Undergraduate Courses

PHIL3000 History of Ancient Philosophy
SEC 001 VAC 1B90 TR 9:30A-10:45A
Professor Lee
SEC 002 STAD 140 TR 3:30P-4:45P
Professor Pasnau

PHIL3010 History of Modern Philosophy
SEC 001 CLUB 13 TR 3:30P-4:45P
Dr. Potter
SEC 002 EKLC E1B50 TR 12:30P-1:45P
Professor Kaufman

PHIL3030 Asian Philosophies: Indian Tradition & East Asia
SEC 001 DUAN G131 MWF 1:25P-2:15P
Dr. Bredeson

This course is designed to trace some of the most important philosophical ideas to come out of South Asia as they made their way to China, Japan, and other areas of East Asia. First, we’ll look in some historical detail at the ancient Indian philosophical tradition, from the early development of Hindu religious ideas to the early thought of the Buddha. We’ll then look at how later philosophical developments in both Hinduism and Buddhism address some of the challenges emerging from the earlier tradition. We’ll also try to come to grips with the philosophical significance of Buddhism’s spread to East Asia, which, in turn, will require us to examine the Chinese philosophical and religious context before looking in some detail at the transformation Buddhism underwent. The goal of the class is not to provide a general introduction to South and East Asian philosophy (although you should learn a great deal about that along the way), but rather to trace an important thread of thought through the course of its early development across different cultures and continents. 

PHIL3040 African Philosophy: Personhood & Morality
SEC 001 DUAN G2B21 MWF 11:15A-12:05P
Dr. Hughes

The core of this course offers an examination of descriptive as well as normative conceptions of personhood; for example, among the Akan (an ethnic group in Ghana) and the Nso (an ethnic group in Cameroon), personhood is not given in virtue of being human, but is rather something that should be earned. The course considers the extent to which African philosophy ought to be described in terms of any contingent historical or socio-political similarities between African peoples.

PHIL3050 Continental Philosophy: Imagination, Memory, & Community
SEC 001 ECCR 155 TR 3:30P-4:45P
Dr. Skene
 
PHIL3100 Ethical Theory
SEC 001 VAC 1B88 MWF 1:25P-2:15P
Dr. Hughes

This course covers the standard landscape of views in metaethics and normative ethics. We'll also devote some time to recent developments in moral psychology, as well as issues of aggregation, moral particularism (or anti-theory), practical reason, and moral worth.

PHIL3110/WGST3110 Feminist Practical Ethics
SEC 001 VAC 1B90 MWF 11:15A-12:05P
Dr. Kang

PHIL3140/ENVS3140 Environmental Ethics
SEC 001 KCEN N100 MWF 10:10A-11:00A
Dr. Youkey
SEC 002 DUAN G2B60 MWF 11:15A-12:05P
SEC 003 DUAN G2B21 MWF 9:05A-9:55A
Dr. Melnitzer
SEC 004 OL
Dr. Wilson

PHIL3160 Bioethics
SEC 001 HALE 240 MWF 9:05A-9:55A
SEC 002 ECON 13 MWF 10:10A-11:00A
Dr. Burkhardt
SEC 003 OL
Dr. Linsenbard

PHIL3170 Philosophy & Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
SEC 001 HALE 260 MW 3:35P-4:50P
Dr. Immerman

PHIL3190 War & Morality
SEC 001 CLUB 13 MWF 1:25P-2:15P
Dr. Youkey

PHIL3200/CWCV4000 Social & Political Philosophy: Three Political Ideologies
SEC 001 ECCR 151 TR 3:30P-4:45P
Dr. Warmke

There are three main political ideologies: liberalism, socialism, and conservatism. But what exactly do these ideologies claim? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each? And how should we choose between them? In this course we will try to answer these questions. Course requirements: daily reading and three in-class exams.

PHIL3200 HONORS Social & Political Philosophy
SEC 880 GOLD A350 MW 3:35P-4:50P
Professor Huemer

PHIL 3260 Philosophy & the International Order
SEC 001 VAC 1B90 MWF 10:10A-11:00A
Dr. Kang
SEC 002 OL
Dr. Lomelino

This course is devoted to philosophically analyzing human rights as they apply to international issues. After learning the fundamentals of human rights and general concerns that arise when attempting to apply these in a global context, students will philosophically analyze human rights and the corresponding obligations that arise in the international issues of global poverty and the use of torture as a tool for ensuring national security.

PHIL3410 History of Science: Ancients to Newton
SEC 001 OL
Dr. Wilson

PHIL3430 History of Science: Newton to Einstein
SEC 001 CLUB 4 MWF 12:20P-1:10P
Dr. Youkey
SEC 002 OL
Dr. Wilson

PHIL3480 Critical Thinking/Writing in Philosophy
SEC 001 CASE E220 TR 5:00P-6:15P
SEC 002 HALE 215 TR 12:30P-1:45P
Dr. Potter

PHIL3600 Philosophy of Religion
SEC 001 HUMN 190 MWF 9:05A-9:55A
Dr. Stolte

PHIL4010 Single Philosopher: Aristotle
SEC 001 MUEN E417 TR 12:30P-1:45P
Professor Lee

This course is an upper- division seminar on Aristotle intended for advanced philosophy undergraduates. We will begin with Aristotle’s ethics and politics, and then turn to the methodological and metaphysical underpinnings of his ethical theory, including his method of argument and epistemology, his metaphysics, theology, philosophy of science, and psychology. Prerequisites: 12 hours of philosophy (4 courses), or instructor’s consent. One of those courses should have been Phil 3000 History of Ancient Greek Philosophy or the equivalent. This is not intended as an introduction to philosophy, or as an introduction to ancient philosophy.

