Philosophers ask questions about a vast variety of topics, including what really exists, what we can know, how we should live, how we should treat each other, whether there is a God or a life after this one, how can we have free choices, and what it means to be a human with a particular identity.  Philosophers seek answers to such questions by thinking carefully about them, using experience, reason and argumentation, and taking into account contributions of the sciences, literature, and other fields. This course will introduce students to some of the most interesting and exciting parts of philosophy.

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 Russ Schaffer-Landau's The Findamentals of Ethics, fifth edition, 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)

This course will provide you with the essential skills you need to distinguish good arguments from bad arguments, and to approach any given subject matter in a rational, systematic manner.           In order to decide what to believe and what to do, we have to reason: we have to start with some initial beliefs or assumptions, and then draw conclusions from these starting points. For instance, you might wonder whether taking this course will be useful to you. You might reason as follows: “It would certainly be useful for me to be able to tell whether someone is giving me good reason to believe something, or whether they are only trying to trick me into believing something by appealing to my emotions. PHIL 105 will help me develop these skills. So, taking PHIL 105 will be useful for me!” 

We can often make our reasoning processes explicit and express them in language, like in the case of your hypothetical reasoning above. Arguments are what we get when we make reasoning explicit. More precisely, an argument is a set of claims or statements, one of which is the conclusion, and some of which are the premises supposed to support the conclusion. Your hypothetical reasoning above was thus an argument for the claim that this course is useful for you. Was it a good one? That’s the kind of question you will learn to answer in this course. More generally, the goal of this course is to teach you how to identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments made by others, and to construct arguments of your own in order to decide what to believe and what to do about what matters to you. You will learn basic rules to follow when reasoning about any topic whatsoever, and common mistakes to avoid. You will also learn strategies to avoid being misled by falsehoods, including falsehoods that come from the media and from online sources. The skills you will learn in this course are essential to help you get at the truth, and to make good decisions in all aspects of your life. 

Location

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

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 recent readings are used to analyze issues such as: existence of God, divine attributes, the relation of God to the world, and faith and reason.

Location

Frederick Douglass Room 403 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

This course is an introduction to the ethics of human beings’ interactions with the environment and the impact of those interactions on other human beings, other species, and ecosystems. It addresses basic questions about the nature of ethics itself, alternative ethical theories and considerations, and the value of individual human beings, individuals of other species, species as such, and ecosystems.  Topics will include the interests of future generations, animal rights, the concept of nature, climate change, sustainability, and population and consumption.

Location

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

This is a course about understanding the methodologies and styles of reasoning employed in the sciences. The course will provide insight into testing of hypotheses as well as inductive and probabilistic reasoning and their applications in science and in everyday life. We will discuss case studies in the history of science as well as contemporary examples that raise the question of how we should apply reasoning to scientific questions, such as how to assess research carried out by private corporations, or how to weigh expert testimony in support of conspiracy theories.  Topics may also include the distinction between science and non-science, whether science makes progress, what the role of values are in science, and the relationship between science and religious belief. 

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)

Analysis of the nature of mathematical objects and nature and foundations of mathematical knowledge.

Location

Gavett Hall Room 312 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

PREREQUISITE:  At least one prior course in Philosophy

We do social and political philosophy to better understand how our social and political communities should be structured. This semester, our course will be broken into two parts. First, 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. In the first half of the course, we’ll grapple with this tension and how a just society might resolve it. In the second half of the course, we’ll turn to considering freedom and equality in light of the problems raised by racial injustice in our own non-ideal world. In this half of the course, we’ll investigate both obstacles to and the demands of equality in our current world, and what freedom might require in an unequal society. 

Location

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

PREREQUISITE:  At least one prior course in Philosophy

We do social and political philosophy to better understand how our social and political communities should be structured. This semester, our course will be broken into two parts. First, 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. In the first half of the course, we’ll grapple with this tension and how a just society might resolve it. In the second half of the course, we’ll turn to considering freedom and equality in light of the problems raised by racial injustice in our own non-ideal world. In this half of the course, we’ll investigate both obstacles to and the demands of equality in our current world, and what freedom might require in an unequal society.

Location

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

[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

Goergen Hall Room 108 (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

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

[Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy]

The course examines a variety of fundamental normative questions about education and some specific issues of education ethics and policy, using selections from philosophical classics, contemporary philosophy, and case studies. Topics will include the nature and aims of education, the boundaries of educational authority, educational equality and justice, intellectual virtues and vices, the nature and educational promotion of human flourishing, and some controversial educational practices.

