Introduction to Reason & Persuasion
50:730:101:91, Hybrid, Tues 11:10 – 12:30 pm (Gen Ed: LQR)
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.
Introduction to Philosophy
50:730:111:01, In Person, Tues/Thurs 2:00 pm – 3:20 pm (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Rooney
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, Tues/Thurs 9:45 am – 10:55 am (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Denehy
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, Mon 2:00 pm – 4:20 pm
Professor 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).
Introduction to Logic
50:730:201:01, In Person, Mon/Wed 12:30 pm – 1:50 pm (Gen Ed: LQR)
Professor Agule
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 I
50:730:211:01, In Person, MW 9:35-10:55 (Gen Ed: HAC)
Professor 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.
American Philosophy
50:730:218:01, In Person, Tues/Thurs 3:35 pm – 4:55 pm (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor 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, Tues/Thurs 11:10 am – 12:30 pm (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor 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.
Philosophy of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
50:730:227, In Person, TTh 2:00-3:20 (Gen Ed: EAV and DIV)
Professor Betz
Critical examination within social philosophy of sex, gender, and sexuality. Topics include ways we understand sexual attraction and desire, the relationship between biological sex and gender roles, ideas of femininity and masculinity as they are reinforced through cultural and social norms, the regulation of sexuality and marriage, the publicity of sex and sexuality, and the relationship and tension between multiculturalism and feminism. Class includes applications of concepts to contemporary debates concerning parenting, pornography, sex education, same sex marriage, harassment law, and sexual reassignment.
Philosophy of Death
50:730:232:01, In Person, MW 12:30-1:50 pm (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Betz
As part of our mortal existence, humanity experiences death as a necessary component of life. In response, the history of Western Philosophy has reflected on death as a philosophical concept in multiple ways. This course examines various philosophies of death and its meaning to human existence. Topics include both classical and contemporary arguments on immortality; against suicide; about the harm of death; on anti-natalism; on grief; on social death; on nature and death; on gender and death; and on race and death.
Biomedical Ethics (Gen Ed: EAV)
50:730:249:90 Online – Professor Young
50:730:249:92 Online – Professor Gentzel
50:730:249:94 Online – Professor Gentzel
50:730:249:96 Online – Professor Gentzel
50:730:249:98 Online – Professor 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.
Philosophical Ideas in Film
50:730:264:90, Online (Gen Ed: AAI)
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.
Political Philosophy
50:730:342, Hybrid, W 3:45-5:05 pm (Gen Ed: EAV)
Professor Sacks
Critical examination of the philosophical problems involved in theories of the state and its relationship to citizens. Topics include the nature and justification of political obligations, natural rights, justice, anarchism, and the development of political ideals of communism, socialism, liberalism, and democracy.
Social Philosophy
50:730:343, TTh 11:10-12:30 pm (Gen Ed: EAV and DIV)
Professor Betz
Critical examination of the philosophical problems involved in theories of the society and relationships between individuals. Topics include ways gender and/or racial consideration enter into the social standing of the individual, political and economic consequences of one’s social class, and the use of liberalism, critical social theory, and post-modernism to challenge existing social institutions.
Independent Study in Philosophy
50:730:389
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.