PHIL4020/5020 Topics in the History of Philosophy: Hellenistic Philosophy, Advanced Topics Epicureanism and Stoicism
SEC 001 CLUB 13 TR 2:00P-3:15P
Professor Bailey

The Epicureans and the Stoics were both materialists, determined to do philosophy without the abstracta and repellent mathematosis of Plato (especially) and Aristotle (derivatively). But they were both admirably consistent Schools, and their pursuit of global materialism brought them into unexpected territory in Metaphysics, Epistemology and Morality. This course follows that development. We begin with Epicuren Atomism and its attempts to avoid determinism, analyze The Master Argument of Diodorus Cronus and its deterministic consequences (accepted to some degree by the Stoics) and then pursue the Stoic theories of time, place, and eternal recurrence. The Stoicism covered in the course is the Athenian Stoa which, as a School making major contributions to philosophy, ended with the death of Chrysippus in 206 BCE.   

PHIL4020 Topics in the History of Philosophy: The American Founders
SEC 002 HALE 240 MWF 11:15A-12:05P
Dr. Bredeson

In this class, we will consider the contributions made by Americans during the founding era (for our purposes, roughly 1770-1800) to political philosophy through its application in a revolutionary context. Topics to be discussed will include the concept of a people, the nature of republics, natural law and natural rights, the nature of a constitution, the role of equality in a republic, the point of representation, the role of religion in a republic, slavery and its legacy, pluralism and federalism, and the transition from a revolutionary society to an established one. Attention will also be given to the context provided by the French Enlightenment, especially Montesquieu. Readings will include contributions to the discourse of the time from A. Adams, J. Adams, Ames, Banneker, Bulkley, Coles, Diderot, Hamilton, Haynes, Henry, Hopkins, Jaucourt, Jay, Jefferson, Livingston, Long, Madison, Mason, Montesquieu, Paine, Parsons, Pitt, Rush, Smith, Turner, Washington, Webster, A. Williams, J. Williams, and many others.

PHIL4120/5120 Philosophy & Animals
SEC 001 DUAN G2B21 TR 11:00A-12:15P
Professor Norcross

PHIL4260 Philosophy of Law
SEC 001 MUEN E113 MW 5:05P-6:20P
Professor Talbot

PHIL4340 Epistemology
SEC 001 DUAN G2B60 MW 3:35P-4:50P
Professor Talbot

PHIL4370 Free Will & Determinism
SEC 001 VAC 1B90 TR 5:00P-6:15P
Professor Steup

PHIL4/5450/PHYS4/5450 History & Philosophy of Physics
SEC 001 TBA TR 12:30P-1:45P
Professor Ritzwoller

PHIL4470 Probability & Rational Choice
SEC 001 ENVD 122 MW 3:35P-4:50P
Dr. Shear

PHIL 3000 History of Ancient Philosophy
Professor Bailey
SEC 001 VAC 1B90 TR 2:00P-3:15P
Dr. Stolte
SEC 002 VAC 1B88 MWF 12:20P-1:10P

PHIL 3010 History of Modern Philosophy
Dr. Potter
SEC 001 VAC 1B90 MWF 12:20P-1:10P
Dr. Bredeson
SEC 002 MAIN 150 MWF 1:25P-2:15P

PHIL 3100 Ethical Theory
Dr. Bevan
SEC 001 MAIN 150 MWF 10:10A-11:00A

PHIL 3140 / ENVS 3140 Environmental Ethics
Dr. Melnitzer
SEC 001 DUAN G131 MWF 9:05A-9:55A
SEC 002 CLUB 4 MWF 10:10A-11:00A
Dr. Stolte
SEC 003 CLUB 13 MWF 11:15A-12:05P
Dr. Youkey
SEC 005 HR T 11:00A-12:15P

PHIL 3160 Bioethics
Dr. Burkhardt
SEC 001 MUEN E123 MWF 11:15A-12:05P
Dr. Kopeikin
SEC 002 Online
SEC 003 Online
TBA
SEC 004 Online 8-week Session (Oct-Dec)

PHIL 3190 War & Morality
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 HR T 9:30A-10:45A

PHIL 3200 Social & Political Philosophy
Professor Huemer
SEC 001 DUAN G131 MW 3:35P-4:50P

PHIL 3260 Philosophy & the International Order
Dr. Sumler
SEC 001 MUEN E431 MWF 10:10A-11:00A
Dr. Lomelino
SEC 002 Online

PHIL 3410 History of Science: Ancients to Newton
Dr. Wilson
SEC 001 HR T 2:00P-3:15P WILSON
Dr. Youkey
SEC 002 Online

