III—Philosophy Courses

PHIL 101 Introduction to Philosophy
(3) Fall, Spring. Systematic study of enduring human concerns about God, morality, society, the self and knowledge. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement. Approved for Distance Ed.

PHIL 102 Introduction to Ethics
(3) Fall, Spring. Discussion of ethical concepts such as good and evil and right and wrong in the context of contemporary moral issues; major ethical theories as a basis for dealing with contemporary moral concerns. Credit not given for both Phil 102 and Phil 125. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement.

PHIL 103 Introduction to Logic
(3) Fall, Spring. Basic concepts of logic; how to distinguish arguments from non-arguments, premises from conclusions. Methods for evaluating arguments and how to recognize typical mistakes in reasoning. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement.

PHIL 125 Contemporary Moral Issues
(3) Fall, Spring. Study of contemporary moral problems with a focus on what values are and how they differ from facts. Topics may include abortion, promise-keeping, mercy killing, academic dishonesty, and animal rights. Credit not given for both Phil 125 and Phil 102. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement.

PHIL 202 History of Ethics
(3) Fall or Spring. A study of the classic moral philosophers who have shaped modern thought on the subject, including Aristotle, Hume, Kant and Mill. Attention will be paid to the views of each on moral psychology.

PHIL 204 Aesthetics
(3) Fall, Spring. Meaning of "beauty" or aesthetic value in art and nature, approached problematically and applied to present-day experiences. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement.

PHIL 211 History of Ancient Philosophy
(3) Fall. Progress of Greek philosophy from its earliest origins in Greece through the Presocratics, Plato and Aristotle, concluding with main themes of Hellenistic, Roman and medieval philosophy. PHIL 211 can function as an excellent introduction to philosophy. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement.

PHIL 212 History of Modern Philosophy
(3) Spring. Focus on rationalists (Descartes and Leibniz), empiricists (Locke, Berkeley and Hume) and Kant. Attention to the emergence of skepticism and the rise of modern science as influences on modern philosophy; can function as an excellent introduction to philosophy.

PHIL 217 World Religions
(3) Fall or Spring. Fundamental tenets of major world religions-Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with the cultural back grounds of lands of their development.

PHIL 218 Philosophy of Law
(3) Fall and Spring. Philosophical foundations of legal system, essential nature of law and relation to morality; liberty, justice and legal responsibility (intention, human causality, negligence, mens rea, fault, etc) and punishment.

PHIL 219 Philosophy of Death and Dying
(3) Fall and Spring. Conceptual, metaphysical and epistemological issues related to death; existential issues related to human significance of death for individual and community; normative issues related to care of dying. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement. Approved for Distance Ed.

PHIL 220 Business Ethics
(3) Fall, Spring. Value conflicts that arise in business situations and philosophical ways of resolving them including issues involving the social responsibility of business people.

PHIL 224 Socialism, Capitalism and Democracy
(3) Fall or Spring. Theory behind modern capitalism, socialism and democracy. Topics include individualism, community, freedom, justice and democratic representation. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement.

PHIL 227 Philosophy of Punishment
(3) Fall, Spring. Basic theories of punishment and whether punishment is justified. Issues include punishment versus rehabilitation, capital punishment, the insanity defense and related issues. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement.

PHIL 230 Scientific Reasoning
(3) Fall or Spring. Study of the scientific method, which develops skills for interpreting scientific findings and evaluating theories, tests and causal and statistical claims. One component deals with decision-making procedures based on these evaluations. No prerequisites. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement.

PHIL 236 Philosophy of Film
(3) Alternate years. Aesthetic theories concerning definition of film as distinctive art form; criteria for evaluation of films. Popular, documentary, art and experimental films shown in class.

PHIL 240 Topics in Philosophy
(3) Fall, Spring. Subject matter designated in class schedule. Primarily for students with little or no background in philosophy. May be repeated.

PHIL 242 Medical Ethics
(3) Fall, Spring. Selected topics such as genetic engineering, euthanasia, honesty with the dying and human experimentation viewed from perspective of representative ethical theories. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement. Approved for Distance Ed.

PHIL 245 Philosophy of Feminism
(3) Fall or Spring. Philosophical presuppositions and specific proposals of feminists; views on sex roles, human welfare, justice and equality, rights, self-actualization, self-respect, autonomy, exploitation, oppression, freedom and liberation, reform and revolution. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement.

