This course is designed to introduce students to a variety of philosophical issues and questions, some which have been debated for thousands of years, and others which have started to interest philosophers more recently. We will read, write and talk about questions like, What is a meaningful life? How do we perceive and understand the world around us? Is there a God, and why is there evil in the world? What makes an action good or bad, just or unjust, and is it just a matter of perspective? If we live in a law-governed world, how can we be free? And how does our identity as a person with a certain race, ethnicity, or gender shape our experiences of the world?

Location

Lattimore Room 201 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

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)

Historical and contemporary readings are used to analyze philosophical issues that arise in connection with religion, such as: arguments for or against the existence of God, the nature of divine attributes, the relation of God to the world, the interaction of faith and reason, the relationship of religion to morality, the relationship of religion to science, the value of religious tolerance and the relations among different religious systems, the nature and meaning of mystical experience.

Location

Meliora Room 205 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

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

Gavett Hall Room 312 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

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)

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).

PREREQUISITE:  At least one prior course in Philosophy

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).

PREREQUISITE:  At least one prior course in Philosophy

Location

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

Difficult questions about meaning in life are of perennial concern to philosophers and many other reflective people. The course looks closely and critically at these questions and traditional and contemporary answers.

[Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy]

Location

Lattimore Room 210 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

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)

Metaphysics is roughly the philosophical study of what there is, the nature of what there is, and how all the things there are fit together.  This course will typically discuss 4-6 metaphysical questions, usually including at least a few of the following.  Is it possible for two objects to have exactly the same properties?  Are objects' properties special entities, and if so, what kind?  Is space (or spacetime) an entity?  Under what conditions to parts compose a whole?  What is the nature of possibility and necessity?  What makes it true that there used to be dinosaurs (or other entities that no longer exist)?  What is the nature of time?  Is change, including the passage of time, illusory?

[Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy]

Location

Morey Room 525 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

[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

Morey Room 525 (MW 9:00AM - 10:15AM)

[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

Morey Room 525 (MW 9:00AM - 10:15AM)

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

Meliora Room 221 (TR 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

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

Meliora Room 221 (TR 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

PREREQUISITE: One previous course in Philosophy

As social and emotional creatures, love and friendship are central to the way we structure our lives and interact with those around us, but love and friendship can be extremely difficult to define. Love seems to be some kind of attitude we have towards another person (or thing?): Is it an emotion (that "warm, fuzzy feeling")? Or a desire (the desire to be with that person, or to possess them, or to benefit them)? Friendship seems to be some kind of relationship between two people, but how and when do two people become friends, instead of acquaintances or associates? Ancient philosophers were keenly aware of both the importance of love and friendship and the complexities of these relationships, and in this course we will trace their thought on these topics from Plato through the Hellenistics. We'll examine, among other things: the power and problems of erotic love; the varieties of friendship; the role of friendship in politics; what we owe to our friends and the relationship between friendship and justice; the place of friendship in the good life; and the potential for friendship to make us better or worse.

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

PREREQUISITE: One previous course in Philosophy

As social and emotional creatures, love and friendship are central to the way we structure our lives and interact with those around us, but love and friendship can be extremely difficult to define. Love seems to be some kind of attitude we have towards another person (or thing?): Is it an emotion (that "warm, fuzzy feeling")? Or a desire (the desire to be with that person, or to possess them, or to benefit them)? Friendship seems to be some kind of relationship between two people, but how and when do two people become friends, instead of acquaintances or associates? Ancient philosophers were keenly aware of both the importance of love and friendship and the complexities of these relationships, and in this course we will trace their thought on these topics from Plato through the Hellenistics. We'll examine, among other things: the power and problems of erotic love; the varieties of friendship; the role of friendship in politics; what we owe to our friends and the relationship between friendship and justice; the place of friendship in the good life; and the potential for friendship to make us better or worse.

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

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

Rush Rhees Library Room 442 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

Consider the litany of problems we humans encounter across the globe: Environmental exploitation and degradation; dire poverty; profound and growing political-economic inequality; deep, often deadly divisions within nations along, among other dimensions, race, gender, and class; massive migration of populations, whether voluntary or not, across borders. The list goes on. It is daunting to the point of being intellectually and practically debilitating. For citizens, activists, government officials, and economic actors it is difficult to know where and how to start thinking about responses. In the face of such difficulties (and others) we urgently require responses that are both effective and justifiable. In order to identify and implement them we must not only understand how markets or individual elements of political systems work, or even how the various elements of our political and economic systems interact. We also must be able to think carefully about our obligations to our fellow human beings, and the values that we ultimately want our shared world to insatiate and be anchored by. Changing the world (let alone “saving” it!), then, requires a deeply interdisciplinary approach.  

This course will be focused on helping students to develop the skills to bring ethical, microeconomic, and game theoretic analysis to bear on fundamental problems like those we mention above. Students should leave the course with a better understanding not just of how our political-economic practices and institutions do work – but also how they could work, how they should work, and how to make them work that way. (Offered every fall; teaching alternates between philosophy and politics, but all offerings satisfy the same requirements)

Location

Goergen Hall Room 108 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Location

Hylan Building Room 201 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

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.

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