PHIL 3430 History of Science: Newton to Einstein
Dr. Wilson
SEC 001 Online

PHIL 3480 Critical Thinking/Writing in Philosophy
Dr. Kopeikin
SEC 001 MKNA 204 TR 12:30P-1:45P
SEC 002 INFO 158 TR 2:00P-3:15P

PHIL 3600 Philosophy of Religion
Professor Kaufman
SEC 001 HUMN 125 TR 12:30P-1:45P KAUFMAN

PHIL 4010 Single Philosopher: Aquinas
Professor Pasnau
SEC 001 VAC 1B90 MWF 1:25P-2:15P

Thomas Aquinas is the greatest figure in Western Philosophy between antiquity and modernity, and his strategies for reconciling Greek thought with Christianity set the foundation for the Renaissance the subsequent rise of modern philosophy and science. In this class we will take a broad look at Aquinas’s philosophical thought, starting with his fundamental metaphysics, then working through his conception of God, his understanding of human nature, and his approach to ethics.

PHIL 4070 Existentialist Philosophy
Dr. Linsenbard
SEC 001 39 R TR 9:30A-10:45A

PHIL 4260 Philosophy of Law
Professor Talbot
SEC 001 MUEN E431 TR 3:30P-4:45P

PHIL 4340 Epistemology
Professor Steup
SEC 001 CLUB 13 TR 2:00P-3:15P

PHIL 4360/5360 Metaphysics
Dr. Bevan
SEC 001 CARL 202 TR 11:00A-12:15

An introduction to analytic metaphysics for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Metaphysics is the part of philosophy that studies reality in general. Metaphysicians ask questions about the nature of such general features of the world as existence, necessity, and identity. Analytic metaphysics is metaphysics as practiced in analytic philosophy. We will be engaging with some of the central debates in this tradition and reading some of its most influential practitioners. By doing so students will learn about the landscape of contemporary metaphysics. They will also learn about some debates in philosophical methodology and meta-philosophy, and they will gain some familiarity with the formal methods that metaphysicians use to clarify and model their theories.

PHIL 4480/5480 Formal Methods in Philosophy
Professor Staffel
SEC 001 LIBR N424A TR 3:30P-4:45P

This class is intended to be an introduction to some central topics in formal epistemology. Formal epistemology is a relatively recent branch of epistemology, which uses formal tools such as logic and probability theory in order to answer questions about the nature of rational belief. An important feature that distinguishes formal epistemology from traditional epistemology is not just its use of formal tools, but also its understanding of the nature of belief. Traditional epistemology tends to focus almost exclusively on what is called ‘outright belief’, where the options considered are just belief, disbelief, or suspension of judgment. By contrast, it is widely accepted among formal epistemologists that this conception of belief is too coarse-grained to capture the rich nature of our doxastic attitudes. They posit that humans also have degrees of belief, or credences, which can take any value between full certainty that something is true, and certainty that it is false. To see why this makes sense, consider the fact that we can have outright beliefs in various propositions, but still have varying degrees of certainty in them. For example, I believe that 2+2=4, and that Freddy Mercury was born in Zanzibar, but I am much more certain of the former than the latter. This can be captured elegantly in a framework that allows for both outright and graded belief.

The shift in focus towards degrees of belief has generated a rich research program, parts of which integrate with issues in traditional epistemology, and parts of which are specific to the debate about degrees of belief. Important questions in the field are for example: How are degrees of belief related to outright beliefs? What constraints are there on rational degrees of belief, and how can they be defended? How can we adequately represent degrees of belief in a formal framework? How do ideal epistemological norms bear on what non-ideal agents like us ought to believe? The results of these debates are relevant for many areas of philosophy besides epistemology, such as philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, ethics, and practical reasoning.

PHIL 3000 History of Ancient Philosophy
Professor Bailey
SEC 001 HLMS 245 TR 3:30P-4:45P
Dr. Stolte
SEC 002 KTCH 1B87 TR 9:30A-10:45A

PHIL 3010 History of Modern Philosophy
Dr. Potter
SEC 001 VAC 1B88 TR 3:30P-4:45P
Professor Kaufman
SEC 002 VAC 1B90 TR 2:00P-3:15P

PHIL 3040 African Philosophy: Personhood & Morality
Professor Wingo
SEC 001 DUAN G131 MW 3:35P-4:50P

PHIL 3050 Continental Philosophy: Power, Knowledge, & the Self
Dr. Levin
SEC 001 HLMS 177 TR 3:30P-4:45P

PHIL 3100 Ethical Theory
Dr. Chapman
SEC 001 VAC 1B90 MWF 10:10A-11:00A

PHIL 3140 / ENVS 3140 Environmental Ethics
Dr. Wilson
SEC 001 HLMS 211 MW 3:35P-4:50P
Dr. Youkey
SEC 002 DUAN G2B47 MWF 11:15A-12:05P
Dr. Melnitzer
SEC 003 HLMS 267 MWF 12:20P-1:10P
SEC 005 HLMS 237 MWF 2:30P-3:20P
Dr. Tate
SEC 004 MW 3:35P-4:25P TATE

PHIL 3160 Bioethics
Dr. Kopekin
SEC 001 STAD 112 MW 3:35P-4:50P
SEC 002 HLMS 141 MW 5:05P-6:20P
SEC 003 Online
SEC 004 Online

