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 Both Fall and Spring; Lecture hours:3
Logic is the study of good reasoning. This course introduces methods for identifying and evaluating arguments and considers social/psychological barriers to good reasoning. Students will also be introduced to formal (symbolic) approaches to logic.

PHIL 201. Symbolic Logic. 1 Credit.

Offered Alternating Spring Semester; Lecture hours:3
This course introduces students to formal / symbolic approaches to the study of logical reasoning including propositional, first-order predicate logic, and formal inductive logic. The course will also address philosophical questions concerning logic and the foundations of mathematics. PHIL 103 is recommended but optional preparation for this course.

PHIL 203. Philosophical Teach-In. .5 Credits.

Offered Occasionally; Lecture hours:1.5; Repeatable
A course applying philosophical theories to a topic of contemporary interest. Offered occasionally under different titles.

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 Either Fall or Spring; 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.

PHIL 215. Philosophy of Music. 1 Credit.

Offered Occasionally; Lecture hours:3
What is music—sound waves? live performances? streaming audio code? a conductor’s score? Is music a language—does it have meaning or emotions? Who decides: the listener or composer? Are associations with specific sounds—say, a siren—cultural? physiological? Creativity and analysis from brilliant modern philosophers helps us explore! Crosslisted as MUSC 215.

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 Occasionally; 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. 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.

PHIL 227. Philosophy of Language. 1 Credit.

Offered Occasionally; 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 Occasionally; 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 Williams, MacIntyre, Nussbaum, Rorty, Korsgaard, and Hursthouse. 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 CBST 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 234. Philosophy of Time. 1 Credit.

Offered Alternate Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
An inquiry into the nature of time from various historical and contemporary perspectives. Possible topics include the puzzle of change, the passage of time, the relation between our experience of time and the scientific image of time, the direction of time, personal identity over time, and time travel.

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 257. Critical Theory: Antisemitism, Barbarism, Capitalism. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This course explores the Frankfurt School's program of social critique - inspired by Kant, Hegel, Marx and Freud - which indicted fascism and antisemitism and struck at the heart of modernity: capitalism, culture, Enlightenment, reason and freedom. They ask us, Is ethical life possible under contemporary conditions of barbarism?.

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 Occasionally; 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 264. Latin American, Latinx and Caribbean Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This course will focus on major figures and issues within philosophy in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Latinx U.S., with an emphasis on the connection between identity-formation and politics. Crosslisted as LAMS 264.

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
An introduction to Chinese thought, including: the major schools and thinkers of the classical age, Chinese Buddhist philosophy, early modern Neo-confucianism, and Chinese philosophy since the Communist Revolution of 1949. Crosslisted as EAST 266 and HUMN 266.

PHIL 267. Arabic Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Occasionally; Lecture hours:3
A survey of the Arabic philosophical tradition. Topics discussed include the good life, the status of the philosopher in society, God, death and the afterlife, the political function of prophecy, and reason, faith and reason as potential sources of knowledge. Figures studied include al-Razi, al-Farabi, Avicenna, al-Ghazali, Ibn Tufayl, etc.

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 Occasionally; 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 274. Bioethics. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This course examines a variety of topics in contemporary bioethics including biomedical ethics, public health, disability, human enhancement and climate change. Our aim will be to understand the complex ethical issues that arise at both the individual and global level through case studies and philosophical texts.

PHIL 276. Philosophy of Revolution. 1 Credit.

Offered Occasionally; 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 299. Teaching Assistant in Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Either Fall or Spring; Lecture hours:3
This course can only be taken by philosophy majors who have permission and have taken the prerequisite. Prerequisite: PHIL 100 and permission of the instructor.

PHIL 320. Individual Studies in Philosophy. 1 Credit.

Offered Both Fall and Spring; 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 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.

PHIL 324. Honors Thesis. 1 Credit.

Offered Fall Semester Only; Lecture hours:Varies
Substantial independent work on some problem or topic approved by the Department of Philosophy and the Honors Council as satisfying the requirements for a senior honors thesis. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Not open to students who have taken PHIL 321 or PHIL 322.

PHIL 325. Honors Thesis. 1 Credit.

Offered Spring Semester Only; Lecture hours:Varies
Second semester of independent work on some problem or topic approved by the Department of Philosophy and the Honors Council as satisfying the requirements for a senior honors thesis. Prerequisites: PHIL 324 and permission of the instructor. Not open to students who have taken PHIL 321 or PHIL 322.

PHIL 330. Advanced Seminar. 1 Credit.

Offered Both Fall and Spring; Lecture hours:3; Repeatable
Advanced seminars typically focus on a particular philosophical figure, historical period or movement, or a significant topic area in philosophy and are intended to engage students at an advanced level of preparation in intensive philosophical discussion and in-depth study. Prerequisites: senior philosophy major standing or permission of the instructor.