This is an archived copy of the 2017-2018 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://coursecatalog.bucknell.edu.

Philosophy (PHIL)

PHIL 100. Introduction to Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3; Repeatable
An introduction to the main topics, fields and figures of philosophy. Multiple sections of this course are offered every semester, under a variety of titles.

PHIL 103. Logic. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An introduction to informal and formal ways of reasoning. The structures and general forms of argument as well as the standards and criteria needed to evaluate arguments, and the historical development of logical reasoning, will be studied.

PHIL 201. Symbolic Logic. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Careful work on the concepts/problems of modern logic will direct the course. It will investigate topics in propositional and quantificational logic and general logical theory (completeness, consistency, independence, rigor). It will conclude with a study of the system of Wittgenstein's Tractatus. Prerequisites: PHIL 103 and permission of the instructor.

PHIL 204. Scientific and Everyday Reasoning. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
The concepts and problems in inductive reasoning will be studied, and attention given to how our ordinary language influences traditional logical principles and criteria. A careful examination of fallacies and mistakes in reasoning will introduce the more formal aspects of the course. Prerequisite: PHIL 103 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 205. Greek Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Fall Semester Only; Lecture hours:3
Studies of the ancient Greek notions of kosmos, society, and soul, through readings of the Presocratics, Plato, and Aristotle. Some attention will also be paid to the mythic/poetic background from which philosophy arises for the ancient Greeks. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or PHIL 103 or PHIL 201 or permission of instructor.

PHIL 206. Medieval Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
A comparative examination of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions in medieval philosophy. Questions will focus on God, free will, the problem of evil, the meaning of history, the fate of the soul, and the good life. Readings in Augustine, Avicenna, Maimonides and Aquinas. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of instructor.

PHIL 207. History of Modern Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Spring Semester Only; Lecture hours:3
Philosophical thought in the classical modern age, including Continental Rationalism, British Empiricism, and Kant. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 212. Philosophy of Art. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Analysis of the creative process, the work of art, natural beauty, aesthetic experience, and principles of criticism. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor. Crosslisted as ARTH 222.

PHIL 213. Ethics. 1 Credit.

Offered Spring Semester Only; Lecture hours:3
An attempt to formulate adequate criteria for the basic moral conceptions of good and bad, right and wrong, and duty, by a study of leading ethical view points from Plato to the present. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or PHIL 103 or PHIL 201 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 214. Social and Political Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Spring Semester Only; Lecture hours:3
Problems such as individual and state, freedom and organization, power and rectitude, philosophy of law, equity and differences, the sociomoral basis of rights. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 215. Philosophy of Music. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An exploration of the concepts and problems involved in a (self-reflective) investigation of music. Learning to talk and ask questions about the nature of sound and silence is a goal of this course. (Philosophers such as Rousseau, Schopenhauer, Thoreau, Camus, and Wittgenstein provide direction for discussions/lectures.) Crosslisted as MUSC 215.

PHIL 218. Ecology, Nature, and the Future. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An examination of the biological and philosophical underpinnings of ecology and environmental science. The course will consider such questions as: What is life? How are organisms and the environment connected? Is nature "in balance?" What is our relation to the natural world?.

PHIL 219. The Problem of False Consciousness. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Examination of leading theories of individual and mass deception, as well as theories of self-deception, as these theories bear on the task of informed decision making. Philosophers to be studied may include: Freud, Marx, Sartre, Jung, Foucault, Lukacs, Habermas. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 220. Philosophy of Science. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An introduction to foundational metaphysical, epistemological, methodological, and ethical questions concerning science and scientific practice. Particular attention will be paid to theory confirmation, observation and experiment, explanation, scientific progress and revolution. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 222. Analytic Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An introduction to the analytic style of philosophy by way of selected topics illustrating its subject matter, methods, and historical development. Readings may include Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Moore, Austin, Carnap, Quine, and others. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 223. Philosophy of Religion. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Problems for rational inquiry arising from the claims and practices of religious faith; the nature of religious experience and language, arguments for God's existence, evil. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Crosslisted as RELI 216.