PHIL 3190 War & Morality
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 MUEN E417 MW 3:35P-4:50P

PHIL 3200 Social & Political Philosophy
Professor Huemer
SEC 001 DUAN G2B47 MW 3:35P-4:50P

PHIL 3260 Philosophy & the International Order
Dr. Kang
SEC 001 KTCH 1B87 MWF 11:15A-12:05P

PHIL 3260 Philosophy & the International Order
Dr. Lomelino
SEC 002 Online

PHIL 3410 History of Science: Ancients to Newton
Dr. Wilson
SEC 001 HLMS 241 MWF 1:25P-2:15P

PHIL 3430 History of Science: Newton to Einstein
Dr. Zerella
SEC 001 GUGG 2 MWF 12:20P-1:10P

PHIL 3430 History of Science: Newton to Einstein
Dr. Wilson
SEC 002 Online

PHIL 3480 Critical Thinking/Writing in Philosophy
Dr. Potter
SEC 001 HLMS 177 TR 11:00A-12:15P
SEC 002 HLMS 177 TR 12:30P-1:45P

PHIL 3600 Philosophy of Religion
Professor Fileva
SEC 001 HUMN 125 MW 5:05P-6:20P

PHIL 4010 Single Philosopher: Plato
Professor Lee
SEC 001 TR 9:30A-10:45A

PHIL 4020 Topics in the History of Philosophy: Pragmatism
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 DUAN G2B41 MWF 10:10A-11:00A

PHIL 4250 / GRMN 4251 Marxism
Dr. Bredeson
001 HLMS 141 MWF 12:20P-1:10P

PHIL 4260 Philosophy of Law
Professor Talbot
SEC 001 HLMS 177 MW 3:35P-4:50P

PHIL 4300/5300 Philosophy of Mind
Professor Rupert
SEC 001 HUMN 335 TR 2:00P-3:15P
This course addresses three families of questions. The first pertains to mental content: How do our thoughts get their meaning? Is thought-content essentially normative? How do we know the content of our own thoughts? The second concerns the relation between the mental domain and the universe as it’s depicted by natural science: How could a mental state cause physical behavior? Could distinctively mental phenomena appear in a world composed ultimately of nothing more than “atoms in the void”? The third focuses on consciousness in particular: How could conscious experiences appear in a physical world? Do conscious experiences have irreducible aspects to them? How is conscious experience connected to the self and its decisions and actions?

PHIL 4340 Epistemology
Professor Steup
SEC 001 HLMS 177 TR 2:00P-3:15P

Fall 2022

PHIL 3000 History of Ancient Philosophy
Professor Lee
SEC 001 MWF 10:10-11:00 HLMS 237
SEC 002 MWF 12:20-1:10 HLMS 229

PHIL 3010 History of Modern Philosophy
Professor Kaufman
SEC 001 12:30-1:45 VAC 1B88
SEC 002 TR 2:00-3:15 RAMY NB132

PHIL 3030 Asian Philosophies: Indian Tradition & East Asia
Dr. Bredeson
SEC 001 MWF 1:25P-2:15P MAIN 150
Sophomore Standing or higher to enroll

This course is designed to trace the origin and influence of some of the most important philosophical ideas to come out of South Asia as they made their way to China. First, we’ll look in some historical detail at the ancient Indian philosophical tradition, from the early development of Hindu religious ideas to early Buddhism. We’ll also look at how subsequent philosophical developments in both Hinduism and Buddhism addressed some of the challenges that emerged from the early traditions. Finally, we'll look at the philosophical significance of Buddhism’s spread to East Asia in the context of existing Chinese philosophical and religious traditions. The goal of the class is to trace an important thread of thought through the course of its early development and understand the transformation it underwent in its encounter with Chinese traditions.

PHIL 3100 Ethical Theory
SEC 001 MWF 9:05A-9:55A HUMN 125

PHIL 3140/ENVS3140 Environmental Ethics
Dr. Wilson
SEC 001 MWF 1:25P-2:15P HLMS 199
Dr. Melnitzer
SEC 002 MWF 9:05A-9:55A MUEN E131
Dr. Youkey
SEC 003 T 2:00P-3:15P YOUKEY

PHIL 3160 Bioethics
SEC 001 TR 3:30P-4:45P MUEN E432
Dr. Kopeikin
SEC 003 Online
SEC 004 Online

PHIL 3190 War & Morality
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 Online

PHIL 3200 Social & Political Philosophy
Professor Wingo
SEC 001 TR 2:00P-3:15P CLUB 13

PHIL 3260 Philosophy & the International Order
SEC 001 MWF 1:25P-2:15P HUMN 125
Dr. Lomelino
SEC 002 Online

PHIL 3410 History of Science: Ancients to Newton
Dr. Wilson
SEC 001 MWF 2:30P-3:20P HALE 240
Dr. Youkey
SEC 002 12:30P-1:45P

PHIL 3430 History of Science: Newton to Einstein
Dr. Wilson
SEC 001 MWF 11:15A-12:05P CLUB 13

PHIL 3480 Critical Thinking/Writing in Philosophy
Dr. Kopeikin
SEC 001 TR 12:30P-1:45P HLMS 196
SEC 002 TR 2:00P-3:15P HLMS 196

