Graduate Program

Fall Term Schedule

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Sortable | Group by Weekday

Fall 2025

Number	Title	Instructor	Time
PHIL 406-01 Data Ethics for Healthcare Andrew Lea T 2:00PM - 4:30PM
This course will provide an overview of the regulatory, ethical, and historical dimensions of doing datascience within the US healthcare system. The course will cover the philosophical and technicalconsiderations regarding ensuring fairness, privacy, consent and explainability in healthcare.One of the goals of the course is to train students to think critically about these considerationswhen choosing data science and machine learning techniques to apply to healthcare data.Topics may include: (1) the regulatory environment around clinical data capture and researchwith human subject data (2) privacy and consent to collection, (2) bias in algorithms (i.e., howcan bias occur? how should we measure unfairness in algorithms that determine the distributionof healthcare/health?), (3) “explainability” in the context of healthcare, and (4) valuesdisagreement and algorithmic medicine (e.g., how should diagnostic or prognostic algorithms bedeployed, given that we disagree about the costs and benefits of algorithmic medicine?). Eachweek will consist of detailed discussion of a philosophical work, alongside a relevant technicalcase study of algorithmic medicine. Location (T 2:00PM - 4:30PM)
PHIL 408-01 Philosophical Foundations of Bioethics Bryanna Moore M 5:00PM - 7:30PM
This course addresses a range of philosophical and ethical questions arising in the context of human health. The first part of the course orients students to core methods in philosophical bioethics, including the practice of philosophical reasoning, and explores the differences between philosophical inquiry and other methods in the health humanities and bioethics. The second part of the course discusses the philosophical questions relevant to clinical practice. We will discuss questions such as: What is “health”? What is “disability”? What is the distinction between killing and letting die? The third part of the course introduces the foundational ethical principles of clinical bioethics—autonomy, beneficence and justice—and explores their philosophical underpinnings. It will discuss questions like: When ought we respect a patient’s refusal of life-saving treatment? What values and principles should guide us when we make decisions for others? The final part of the course addresses the ethics of healthcare organizations and systems, with a focus on theories of justice. We will discuss questions such as: What is it to be disabled? Do we have a right to health? Who should pay for our healthcare? Does the quality of a person’s life matter when allocating scarce resources? Through the sustained study of philosophical texts and methods, this course will examine fundamental philosophical concepts and ethical principles that guide the practice of clinical bioethics. Students will complete readings and writing assignments in order to prepare for classroom discussion that practice the development and critique of philosophical arguments in the context of bioethics. Location (M 5:00PM - 7:30PM)
PHIL 412-01 Probability, Inference and Decision Rush Stewart MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM
This course aims to give students familiarity with some of the basic mathematical concepts and tools used in decision theory as well as an appreciation of some of the main philosophical issues at stake. We will cover theories of rational decision making both for individual agents and for groups. Location (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)
PHIL 418-01 Philosophy of Mathematics Mark Povich MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM
A study of the nature of mathematics from a philosophical point of view. Location (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)
PHIL 423-01 Social & Political Philosophy Rosa Terlazzo MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM
An inquiry into the nature of human society, the role of the state, and relation of moral to legal obligations. Location (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)
PHIL 428-1 Public Health Ethics Richard Dees TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM
[Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy] Most health care ethics focuses on the individual decisions about health care, but many ethical questions have implications for society at large. The demands that individual health decisions make on the system may create collective problems, and conversely, the needs of society may limit the freedoms that individuals think they should have. Public health ethics then, lie at the intersection of medicine, political philosophy, and public policy. This course will examine the values of health, social needs, and freedom through a systematic examination of situations in which these conflicts arise. Location (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)
PHIL 430-01 Environmental Justice Randall Curren TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM
Environmental justice and sustainability, both domestic and global, bringing philosophical and systems analysis to bear on environmental degradation, transparency and governance, climate change, the ethics of consumption and development, responsibility to future generations. Location (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)
PHIL 441-01 Aesthetics Robert Doran TR 4:50PM - 6:05PM
Studies the history of “aesthetic” thought—namely the philosophical reflection on the concepts of beauty, taste, and sublimity, on our affective response to art and nature, and on the role of art and the artist in society—from Plato to Nietzsche, with particular emphasis on how aesthetics relates to questions of epistemology, anthropology, ethics, ontology, and politics. The concepts of mimesis and the sublime will be given special attention. Authors studied include Plato, Aristotle, Horace, Longinus, Boileau, Batteux, Burke, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Nietzsche. Conducted in English. Location (TR 4:50PM - 6:05PM)
PHIL 442-01 Metaphysics Yanssel Garcia TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM
[Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy] No prior courses in science required. Investigates topics in contemporary metaphysics, including questions about the existence and persistence conditions of abstract and material objects; the nature of space and time; the possibility of time travel; the status of quantum mechanics. Location (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)
PHIL 443-1 Theory of Knowledge Earl Conee TR 4:50PM - 6:05PM
The course addresses major questions in epistemology, using recent philosophical readings. The questions include: What is knowledge? Do context or practical concerns affect what we know? Do we really know anything about the world around us? What makes a belief justified? When is disagreement rational? Location (TR 4:50PM - 6:05PM)
PHIL 447-1 Philosophy of Language Jens Kipper TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM
The goal of the course is to examine a number of central philosophical problems about language (including the nature of linguistic meaning and its relation to truth, reference, communication, and necessity), while exploring the connections between these problems and issues in and about philosophy more generally. Location (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)
PHIL 457-1 Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence Jens Kipper TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM
Many people believe that very soon, artificial intelligence is going to be everywhere. Artificial systems will steer cars, ships, and planes, care for the sick, fight fires and fight wars for us, organize our schedules, order our food, etc. But what exactly is an artificial intelligence? And can there be artificial systems that truly think, or feel? In this course, we will address questions like these from a philosophical perspective. In doing so, we will encounter some of the most fundamental issues in the philosophy of mind‹for example, what are thoughts and feelings, and how might they relate to physical states of our brains, or to computational states? We will then examine how artificial systems, such as artificial neural networks, function, and discuss what they might teach us about the mind in general and about human minds in particular. Finally, we will consider the consequences that the development and application of artificial intelligence might have for humanity. PREREQUISITE: At least one prior course in Philosophy Location (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)
PHIL 465-03 Select Topics in Ancient Philosophy Randall Curren T 2:00PM - 4:40PM
The course addresses central topics in ethics, metaphysics and epistemology and philosophy of mind in PreSocratic, Platonic, Aristotelian and Hellenistic philosophy. Location (T 2:00PM - 4:40PM)
PHIL 491-1 Master’s Readings Mark Povich 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for master's students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 491-2 Master’s Readings Zeynep Soysal 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for master's students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 517-2 Select Topics in Ethics William FitzPatrick R 2:00PM - 4:40PM
Critical exploration of work in contemporary metaethics and normative ethical theory and its applications. Location (R 2:00PM - 4:40PM)
PHIL 523-02 Selected Topics in Social and Political Philosophy Rosa Terlazzo M 2:00PM - 4:40PM
Social and political philosophy helps us better understand how our social and political communities should be structured. In this course, we’ll use both classic and contemporary works of political philosophy to explore how we might best balance two aims of political community: freedom and equality. While both of these aims are central to a just society, they also seem to be in deep tension with one another. Location (M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)
PHIL 542-01 Metaphysics Alison Peterman W 2:00PM - 4:40PM
An intensive discussion of the nature of time and change, with the particular aim of reconciling eternalist endurantism with a certain realist view of properties. Location (W 2:00PM - 4:40PM)
PHIL 560-04 Philosophical Writing William FitzPatrick 7:00PM - 7:00PM
Study of recent articles; writing short commentaries, replies, criticisms. Covers various topics under guidance of several faculty members. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 560-1 Philosophical Writing Randall Curren 7:00PM - 7:00PM
Study of recent articles; writing short commentaries, replies, criticisms. Covers various topics under guidance of several faculty members. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 560-2 Philosophical Writing Paul Audi 7:00PM - 7:00PM
Study of recent articles; writing short commentaries, replies, criticisms. Covers various topics under guidance of several faculty members. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 560-3 Philosophical Writing Earl Conee 7:00PM - 7:00PM
Study of recent articles; writing short commentaries, replies, criticisms. Covers various topics under guidance of several faculty members. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 581-1 Supervise Instruct: Lec to Undg Randall Curren 7:00PM - 7:00PM
Continuation of PHIL 580, with practice lecturing to the undergraduate classes. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 581-2 Supervise Instruct: Lec to Undg Jens Kipper 7:00PM - 7:00PM
Continuation of PHIL 580, with practice lecturing to the undergraduate classes. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 581-3 Supervise Instruct: Lec to Undg Zeynep Soysal 7:00PM - 7:00PM
Continuation of PHIL 580, with practice lecturing to the undergraduate classes. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 581-4 Supervise Instruct: Lec to Undg William FitzPatrick 7:00PM - 7:00PM
Continuation of PHIL 580, with practice lecturing to the undergraduate classes. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 591-1 PhD Readings Paul Audi 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 591-11 PhD Readings Jens Kipper 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 591-12 PhD Readings Mark Povich 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 591-2 PhD Readings Earl Conee 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 591-3 PhD Readings Randall Curren 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 591-4 PhD Readings Richard Dees 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 591-5 PhD Readings William FitzPatrick 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 591-6 PhD Readings Alison Peterman 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 591-7 PhD Readings Zeynep Soysal 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 591-8 PhD Readings Rosa Terlazzo 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 591-9 PhD Readings Richard Feldman 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 595-09 PhD Research Jens Kipper 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 595-1 PhD Research Paul Audi 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 595-2 PhD Research Earl Conee 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 595-3 PhD Research Randall Curren 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 595-4 PhD Research Richard Feldman 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 595-5 PhD Research William FitzPatrick 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 595-6 PhD Research Alison Peterman 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 595-7 PhD Research Zeynep Soysal 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 595-8 PhD Research Rosa Terlazzo 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 895-1 Continuation of Master’s Enrollment Jens Kipper 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is designed for master's degree students who have completed all required coursework but still need to finalize specific degree requirements under less than half-time enrollment. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 897-1 Masters Dissertation Jens Kipper 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course provides master's students who are currently completing their final required coursework, or with special circumstances like an approved reduced courseload, with the opportunity to work full-time on their degrees. Students will make significant progress toward completing their degrees. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 986V-1 Full Time Visiting Student Richard Feldman 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course affords graduate students visiting the University of Rochester full-time student status. Visiting students will engage in research, discussion, and/or professional training in partnership with an academic department or faculty member. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 995-1 Continuation of Doctoral Enrollment Randall Curren 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course is designed for PhD students who have completed all required coursework but still need to finalize specific degree requirements under less than half-time enrollment. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)
PHIL 999-1 Doctoral Dissertation Randall Curren 7:00PM - 7:00PM
This course provides PhD students who have completed or are currently completing 90 credits of coursework and have fulfilled all degree requirements (except for the dissertation) with the opportunity to work full-time on their dissertation. Students will make significant progress toward completing their degrees. Location ( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

Number	Title	Instructor	Time
Monday
PHIL 523-02 Selected Topics in Social and Political Philosophy Rosa Terlazzo
Social and political philosophy helps us better understand how our social and political communities should be structured. In this course, we’ll use both classic and contemporary works of political philosophy to explore how we might best balance two aims of political community: freedom and equality. While both of these aims are central to a just society, they also seem to be in deep tension with one another.
PHIL 408-01 Philosophical Foundations of Bioethics Bryanna Moore
This course addresses a range of philosophical and ethical questions arising in the context of human health. The first part of the course orients students to core methods in philosophical bioethics, including the practice of philosophical reasoning, and explores the differences between philosophical inquiry and other methods in the health humanities and bioethics. The second part of the course discusses the philosophical questions relevant to clinical practice. We will discuss questions such as: What is “health”? What is “disability”? What is the distinction between killing and letting die? The third part of the course introduces the foundational ethical principles of clinical bioethics—autonomy, beneficence and justice—and explores their philosophical underpinnings. It will discuss questions like: When ought we respect a patient’s refusal of life-saving treatment? What values and principles should guide us when we make decisions for others? The final part of the course addresses the ethics of healthcare organizations and systems, with a focus on theories of justice. We will discuss questions such as: What is it to be disabled? Do we have a right to health? Who should pay for our healthcare? Does the quality of a person’s life matter when allocating scarce resources? Through the sustained study of philosophical texts and methods, this course will examine fundamental philosophical concepts and ethical principles that guide the practice of clinical bioethics. Students will complete readings and writing assignments in order to prepare for classroom discussion that practice the development and critique of philosophical arguments in the context of bioethics.
Monday and Wednesday
PHIL 418-01 Philosophy of Mathematics Mark Povich
A study of the nature of mathematics from a philosophical point of view.
PHIL 423-01 Social & Political Philosophy Rosa Terlazzo
An inquiry into the nature of human society, the role of the state, and relation of moral to legal obligations.
PHIL 412-01 Probability, Inference and Decision Rush Stewart
This course aims to give students familiarity with some of the basic mathematical concepts and tools used in decision theory as well as an appreciation of some of the main philosophical issues at stake. We will cover theories of rational decision making both for individual agents and for groups.
Tuesday
PHIL 406-01 Data Ethics for Healthcare Andrew Lea
This course will provide an overview of the regulatory, ethical, and historical dimensions of doing datascience within the US healthcare system. The course will cover the philosophical and technicalconsiderations regarding ensuring fairness, privacy, consent and explainability in healthcare.One of the goals of the course is to train students to think critically about these considerationswhen choosing data science and machine learning techniques to apply to healthcare data.Topics may include: (1) the regulatory environment around clinical data capture and researchwith human subject data (2) privacy and consent to collection, (2) bias in algorithms (i.e., howcan bias occur? how should we measure unfairness in algorithms that determine the distributionof healthcare/health?), (3) “explainability” in the context of healthcare, and (4) valuesdisagreement and algorithmic medicine (e.g., how should diagnostic or prognostic algorithms bedeployed, given that we disagree about the costs and benefits of algorithmic medicine?). Eachweek will consist of detailed discussion of a philosophical work, alongside a relevant technicalcase study of algorithmic medicine.
PHIL 465-03 Select Topics in Ancient Philosophy Randall Curren
The course addresses central topics in ethics, metaphysics and epistemology and philosophy of mind in PreSocratic, Platonic, Aristotelian and Hellenistic philosophy.
Tuesday and Thursday
PHIL 428-1 Public Health Ethics Richard Dees
[Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy] Most health care ethics focuses on the individual decisions about health care, but many ethical questions have implications for society at large. The demands that individual health decisions make on the system may create collective problems, and conversely, the needs of society may limit the freedoms that individuals think they should have. Public health ethics then, lie at the intersection of medicine, political philosophy, and public policy. This course will examine the values of health, social needs, and freedom through a systematic examination of situations in which these conflicts arise.
PHIL 430-01 Environmental Justice Randall Curren
Environmental justice and sustainability, both domestic and global, bringing philosophical and systems analysis to bear on environmental degradation, transparency and governance, climate change, the ethics of consumption and development, responsibility to future generations.
PHIL 447-1 Philosophy of Language Jens Kipper
The goal of the course is to examine a number of central philosophical problems about language (including the nature of linguistic meaning and its relation to truth, reference, communication, and necessity), while exploring the connections between these problems and issues in and about philosophy more generally.
PHIL 442-01 Metaphysics Yanssel Garcia
[Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy] No prior courses in science required. Investigates topics in contemporary metaphysics, including questions about the existence and persistence conditions of abstract and material objects; the nature of space and time; the possibility of time travel; the status of quantum mechanics.
PHIL 457-1 Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence Jens Kipper
Many people believe that very soon, artificial intelligence is going to be everywhere. Artificial systems will steer cars, ships, and planes, care for the sick, fight fires and fight wars for us, organize our schedules, order our food, etc. But what exactly is an artificial intelligence? And can there be artificial systems that truly think, or feel? In this course, we will address questions like these from a philosophical perspective. In doing so, we will encounter some of the most fundamental issues in the philosophy of mind‹for example, what are thoughts and feelings, and how might they relate to physical states of our brains, or to computational states? We will then examine how artificial systems, such as artificial neural networks, function, and discuss what they might teach us about the mind in general and about human minds in particular. Finally, we will consider the consequences that the development and application of artificial intelligence might have for humanity. PREREQUISITE: At least one prior course in Philosophy
PHIL 441-01 Aesthetics Robert Doran
Studies the history of “aesthetic” thought—namely the philosophical reflection on the concepts of beauty, taste, and sublimity, on our affective response to art and nature, and on the role of art and the artist in society—from Plato to Nietzsche, with particular emphasis on how aesthetics relates to questions of epistemology, anthropology, ethics, ontology, and politics. The concepts of mimesis and the sublime will be given special attention. Authors studied include Plato, Aristotle, Horace, Longinus, Boileau, Batteux, Burke, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Nietzsche. Conducted in English.
PHIL 443-1 Theory of Knowledge Earl Conee
The course addresses major questions in epistemology, using recent philosophical readings. The questions include: What is knowledge? Do context or practical concerns affect what we know? Do we really know anything about the world around us? What makes a belief justified? When is disagreement rational?
Wednesday
PHIL 542-01 Metaphysics Alison Peterman
An intensive discussion of the nature of time and change, with the particular aim of reconciling eternalist endurantism with a certain realist view of properties.
Thursday
PHIL 517-2 Select Topics in Ethics William FitzPatrick
Critical exploration of work in contemporary metaethics and normative ethical theory and its applications.