PHIL 224. Theory of Knowledge. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Addresses topics related to the nature and acquisition of knowledge, such as belief, justification, evidence, perception, testimony, and skepticism. Readings may include both classic and contemporary authors, such as Plato, Descartes, Russell, Austin, Davidson, Goldman, McDowell, and Sosa. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 225. Metaphysics. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An inquiry into the nature of being/reality. Topics may include the ontological status of universals, mind, personal identity, freedom, time and God. Readings in such thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Ockham, Descartes, Leibniz, Berkeley, Kant, Bergson and Heidegger. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 226. Philosophy of Mind. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
A study of topics in the philosophy of the mind, such as the mind-body problem, thought, consciousness, perceptual experience, and artificial intelligence. Readings may include both classic and contemporary authors, such as Descartes, Hume, Ryle, Davidson, Fodor, Dennett, and Chalmers. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 227. Philosophy of Language. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An examination of philosophical problems concerning the nature of language, meaning, and communication. Readings may include both classic and contemporary authors, such as Locke, Mill, Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Austin, Quine, Davidson, Dummett, Kripke, and Kaplan. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 228. Contemporary Ethical Theory. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Contemporary approaches to the problems of ethics: universality, moral vs. non-moral judgments, facts and values, etc. Readings in such thinkers as Hare, Rawls, Gilligan, Williams, MacIntyre, Nussbaum, and Rorty. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or PHIL 103 or PHIL 201 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 229. Philosophy and Race. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Critical examination of the nature and meaning of "race" in terms of conceptual analysis, experience, social constructionism, feminism, class, ethnicity, politics, colonialism, violence, and redress. Crosslisted as AFST 229 and POLS 259.

PHIL 230. Feminist Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Fall Semester Only; Lecture hours:3
An examination of feminist philosophy primarily as it occurs in the U.S. from the late 18th century to the present. Prerequisite: PHIL 100, or WMST 150, or permission of the instructor. Crosslisted as WMST 230.

PHIL 233. The Philosophy of Peace and Nonviolence. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
A course in Peace Studies that will investigate the arguments and spirit of Pacifism and nonviolent philosophies. Crosslisted as UNIV 233.

PHIL 246. Philosophy of Law. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Examination of some central philosophical issues relating to law, including law's relation to economics, literature, democracy, rules, integrity, and interpretation. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or PHIL 103 or PHIL 201 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 256. From Hegel to Nietzsche. 1 Credit.

Offered Alternate Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
The rise, fall, and reaction to German Idealism in 19th-century continental thought. Philosophers to be studied may include: Hegel, Schopenhauer, Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 258. Existentialism. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Analysis of selected texts of Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Camus, or Sartre. Special attention given to the relation of existentialism to problems of post-Cartesian thought. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or PHIL 103 or PHIL 201 or permission or the instructor.

PHIL 260. Phenomenology. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Analysis of selected texts of Husserl, Heidegger, or Merleau-Ponty. Some consideration of the interpretation of the history of philosophy offered by phenomenology. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 262. Contemporary Continental Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
A survey of some major currents and figures in 20th-century philosophy. Philosophers to be studied may include: Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Benjamin, Barthes, Foucault, Derrida, Levinas. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 265. Contemporary Philosophy of Art. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An investigation of and focused study of contemporary philosophical issues in the arts and aesthetics more generally. Prerequisite: PHIL 100, or ARTH 207 or ARTH 208. Crosslisted as ARTH 265.

PHIL 266. Chinese Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Alternate Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
Major philosophical schools of the classical age, Buddhist philosophy, Neo-confucianism. Crosslisted as EAST 266 and HUMN 266. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 267. Islamic Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
A survey of major figures and movements in the Islamic philosophical tradition. Topics discussed include the good life, death and the afterlife, God, prophecy, the relation between reason and revelation, etc. Figures studied include al-Farabi, Avicenna, al-Ghazali, Averroes and others. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of instructor.

PHIL 268. Topics in Metaphysics and/or Epistemology. 1 Credit.

Offered Both Fall and Spring; Lecture hours:3; Repeatable
Focused study of specific topics in metaphysics and/or epistemology, such as space and time, possible worlds, the mind-body problem, truth, skepticism, virtue epistemology, and norms of assertion. Prerequisite: varies.