PHIL 3700 Aesthetic Theory
SEC 001 TR 3:30P-4:45P ECON 117

PHIL 4010 Single Philosopher: Kant
Dr. Potter
SEC 001 MWF 1:25P-2:15P MCOL E186
Junior Standing or higher to enroll

This course is an in-depth treatment of Kant's Kritik der reinen Vernunft (in English: Critique of Pure Reason), covering everything from the Preface to the First Edition through to the end of the Transcendental Analytic (excluding "On the amphiboly of concepts of reflection"). All readings besides the Guyer/Wood translation of the CPR (Cambridge University Press, published in paperback in 1999) will be made available to students through online resources at no cost. These consist of Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics (PFM) and A Companion to Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (CCPR) by Matthew C. Altman. It is strongly recommended that only students familiar with Early Modern Western metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of mind, particularly contributions from Hume, Berkeley, Locke, and Descartes, consider taking this course. But all ambitious others are welcome!

PHIL 4020 Topics in the History of Philosophy: Hellenistic Philosophy
Professor Bailey
SEC 001 TR 12:30P-1:45P HLMS 177
Junior Standing or higher to enroll

The aim of this course is to provide both a broad overview of the three schools of Hellenistic Philosophy—the Epicureans, the Stoics, and the Academic Sceptics—but with a decided focus on issues in modality, including: free will; determinism; the Master argument of Diodorus Cronus and Chrysippus’s response; the necessity of the past versus whatever openness can be expected of the future; the possibility of eternal recurrence. The course will draw from, but not require those enrolled to read, the collection of A.A. Long and D.N. Sedley, The Hellenistic Philosophers (Cambridge 1987).

PHIL 4040/5020 Studies in 20th Century Philosophy: Frege, Russell, & Gödel
Professor Oddie
SEC 001 TR 9:30A-10:45A HLMS 177
Junior standing or higher to enroll

At the turn of the twentieth century a German philosopher, Gottlob Frege, and an English philosopher, Bertrand Russell, were both endeavouring to lay bare a sure and certain foundation for mathematical knowledge. Both were initially confident that pure logic was not only necessary but sufficient in itself for the enterprise. Their program, known as logicism, was to derive the entirety of  mathematical knowledge from the most basic and obvious principles of pure reason, like modus ponens and reductio ad absurdum. The program was impressive not only in its ambitious scope but also in the many revelations it laid bare. However, it quickly ran up against some simple but apparently devastating paradoxes. These paradoxes, which have a common ancestor in the ancient paradox of the liar, share certain family resemblances to one another which came sharply into focus with Cantor’s development of the theory of the infinite. In this course we will explore these paradoxes as well as some attempts to resolve them—notably the theory of types. We will also explore their connections to the famous incompleteness theorems of Kurt Gödel, which, it has been argued, put the final nail in the logicist coffin. (Note: PHIL4040/5020 is in part a philosophical exploration of the logical results explored in PHIL4440/5440 Topics in Logic. The two courses can be taken independently but they are complementary and could fruitfully be taken together.)

PHIL 4070 Existentialist Philosophy
SEC 001 MWF 10:10A-11:00A KCEN N100

PHIL 4260 Philosophy of Law
Professor Wingo
SEC 001 TR 3:30P-4:45P HLMS 177

PHIL 4340 Epistemology
Professor Talbot
SEC 001 TR 2:00P-3:15P HLMS 177

PHIL 4440/5440 Topics in Logic: Twentieth-Century Logic
Professor Oddie
SEC 001 HLMS 177 TR 11:00-12:15
Junior standing or higher to enroll

This course will lay out some of the most important results in twentieth century logical theory, including various seminal results due to Gödel and Tarski. These include the completeness of first-order logic; the incompleteness of arithmetic; the indefinability of truth; and the incompleteness of higher-order logic.  (Note: PHIL4440/5440 develops the  logical results the philosophical implications of some of which are explored in PHIL4040/5020 Studies in 20th Century Philosophy. The two courses can be taken independently but they are complementary, and could fruitfully be taken together.)

PHIL 3000 History of Ancient Philosophy
Professor Lee
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 267
Dr. Priou
SEC 002 MWF 12:20-1:10 VAC 1B90

Surveys developments in metaphysics, ethics, logic, and philosophy of mind from the Pre-Socratics through Hellenistic philosophy, focusing primarily on the arguments of the philosophers. Topics may include: Zeno’s paradoxes of time and motion; Democritean atomism; Plato on knowledge, reality, ethics, and politics; Aristotle on logic and natural philosophy; Epicurus on pleasure and friendship; Epicurean atomism; the Stoics on materialism, determinism, and vagueness; and the coherence and practicality of global skepticism. Sophomore Standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 3010 History of Modern Philosophy
Professor Kaufman
SEC 001 TR 2:00-3:15 SLHS 230
Dr. Chapman
SEC 002 MWF 9:05-9:55 VAC 1B90

Introduces modern philosophy, focusing on the period from Descartes through Kant. In addition to careful analysis of philosophical arguments, attention is paid to the ways in which philosophers responded to and participated in major developments in the 17th and 18th century, such as the scientific revolution. Sophomore Standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 3040 African Philosophy: Personhood and Morality
Professor Wingo
SEC 001 MW 3:35-4:50 VAC 1B88

