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Courses by Subject Area
Click on the links below for a list of courses in that subject area. You may then click “View Classes” to see scheduled classes for individual courses.
1101. Problems of Philosophy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Topics may include skepticism, proofs of God, knowledge of the external world, induction, free-will, the problem of evil, miracles, liberty and equality. CA 1. TOI-5.
View Classes »1102. Philosophy and Logic
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Techniques for evaluating inductive and deductive arguments; applications to specific arguments about philosophical topics, for example the mind-body problem or free will vs. determinism. CA 1.
View Classes »1103. Philosophical Classics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Discussion of selections from such philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, and Hume. CA 1. TOI-2. TOI-5.
View Classes »1104. Philosophy and Social Ethics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Topics may include the nature of the good life, the relation between social morality and individual rights, and practical moral dilemmas. CA 1.
View Classes »1105. Philosophy and Religion
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Topics may include proofs of the existence of God, the relation of religious discourse to other types of discourse, and the nature of religious commitment. CA 1.
View Classes »1106. Non-western and Comparative Philosophy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Classic non-Western texts on such problems as the nature of reality and of our knowledge of it, and the proper requirements of social ethics, along with comparison to classic Western approaches to the same problems. CA 1. CA 4-INT.
View Classes »1107. Philosophy and Gender
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Topics concern social ethics and gender, such as gender equality and the impact of gender norms on individual freedom. Specific topics are examined in light of the intersections between gender and race, ethnicity, class, and sexual orientation. CA 1. CA 4.
View Classes »1108E. Environmental Philosophy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Philosophical issues raised by humanity’s interaction with its environment. Topics may include ethical and policy ramifications of the use of non-human animals for food, medicine, and scientific inquiry; whether the natural world has a status calling for its protection or preservation; obligations to future generations; environmental justice; and movements such as deep ecology, ecofeminism, and social ecology. CA 1. TOI-4.
View Classes »1109. Global Existentialism
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
An exploration of existential philosophy from a global, multicultural perspective. Focus will be on existentialists from the Global South in conversation with those in the Global North. CA 1. CA 4-INT. TOI-2. TOI-5.
View Classes »1165W. Philosophy and Literature
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Philosophical problems raised by, and illuminated in, major works of literature. CA 1.
View Classes »1175. Ethical Issues in Health Care
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Theories of ethics, with specific application to ethical issues in modern health care. CA 1. TOI-5.
View Classes »2170W. Bioethics and Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Also offered as: HRTS 2170W
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to sophomores or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Philosophical examination of the ethical and human rights implications of recent advances in the life and biomedical sciences from multiple religious and cultural perspectives. CA 1.
View Classes »2205. Aesthetics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
The fundamentals of aesthetics, including an analysis of aesthetic experience and judgment, and a study of aesthetic types, such as the beautiful, tragic, comic and sublime. Recent systematic and experimental findings in relation to major theories of the aesthetic experience.
View Classes »2208. Epistemology
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Theories of knowledge and justification. Topics may include skepticism, induction, confirmation, perception, memory, testimony, a priori knowledge.
View Classes »2208W. Epistemology
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Theories of knowledge and justification. Topics may include skepticism, induction, confirmation, perception, memory, testimony, a priori knowledge.
View Classes »2210. Metaphysics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Fundamental questions about the nature of things. Topics may include universals and particulars, parts and wholes, space and time, possibility and necessity, persistence and change, causation, persons, free will.
View Classes »2210W. Metaphysics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Fundamental questions about the nature of things. Topics may include universals and particulars, parts and wholes, space and time, possibility and necessity, persistence and change, causation, persons, free will.
View Classes »2211Q. Symbolic Logic I
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: At least one of LING 1010, POLS 1002, or one three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Systematic analysis of deductive validity; formal languages which mirror the logical structure of portions of English; semantic and syntactic methods of verifying relations of logical consequence for these languages.
View Classes »2212. Philosophy of Science
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Issues concerning the nature and foundations of scientific knowledge, including, for example, issues about scientific objectivity and progress.
View Classes »2212W. Philosophy of Science
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Issues concerning the nature and foundations of scientific knowledge, including, for example, issues about scientific objectivity and progress.
View Classes »2215. Ethics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Judgments of good and evil, right and justice, the moral 'ought' and freedom; what do such judgments mean, is there any evidence for them, and can they be true?
View Classes »2215W. Ethics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Judgments of good and evil, right and justice, the moral 'ought' and freedom; what do such judgments mean, is there any evidence for them, and can they be true?
View Classes »2217. Social and Political Philosophy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Conceptual, ontological, and normative issues in political life and thought; political obligation; collective responsibility; justice; liberty; equality; community; the nature of rights; the nature of law; the justification of punishment; related doctrines of classic and contemporary theorists such as Plato, Rousseau, John Rawls.
