Undergraduate Courses

Philosophy 1204: Knowledge and Reality
Examines the questions: What is the nature of reality? How do I know what is real and what is misleading appearance, error, or illusion? What is knowledge? How do I find out who I am and how I relate to the world around me? (3H,3C)

Philosophy 1304: Morality and Justice
A critical survey of theories concerning human nature, the meaningful life, and the moral evaluation of actions, persons, and institutions. Theories will be applied to such issues as abortion, justice, and moral problems faced by professionals. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 1504: Language and Logic
Basic concepts in logic and critical thinking: argument, validity, deduction and induction, logical form, formal and informal fallacies. Introduction to the logic of truth functions and of categorical statements. Critical analysis of arguments in ordinary language. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 2115: Ancient Philosophy
Ancient Philosophy including Presocratics, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 2116: Medieval Philosophy
The main trends in Post-Aristotelian Greek and Roman philosophy and medieval philosophy, including Augustine, Aquinas, and Ockham. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 2125: Early Modern Philosophy
Western philosophical thought from Descartes to Hume. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 2126: Late Modern Philosophy
Western philosophical thought from Kant onward. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 2304: Global Ethics
Ethical issues in international context. Application of the principles of moral theory to such issues as the obligations of richer nations toward poorer ones, cultural and other forms of relativism, emigration and immigration, nationalism, war, deterrence, intervention, environmental degradation, preservation of natural diversity, and responsibilities toward future generations. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 2605: Reason and Revolution in Science I
The study of philosophical approaches to understanding and justifying modes of human reasoning both in science and everyday life. The nature of theory confirmation and falsification. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 2606: Reason and Revolution in Science II
The study of philosophical approaches to understanding and justifying modes of human reasoning both in science and everyday life. Justifying changing paradigms of human inquiry. (3H, 3C)

Philosophy 2964: Field Study
Pass/Fail only. Variable credit course.

Philosophy 2974: Independent Study
Variable credit course.

Philosophy 2984: Special Study
Variable credit course.

Philosophy 3015 (Political Science 3015): Political Theory
The analysis of the fundamental ideas in the history of political theory from Plato to the 17th century. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 3016 (Political Science 3016): Political Theory
The analysis of fundamental ideas in the history of political theory from the late 17th century to the present. (3H, 3C)

Philosophy 3024: Philosophical Movements
This course focuses on the assumptions and methods of one or more contemporary or historically important philosophical movements such as Pragmatism, Phenomenology, Logical Positivism, Naturalism, Idealism, or Feminism. 3 Philosophy credits required. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 3314: Ethical Theory
Careful examination of some important historical or contemporary ethical theories. Includes coverage of such topics as the assessment of character and action, the foundations of ethical theories, their justification, their relationship to scientific theories, and their objective or subjective status. 3 Philosophy credits required. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 3324: Biomedical Ethics
Philosophical analysis of ethical issues in medicine and biotechnology, such as problems arising in connection with the relations between physicians and patients, the challenges of cultural diversity, practices surrounding human and animal research, decisions about end of life care, embryonic stem cell research, genetic engineering, biotechnological human enhancement, and social justice in relation to health-care policy. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 3414: Aesthetics
Studies the basic concepts used in the analysis and evaluation of art works; considers problems of art criticism as treated within major types of aesthetic theory. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 3454: Philosophy of Religion
A consideration of religious belief and its justification with attention to such philosophical issues as the nature and existence of God, the problem of evil, and the notion of faith. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 3505: Modern Logic and Its Development
Logic and logical theory and the history of its development. Validity of arguments. Syllogistic logic from Aristotle to modern times. Deductive methods in truth functional and quantificational logic through the theory of identity. Translation from English into symbolic form. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 3506: Modern Logic and Its Development
Metalogic and the history and philosophy of modern logical theory. Decidability and undecidability, completeness and incompleteness of formal systems. Developments from Cantor to Geodel. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 4015: Special Topics in Philosophy
Critical examination of special issues of current philosophical interest. 3 Philosophy credits required. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 4016: Special Topics in Philosophy
Critical examination of special issues of current philosophical interest. 3 Philosophy credits required. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 4204: Philosophy of Mind
Current issues in the philosophy of mind such as relation of mind and body, status of the mental, knowledge of one's own and other minds, personal identity, consciousness, mentality of animals and machines, topics in the philosophy of psychology. 3 Philosophy credits required. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 4214: Metaphysics
Examination of some of the central problems of metaphysics. Topics may include: existence, necessary truth, the problem of universals, causation, the identity of the self through time, free will. Attention will be given both to the historical development of these problems and to contemporary philosophical responses to them. 3 Philosophy credits required. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 4224: Epistemology
The Theory of knowledge. Is all knowledge based on experience? Does knowledge have a foundation? Can knowledge of the present and the nearby give us reasons for beliefs about the future, the past, or about events far away? 3 Philosophy credits required. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 4304: Topics in Social and Political Philosophy
Study of topics such as distributive justice, equality exploitation, alienation, individual rights, anarchy, constitutional government, the justification of political authority, and liberation. Topics to be announced each semester course is offered. 3 Philosophy credits required. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 4324 (Management 4324): Business and Professional Ethics
An inquiry into the fundamental norms of conduct in business and other professions and their justification in relation to the most important ethical theories. Special attention will be given to moral problems such as the ethics of hiring and firing, bribery, and professional responsibility to society. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 4334: Jurisprudence
An examination of the nature of law and legal systems with attention to traditional theories of law and to such topics as judicial decision and discretion, law and morality, the justification of legal coercion. 3 Philosophy credits required. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 4514: Special Topics in Logic
Topics that build upon a knowledge of classical deductive logic: extensions of classical logic, alternatives to classical logic, philosophy of logic, and philosophy of language. Topics to be announced each semester course is offered. Philosophy 3505 required. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 4604: Philosophy of Biology
This course is designed primarily for students of biology or philosophy students with a strong interest in biology. Topics vary from year to year, but include the changing character of biology as a science, the special character of biological explanations and methods, and the place and value of reduction (e.g., of Mendelian to molecular genetics) in biology. One course at the 3000 level or higher in biology and 3 credits in philosophy required. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 4614: Philosophy of Science
An examination of the structure and methodology of science as well as key concepts such as explanation, confirmation, realism, and instrumentalism. One year of science and 3 philosophy credits required. (3H,3C)