Examines conceptions of personhood, humanity, and morality among several African ethnic groups (including the Akan and Nso), employing a comparative approach that challenges traditional Western philosophical presuppositions and builds sensitivity to unfamiliar conceptions of morality and politics. Gives special attention to the effects of history, geography, and the environment on different societies¿ ways of conceptualizing ethical questions. Topics include human rights; free will and responsibility; custom and morality; and methodological questions concerning cross-cultural comparisons. Junior Standing or higher to enroll; A&S GenEd: Global Diversity

PHIL 3100 Ethical Theory
Dr. Melnitzer
SEC 001 MWF 10:10-11:00 KTCH 1B71
SEC 002 MWF 9:05-9:55

Examines important doctrines and arguments in various areas of theoretical ethics, such as the normative ethics of behavior, axiology, virtue theory and metaethics. Junior Standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 3110/WGST 3110 Practical Feminist Ethics
Dr. Kang
SEC 001 MWF 10:10-11:00 HLMS 263

Examines issues of public policy and personal ethics in light of the basic feminist commitment to gender justice. Feminists often disagree about how to interpret gender justice, and the readings for this course present competing feminist points of view on a range of topics such as: the environment, sex trafficking, immigration, abortion rights, fashion and beauty industries, cosmetic surgery, veiling, food, and militarism. Junior Standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 3140/ENVS 3140 Environmental Ethics
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 MWF 12:20-1:10 HUMN 250
SEC 002 MWF 1:25-2:15 HUMN 135
Dr. Colvin
SEC 003 MW 3:35-4:50 HLMS 211
Dr. Kultgen
SEC 004 TR 12:30-1:45 REMOTE

Examines major traditions in moral philosophy to see what light they shed on value issues in environmental policy and the value presuppositions of the economic, ecological, and juridical approaches to the environment. Sophomore Standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 3160 Bioethics
Dr. Kopeikin
SEC 001 TR 2:00-3:15 BESC 185
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 249
Dr. Linsenbard
SEC 003 ONLINE
SEC 004 ONLINE

Analysis of ethical problems involved in such issues as abortion, euthanasia, organ transplants, eugenics, treatment of the patient as a person and the institutional nature of the health care delivery system. Sophomore Standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 3190 War and Morality
Dr. Hill
SEC 001 MW 3:35-4:50 HLMS 229

Focuses on moral issues raised by war. When, if ever, can war be morally justified? Are rules of war globally applicable, or are they affected by local religious and cultural frameworks? Are colonized nations bound by the same rules of war as their colonizer states? Are states ever obligated to intervene to stop massacres or genocides in other states? Sophomore Standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 3200 Social and Political Philosophy
Dr. Rogers
MWF 3:30-3:20 HLMS 237

Introduces students to an in-depth examination and analysis of central operational ideas in social and political philosophy, such as power, freedom, equality, democracy, justice, rights, community, individuality, civil disobedience, and law. A thorough treatment of any of these ideas may call for some cross-cultural and/or comparative political and social analysis. Sophomore Standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 3260 Philosophy and the International Order
Dr. Kang
SEC 001 MWF 9:05-9:55 CLUB 4

Considers philosophical topics concerning the international economic, political and legal systems. Topics that may be considered include the nature of international law, war and peace, humanitarian intervention, international justice, world hunger and human rights. Sophomore Standing or higher to enroll; A&S GenEd: Global Diversity

Dr. Lomelino
SEC 002 ONLINE

This course is devoted to philosophically analyzing human rights as they apply to international issues. After learning the fundamentals of human rights and general concerns that arise when attempting to apply these in a global context, students will philosophically analyze human rights and the corresponding obligations that arise in the international issues of global poverty and national security. To close out the semester, students will get to analyze the newest universal human right to be included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – the right to a clean environment. Because this course is asynchronous online (meaning no required Zoom meetings), there is an assignment nearly every week; these vary between discussions, short critical analysis papers and quizzes. Students must be familiar with navigating Canvas. Sophomore Standing or higher to enroll; A&S GenEd: Global Diversity

PHIL 3410 History of Science: Ancients to Newton
Dr. Wilson
SEC 001 MWF 1:25-2:15 VAC 1B88

Surveys the history of science up to Newton, tracing the emergence of scientific thinking from religious and philosophical roots in the Near East and Greece to its development in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, culminating with Newton and the seventeenth-century Scientific Revolution. Additional topics may include early discoveries concerning mathematics; technological advancement and its relation to the evolution of scientific theory; and cross-cultural comparisons of scientific and technological traditions (e.g., Chinese traditions). Sophomore Standing or higher to enroll; A&S GenEd: Natural Science

PHIL 3430 History of Science: Newton to Einstein
Dr. Wilson
SEC 001 MWF 10:10-11:00 HLMS 237
Dr. Youkey
SEC 002 MWF 2:30-3:20 VAC 1B90

Surveys the development of modern scientific thought, with an emphasis on the natural sciences, beginning with Newton and ending with the radical and controversial implications of relativity theory and quantum mechanics. Topics may include the rise of modern chemistry, Darwin’s earth-shattering achievements in biology, the beginnings of the social sciences (and their relationship with the natural sciences), the rise of ecology and holistic science, and the philosophical interpretation of scientific method and explanation. Sophomore Standing or higher to enroll; A&S GenEd: Natural Science

