Philosophy (PHIL)
Philosophy examines questions pertaining to the nature of language, truth, knowledge, reality, beauty, and ethical commitment – questions that are so fundamental to human existence that they are neither easily answered nor easily ignored. The study of philosophy develops skills in interpreting texts, thoughtfully responding to other viewpoints, constructing and evaluating argumentation, and the disciplined imagining of novel possibilities for human knowing, valuing, and living. In addition to its intrinsic interest and value, it also provides excellent training for graduate, medical, law, or business school, and prepares students for a variety of potential careers, from the corporate world to nonprofit work to creative, educational, or entrepreneurial pathways.
Bucknell’s philosophy curriculum offers courses in a wide variety of subjects, figures, historical periods, traditions, movements, and methodological perspectives. Some courses focus on general fields such as ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, epistemology, and logic. Others raise philosophical questions about topics such as mind, language, art, music, science, religion, politics, gender, and law. Historically oriented courses range from the earliest Greek philosophers through revolutionary 20th-century thinkers such as Heidegger and Wittgenstein. Still others span whole philosophical traditions (Chinese, Indian, Islamic, Jewish) or survey specific movements (existentialism, phenomenology, analytic philosophy, feminist philosophy).
Course Areas
| Introductory | ||
| PHIL 100 | Introduction to Philosophy | 1 |
| Logic | ||
| A study of the principles of reasoning. | ||
| PHIL 103 | Logic | 1 |
| PHIL 201 | Symbolic Logic | 1 |
| Core Historical Periods | ||
| Studies of the two essential periods in the history of Western philosophy: Ancient Greek (5th-4th c. BC) and modern European (17th-18th c.). | ||
| PHIL 205 | Greek Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 207 | History of Modern Philosophy | 1 |
| Axiology/Value Theory | ||
| One of the major branches of philosophy, Axiology, concerns itself with the nature of value (axios), e.g., the good in ethics; justice in social and political philosophy; the right in law; and the beautiful, the sublime, and the ugly in aesthetics. | ||
| PHIL 212 | Philosophy of Art | 1 |
| PHIL 213 | Ethics | 1 |
| PHIL 214 | Social and Political Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 215 | Philosophy of Music | 1 |
| PHIL 218 | Ecology, Nature, and the Future | 1 |
| PHIL 228 | Contemporary Ethical Theory | 1 |
| PHIL 246 | Philosophy of Law | 1 |
| PHIL 265 | Contemporary Philosophy of Art | 1 |
| PHIL 271 | Eating Animals: Philosophical Perspectives | 1 |
| PHIL 276 | Philosophy of Revolution | 1 |
| PHIL 278 | Topics in Value Theory | 1 |
| Metaphysics and Epistemology | ||
| Two major branches of philosophy, which are closely intertwined. Metaphysics concerns itself with the most general of all topics: being or existence itself. What does it mean to be? What are the ultimate constituents of reality? It encompasses numerous sub-topics such as the nature of universals, mind, personal identity, freedom, time, and God. Epistemology constitutes a systematic investigation into the nature, sources, and limitations of knowledge. | ||
| PHIL 204 | Scientific and Everyday Reasoning | 1 |
| PHIL 220 | Philosophy of Science | 1 |
| PHIL 223 | Philosophy of Religion | 1 |
| PHIL 224 | Theory of Knowledge | 1 |
| PHIL 225 | Metaphysics | 1 |
| PHIL 226 | Philosophy of Mind | 1 |
| PHIL 227 | Philosophy of Language | 1 |
| PHIL 238 | Philosophy of Perception | 1 |
| PHIL 268 | Topics in Metaphysics and/or Epistemology | 1 |
| PHIL 272 | Philosophy of Biology | 1 |
| Movements and Traditions | ||
| Many important philosophical figures, problems, and positions are deeply rooted in particular movements and traditions. These can represent radically different philosophical perspectives, concerns, or ways of thinking. | ||
| PHIL 206 | Medieval Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 219 | The Problem of False Consciousness | 1 |
