PHIL - Philosophy

An introduction to the classical problems of philosophy through study and critical discussion of selected philosophical classics and contemporary works. Emphasis will be placed on questions of moral and other values and on the nature of society and justice.

An introduction to the classical problems of philosophy through study and critical discussion of selected philosophical classics and contemporary works. Emphasis will be placed on questions of the nature and extent of human knowledge and classic problems about the nature of reality and our place in it.

A study of sentential logic, including translation, semantics, decision procedures and natural deduction followed by an introduction to predicate logic, concentrating on translation. Note: Not open to students with credit in PHIL 220.

Elementary methods and principles for analyzing reasoning as it occurs in everyday contexts. Topics may include informal fallacies, introduction to scientific method, elementary statistical reasoning, elementary sentential logic, as well as the study of argument in contemporary debates about issues of social concern.

Basic questions concerning the nature of reality. Topics may include existence, materialism and idealism, freedom and determinism, appearance and reality, causality, identity, time and space, universals and particulars.

This course provides an overview of the ancient and classical period of Indian philosophy (500 BCE-1500 CE); major metaphysical and ethical concepts within traditions such as Yoga, Advaita Vedanta, and Buddhism. Note: Not open to students with credit in PHIL 302. Not open to students with credit in PHIL 301 completed prior to 2012.

A survey of the main figures and schools of thought in the Islamic world from the 10th to the 17th centuries CE.

An introduction to Indigenous systems of knowledge as philosophical systems, which investigates these systems as parallel and coexisting with Western philosophical systems.

Basic questions concerning the mind and our attempts to study it scientifically.

Personal identity, interpersonal relationships, sex and gender, freedom and immortality in historical and contemporary contexts.

A study of such central topics in the theory of knowledge as truth and rationality, skepticism and the limits of knowledge, relativism and the objectivity of knowledge, the role of perception, memory and reason as sources of knowledge.

The philosophical and social impact of historical and contemporary topics in the biological sciences.

Philosophies of the good life. Topics may include integrated wellness, attentiveness, objects of devotion, and community in historical and contemporary contexts.

A brief review of sentential logic followed by an intensive study of predicate logic with identity. Topics include translation, semantics, decision procedures, natural deduction systems, mathematical induction. Other topics include: theories of definite descriptions, elementary modal logic, formal axiomatic systems. Prerequisite: PHIL 120 or consent of Department.

An overview of the development of a selected range of core notions in modern logic. Prerequisite: PHIL 120 or consent of Department.

A survey of the thought of the ancient Greek world from its beginnings with the Pre-Socratics up to and including Aristotle.

A philosophical examination of Socrates' death in its cultural, historical and political setting.

Issues concerning human beings, knowledge, ethics and society among Greek thinkers and their impact on Christian thought. Note: Not available for credit with PHIL 139.

A survey of Philosophy in the 17th- and 18th centuries. Philosophers studied may include Descartes, Leibniz, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume.

A survey of philosophy from the 5th to the 15th centuries; Philosophers from the Jewish, Islamic and Christian traditions.

An examination of questions of right and wrong, good and evil, and the application of ethical theories to practical issues.

An introduction to the central issues in contemporary philosophy of science. Topics may include theory evaluation, paradigm shifts and theory change, laws of nature, causation and explanation, the rationality of science and its social and historical setting.

Analysis and evaluation of selected moral and social issues.

A survey of issues in contemporary political philosophy with attention to liberalism and communitarianism, sovereignty, feminism, entitlement and distribution, and global justice.

An introduction to feminist issues in current philosophy. Note: Not open to students with credit in PHIL 332.

The moral, conceptual, existential, environmental, socio-political, and spiritual issues raised by the practice of hunting by humans.

An introduction to some of the traditional theories, such as the expressionist and the formalist theories, which investigate the nature and function of the arts. The nature of aesthetic experience will also be considered.

An investigation of the nature of law and of law's relationship to other systems of norms.

An introduction to the background and main themes of existentialist philosophy. Authors such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre are considered.

Variable content course which may be repeated if topic(s) vary.

Central topics at the interface of philosophy and psychology. Variable content course which may be repeated if topic(s) vary.

Prerequisite: At least *3 in PHIL or consent of the College.

Core topics at the interface of biology and philosophy.