PHIL 3480 Critical Thinking/Writing in Philosophy
Dr. Potter
SEC 001 TR 12:30-1:45 HLMS 177
SEC 002 TR 2:30-3:15 HLMS 177

Focuses upon the fundamental skills, methods, concepts and distinctions that are essential for the study of philosophy. Basic skills covered include the writing of philosophy papers, the reading of articles and the extraction and evaluation of arguments. Only PHIL majors; Sophomore Standing or higher to enroll; A&S GenEd: Written Communication

PHIL 4010/5010 Single Philosopher: James
Professor Fileva
SEC 001 MW 3:35-4:50 HLMS 247

William James is a highly original thinker. He is the type of thinker who shares several insights per page. James drew attention to the overlooked connections between rationality and sentiment (for instance, sometimes, we feel we understand) and he explored the nature of introspection (the philosopher’s preferred method of inquiry); he developed a new theory of emotion (studied in psychology classes today) and an illuminating account of the self. James’s discussion of religious experience and of the role of belief in action and from here, belief’s role in the world present serious challenges to the hurried endorsement of a naïve correspondence theory of truth. In this course, we will delve deep into James’s writings. Sometimes, students will find they agree with James, and sometimes, they will disagree. But this much is certain: you will never feel as though reading James is an exercise in thinking about matters of no real consequence. James held the view that philosophical debates ought to focus on what’s important. In “What Pragmatism Means,” he writes: “It is astonishing to see how many philosophical disputes collapse into insignificance the moment you subject them to this simple test of tracing a concrete consequence.” James exemplified his own philosophy of philosophy. His writing is not only intellectually interesting and thought-provoking, none of what he wrote would fail his own relevance test: what James wrote about matters and deeply so. Junior standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 4020/5020 Topics in the History of Philosophy: Virtue Ethics Ancient and Modern
Professor Lee
SEC 001 TR 9:30-10:45 HLMS 177

In this course, we will begin with a solid grounding in Aristotelian and Stoic ethics, with original readings from Aristotle and the Stoic authors. We will then read a selection of papers and books in modern virtue ethics which examine, criticize, respond to, and develop ideas in the ancient authors. Possible topics include: the nature of character virtue, the role of practical reason, virtues as dispositions and the situationist critique, virtues and eudaimonism, the egoistic critique of virtue ethics, the critique of naturalism in virtue ethics, virtue ethics and perfectionism. Readings from contemporary virtue ethics will include, e.g., Annas, Hursthouse, Anscombe, Murdoch, Zagzebski, Nussbaum, and others. Junior standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 4020 Topics in the History of Philosophy: Free Will
Professor Pasnau
SEC 002 TR 11:00-12:15 HLMS 177

The topic of this course will be the debate over free will as it runs from antiquity into the early modern period, with special attention to the Middle Ages, including the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish traditions. Among specific topics will be causal determinism, the indeterminacy of will, moral responsibility, the openness of the future, and divine foreknowledge. Junior Standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 4260 Philosophy of Law
Professor Talbot
SEC 001 TR 5:00-6:15 HLMS 245

Considers philosophical topics concerning law and the U.S. legal system. Topics that may be considered include the nature of law, relations between law and morality, justifications of punishment, the moral duty to obey the law, and law and liberty. Junior Standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 4340 Epistemology
Professor Steup
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 177

This course will be an advanced survey of contemporary epistemology. It will cover the following topics: the traditional analysis of knowledge, the Gettier problem, perceptual justification, dogmatic vs. non-dogmatic theories, foundationalism vs. coherentism, internalism vs. externalism, and skepticism. Only PHIL majors; Junior Standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 4400 Philosophy of Science
Professor Huemer
SEC 001 MW 5:05-6:20 HLMS 141

Advances students' knowledge of topics in philosophy of science and develops students' ability to think and write clearly about science. Topics may include scientific methodology; distinguishing science from pseudoscience; characterizing experimental and historical sciences; interpretations of special and general relativity; interpretations of quantum mechanics; the nature of biological species; approaches to defining life; criteria for identifying alien life; artificial intelligence; neuroscience and consciousness; fundamental physical properties and laws of nature; chance and probability; and causation. Junior Standing or higher to enroll

PHIL 4450/5450/PHYS 4450/5450 History and Philosophy of Physics
Professor Demarest
SEC 001 TR 12:30-1:45 HLMS 237

Investigates the role of experiment in physics. Uses case studies in the history and philosophy of physics and in scientific methodology. Junior Standing or higher to enroll; prerequisite: PHYS 1020 or PHYS 1120 or PHYS 2020

PHIL 2710 Philosophy and Film
Dr. Smith
SEC 001 MWF 1:50-2:40

This course will entail examining the aesthetics of film from the early 20th century to the present. Instead of using films as the basis for considering philosophical questions, we will discuss the philosophical issues that film as an artistic medium raises. We will examine various arguments made on behalf of film’s ability to transform the viewer’s understanding by building its own world, uncovering truth, and manifesting the imperative for social and political change. We will read and discuss texts taken from the history of philosophy, with emphasis on 20th-century aesthetic and critical theory, and we will watch and discuss films each week in the context of the assigned reading. The student will write short analyses of some films and theories, and ultimately complete a research paper applying the aesthetic theory that we read to chosen films.

