Courses

The major in Philosophy serves three purposes: it encourages clear, logical, and independent thinking; it affords the chance to explore problems and ideas about self, society, knowledge, and value that have intrinsic interest and are germane to other disciplines; when taken in conjunction with appropriate courses in other disciplines, it prepares students for professional fields, such as law, medicine, business, journalism, and government.

Course Catalog

Requirements for a major

Philosophy

Philosophy bridged to another discipline

Requirements for a minor

Philosophy

Courses in Philosophy

Ethics Debate Team

Participation in Ethics Bowl or Bioethics Bowl competitions.

Introduction to Philosophy

Selected problems of philosophy and some alternative solutions. Readings from contemporary and historical philosophers. Seniors admitted only by permission of instructor.

God, Evil and the Meaning of Life

Readings from philosophical, religious and literary authors on such questions as the meaning of God, arguments for the existence of God, the problem of evil, the meaning of human life, the relation of morality and religious belief. Open to first-year students and sophomores; open to others only by permission of instructor.

On-Campus Extended Studies Course

An on-campus course offered during the Winter or May term. May be offered for .5 course credits or as a co-curricular (0 credit). Counts toward satisfying the Extended Studies requirement.

First-Year Seminar

A seminar focused on a theme in the study of philosophy. Open only to first-year students.

Topics

An introductory course to a systematic field of philosophy, history, philosophical movement, or set of philosophical problems. May be repeated for credit with different topics.

History of Western Philosophy: Ancient

Major philosophers and philosophical schools of western philosophy. The course covers the Pre-Socratics through Stoicism and Skepticism. Offered only fall semester.

History of Philosophy: Medieval

This course examines the main figures and debates in Medieval Philosophy, beginning with St. Augustine of Hippo and concluding with Machiavelli. Some topics covered: the refutation of skepticism, what is truth, the City of God versus the City of Man, Natural Law, Just War and what constitutes good government. Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophical theories are featured.

History of Western Philosophy: Early Modern

Major philosophers and philosophical schools of western philosophy. The course covers Descartes through Kant. Emphasis on epistemology and metaphysics. Offered only spring semester.

Existentialism

Introductory course in Existentialism. Major writers from both 19th and 20th centuries, including Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and Camus. Issues to be discussed: the meaning of life, value of morality, absurdity of life, relation between being and nothingness.

Ethical Theory

Historical and contemporary answers to some of the main problems of ethics, including the standard of right and wrong, the criteria of goodness, the possibility of ethical knowledge and the place of reason in ethics.

Environmental Ethics

An examination of the extent of, limits to, and grounds for individual and collective moral obligations with respect to the 'more-than-human world.' Discusses anthropocentric, zoocentric, biocentric and ecocentric value theories; ecofeminist, deep ecology, and environmental justice perspectives; and/or such topics as biodiversity, climate change, sustainable agriculture, and/or ethics of consumption. This course may include a community engagement/service learning project and required field trips.

Ethics and Business

An examination of ethical questions relating to business activity. Topics include: economic justice, the moral responsibilities of corporations, rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, business and consumers, regulation of business.

Bioethics

Perplexing moral issues arising in contemporary biomedical practice, research and medical care. Readings from a variety of sources.

Philosophy of Art

Traditional and recent theories of art, the work of art, criticism, theories of taste and aesthetic quality and special problems concerning the individual arts.

Philosophy of Sex and Gender

An introduction to the principal views in the history of philosophy on the issues concerning the status of women, relationship between the sexes, sexual attitudes and orientations. First part of the class: the foundations of the Conservative View and reactions against them. Second part of the class: some problem areas, such as the desire for pleasure, homosexuality in society, pornography and whether there are unconscious libidinal mechanisms directing our lives.

Logic

A systematic study of reasoning with emphasis on questions of meaning and validity. Includes sentential logic, elementary quantification, a survey of fallacies and selected topics in inductive logic.

Topics

An advanced course in a topics area, such as, metaethics, contemporary European philosophy, or Social-Political Philosophy. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy or permission of instructor. May be repeated for credit with different topics.

Classical Political Philosophy

With an emphasis on classic texts from writers such as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Hobbes, Locke, Mill and Marx, this course pursues fundamental questions in political philosophy. Why have government at all? What is the nature and extent of our obligation to obey government? What obligations does the government have toward us? What right do we have to disobey? Our first goal will be to understand our authors' answers to such questions, but our most important task will be the critical appraisal of their answers. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy of permission of instructor.

Philosophy of Law

An inquiry into topics, such as, the nature of law, the relation of law to morality, the notion of responsibility in the law, punishment and the import for law of liberty of expression. Readings from classical and recent philosophers of law.

Advanced Logic

Techniques of proof in sentential logic, predicate calculus and predicate calculus with identity. Introduction of metalogical issues of consistency, completeness and Godel incompleteness. Topics in philosophical logic such as modal, tense and epistemic logics. Prerequisite: PHIL 251 or permission of instructor.

Epistemology

What is knowledge? Is it possible for humans to get it? If so, how? What is it for a belief to be justified? What is the relationship between knowledge and justification? In this course, we examine some of the main analyses of knowledge and some of the main criteria of justification and other related questions. Readings will include classic and contemporary sources. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy or permission of instructor.

Metaphysics

A philosophical study of the nature of reality, considering such problems as the theory of causes, the status of universals, freedom, mind-body, space and time, individuation. The course will consider both historical and contemporary sources. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy or permission of instructor.

Philosophy of Science

The nature, aims and methods of the natural and social sciences. The nature of scientific description, explanation and prediction. The role of theories, models and deduction in science. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy, or major in science or permission of instructor.

Philosophy of Religion

An examination of philosophical issues related to religious belief. Typical topics include various puzzles relating to the divine attributes, arguments for and against God's existence and the contemporary debate between theism and naturalism. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy or permission of instructor.

Philosophy of Death

An examination of philosophical questions surrounding death. Topics include the rationality of fear of death, the possibility of the survival of death, the relation between mortality and the meaning of life and idea of a good death. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy or permission of instructor.

Major Philosophers

One or two philosophers, usually chosen from Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Leibniz, Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, Wittgenstein and Frege. Prerequisite: two courses in philosophy or permission of instructor. May be repeated for credit with different topics.

Philosophical Problems

A study of one or more problems, such as universals, time, freedom, causation, happiness and necessary truth. Attention mainly to recent papers and books. Prerequisite: two courses in philosophy or permission of instructor. May be repeated for credit with different topics.

Independent Study in Philosophy

Directed studies in a selected field or fields of philosophy. May be repeated for credit with different topics.

Senior Seminar

This class is the capstone course for majors in philosophy. It covers a broad range of advanced topics in philosophy; typically three or four topics are covered during the semester. Topics may be treated historically or systematically. The students are responsible for presentations and discussions of the material. Several papers will be assigned. May not be taken pass/fail. Open only to seniors.

Senior Thesis

This course provides an opportunity for outstanding philosophy majors to produce a substantial (normally 30+ pages in length) research paper on an important topic in philosophy. Students who are planning to do graduate work in philosophy are encouraged to take this course. Students must apply to the department for approval to undertake this project. Accepted students will be assigned a thesis advisor who will set the schedule for the completion of the paper. The course culminates with an oral defense of the completed paper. Prerequisites: Major in Philosophy, senior status, and departmental approval. May not be taken pass/fail.