Introduction to Current Moral and Social Issues, 50:730:105:01, In Person T/TH 2:00 pm – 3:20 pm (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Ed Young
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.
Introduction to Philosophy, 50:730:111:01, In Person M/W 9:35 am – 10:55 am (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Craig Agule
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.
Introduction to Philosophy, 50:730:111:02, In Person T/TH 11:10 am – 12:30 pm (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Margaret Betz
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.
Reading Seminar, 1 credit, 50:730:190:01, In Person, M 2:00 pm – 4:20 pm (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Craig Agule
In this small, seminar-style course, students will work through either one significant book or a similarly substantive collection of essays, with the topic varying by semester. Students will engage in intensive close reading of the philosophical texts, identifying particular arguments, premises, and claims for assessment during student discussion in the seminar meetings. The course meets for 1/3 the time of a regular course, that is, on average one hour a week (or two hours every other week). This course can be repeated up to three times for credit. (Note that there is also a similar course in Religion, 50:840:190, which can be taken up to an additional three times).
Symbolic Logic, 50:730:201:01, In Person M/W 9:35 am – 10:55 am (Gen Ed: LQR)
Professor Bryan Sacks
An introduction to modern symbolic logic, with an emphasis on methods for the evaluation and construction of deductive arguments, and on the concepts of validity, consistency, and implication. Additional topics may be selected from among the following: informal fallacies, logic, and ordinary language, induction, the scientific method, syllogistic logic, and the relation between logic and other areas in philosophy.
History of Philosophy II, 50:730:212:01, In Person T/TH 2:00 pm – 3:20 pm (Gen Ed: HAC)
Professor Margaret Betz
The development of philosophy from its modern beginnings in Descartes. Readings selected from the classical modern period, from Descartes through Kant. Topics include the relationship between mind and body, the origins and extent of human knowledge, skepticism and belief, and the nature of personal identity.
Nature of Mind, 50:730:221:01, In Person T/TH 2:00 pm – 3:20 pm (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Austin Rooney
What is the mind? Is it part of physical reality, or something separate? Can science explain the nature of the mind? Is it possible for a properly programmed computer to have a mind? If the mind is completely physical, is it located entirely in the brain? We will investigate these questions, and contrast philosophical approaches to them with the methods employed in neuroscience and empirical psychology.
Self and Identity, 50:730:222:01, In Person T/TH 11:10 am – 12:30 pm (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Austin Rooney
An exploration of the nature of the self, with emphasis on the conditions for remaining the same person over time and the relation between selfhood and moral responsibility.
Ethics, 50:730:226:01, In Person T/TH 3:35 pm – 4:55 pm (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Austin Rooney
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.
Philosophy Love, 50:730:230:01, In Person M/W 12:30 pm – 1:50 pm (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Margaret Betz
This course examines the concept of love and its various expressions in philosophical and religious traditions. Topics include the different types of love according to classical sources; friendship; romantic love through monogamy and polyamory; parental and familial love; and love according to Christian, Confucian, Islamic, Hindu, and Jewish traditions.
Biomedical Ethics (Gen Ed: EAV)
50:730:249:90 Online – Professor Michael Gentzel
50:730:249:92 Online – Professor Michael Gentzel
50:730:249:94 Online – Professor Ed Young
50:730:249:96 Online – Professor Michael Gentzel
50:730:249:98 Online – Professor Patrick Denehy
Exploration of moral issues in medicine and medical research. The 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.
Philosophy of Law, 50:730:258:01, In Person M/W 9:35 am – 10:55 am (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Craig Agule
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.
Philosophical Ideas in Film, Online 50:730:264:01 (Gen Ed: AAI)
Professor Ed 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.
Independent Studies in Philosophy, 50:730:389:01 or 02
An individual reading and research project under the guidance of a faculty member in an area of interest to the department.