Introduction to Logic, Reasoning and Persuasion
50:730:101:01
M/W 12:30 pm – 1:50 pm
Professor Young
Development of skills in reasoning. Consideration of what an argument is, how arguments go wrong, and what makes an argument valid. Application of techniques for clarifying meaning, evaluating, and constructing arguments. Enrollment not open to students who have taken 50:730:201. Formerly 50:730:141. Fulfills new general education requirement in Logical and Quantitative Reasoning (LQR).
Introduction to Current Moral and Social Issues
50:730:105:01
T/TH 11:10 am – 12:30 pm
Professor Agule
Introduction to moral theory and application to selected contemporary issues. Possible topics include abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, punishment, equality, sexism, racism, affirmative action, privacy, obligations to the world’s needy, treatment of animals, drug use, and the meaning of life. Formerly 50:730:315,316. Fulfills new general education requirement in Ethics and Values (EAV).
Introduction to Philosophy
50:730:111:90
$100 Online Course Support Fee
Professor Yates
An exploration of central philosophical problems, such as truth, justice, mind, and person, with a view to surveying the field and locating particular philosophical specialties within it such as logic, ethics, and metaphysics. Fulfills new general education requirement in Ethics and Values (EAV).
Introduction to Philosophy
50:730:111:91
HYBRID, TH 11:10 am – 12:30 pm
Professor Yates
An exploration of central philosophical problems, such as truth, justice, mind, and person, with a view to surveying the field and locating particular philosophical specialties within it such as logic, ethics, and metaphysics. Fulfills new general education requirement in Ethics and Values (EAV).
History of Philosophy I
50:730:211:01
M/W 2:05 pm – 3:25 pm
Professor Betz
The beginnings and early developments of Western philosophy. Readings selected from among the pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, Sextus-Empiricus, Plotinus, Augustine, Maimonides, Aquinas, and Occam. Topics may include the nature of argument, knowledge, political loyalty and political dissent, justice, normative ethics, causality, the nature of the self, and the existence of God. Satisfies requirement for the Philosophy Major and Minor. Fulfills new general education requirement in Heritages and Civilizations (HAC).
Ethics
50:730:226:01
T/TH 9:35 am – 10:55 am
Professor Agule
An examination of fundamental issues in ethical theory through the works of contemporary philosophers and key figures in the History of ethics such as Aristotle, Kant, and Mill. Topics may include human goodness, moral obligation, rights and duties, the relation of happiness to duties, the idea of role obligations specific to professional contexts, and the possibility of objective justifications of value judgments as contrasted with views from moral nihilists, skeptics, and relativists. Satisfies requirement in ethical/political/social theory for Philosophy Major and Minor. Fulfills new general education requirement in Ethics and Values (EAV).
Biomedical Ethics
50:730:249:01
T/ 2:00 pm – 4:50 pm
Professor Chwang
Exploration of moral issues in medicine and medical research. Course will typically focus on issues raised by the creation and termination of life and include topics such as abortion, stem cell research, cloning, prenatal screening for disability, right to medical care, human experimentation, genetic enhancement and eugenics, animal experimentation, the diagnosis of death, and euthanasia. Formerly 50:730:349. Fulfills new general education requirement in Ethics and Values (EAV).
Biomedical Ethics
50:730:249:02
T 12:30 pm – 3:20 pm
Professor Chwang
Exploration of moral issues in medicine and medical research. Course will typically focus on issues raised by the creation and termination of life and include topics such as abortion, stem cell research, cloning, prenatal screening for disability, right to medical care, human experimentation, genetic enhancement and eugenics, animal experimentation, the diagnosis of death, and euthanasia. Formerly 50:730:349. Fulfills new general education requirement in Ethics and Values (EAV).