View Classes »2221. Ancient Greek Philosophy
Also offered as: CAMS 3257
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Greek philosophy from its origin in the Pre-Socratics through its influence on early Christianity. Readings from the works of Plato and Aristotle. May include related ancient philosophical traditions.
View Classes »2221W. Ancient Greek Philosophy
Also offered as: CAMS 3257W
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Greek philosophy from its origin in the Pre-Socratics through its influence on early Christianity. Readings from the works of Plato and Aristotle. May include related ancient philosophical traditions.
View Classes »2222. Early Modern European Philosophy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Central philosophical issues as discussed by philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant.
View Classes »2222W. Early Modern European Philosophy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Central philosophical issues as discussed by philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant.
View Classes »2410. Know Thyself
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Nature, value and limitations of self-knowledge; introspection, unconscious phenomena, self- deception, affective forecasting, interaction of neurophysiological and psychological explanations of behavior. Western as well as non-Western (specifically Buddhist) perspectives on the self. Readings from classical and contemporary sources. CA 1.
View Classes »3200. Philosophical Issues in Contemporary Life
3.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Philosophical dimensions of problems in contemporary life. Topics vary by semester.
View Classes »3202. Data Ethics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Ethical and epistemological questions encountered in collecting, interpreting, inferring from and acting upon data—including when these activities are automated or carried out on large observational data sets. Issues may include data privacy and ownership; informed consent; algorithmic bias, equity, and transparency; the theory-ladenness of data; the logic of scientific inference; corporate and institutional responsibility; and implications for democratic and other social values.
View Classes »3212E. Philosophy and Global Climate Change
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100-level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Ethical, epistemological, and conceptual issues raised by global climate change. The nature of scientific inquiry; role of models in scientific explanation; sources of uncertainty in climate projections; objectivity and values in science; decision-making under risk and uncertainty; obligations to future generations; global justice and burden sharing; individual versus collective responsibility for carbon emissions; the ethics of geoengineering.
View Classes »3214. Symbolic Logic II
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: PHIL 2211Q.
Grading Basis: Graded
Logical concepts developed in Philosophy 2211 applied to the study of philosophical issues in the foundations of mathematics.
View Classes »3216E. Environmental Ethics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Ethical questions concerning human interaction with the natural world. Topics may include the moral standing of animals, plants, species, and ecosystems; the value of wilderness and biodiversity; obligations to future generations; environmental racism and justice; ecofeminism and deep ecology; and ethical dimensions of environmental policy. TOI-4. TOI-5.
View Classes »3216WE. Environmental Ethics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Ethical questions concerning human interaction with the natural world. Topics may include the moral standing of animals, plants, species, and ecosystems; the value of wilderness and biodiversity; obligations to future generations; environmental racism and justice; ecofeminism and deep ecology; and ethical dimensions of environmental policy.
View Classes »3218. Feminist Theory
Also offered as: WGSS 3218
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100-level or any three-credit 1000 or 2000-level WGSS course.
Grading Basis: Graded
Philosophical issues in feminist theory. Topics may include the nature of gender difference, the injustice of male domination and its relation to other forms of domination, the social and political theory of women's equality in the home, in the workplace, and in politics.
View Classes »3219. Topics in Philosophy and Human Rights
Also offered as: HRTS 3219
3.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: One three credit course in Philosophy or instructor consent; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
What are human rights? Why are they important? Topics may include the philosophical precursors of human rights, the nature and justification of human rights, or contemporary issues bearing on human rights.
View Classes »3219W. Topics in Philosophy and Human Rights
Also offered as: HRTS 3219W
3.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy or instructor consent; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
What are human rights? Why are they important? Topics may include the philosophical precursors of human rights, the nature and justification of human rights, or contemporary issues bearing on human rights.
View Classes »3220. Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights
Also offered as: HRTS 3220
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Ontology and epistemology of human rights investigated through contemporary and/or historical texts. CA 1.
View Classes »3220W. Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights
Also offered as: HRTS 3220W
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Ontology and epistemology of human rights investigated through contemporary and/or historical texts. CA 1.
View Classes »3224. Nineteenth-Century Philosophy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Readings from philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, Marx and Engels, Bentham, Mill Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Kierkegaard; topics such as the debate between individualism and collectivism in the nineteenth century.
View Classes »3225W. Analysis and Ordinary Language
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011; At least one from PHIL 2210, 2221 or 2222.
Grading Basis: Graded
The reaction, after Russell, against formal theories and the belief in an ideal language, and the turn to familiar common-sense "cases" and everyday language in judging philosophical claims. Russell, Moore, Wittgenstein, Ryle and Strawson.
