View the Registrar's Schedule of Courses for Spring 2021 here
Courses introducing philosophical argument and analysis in a variety of ways. Content, readings and assignments vary by section. Not repeatable for credit. Credit not awarded for more than one Philosophy course numbered below 100, except that credit will be given for PHIL 013 in addition to one other course numbered below 100.
Credit(s): 3.00
Study of the basic principles of deductive inference.
Credit(s): 3.00
An on-site supervised work experience combined with a structured academic learning plan directed by a faculty member or a faculty-staff team in which a faculty member is the instructor of record, for which academic credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 3.00
Study of the works of the Pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, and their successors. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy.
Credit(s): 3.00
Study of works of the major philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, and others. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy.
Credit(s): 3.00
Study of works of such major philosophical figures as Augustine, Anselm, Abelard, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham. Prerequisite: PHIL 101 is recommended.
Credit(s): 3.00
A survey of Plato's works, including the "early," "middle," and parts of the "late" dialogues. Emphasis will be laid on reading the dialogues themselves. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy or in Classics (Greek culture or Greek). Cross-listed with: CLAS 161.
Credit(s): 3.00
Inquiry into such topics as consciousness, the relation between the mental (beliefs, sensations, etc.) and the physical (chemicals, neurons, etc.) and how minds represent things. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy.
Credit(s): 3.00
Introduction to major philosophical problems raised by science. Typical topics: the nature of scientific inference, the structure of theories, causation, explanation, and scientific change. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy or two courses in any natural science.
Credit(s): 3.00
Study of philosophically interesting systems of symbolic logic and their applications. Prerequisite: PHIL 013.
Credit(s): 3.00
Study of the nature of actions and agency. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy.
Credit(s): 3.00
A study of such topics as vagueness, the nature of time, persistence of objects and people through change and whether numbers or properties exist. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy.
Credit(s): 3.00
An examination of philosophical issues concerning the nature of the human mind raised by the cognitive sciences (psychology, computer science, linguistics, and neuroscience). Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy or Instructor permission (students with relevant background are encouraged to seek permission).
Credit(s): 3.00
Study of the Classical Schools of Chinese thought, including Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy, Religion, or Asian Studies.
Credit(s): 3.00
Typical topics: the nature of religion, the concept of God, the grounds for belief in God, mortality, truth, and revelation. Historical and contemporary sources. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy.
Credit(s): 3.00
Examination of some major figures in the history of social and political philosophy, focusing on issues such as political obligation, rights, property, and justice. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy.
Credit(s): 3.00
Analysis of the nature of law, the relation between law and morality, legal obligation, and the judicial decision. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy or POLS 041.
Credit(s): 3.00
Problems of liberty, e.g. freedom of expression, privacy, paternalism; scope and limits of the criminal law; philosophy of punishment; selected problems in criminal justice, e.g. plea bargaining; preventive detention. Prerequisites: One Philosophy course or POLS 041. Cross-listed with: POLS 144.
Credit(s): 3.00
Such issues as the physician-patient relationship, allocation of organs for transplantation, reproductive assistance technology and genetic engineering, the justice of the health-care delivery system. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy.
Credit(s): 3.00
It is sometimes morally permissible to kill things: you can kill a mosquito biting you, for example. What else is permissible to kill? When? Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy.
Credit(s): 3.00
A consideration of some leading theories of art, and their application to problems of art as they appear in music, literature, painting, and in the general criticism of the arts. Prerequisite: One Philosophy course.
Credit(s): 3.00
An explanation of such movements in Continental philosophy as phenomenology, existentialism, and structuralism and such figures as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, and Foucault. Prerequisite: One Philosophy course.
Credit(s): 3.00
Theories of libertarianism, liberalism, and egalitarianism; application to the analysis and evaluation of social issues of contemporary interest, such as abortion and affirmative action. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy. Cross-listed with: GSWS 120.
Credit(s): 3.00
An on-site supervised work experience combined with a structured academic learning plan directed by a faculty member or a faculty-staff team in which a faculty member is the instructor of record, for which academic credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 18.00
Undergraduate student service as a teaching assistant, usually in an introductory level course in the discipline, for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 3.00
See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 18.00
See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 18.00
A course which is tailored to fit the interests of a specific student, which occurs outside the traditional classroom/laboratory setting under the supervision of a faculty member, for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 18.00
Undergraduate student work on individual or small team research projects under the supervision of a faculty member, for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 18.00
Study of major philosophical texts by a single author or school of thought. May be repeated for credit with different content. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy at the 100-level.
Credit(s): 3.00
Study of the nature of emotions and related philosophical issues. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy at the 100-level.
Credit(s): 3.00
In-depth study of topics like consciousness, the relation between the mental (belief, sensations, etc.) and the physical (chemicals, neurons, etc.) and how minds represent things. May be repeated for credit with different content. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy at the 100-level.
Credit(s): 3.00
Philosophical study of the nature of language. May be repeated for credit with different content. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy at the 100-level. Recommended: PHIL 013.
Credit(s): 3.00
In-depth study of such topics as vagueness, the nature of time, persistence of objects and people through change, and whether numbers or properties exist. May be repeated for credit with different content. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy at the 100-level.
Credit(s): 3.00
In-depth study of select topics concerning theories of knowledge and related concepts such as belief, truth, rationality, evidence, perception, and memory. May be repeated for credit with different content. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy at the 100-level.
Credit(s): 3.00
Detailed examination of a classical Chinese philosophical text or school. Prerequisite: PHIL 121.
Credit(s): 3.00
Advanced study of such issues as the metaphysics of religion, the epistemology of religious belief, philosophy and faith, religion and science, and religion and ethics. May be repeated for credit with different content. Prerequisite: PHIL 101, PHIL 102.
Credit(s): 3.00
In-depth study of metaethics, emphasizing recent work. Topics include moral objectivity, moral language, moral epistemology, and the relationship between morality and reasons. May be repeated for credit with different content. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy at the 100-level.
Credit(s): 3.00
The ideas of leading contemporary philosophers concerning freedom, tolerance, economic justice, international relations, and the relationship between the individual, the community and the state. May be repeated for credit with different content. Prerequisite: PHIL 140, PHIL 142, or PHIL 144.
Credit(s): 3.00
An examination of contemporary normative theories of distributive justice and equality. Prerequisites: POLS 041 and either a 100-level POLS course, or PHIL 140, PHIL 142, PHIL 143, or PHIL 144. Cross-listed with: POLS 241.
Credit(s): 3.00
In-depth study of issues in contemporary medical ethics such as genetic engineering, cloning, embryonic stem cell research, abortion and physician-assisted suicide. Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy at the 100-level.
Credit(s): 3.00
The thought of such leading American philosophers as Peirce, James, Royce, Santayana, Dewey, and Whitehead. Prerequisites: PHIL 101, PHIL 102.
Credit(s): 3.00
An on-site supervised work experience combined with a structured academic learning plan directed by a faculty member or a faculty-staff team in which a faculty member is the instructor of record, for which academic credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 18.00
Undergraduate student service as a teaching assistant, usually in an introductory level course in the discipline, for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 3.00
See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 18.00
See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 18.00
A course which is tailored to fit the interests of a specific student, which occurs outside the traditional classroom/laboratory setting under the supervision of a faculty member, for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion. Prerequisite: an appropriate 200-level course in Philosophy.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 18.00
Undergraduate student work on individual or small team research projects under the supervision of a faculty member, for which credit is awarded. Offered at department discretion. Prerequisite: an appropriate 200-level course in Philosophy.
Credit(s): 1.00 to 18.00