| PHIL 222 | Analytic Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 229 | Philosophy and Race | 1 |
| PHIL 230 | Feminist Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 233 | The Philosophy of Peace and Nonviolence | 1 |
| PHIL 256 | From Hegel to Nietzsche | 1 |
| PHIL 258 | Existentialism | 1 |
| PHIL 260 | Phenomenology | 1 |
| PHIL 262 | Contemporary Continental Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 266 | Chinese Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 267 | Islamic Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 269 | Indian Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 270 | Jewish Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 280 | Buddhist Philosophy in Comparative Perspective | 1 |
| PHIL 288 | Topics in Philosophical Movements and Traditions | 1 |
| Senior Seminar/Culminating Experience | ||
| A different senior seminar is offered every semester. These are advanced courses, primarily intended for majors, which focus in depth on a particular philosophical figure, historical period, topic, problem, or movement. Individual studies and Senior or Honors theses must be specially arranged with the professor who will be supervising it. | ||
| PHIL 309 | Seminar in Historical Studies: Individual Philosophers | 1 |
| PHIL 310 | Seminar in Historical Studies: Historical Periods | 1 |
| PHIL 311 | Seminar in Philosophical Problems | 1 |
| PHIL 319 | Individual Studies in Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 320 | Individual Studies in Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 321 | Honors Thesis | 1 |
| PHIL 322 | Honors Thesis | 1 |
| PHIL 323 | Senior Thesis | 1 |
Philosophy Major
The philosophy major consists of a minimum of nine courses drawn from different areas:
| Introduction to Philosophy requirement: | ||
| PHIL 100 | Introduction to Philosophy (any section) 1 | 1 |
| Logic requirement: | ||
| PHIL 103 | Logic | 1 |
| or PHIL 201 | Symbolic Logic | |
| Two Core Historical Period requirements: | ||
| PHIL 205 | Greek Philosophy | 1 |
| PHIL 207 | History of Modern Philosophy | 1 |
| Select one Axiology (Value Theory) requirement: | 1 | |
| Philosophy of Art | ||
| Ethics | ||
| Social and Political Philosophy | ||
| Philosophy of Music | ||
| Ecology, Nature, and the Future | ||
| Contemporary Ethical Theory | ||
| Philosophy of Law | ||
| Contemporary Philosophy of Art | ||
| Eating Animals: Philosophical Perspectives | ||
| Philosophy of Revolution | ||
| Topics in Value Theory | ||
| Select one Metaphysics and Epistemology requirement: | 1 | |
| Scientific and Everyday Reasoning | ||
| Philosophy of Science | ||
| Philosophy of Religion | ||
| Theory of Knowledge | ||
| Metaphysics | ||
| Philosophy of Mind | ||
| Philosophy of Language | ||
| Topics in Metaphysics and/or Epistemology | ||
| Philosophy of Biology | ||
| Select one Movements and Traditions requirement: | 1 | |
| Medieval Philosophy | ||
| The Problem of False Consciousness | ||
| Analytic Philosophy | ||
| Feminist Philosophy | ||
| The Philosophy of Peace and Nonviolence | ||
| From Hegel to Nietzsche | ||
| Existentialism | ||
| Phenomenology | ||
| Contemporary Continental Philosophy | ||
| Chinese Philosophy | ||
| Islamic Philosophy | ||
| Indian Philosophy | ||
| Jewish Philosophy | ||
| Buddhist Philosophy in Comparative Perspective | ||
| Topics in Philosophical Movements and Traditions | ||
| Senior seminars/Culminating Experience | ||
| Select one of the following options: | 2-4 | |
Option 1 | ||
Two 300-level seminars | ||
Option 2 | ||
One 300-level seminar | ||
| Honors Thesis | ||
Option 3 | ||
One 300-level seminar | ||
| Honors Thesis | ||
Option 4 | ||
One 300-level seminar | ||
| Senior Thesis | ||
| 1 | This course is a prerequisite for most 200 and 300-level PHIL courses. |
This curriculum aims at providing students with a balance of breadth and depth in the field, while allowing them a large degree of flexibility in choosing the specific courses that best fit their particular interests.