Prerequisite: At least *3 in PHIL or consent of the College.

A study of the formal theory of rationality including probability and induction, and elementary decision theory, with attention to the paradoxes of choice.

An in-depth study of the philosophy of Aristotle.

A historical survey of western philosophy from the end of classical antiquity until the sixteenth century.

Critical study of Christianity in dialogue with such worldviews as atheism, agnosticism, naturalism, materialism, existentialism, feminism, liberalism, postmodernism.

A survey of the philosophy of Kant and the 19th century. Philosophers studied may also include Hegel, Marx, Mill, and Nietzsche. Note: Not open to students with credit in PHIL 245.

Philosophical approaches to the question of comparative human and animal cognition, emotion, awareness, and language. The course will also address the problem of animal rights vis-à-vis individual and institutional human interests.

A philosophical investigation of theoretical questions about ethics, such as whether ethical values are objective or subjective, why we should be moral, whether virtues really exist, what role reason plays in ethical deliberation, and what constitutes the basis of our ethical obligations.

Philosophical dimensions of issues raised by our relationship to the environment.

General topics in the Philosophy of Religion, which may include the concept of 'religion,' the existence of God, meaning and intelligibility in religious language, religion and morality, implications of the social scientific study of religion.

Philosophical issues arising from computation and computer science. No previous familiarity with computing is necessary.

Cultural, social, ethical and political issues arising from the computer revolution and new digital technologies.

Overview of approaches to the foundations of mathematics and of philosophical issues concerning the nature of mathematical objects, mathematical theories and the special status of mathematics among the sciences and other areas of knowledge.

Variable content course which may be repeated if topic(s) vary.

Ethical issues in business settings, dealing with such themes as employer-employee relations, job security, advertising, distribution of wealth, acquisitive individualism, the common good, and decision-making. Recommended preparation: 3 units in PHIL. Note: Not available for credit with CHRTC 394.

Ontological, epistemological, political and ethical issues arising through readings of classical and contemporary texts.

A broadly based introduction to the intellectual, cultural, and social dimensions of science and their implications. Topics may include the impact of the Newtonian revolution, mechanism, materialism and Darwinism, and the nature of objectivity and rationality.

An introduction to the philosophical foundations of art criticism. Questions concerning the standards of interpretation and of evaluation of the arts will be given special attention.

Study of philosophical issues raised by films: distinguishing film from other arts (photography, theatre, video games), whether films depict or represent reality, emotional engagement, the relation of moral and aesthetic values, and approaches to film criticism.

Variable content course which may be repeated if topic(s) vary.

A study of ethical issues raised by artificial intelligence systems.

A study of ethical issues arising in health care and in the practice of health professions.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Selected theories and problems concerning the nature of space and time. A strong background in philosophy, mathematics, or physical sciences is desirable. Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of the Department.

The theoretical study of formal systems of logic. Topics include formal axiomatic systems, formal syntax and semantics, soundness and completeness proofs for both sentential and predicate logic. Prerequisite: PHIL 220 or consent of Department.

Standard modal systems in sentential and predicate logic including possible world semantics and completeness proofs. Tense logic and epistemic logic may be considered. Prerequisite: PHIL 220 or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: PHIL 220 or consent of Department.

Selected problems concerning the nature of language and meaning. Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Philosophical logic and its application to the semantics of natural language. Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: PHIL 272 or 332 (taken prior to 2006) or W ST 301 or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200 level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200 level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200 level, or consent of Department.

Topics concerning the early modern philosophical tradition. Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200 level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Study of one or more of the following themes: Speculative accounts of our historical being and of the sense of history as a whole; critical analysis of the scope and limits of historiographic knowledge and explanation; historicist theses that philosophy is essentially historical. Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department. Variable content course which may be repeated if topic(s) vary.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: consent of Department.

Prerequisite: consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Preparation of the honors essay, required in the fourth year of the Honors program.

Prerequisite: At least *6 in PHIL, *3 of which must be at the 200-level, or consent of Department.

Prerequisite: Open only to graduate students beyond the qualifying year.

Prerequisite: Open only to graduate students beyond the qualifying year.

Capstone Research project required for and restricted to students in the course-based MA program.

Capstone Research project required for and restricted to students in the course-based MA program.

Capstone Research project required for and restricted to students in the course-based MA program.