PHIL 269. Indian Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
A survey of the Indian philosophical tradition, from its beginnings in the Vedas and Upanishads through the development of the major philosophical schools. Multiple perspectives on topics such as the nature of reality, knowledge and freedom will be examined. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 270. Jewish Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Alternating Fall Semester; Lecture hours:3
A survey of major figures and topics in the Jewish philosophical tradition. Figures studied include Philo of Alexandria, Maimonides, Spinoza, Hannah Arendt, Emmanuel Levinas and others. Topics considered include God, creation, freedom, the problem of evil, ethical obligation, religious law, prophecy, etc. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 271. Eating Animals: Philosophical Perspectives. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This course examines traditional philosophical justifications for using nonhuman animals to satisfy human needs and desires, particularly using animals as food. The course also examines leading philosophical challenges to the human use of animals as instrumentalities. This course counts toward the Food Systems minor. Prerequisite: PHIL 100.

PHIL 272. Philosophy of Biology. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
We will survey the central epistemological and metaphysical problems addressed in the 20th-century philosophy of biology. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 276. Philosophy of Revolution. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An exploration and analysis of the concept of revolution in political philosophy from modernity to the present day, examining ways that political philosophers have sought to make revolution unnecessary as well as how and why they have emphasized its necessity. Crosslisted as POLS 267.

PHIL 278. Topics in Value Theory. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3; Repeatable
Focused study of specific topics in value theory, such as specific topics in ethical theory, applied ethics, social and political philosophy, and philosophy of art or aesthetics. Prerequisite: varies.

PHIL 280. Buddhist Philosophy in Comparative Perspective. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An introduction to Buddhist thought in comparative perspective, through a close reading and discussion of primary texts of the classical, medieval, modern and contemporary traditions. Prerequisite: PHIL 100. Crosslisted as HUMN 280.

PHIL 288. Topics in Philosophical Movements and Traditions. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3; Repeatable
Focused study of specific topics in philosophical movements and/or traditions, such as specific topics in existentialism, feminist theory, philosophy of peace, and in Chinese, Medieval, Indian, or Islamic philosophy. Prerequisite: varies.

PHIL 309. Seminar in Historical Studies: Individual Philosophers. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3; Repeatable
Intensive study of the works of a single philosopher chosen from the ancient, medieval, modern, or contemporary period of the history of philosophy. In recent years: Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Wittgenstein. Prerequisites: two courses in philosophy and permission of the instructor.

PHIL 310. Seminar in Historical Studies: Historical Periods. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3; Repeatable
Study of a selected period in the history of ancient, medieval, modern, or contemporary philosophy. In recent years "Philosophy of Ordinary Language," "Habermas and (Post) Modernity," "Plato, Aristotle, Sophists." Prerequisites: two courses in philosophy and permission of the instructor.

PHIL 311. Seminar in Philosophical Problems. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3; Repeatable
A selected problem of philosophy as this occurs historically in the ancient, medieval, or modern periods, or in contemporary thought. In recent years: "Philosophy of Mind," "Environmental Aesthetics," "Perception," "Philosophical Heretics," "Friendship," "Doubt, Disagreement and Dogmatism." Prerequisites: two courses in philosophy and permission of the instructor.

PHIL 319. Individual Studies in Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Fall Semester Only; Lecture hours:Varies; Repeatable
Open to advanced students who wish to pursue individual programs of study under the supervision of a professor, or of a committee of professors if the subject falls within two or more departments. May be conducted as a seminar for three or more students pursuing similar programs.

PHIL 320. Individual Studies in Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Spring Semester Only; Lecture hours:Varies; Repeatable
Open to advanced students who wish to pursue individual programs of study under the supervision of a professor, or of a committee of professors if the subject falls within two or more departments. May be conducted as a seminar for three or more students pursuing similar programs.

PHIL 321. Honors Thesis. 1 Credit.

Offered Both Fall and Spring; Lecture hours:Varies
Substantial independent work on some problem or topic approved by the department of philosophy as honors work. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

PHIL 322. Honors Thesis. 1 Credit.

PHIL 323. Senior Thesis. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:Varies; Repeatable
Independent research on a philosophical issue, in consultation with staff members. The thesis should show integrative and creative abilities. Prerequisite: major in philosophy or permission of the instructor.