Biomedical Ethics
50:730:249:90, 91, 92
$100 Online Course Support Fee
Professor Gentzel
Exploration of moral issues in medicine and medical research. Course will typically focus on issues raised by the creation and termination of life and include topics such as abortion, stem cell research, cloning, prenatal screening for disability, right to medical care, human experimentation, genetic enhancement and eugenics, animal experimentation, the diagnosis of death, and euthanasia. Formerly 50:730:349. Fulfills new general education requirement in Ethics and Values (EAV).
Biomedical Ethics
50:730:249:93, 94
$100 Online Course Support Fee
Professor Young
Exploration of moral issues in medicine and medical research. Course will typically focus on issues raised by the creation and termination of life and include topics such as abortion, stem cell research, cloning, prenatal screening for disability, right to medical care, human experimentation, genetic enhancement and eugenics, animal experimentation, the diagnosis of death, and euthanasia. Formerly 50:730:349. Fulfills new general education requirement in Ethics and Values (EAV).
Environmental Ethics
50:730:250:01
M/W 12:30 pm – 1:50 pm
Professor Betz
Exploration of ethical issues concerning the environment. Course will typically focus on issues raised by the moral justification for coercing individuals and corporations, just distribution of resources, moral rights of animals, and the study of topical issues such as clean air standards, population control, land use. Fulfills new general education requirement in Ethics and Values (EAV).
Ethics and Business
50:730:251:01
M 12:30 pm – 3:20 pm
Professor Sacks
Social and moral problems that arise in the context of business: profit motive, corporate social responsibility, use and abuse of corporate power, truth in advertising, consumer rights, strikes, stockholders’ rights, preferential hiring. Contemporary case studies augmented with basic texts in ethics. Formerly 50:730:260. Fulfills new general education requirement in Ethics and Values (EAV).
Philosophical Ideas in Film
50:730:264:01
$100 Online Course Support Fee
Professor Young
An exploration of classic philosophical questions as represented in film. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) truth, skepticism, relativism, personal identity, determinism, artificial intelligence, and the problem of evil. Film representations of these classic questions will be identified and evaluated from the perspective of various philosophers, possibly including Plato, Russell, James, Descartes, Berkeley, Kant, Locke, Hume, and others. Fulfills new general education requirement in Art and Aesthetic Interpretation (AAI).
Ethics and the Future of Humanity
50:730:329:01
F 12:30 pm – 3:20 pm
Professor Gentzel
Exploration of moral and social issues pertaining to emerging technologies. Topics covered include human enhancement, artificial intelligence, robotics, reproductive technology and cloning, and artificial life. Fulfills new general education requirement in Ethics and Values (EAV).
Evil
50:730:333:01
cross-listed w/50:840:333:01
T/TH 2:00 pm – 3:20 pm
Professor Wall
Examines the phenomenon and meaning of evil, especially “moral” evil. Key questions pursued are how evil may be explained, why humanity is capable of It in the first place, whether it belongs to some or all people, how to differentiate its perpetrators and its victims, whether evil is compatible with the existence of a good God, and how one may judge the difference between evil and good. These and other fundamental questions are pursued through a wide range of classic, historical, and contemporary texts and in relation to examples of evil in today’s world. Enrollment not open to students who have taken 50:840:333. Fulfills new general education requirement in Ethics and Values (EAV).
Religion and Democracy
50:730:350:01
cross-listed w/50:840:322:01, 56:606:541:01
TH 2:00 pm – 4:50 pm
Professor Yates
Critical examination of contemporary theories of liberalism and democracy as they relate to the inclusion of religious citizens in political contexts. Topics include the defense of religious freedom and tolerance, the use of religious reasons to justify laws regulating abortion and marriage, and the ideals of mutual respect and understanding in pluralistic political societies. Satisfies requirement in ethical/political/social theory for Philosophy Major and Minor.
Independent Study in Philosophy
50:730:389:01, 390:01
Staff
An individual reading and research project under the guidance of a member of the philosophy department in an area of interest to the department. Prerequisite: Permission of department.