Academic Catalog

Philosophy (PHIL)

PHIL 1101.  Problems of Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
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.
  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI5: Indiv Values Soc Inst  
PHIL 1102.  Philosophy and Logic.  (3 Credits)  
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.
  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities  
PHIL 1103.  Philosophical Classics.  (3 Credits)  
Discussion of selections from such philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, and Hume. CA 1.
  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI2: Cultural Dimen Human Exp, TOI5: Indiv Values Soc Inst  
PHIL 1104.  Philosophy and Social Ethics.  (3 Credits)  
Topics may include the nature of the good life, the relation between social morality and individual rights, and practical moral dilemmas. CA 1.
  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities  
PHIL 1105.  Philosophy and Religion.  (3 Credits)  
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.
  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities  
PHIL 1106.  Non-western and Comparative Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
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.
  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities, CA4INT: Div & Multi Intl  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI2: Cultural Dimen Human Exp, TOI5: Indiv Values Soc Inst  
PHIL 1107.  Philosophy and Gender.  (3 Credits)  
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.
  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities, CA4: Diversity & Multicultural  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI3: Div, Equity, Soc Just, TOI5: Indiv Values Soc Inst  
PHIL 1108E.  Environmental Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
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.
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Environmental Literacy  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI4: Environmental Literacy  
PHIL 1109.  Global Existentialism.  (3 Credits)  
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.
  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities, CA4INT: Div & Multi Intl  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI2: Cultural Dimen Human Exp, TOI5: Indiv Values Soc Inst  
PHIL 1165W.  Philosophy and Literature.  (3 Credits)  
Philosophical problems raised by, and illuminated in, major works of literature. CA 1.
ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities  
PHIL 1175.  Ethical Issues in Health Care.  (3 Credits)  
Theories of ethics, with specific application to ethical issues in modern health care. CA 1.
  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI5: Indiv Values Soc Inst  
PHIL 2170W.  Bioethics and Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspective.  (3 Credits)  
(Also offered as HRTS 2170W.) 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.
ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to sophomores or higher.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI2: Cultural Dimen Human Exp, TOI3: Div, Equity, Soc Just  
PHIL 2205.  Aesthetics.  (3 Credits)  
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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
PHIL 2208.  Epistemology.  (3 Credits)  
Theories of knowledge and justification. Topics may include skepticism, induction, confirmation, perception, memory, testimony, a priori knowledge.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
PHIL 2208W.  Epistemology.  (3 Credits)  
Theories of knowledge and justification. Topics may include skepticism, induction, confirmation, perception, memory, testimony, a priori knowledge.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 2210.  Metaphysics.  (3 Credits)  
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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
PHIL 2210W.  Metaphysics.  (3 Credits)  
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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 2211Q.  Symbolic Logic I.  (3 Credits)  
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.
At least one of LING 1010, POLS 1002, or one three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Quantitative Competency  
PHIL 2212.  Philosophy of Science.  (3 Credits)  
Issues concerning the nature and foundations of scientific knowledge, including, for example, issues about scientific objectivity and progress.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
PHIL 2212W.  Philosophy of Science.  (3 Credits)  
Issues concerning the nature and foundations of scientific knowledge, including, for example, issues about scientific objectivity and progress.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 2215.  Ethics.  (3 Credits)  
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?
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
PHIL 2215W.  Ethics.  (3 Credits)  
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?
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 2217.  Social and Political Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
PHIL 2221.  Ancient Greek Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
(Also offered as CAMS 3257.) 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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
PHIL 2221W.  Ancient Greek Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
(Also offered as CAMS 3257W.) 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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 2222.  Early Modern European Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
Central philosophical issues as discussed by philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
PHIL 2222W.  Early Modern European Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
Central philosophical issues as discussed by philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 2410.  Know Thyself.  (3 Credits)  
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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI5: Indiv Values Soc Inst  
PHIL 3200.  Philosophical Issues in Contemporary Life.  (3 Credits)  
Philosophical dimensions of problems in contemporary life. Topics vary by semester.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; open to juniors or higher.  
May be repeated for credit  
PHIL 3202.  Data Ethics.  (3 Credits)  
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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
PHIL 3212E.  Philosophy and Global Climate Change.  (3 Credits)  
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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100-level.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Environmental Literacy  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI4: Environmental Literacy  
PHIL 3214.  Symbolic Logic II.  (3 Credits)  
Logical concepts developed in Philosophy 2211 applied to the study of philosophical issues in the foundations of mathematics.
  