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

[Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy]

The W versions of 200-level courses all count toward the upper-level writing requirement for the major. The course descriptions for the W versions are the same as for the standard version, the only difference being that the W version requires additional written work including a component of revision of at least one assignment.

The course examines a variety of fundamental normative questions about education and some specific issues of education ethics and policy, using selections from philosophical classics, contemporary philosophy, and case studies. Topics will include the nature and aims of education, the boundaries of educational authority, educational equality and justice, intellectual virtues and vices, the nature and educational promotion of human flourishing, and some controversial educational practices.

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

[Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy]

The course addresses major questions in epistemology using a textbook, Richard Feldman's Epistemology, and 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

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

[Prerequisite: One previous course in Philosophy]

The W versions of 200-level courses all count toward the upper-level writing requirement for the major. 

The course addresses major questions in epistemology using a textbook, Richard Feldman's Epistemology, and 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

Dewey Room 2110D (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

Morey Room 525 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

[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 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

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 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

Meliora Room 221 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Philosophy of Immanuel Kant: primarily the 'Critique of Pure Reason,' but also issues of practical and moral philosophy such as volition and free-will.

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Philosophy of Immanuel Kant: primarily the 'Critique of Pure Reason,' but also issues of practical and moral philosophy such as volition and free-will. The W versions of 200-level courses all count toward the upper-level writing requirement for the major. The course descriptions for the W versions are the same as for the standard version, the only difference being that the W version requires additional written work including a component of revision of at least one assignment.

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

PREREQUISITE: One previous course in Philosophy

The Republic brings together Plato's thought on a variety of subjects—from metaphysics and epistemology to psychology, education, and art—in a wide-ranging discussion of justice. The Republic is undoubtedly an important and influential work, but it has struck readers in diverse ways: Is it an idle utopian daydream? A pioneering work of feminism? A dangerous argument for authoritarianism? In this course, we'll carefully exam Plato's Republic to form our own impression of this foundational text (perhaps alongside other works leading up to or responding to it).

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

PREREQUISITE: One previous course in Philosophy

The Republic brings together Plato's thought on a variety of subjects—from metaphysics and epistemology to psychology, education, and art—in a wide-ranging discussion of justice. The Republic is undoubtedly an important and influential work, but it has struck readers in diverse ways: Is it an idle utopian daydream? A pioneering work of feminism? A dangerous argument for authoritarianism? In this course, we'll carefully exam Plato's Republic to form our own impression of this foundational text (perhaps alongside other works leading up to or responding to it).

The W versions of 200-level courses all count toward the upper-level writing requirement for the major. The course descriptions for the W versions are the same as for the standard version, the only difference being that the W version requires additional written work including a component of revision of at least one assignment. 

Location

Lattimore Room 531 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

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)

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.

Those wishing to pursue an Honors thesis track must first confirm with the Undergraduate Adviser that they meet the eligibility requirements, discuss how the other Honors requirements will be met, and secure the agreement of a Philosophy faculty member to serve as the thesis adviser. Then, in consultation with the thesis adviser (typically at the end of junior year), they will assemble a list of relevant texts in the area of thesis research and begin reading through the materials in the summer before senior year. In fall of senior year, they will enroll in PHIL 396, for which they will meet regularly with the adviser throughout the semester to discuss the texts and to hone the thesis topic and outline. (Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.)

https://secure1.rochester.edu/registrar/forms/independent-study-form.php

Those wishing to pursue an Honors thesis track must first confirm with the Undergraduate Adviser that they meet the eligibility requirements, discuss how the other Honors requirements will be met, and secure the agreement of a Philosophy faculty member to serve as the thesis adviser. Then, in consultation with the thesis adviser (typically at the end of junior year), they will assemble a list of relevant texts in the area of thesis research and begin reading through the materials in the summer before senior year. In fall of senior year, they will enroll in PHIL 396, for which they will meet regularly with the adviser throughout the semester to discuss the texts and to hone the thesis topic and outline. (Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.)

https://secure1.rochester.edu/registrar/forms/independent-study-form.php

After taking PHIL 396 to conduct research on the thesis topic, Honors thesis students enroll in PHIL 399 to continue the project, completing the writing of the thesis and then taking an oral examination (conducted by the thesis adviser and a second faculty reader) at least two weeks after submission of the final version of the thesis. (Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.)

https://secure1.rochester.edu/registrar/forms/independent-study-form.php