Philosophy 4964: Field Study
Pass/Fail only. Variable credit course.

Philosophy 4974: Independent Study
Variable credit course.

Philosophy 4984: Special Study
Variable credit course.

Philosophy 4994: Undergraduate Research
Variable credit course.

Graduate Courses

Philosophy 5204: Topics in the History of Philosophy
An advanced course focusing on particular topics in the history of philosophy. Special emphasis will be placed on ideas and disputes which were historically influential and continue to be philosophically significant. Consent required.

Philosophy 5305: Modern Science and Technology I
Problems, literature, and schools in the philosophy of science and technology. Explanation and confirmation.

Philosophy 5306: Modern Science and Technology II
Problems, literature, and schools in the philosophy of science and technology. Theory change.

Philosophy 5324: Metaethics
A systematic examination of metaethics, the branch of philosophical ethics that addresses questions about the nature of ethical discourse and its objects. Investigation of such issues as the meaning of ethical terms and judgments, the nature and grounds of ethical truth, the possibility of ethical knowledge, the rationality of ethical behavior, and the relations between ethical and scientific inquiry. Graduate standing required.

Philosophy 5334: Normative Ethics
A systematic examination of normative ethics, the branch of philosophical ethics that addresses questions about how one should live. Investigation of factors relevant to moral rightness or wrongness, goodness or badness, and the theories that attempt to articulate the complex relations and interactions among them. Graduate standing.

Philosophy 5344: History of Ethics
Examination of the work of selected figures representative of important positions in the history of ethical theory from the Classical Age to the modern period.

Philosophy 5505: Symbolic Logic
Modern deductive symbolic logic and its metatheory. Development of a system of first order logic. Truth functional sentential logic, monadic predicate calculus with identity. Proof techniques and translation between natural and artificial languages.

Philosophy 5506: Metalogic
Modern deductive symbolic logic and its metatheory. Logical metatheory: consistency, completeness, and decidability of logical systems

Philosophy 5984: Special Study
Special Study

Philosophy 6014: Special Topics
Close examination of a discipline, topic, or group of questions from a major philosophical tradition. Such areas as philosophy of language, philosophy of logic, and philosophy of mathematics, and such issues as causation, the nature of space and time, mental representation, logical positivism, and the linguistic turn will be examined. May be repeated for credit, with permission and different content, for a maximum of 12 hours. Completion of at least one of the philosophy M.A. core courses required.

Philosophy 6204: Advanced Topics in the History of Philosophy
Intensive study of a particular figure, school, or group in the history of philosophy, in cultural and theoretical context, such as Socrates in the Athenian "polis," Stoicism in the Hellenistic age, or Hume and the Scottish Enlightenment. May be repeated for credit, with permission and different content, for a maximum of 12 hours. Completion of at least one of the philosoophy M.A. core courses required.

Philosophy 6314: History of the Philosophy of Science
Philosophers of science from 1650 to 1900 with particular attention to the historical development of views about the methods of induction and hypothesis and accounts of theory testing.

Philosophy 6324: Advanced Topics in Ethics and Political Philosophy
A seminar closely examining a topic or group of topics in moral, social, or political theory. Such issues as the foundations of ethics, practical reason, the concept of 'virtue', political obligation, the bounds of moral and political community, paternalism, liberty, and privacy will be explored. Views considered may include moral realism and antirealism, contractarianism, egalitarianism, libertarianism, and communitarianism. May be repeated for credit, with permission and different content, for a maximum of 12 hours.

Philosophy 6334: Advanced Topics in the Philosophy of Science
Variable topics in advanced philosophy of science, including major theories of scientific explanation and their criticisms; philosophical foundations of statistics; naturalized philosophy of science. May be repeated for credit, with permission and different content, for a maximum of 12 hours.

Philosophy 6504: Advanced Logic
Advanced Logic

Philosophy 6514: Cognitive Studies of Science and Technology
Applications of cognitive science to science and technology studies. Includes category theory, cognitive error theory, and computer modelling as research tools in projects linking history, philosophy, and sociology of science