View Classes »3226. Philosophy of Law
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level, which may be taken concurrently.
Grading Basis: Graded
The nature of law; law's relation to morality; law's relation to social facts; the obligation to obey the law; interpreting texts; spheres of law; international law; the justification of state punishment; the good of law; related doctrines of contemporary theorists such as Herbert Hart and Ronald Dworkin.
View Classes »3228. American Philosophy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Doctrines advanced by recent American philosophers.
View Classes »3231. Philosophy of Religion
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Various religious absolutes, their meaning and validity, existentialism and religion, the post-modern religious quest.
View Classes »3241. Philosophy of Language
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: At least one three-credit 2000-level or above course in Philosophy or Linguistics.
Grading Basis: Graded
Philosophical issues raised by language. Topics may include the nature and functions of language; theories of meaning, reference, and truth; speech acts; the evolutionary origin of language; and language's relation to thought, gender, race, and politics.
View Classes »3247. Philosophy of Psychology
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 2000-level or above; or one three-credit 1000-level course in Philosophy and at least one of COGS 2201, PSYC 2400, 2500, 2501, 3500, 3501, or 3502; or instructor consent.
Grading Basis: Graded
Conceptual issues in theoretical psychology. Topics may include computational models of mind, the language of thought, connectionism, neuropsychological deficits, and relations between psychological models and the brain.
View Classes »3247W. Philosophy of Psychology
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 2000-level or above; or one three-credit 1000-level course in Philosophy and at least one of COGS 2201, PSYC 2400, 2500, 2501, 3500, 3501, or 3502; or instructor consent; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Conceptual issues in theoretical psychology. Topics may include computational models of mind, the language of thought, connectionism, neuropsychological deficits, and relations between psychological models and the brain.
View Classes »3249W. Philosophy and Neuroscience
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One 2000 level or above, three credit course in PNB and one 2000 level or above, three credit course in PHIL or instructor's consent; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Philosophical issues in neuroscience. Topics may include theories of brain function, localization of function, reductionism, neuropsychological deficits, computational models in neuroscience, connectionism, and evolution.
View Classes »3250. Philosophy of Mind
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: At least one 2000 level, three credit philosophy course.
Grading Basis: Graded
Contemporary issues in the philosophy of mind. Topics may include the nature of the mental; the mind-body problem, the analysis of sensory experience, the problem of intentionality, and psychological explanation.
View Classes »3250W. Philosophy of Mind
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: At least one 2000 level or above, three credit, philosophy course or consent of instructor; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Contemporary issues in the philosophy of mind. Topics may include the nature of the mental; the mind-body problem, the analysis of sensory experience, the problem of intentionality, and psychological explanation.
View Classes »3256. Philosophy of Perception
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: PSYC 2501 or 3501 or 3550W or 3552; or one 2000-level or above, three-credit course in PHIL.
Grading Basis: Graded
Conceptual problems in contemporary models of perception. Topics may include the nature of color perception, direct perception and its alternatives, computation and representation in perception, and the connections between perception and awareness.
View Classes »3256W. Philosophy of Perception
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: PSYC 2501 or 3501 or 3550W or 3552; or one 2000-level or above, three-credit course in PHIL; and ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Conceptual problems in contemporary models of perception. Topics may include the nature of color perception, direct perception and its alternatives, computation and representation in perception, and the connections between perception and awareness.
View Classes »3261. Medieval Philosophy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Readings from the principal philosophers between the fourth and fourteenth centuries.
View Classes »3261W. Medieval Philosophy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Readings from the principal philosophers between the fourth and fourteenth centuries.
View Classes »3263. Asian Philosophy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
The historical, religious, and philosophical development of Asian systems of thought.
View Classes »3264. Classical Chinese Philosophy and Culture
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.
Grading Basis: Graded
Classical Chinese philosophy, including such works as The Analects of Confucius and the works of Chuang Tzu, and their influence on Chinese culture.
View Classes »3295. Special Topics
1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: Prerequisites and recommended preparation vary.
Grading Basis: Graded
3298. Variable Topics
3.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: Prerequisites and recommended preparation vary.
Grading Basis: Graded
3299. Independent Study
1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Advanced and individual work.
View Classes »4293. Foreign Study
1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.
Prerequisites: Department consent.
Grading Basis: Graded
Special topics taken in a foreign study program. Consent of Department Head required, preferably prior to the student's departure.
View Classes »4297W. Senior Thesis in Philosophy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Twelve credits in Philosophy at the 2000 level or above, three of which may be taken concurrently; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Honors Credit
Independent study authorization form required.
View Classes »4995. Special Topics
1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: Prerequisites and recommended preparation vary; Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
4998. Variable Topics
3.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: Prerequisites and recommended preparation vary; Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded