A survey of the main subfields of philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language, ethics, and philosophy of science, and philosophy of mind.  Among other things, the course considers the nature of time and change, the free will problem, the mind-body problem, and the nature of ethical language.

Location

Meliora Room 203 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

This course is an introduction to basic issues in the philosophical investigation of ethics. Topics include general theories of the nature of right and wrong and theories of the functions of ethical language. Classes are in the lecture and question format. The text is Introductory Ethics by Fred Feldman and there will readings that will be available electronically. Assignments are readings from these sources.

Location

Lattimore Room 201 (TR 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

An introduction to moral philosophy as applied to current topics. Some questions to be explored: What sorts of socioeconomic principles are morally justifiable? Does the history of racial injustice in the U.S. create a moral demand for reparations, and if so, what is the best argument for this? What is the relation, if any, between morality and religion? Do animals have moral rights? How should we understand the meaning and value of human life and death? Can abortion sometimes be justified, and if so, how? Is it okay to destroy embryos for stem cell research? Is active euthanasia ever permissible? Is capital punishment justifiable in principle? In practice? Is torture morally permissible in the fight against terrorism? How far does our moral duty to aid distant strangers extend? We will also explore related general questions: Is it always possible for a good enough end to justify bad means? Are there objective facts about right or wrong, or is morality ultimately relative to cultures or times? Are there situations in which every available action is wrong? Can we be morally assessed even for some things that are largely a matter of luck?

Location

Dewey Room 2162 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

Methods of identifying, interpreting, reconstructing, and evaluating reasoning found in speeches, essays, editorials, magazine articles, and scientific reports. Analytical methods mastered in this course do not include those of formal symbolic logic.

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 106 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

We will investigate broad models of argument and evidence from the interdisciplinary field of argumentation theory. Students will apply these models to specific academic and social contexts of their choice. Some questions we might ask are: Can argument or evidence be understood absent context? What do arguments in STEM fields have in common with those in the humanities? For instance, is there common ground in how we argue about English literature and how biologists argue about the natural world? How do audience and purpose in disciplines such as psychology, physics and philosophy shape what counts as an argument in their respective fields? Does political argument resemble academic argument? What strategies will enable experts to communicate more effectively with public audiences in fields such as public health and the environmental humanities? Students will write frequent reflections, develop several short papers, and the semester will culminate in the construction of a final project of the student’s own design (for example, a research paper, a website, a podcast…) that can focus on any aspect of academic, professional, or political argumentation.

Location

Dewey Room 4162 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

Logic is the study of valid forms of argument. This course is an introduction to symbolic logic, a modern theory of logic that involves the construction of an artificial symbolic language within which the logical forms of sentences can be expressed and the validity of arguments can be proven. Students will learn two logical systems, Sentence Logic and Predicate Logic. In addition to translating English arguments into symbolic form, and constructing interpretations to demonstrate the invalidity of arguments, students will also learn how to prove that an argument is valid using a set of rigorously defined implication rules for each logical system.

Location

Harkness Room 115 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

An examination of central concepts and issues in environmental ethics, including the nature of and responsibility for current environmental crises, the varying responsibilities of individuals, institutions, and nations, the importance of sustainability, and the ultimate principles and values at stake.

Location

Goergen Hall Room 109 (TR 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

The nature of science and its relationship to religion: Are there criteria that distinguish science from non-science? Is there such a thing as the scientific method? Has knowledge advanced steadily through the history of science? What role do values play in science? Do science and religion conflict? Is intelligent design science?

Location

Harkness Room 210 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

PHIL 167 will take up a variety of ethical issues associated with higher education--for example, questions about free speech that clashes with other values embraced by the University or debates about names of buildings and statues with problematic historical connections. (This was recently debated at Washington and Lee University, for example, and the current president there will be meeting with the class to discuss their decision). We will read essays examining the meaning and significance of concepts such as freedom, respect, equity, and other values that the University espouses and then use examples of incidents that have occurred on campuses around the country to examine the challenges that arise in universities' efforts to live up to their values. Note: although this course is 100-level it is appropriate for advanced-level students as well, and although it isn't officially listed as counting toward clusters (because it is new), the Undergraduate Adviser will approve petitions to count it as a 100-level elective toward the Ethics and Values cluster (possibly toward other clusters as well) or as satisfying the ethics requirement for the major.

Location

Lechase Room 141 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

Survey of the origins of Western philosophy, from the Presocratics through Hellenistic philosophy six centuries later. The great philosophers of the Classical period, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, are studied in detail.

Location

Wilmot Room 116 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

Often regarded as generating many of our contemporary philosophical questions and resources, the philosophy of 17th and 18th century Europe was shaped by the new science of Galileo, Descartes and Newton, geopolitical developments like the Thirty Years War and exploration and colonization of non-European places, and debates about religious and political freedom and toleration. Readings from among Montaigne, Descartes, Cavendish, Leibniz, Conway, Spinoza, Newton, Du Chatelet, Berkeley and Hume on methodology, motion, space and time, causality, perception, the mind-body problem, toleration and knowledge.

Location

Gavett Hall Room 301 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

This course will investigate the logic and metaphysics of probability and its applications to various philosophical and scientific problems. This course will not require math beyond simple algebra.

Location

Morey Room 205 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

An exploration of basic issues in social & political philosophy, including the nature and justification of government, the nature and value of rights, freedom, and democracy, justice and equality,and the morality of war and peace (not necessarily all of these).

Location

Gavett Hall Room 202 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

An exploration of basic issues in social & political philosophy, including the nature and justification of government, the nature and value of rights, freedom, and democracy, justice and equality,and the morality of war and peace (not necessarily all of these).

Location

Gavett Hall Room 202 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

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. [Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy] 

Location

Goergen Hall Room 108 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

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. [Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy] 

Location

Goergen Hall Room 108 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

Addresses these and related questions using contemporary philosophical readings: What is knowledge? Do people really know anything? What makes a belief justified or rational?

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 270 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

Addresses these and related questions using contemporary philosophical readings: What is knowledge? Do people really know anything? What makes a belief justified or rational? Fulfills upper level writing requirement for the major.

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 270 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

[Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy.  PHIL 110 is recommended] 

General nature of language and specific puzzles about language: the nature of truth and meaning, speech acts, reference, propositional attitudes, metaphor, understanding, interpretation, indeterminacy, etc.

Location

Dewey Room 2110D (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

[Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy.  PHIL 110 is recommended] 

General nature of language and specific puzzles about language: the nature of truth and meaning, speech acts, reference, propositional attitudes, metaphor, understanding, interpretation, indeterminacy, etc.

Location

Dewey Room 2110D (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

Survey of primarily metaphysical questions about science: Must the entities posited by a scientific theory exist for it to be successful? Do laws of nature govern the world or simply articulate patterns? How are lower and higher level scientific theories related to one another? Is scientific explanation primarily concerned with laws, with causes, or with something else?

Location

Morey Room 525 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Survey of primarily metaphysical questions about science: Must the entities posited by a scientific theory exist for it to be successful? Do laws of nature govern the world or simply articulate patterns? How are lower and higher level scientific theories related to one another? Is scientific explanation primarily concerned with laws, with causes, or with something else? Fulfills upper level writing requirement for the major.

Location

Morey Room 525 (MW 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.

Location

Lattimore Room 201 (MW 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

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.

Location

Lattimore Room 201 (MW 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

Foundations of Ancient Greek philosophy from Presocratic to Hellenistic periods. Covers ancient Greek ethics, metaphysics and epistemology, philosophy of mind. Special attention to Plato and Aristotle.

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

Foundations of Ancient Greek philosophy from Presocratic to Hellenistic periods. Covers ancient Greek ethics, metaphysics and epistemology, philosophy of mind. Special attention to Plato and Aristotle. Fulfills upper level writing requirement for the major.

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (R 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This will be a course about the metaphysics of mind. It focuses on the philosophical period during which the work on this topic is extremely rich and deeply influential on current philosophy of mind: the 17th and 18th centuries. We start with some versions of dualism, including Descartes and Henry More, and then move to alternatives to dualism like idealism, materialism, and panpsychism offered by philosophers like Leibniz, Margaret Cavendish, Anne Conway, Elizabeth of Bohemia, and Anton Wilhelm Amo.

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (R 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This course on ethics in Islam centers on how Muslims conceive, articulate, and enact visions of a good life as it is lived individually and collectively. Muslims in contemporary societies face many challenging decisions regarding how to live a good life individually. Should I donate a kidney? How should I properly invest money? What kinds of food should I eat? Other questions extend into the social and political domains. What is a just society? What is our relationship to nature and the environment? What is the relationship between ethics and law?
 
Beginning from an historical perspective that looks at Qur’anic ethics, Islamic legal ethics, and philosophical ethics, the course will proceed to discuss several contemporary ethical issues through anthropological case studies. These include the halal food industry, Islamic finance and banking, bioethics, gender and sexual ethics, and environmental ethics. Additional topics may include topics related to human rights, poverty and social welfare, and religious liberty. In the process, we will also discuss different types of ethical theories (deontological, utilitarian, virtue, and care). Readings for the course will include primary texts (in English), secondary scholarship on Islamic ethics, and an array of ethnographic case studies for each topic.

Location

Lechase Room 160 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

This course analyzes major social and political problems from the multi-disciplinary perspectives of politics, philosophy, and economics. Topics covered may include: Income inequality and wage gaps, environmental policy and climate change, race and incarceration, democratic structures and norms, and immigration.

Location

Morey Room 205 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Every fall, the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics ( https://www.appe-ethics.org/about-appe-intercollegiate-ethics-bowl) hosts regional competitions in applied ethics. Ethics bowl is a unique form of competition that asks participants to seek the most compelling responses to difficult problems through respectful deliberation. Teams research cases that focus on a wide range of contemporary issues such as fake news, plagiarism, call out culture, biomedical issues, social justice, and automation. The purpose of this course is to prepare students to read, develop critical questions about, and evaluate Ethics Bowl cases. Students will construct written arguments and develop the oral skills to deliver those arguments in a manner that dynamically responds to specific questions about the cases. We will cultivate collaborative argumentative practices that are generative rather than adversarial. A team of 3-5 will be selected to attend the regionals competition.

Prerequisites: Completion of the Primary Writing Requirement.

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (F 12:30PM - 3:10PM)

The reading of philosophical literature under guidance, for seniors majoring in philosophy.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

The reading of philosophical literature under guidance, for seniors majoring in philosophy.Fulfills upper level writing requirement for the major.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

In consultation with the thesis adviser, the student will assemble a list of relevant texts in the area of thesis research and read through the materials, meeting regularly with the adviser throughout the semester to discuss the texts and to hone the thesis topic and plan.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

In consultation with the thesis adviser, the student will assemble a list of relevant texts in the area of thesis research and read through the materials, meeting regularly with the adviser throughout the semester to discuss the texts and to hone the thesis topic and plan.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

In consultation with the thesis adviser, the student will assemble a list of relevant texts in the area of thesis research and read through the materials, meeting regularly with the adviser throughout the semester to discuss the texts and to hone the thesis topic and plan.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

Students with philosophy concentration or minor pursue 1:1 guided research proj. under direction of a full-time Phil Dept. faculty sponsor. With a paper written for another course, student seeks sponsor w/relevant expertise. Student will develop the paper through research, analysis, and refinement of thesis and argument, to present to Phil. Council or Department. Submission for publication in an undergraduate philosophy journal and conference presentation is encouraged.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

In consultation with the thesis adviser, the student will assemble a list of relevant texts in the area of thesis research and read through the materials, meeting regularly with the adviser throughout the semester to discuss the texts and to hone the thesis topic and plan.

In consultation with the thesis adviser, the student will assemble a list of relevant texts in the area of thesis research and read through the materials, meeting regularly with the adviser throughout the semester to discuss the texts and to hone the thesis topic and plan.

Blank Description