PHIL 300 Life, Death, Law and Morality
(3) Fall or Spring. Examination of normative philosophical concepts such as justice, responsibility, freedom, utility, rights, etc.; their justification; and the use of these concepts in argument about such issues as the value of life and the nature of death, the appropriateness of capital punishment, the relationship between the law and morality, etc. Open only to juniors and seniors with no previous courses in Philosophy, or admitted by consent of instructor. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement.

PHIL 302. Ethical Theory (3). Fall or Spring.  A survey of classical and contemporary theoretical approaches to moral philosophy.  Covers such theories as utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, ethical relativism, and the divine command theory.  Prerequisites: three hours in PHIL or consent of instructor.

PHIL 303 Symbolic Logic
(3) Alternate years. Notation and proof procedures used by modern logicians to deal with special problems beyond traditional logic; propositional calculus, truth tables, predicate calculus, nature and kinds of logical proofs. Prerequisite: 3 hours in Phil, MATH 232, or consent of instructor.

PHIL 310 Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind
(3) Fall or Spring. The nature of persons, the relation of mind and body, free will, language and thought, thought and action, the nature of mental phenomena and the problem of other minds (humans, animals and machines).

PHIL 311 History of Medieval Philosophy
(3) On demand. Major philosophical positions of Middle Ages; St. Augustine through Renaissance philosophers. Prerequisite: 3 hours in Phil or consent of instructor.

PHIL 312 Social and Political Philosophy
(3) Fall or Spring. Some of the classics of political thought, including works by Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Smith and Marx. Topics include liberty and authority, justice and equality. Prerequisite: 3 hours in Phil or consent of instructor.

PHIL 316 Philosophy of Psychology
(3) On demand. Study of philosophical underpinnings and implications of major movements in psychology, including the discovery of the unconscious, behaviorism, cognitive science, artificial intelligence and sociobiology. Prerequisite: 3 hours in Phil or consent of instructor.

PHIL 317 Philosophy of Religion
(3) Fall or Spring. Nature of religion; gods and/or God; faith, revelation and religious belief; evil and righteousness; meaning of life. Readings from variety of sources, largely contemporary. Prerequisite: 3 hours in Phil or consent of instructor.

PHIL 321 Indian and Chinese Philosophy
(3) On demand. Some non-Western philosophical traditions. Possible topics include Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Vedanta; epistemology, formal inference, causality, metaphysics, mind-body relationships. Prerequisite: 3 hours in Phil or consent of instructor. Applicable to the humanities and arts and international perspective general education requirements.

PHIL 330 Theory of Knowledge
(3) Alternate years. Theories of knowledge, truth, belief and evidence. Prerequisite: 3 hours in Phil or consent of instructor.

PHIL 331 Existentialism
(3) Alternate years. Various existential themes, including the meaning of life, human freedom, the limits of reason, the meaning of death and the individual vs. society. Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Camus, Sartre, Jaspers, Buber and others comprise the reading. Prerequisite: 3 hours in Phil or consent of instructor.

PHIL 332 Environmental Ethics
(3) Fall or Spring. Critical evaluation of prevalent standards used in responding to long-standing and emerging environmental problems. Prerequisite: 3 hours in Phil or consent of instructor. Applicable to the humanities and arts general education requirement. Approved for Distance Ed.

PHIL 339 Meditation: Practice and Theory
(3) Fall or Spring. Integrate insight (mindfulness) meditation practice with theoretical reflection about a variety of meditation techniques and practices that have been developed in diverse meditation traditions. Weekend field trip required. Prerequisite: 3 hours in Phil or consent of instructor. Extra fee.

PHIL 340 Problems in Philosophy
(3) On demand. Subject matter designated in class schedule. May be repeated.
Prerequisite: 3 hours in Phil or consent of instructor.

PHIL 344 Computers and Philosophy
(3) Fall or Spring. Philosophical dimensions of the impact of computers on society with emphasis on the issues of ethics and artificial intelligence. Prerequisite: 3 hours in Phil, 3 hours in CS, or consent of instructor.

PHIL 395 Workshop on Current Topics
(1-4) Fall, Spring on demand. Intensive educational experience on selected topics. Typically, an all-day or similar concentrated time format is used. Requirements are usually completed within this expanded time format. May be repeated if topics differ and advisor approves.

PHIL 406 Philosophy of Language
(3) Alternate years. Historical and contemporary theories of meaning; their use in resolving traditional philosophical controversies and in providing foundation for contemporary analytic philosophy; various interdisciplinary connections. Prerequisite: 6 hours in Phil or consent of instructor.

