmental responsibility requirements.
  • PHIL 247. Philosophy of Law
    Credits: 4. Conceptual analysis and moral evaluation of laws and legal systems: the nature and validity of law, law and morality, the obligation to obey the law, law and judicial decision-making, criminal responsibility and the nature of punishment. Fulfills humanities and social justice/environmental responsibility requirements.
  • PHIL 249. Pacifism and Just War Theory
    Credits: 4. Examines conditions under which violence, and especially war, may be morally justified; distinctions between war and other forms of armed conflict; and philosophical and spiritual foundations of pacifism. Includes discussion of particular wars in which the U.S. has been engaged, including World War II and the war on Iraq. Fulfills social justice/environmental responsibility requirement.
  • PHIL 260. Independent Study
    Credits: 1-4. May also be offered at 360 and 460 levels.
  • PHIL 261. Philosophy and Race
    Credits: 4. Examines race and racism, exploring the relationship between liberal ideas of freedom and equality and the reality of group exclusion. Key questions include: What conception of race will do justice to individuals' experience of social realities while avoiding scientific errors? What conception of race and racism are needed in order to help dismantle systemic racism? Fulfills humanities and social justice/environmental responsibility requirements.
  • PHIL 290. Internship
    Credits: 1-4. May also be offered at the 390 level.
  • PHIL 292. Formal Logic
    Credits: 4. Methods, foundations and philosophical implications of using symbolic languages to evaluate deductive reasoning.
  • PHIL 293. Infinity, Undecidability, Non-computability (MATH 232)
    Credits: 4. Algorithms, mathematical logic, axiomatization, completeness, consistency, constructing the number systems, Turing machines, Hilbert’s programme, the halting problem, infinities, the continuum hypothesis, Godel’s theorems, formalism, intuitionism, logicism, connections with artificial intelligence. Fulfills quantitative literacy requirement.
  • PHIL 310. Ancient Western Philosophy
    Credits: 4. Historical development of philosophical thought in Western civilization in terms of the main periods and thinkers of ancient Greek philosophy. Prerequisites: Historical Perspectives, and at least one prior philosophy course. Fulfills humanities requirement.
  • PHIL 320. Modern Western Philosophy
    Credits: 4. Major developments of Western philosophical thought in the 17th and 18th centuries, emphasizing philosophical inquiry into metaphysical systems and problems of knowledge. Prerequisites: Historical Perspectives, and at least one prior philosophy course. Fulfills humanities requirement.
  • PHIL 333. Individual Philosopher
    Credits: 4. Intensive study of the works of an individual philosopher (e.g., Maimonides, Plato, Spinoza, Kant, Nietzsche, Mill, James) whose thought has had a lasting influence on Western philosophy. Prerequisite: Historical Perspectives.
  • PHIL 336. Social and Political Philosophy
    Credits: 4. Principal theories of the foundation of political society; the nature of political authority; limits of political obligation; relation of theories of human nature to social/political theory. Prerequisite: Historical Perspectives. Fulfills humanities and social justice/environmental responsibility requirements.
  • PHIL 375. Topics in the Philosophy of Mind
    Credits: 4. Topics include The Mind-Body Problem, The Emotions and The Self. Prerequisite: Historical Perspectives. Fulfills humanities requirement.
  • PHIL 377. Philosophical Perspectives on Psychology
    Credits: 4. Conceptual, theoretical and normative issues arising from the intersection of thinking about freedom and the self, including internal freedom, self-deception, self-respect, weakness of will and autonomy as moral right and character ideal. Prerequisite: Historical Perspectives.
  • PHIL 401. Senior Seminar in Philosophy
    Credits: 4. Main developments in 20th-century analytic philosophy with emphasis on philosophy of language, epistemology and metaphysics. Capstone course for the major.
  • PHIL 470. Senior Thesis
    Credits: 4-8.
  • PHIL 490. Departmental Honors
    Credits: 4-8.