PHIL 3216E.  Environmental Ethics.  (3 Credits)  
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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Environmental Literacy  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI4: Environmental Literacy, TOI5: Indiv Values Soc Inst  
PHIL 3216WE.  Environmental Ethics.  (3 Credits)  
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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Environmental Literacy, COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 3218.  Feminist Theory.  (3 Credits)  
(Also offered as WGSS 3218.) 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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100-level or any three-credit 1000 or 2000-level WGSS course.  
  
PHIL 3219.  Topics in Philosophy and Human Rights.  (3 Credits)  
(Also offered as HRTS 3219.) 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.
One three credit course in Philosophy or instructor consent; open to juniors or higher.  
May be repeated for credit  
PHIL 3219W.  Topics in Philosophy and Human Rights.  (3 Credits)  
(Also offered as HRTS 3219W.) 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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy or instructor consent; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.  
May be repeated for credit  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 3220.  Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights.  (3 Credits)  
(Also offered as HRTS 3220.) Ontology and epistemology of human rights investigated through contemporary and/or historical texts. CA 1.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI5: Indiv Values Soc Inst  
PHIL 3220W.  Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights.  (3 Credits)  
(Also offered as HRTS 3220W.) Ontology and epistemology of human rights investigated through contemporary and/or historical texts. CA 1.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
Content Areas: CA1: Arts & Humanities  
Topics of Inquiry: TOI5: Indiv Values Soc Inst  
PHIL 3224.  Nineteenth-Century Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
PHIL 3225W.  Analysis and Ordinary Language.  (3 Credits)  
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.
ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011; At least one from PHIL 2210, 2221 or 2222.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 3226.  Philosophy of Law.  (3 Credits)  
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.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level, which may be taken concurrently.  
  
PHIL 3228.  American Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
Doctrines advanced by recent American philosophers.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; open to juniors or higher.  
  
PHIL 3231.  Philosophy of Religion.  (3 Credits)  
Various religious absolutes, their meaning and validity, existentialism and religion, the post-modern religious quest.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
PHIL 3241.  Philosophy of Language.  (3 Credits)  
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.
At least one three-credit 2000-level or above course in Philosophy or Linguistics.  
  
PHIL 3247.  Philosophy of Psychology.  (3 Credits)  
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.
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.  
  
PHIL 3247W.  Philosophy of Psychology.  (3 Credits)  
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.
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.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 3249W.  Philosophy and Neuroscience.  (3 Credits)  
Philosophical issues in neuroscience. Topics may include theories of brain function, localization of function, reductionism, neuropsychological deficits, computational models in neuroscience, connectionism, and evolution.
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.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 3250.  Philosophy of Mind.  (3 Credits)  
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.
At least one 2000 level, three credit philosophy course.  
  
PHIL 3250W.  Philosophy of Mind.  (3 Credits)  
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.
At least one 2000 level or above, three credit, philosophy course or consent of instructor; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 3256.  Philosophy of Perception.  (3 Credits)  
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.
PSYC 2501 or 3501 or 3550W or 3552; or one 2000-level or above, three-credit course in PHIL.  
  
PHIL 3256W.  Philosophy of Perception.  (3 Credits)  
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.
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.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 3261.  Medieval Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
Readings from the principal philosophers between the fourth and fourteenth centuries.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; open to juniors or higher.  
  
PHIL 3261W.  Medieval Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
Readings from the principal philosophers between the fourth and fourteenth centuries.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.  
  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 3263.  Asian Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
The historical, religious, and philosophical development of Asian systems of thought.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level; open to juniors or higher.  
  
PHIL 3264.  Classical Chinese Philosophy and Culture.  (3 Credits)  
Classical Chinese philosophy, including such works as The Analects of Confucius and the works of Chuang Tzu, and their influence on Chinese culture.
One three-credit course in Philosophy at the 1100 level.  
  
PHIL 3295.  Special Topics.  (1-6 Credits)  
Prerequisites and recommended preparation vary.  
May be repeated for credit  
PHIL 3298.  Variable Topics.  (3 Credits)  
Prerequisites and recommended preparation vary.  
May be repeated for credit  
PHIL 3299.  Independent Study.  (1-6 Credits)  
Advanced and individual work.
May be repeated for credit  
PHIL 4293.  Foreign Study.  (1-6 Credits)  
Special topics taken in a foreign study program. Consent of Department Head required, preferably prior to the student's departure.
Department consent.  
May be repeated for a total of 6 credits  
PHIL 4297W.  Senior Thesis in Philosophy.  (3 Credits)  
Independent study authorization form required.
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  
Skill Codes: COMP: Writing Competency  
PHIL 4995.  Special Topics.  (1-6 Credits)  
Prerequisites and recommended preparation vary; Open only to juniors or higher.  
May be repeated for credit  
PHIL 4998.  Variable Topics.  (3 Credits)  
Prerequisites and recommended preparation vary; Open only to juniors or higher.  
May be repeated for credit