PHIL 411 History of Contemporary Anglo-American Philosophy
(3) Alternate years. Major twentieth century movements in the analytic tradition, including ideal language philosophy, ordinary language philosophy and naturalized, holistic philosophy, including such philosophers as Russell, Austin, Wittgenstein, Quine, Davidson, Putnam and Rorty. Prerequisite: 6 hours in PHIL or consent of instructor.

PHIL 412 Contemporary Continental Philosophy
(3) Alternate years. Major twentieth century movements in France and Germany, beginning with the phenomenology of Husserl, proceeding through Sartre and Heidegger and including philosophical hermeneutics, critical theory, the theory of communication and genealogies of values, with attention to such philosophers as Gadamer, Ricoeur and Derrida, Adorno, Habermas and Foucault. Prerequisite: 6 hours in PHIL or consent of instructor.

PHIL 414 Metaphysics
(3) Alternate years. Survey of traditional metaphysical issues and concepts combined with in-depth treatment of some metaphysical problem(s). Prerequisite: 6 hours in PHIL or consent of instructor.

PHIL 418 Topics in the Philosophy of Law
(3) On demand. In-depth examination of such topics as the nature and analysis of law, legal reasoning, judicial decision, hard cases, responsibility, causation and fault, the mental element in crime, formal and material principles of justice and the legal enforcement of morality. Prerequisite: 6 hours in PHIL or consent of instructor. May be repeated with different topics.

PHIL 424. Topics in Social and Political Philosophy (3).  Alternate years.  An in-depth treatment of some theme(s) in social and political philosophy, including the justification of the state, the nature of citizens' obligations to the state, justifications for limiting liberties, state neutrality vs. perfectionism, the nature and justification of various social ideals, feminism and justice.

PHIL 425 Topics in Moral Philosophy
(3) Alternate years. An in-depth treatment of some theme(s) in social philosophy combined with a survey of traditional ethical theories as a background to social philosophy. Prerequisites: 6 hours in PHIL or consent of instructor.

PHIL 431 Topics in Philosophy of Science
(3) On demand. Content varies from year to year. Topics include: nature of scientific explanation, causality, contemporary empiricism, Philosophy of biology, methods, presuppositions, concepts of behavioral sciences. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: 6 hours in PHIL or consent of instructor. May be repeated with different topics.

PHIL 432 Philosophy of Social Science
(3) Alternate years. Methods, ideals and politics of social inquiry. Topics include the very idea of a social science, explanation, prediction and laws, problems of interpretation and meaning, the nature of rationality, reductionism, individualism and holism, and objectivity and values. Prerequisite: 6 hours in PHIL , PSYC, HIST, or SOC, or consent of instructor.

PHIL 433 Philosophy and Physics of Space and Time
(3) Alternate years. Physical theories of space and time from philosophical, scientific and historical points of view. Topics include Zeno's paradoxes, Greek concepts of space and time, classical Newtonian world view, general ideas of modern theory of relativity and cosmology. Course presupposes high school-level mathematics only. Cross-disciplinary; cross-listed as PHYS 433. Prerequisite: 6 hours in PHIL, MATH or PHYS or consent of instructor.

PHIL 440 Senior Seminar
(3) Fall or Spring. Intensive investigation of a single philosophical problem from a number of different perspectives. Topics vary from year to year. Open to philosophy majors with junior or senior standing, or others by permission of the instructor.

PHIL 442 Philosophy of Medicine
(3) On demand. In-depth examination of selected issues in medical epistemology, philosophy of science and the philosophy of mind, drawing on the continental philosophical tradition to examine professional and social constructs and their impact on the therapeutic relationship. Prerequisites: 6 hours in PHIL or consent of instructor. May be repeated with different topics.

PHIL 445 Topics in the Philosophy of Business and Economics
(3) On demand. In-depth examination of some issue(s) in business ethics, such as the moral limits of the market, the relative merits of capitalism and socialism, the nature and value of work, and/or the ethical aspects of corporate governance, advertising, workplace privacy, and international business.  Prerequisite: six hours in PHIL or consent of instructor.  May be repeated with different topics.

PHIL 470 Readings and Research
(1-3) Fall, Spring. Supervised independent work in selected areas. Prerequisites: 12 hours of PHIL and consent of department chair. May be repeated to 6 hours.

PHIL 480 Seminar in Philosophy
(3) On demand. In-depth examination of one specific philosopher, philosophical movement or problem. Determined by need and interest of student. Prerequisite: 6 hours in PHIL or consent of instructor. May be repeated.