The learning goals of the philosophy major include:
- a general comprehension of several major periods and authors in the history of Western philosophy,
- skill in constructing and evaluating argumentation,
- skill in developing and evaluating interpretations of philosophical texts, and
- an appreciation of the fundamental ambiguities and complexities involved in the human attempt to answer questions about knowing, valuing and living.
In addition to these discipline-specific goals, the philosophy major is designed to cultivate a number of more general skills and competencies in accordance with the “Disciplinary Depth” component of the College Core Curriculum. They are:
- Skills in writing. Students majoring in philosophy will gain significant experience in the written analysis and evaluation of texts and arguments. Almost every course offered by the philosophy department includes both an intensive and an extensive focus on writing skills.
- Skills in formal presentation. Regardless of one’s eventual choice of profession, one must develop skills in oral argumentation, articulate discussion, and persuasion. Many of the courses offered by the philosophy department include work that will enhance students’ oral presentation skills, including individual and/or group presentations, oral summaries and other presentations of assigned work, and formal classroom debates. All students in PHIL 207 History of Modern Philosophy will develop skills in preparing, revising, and delivering oral presentations of various kinds, including individual presentations, group presentations, and/or formal in-class debates. In addition, in many of the 300-level seminars offered by the philosophy department, students will further develop their formal presentation skills.
- Information literacy. Students majoring in philosophy will gain facility in the use of both primary and secondary sources; learn how to locate, access, and retrieve both primary and secondary materials; learn to evaluate these materials critically through in-class discussion and their written work; become familiar with the legal and ethical standards of information access and use; and learn to use various technological resources in support of their academic work. All students in PHIL 205 Greek Philosophy will devote special attention to the development of information literacy.
- Culminating Experience (CE). Students majoring in philosophy will complete a two-part Culminating Experience, usually during the senior year. The Culminating Experience is designed to distill and synthesize students’ previous studies in philosophy, enriching and cementing the knowledge and skills mentioned above. Students engaged in the Culminating Experience will typically have completed most if not all of the other major requirements. In order to fulfill the Culminating Experience in philosophy, students will either take two 300-level seminars in philosophy or take one 300-level seminar in philosophy and write a senior or honors thesis. At least one of these seminars (or the student’s thesis, if the student elects to write one) must be taken during the student’s senior year, with the exception that second-semester juniors may complete this Culminating Experience in the major with permission of the adviser and the department chair.
Philosophy majors interested in study abroad are encouraged by the department to do so, and may work with faculty in the department to find a program of study suitable to their interests. Qualified students are also encouraged to pursue honors study in philosophy; they should consult with their department advisers or with the chair of the department in advance about this option. Students will be expected to submit a substantial honors thesis, the equivalent of two semesters of work in their senior year. Credit may be taken either in one semester of the senior year or two. Students pursuing this course of study are exempt from one of the two required CE-related senior seminars. Students wishing to do graduate work in philosophy may want to supplement their philosophical studies with language courses, for example in ancient Greek, Latin, French, German, Chinese, or Arabic.
Minor in Philosophy
The minor in philosophy consists of four courses, two of which must be 200-level or above. No particular combination of courses is required and students may wish to design a minor with their particular interests and aims in mind.
The learning goals of the philosophy major are:
- A general comprehension of several major periods and authors in the history of Western philosophy.
- Skill in constructing and evaluating argumentation.
- Skill in developing and evaluating interpretations of philosophical texts.
- An appreciation of the fundamental ambiguities and complexities involved in the human attempt to answer questions about knowing, valuing, and living.
Courses
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 Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An examination of feminist philosophy primarily as it occurs in the U.S. from the late 18th century to the present. 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 238. Philosophy of Perception. 1 Credit.
Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An introduction to philosophy of perception. Possible topics include perceptual knowledge, the nature of perceptual experience, illusion and hallucination, and the nature of the objects of perception. Texts may be drawn from both contemporary and historical sources and from relevant scientific disciplines. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.
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: PHIL 100 or permission of the instructor.
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.
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.
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 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.
Faculty
Professors: Richard Fleming, Sheila M. Lintott (Chair), Matthew Slater, Gary M. Steiner
Associate Professors: Peter S. Groff, Jason Leddington, Jeffrey S. Turner
Assistant Professor: Maria Balcells