PHIL 3000 History of Ancient Philosophy
Professor Bailey
SEC 001 TR 12:45-2:00
Dr. Smith
SEC 002 MWF 11:30-12:20

This course entails a study of major texts in ancient Greek philosophy, emphasizing the best and most influential writing by Plato and Aristotle along with select texts from the Presocratics, Sophists, and Hellenistic philosophers.  Questions we will ask include, what is the world made of most fundamentally, and where did it come from?  Is everything in constant flux, or are some things permanent throughout eternity?  Is truth something common to everyone, or instead is truth merely "up to the individual?"  What does a good human life look like, and how can we achieve this?  Our goal throughout will be to understand how and why Western philosophy began and developed as it did, and to recover the many valuable ancient insights that are lost to us in our own day.

PHIL 3010 History of Modern Philosophy
Professor Kaufman
SEC 001 TR 12:45-2:00
Dr. Potter
SEC 002 MWF 1:50-2:40

PHIL 3100 Ethical Theory
Dr. Melnitzer
SEC 001 MWF 10:20-11:10

PHIL 3140 / ENVS 3140 Environmental Ethics
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 TR 9:35-10:50
Dr. Hill
SEC 002 TR 11:10-12:25
SEC 003 MWF 12:40-1:30

PHIL 3160 Bioethics
Professor Burkhardt
SEC 001 MWF 10:20-11:10
SEC 002 MWF 11:30-12:20
Dr. Lomelino
SEC 003 ONLINE

In this class, students will learn to philosophically analyze complex ethical issues in the medical context. After learning the theories and concepts that provide the foundation for a philosophical analysis of bioethical issues, students will learn to apply their newly-acquired skills in analyzing some of the issues that confront medical practitioners in the healthcare context, such as physician roles and responsibilites and difficult issues in disclosing patient information. Discussion posts allow students to interact with each other’s ideas, while short writing exercises provide the opportunity to put what students have learned into practice. As a means of testing overall understanding of the material, there will be quizzes at the end of each unit.

PHIL 3200 Social and Political Philosophy
Dr. Leland
SEC 001 MWF 1:50-2:40

PHIL 3260 Philosophy and the International Order
SEC 001 TR 12:45-2:00

PHIL 3410 History of Science: Ancients to Newton
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 TR 12:45-2:00 HLMS 177
SEC 002 TR 2:20-3:35

PHIL 3430 History of Science: Newton to Einstein
Dr. Wilson
SEC 001 MWF 1:50-2:40

PHIL 3480 Critical Thinking and Writing in Philosophy
Dr. Potter
SEC 001 MWF 11:30-12:20
SEC 002 MWF 12:40-1:30

PHIL 3700 Aesthetic Theory
Professor Fileva
SEC 001 TR 3:55-5:10

In this course, we will explore the nature of art, the interpretation of artworks, the standard of taste, and the relationship of aesthetic to other values. Consider, for instance, the nature of art. Some objects sold as artworks are produced by non-human animals or by a computer program. Are such objects really artworks, or does art require a creator who understands and appreciates aesthetic values? Is the boundary between art and non-art determined by social context, for instance, is everything in a museum an artwork, even objects that would not be seen as an artwork outside the museum such as a pile of bricks?

Now consider taste. We seem to have two competing intuitions with regard to taste. One intuition is that there isn’t a truly objective standard of taste. Beauty is not an objective property of a painting in the way its size and volume are. On the other hand, we also have the intuition that some people have a better taste than other people. What makes some tastes better than other tastes?

Or think of the connection between aesthetic and moral values. Some artworks are morally disturbing. For example, literature can sympathetically portray a person completely unmoved by his mother’s death or one who falls in love with a non-human animal. What is more, a good book sometimes seems good precisely because it disturbs us in some way. Could this be right? And how should we read such books? Should we look for aesthetic pleasure without letting the artworks in question have any bearing on our lives and world, or should we derive moral lessons from them? And if fictional worlds must be taken to be completely severed from our world, how are we to morally evaluate the characters we encounter in literature, by an appeal to what moral standards if not to ours?

PHIL 4020/5020 Topics in the History of Philosophy: Aristotle's Metaphysics and Natural Philosophy
Dr. Huismann
TR 2:30-3:35 HLMS 196

This seminar will address Aristotle’s seminal contributions to metaphysics and natural philosophy, broadly construed (so as to include e.g. aspects of his philosophy of mind and human nature). The topics we will cover include substances, propositions (especially the present status of future contingent propositions), causation, luck, the soul and its relation to the body, the distinction between actuality and potentiality (and its relation to human happiness), and Aristotle’s conception of the divine.

PHIL 4020 Topics in the History of Philosophy: Free Will
Professor Pasnau
SEC 002 TR 11:00-12:15 HLMS 177

PHIL 4070 Existentialist Philosophy
Dr. Chapman
SEC 001 MWF 10:20-11:10

PHIL 4120 Philosophy and Animals
Professor Norcross
SEC 001 TR 11:10-12:25

PHIL 4260 Philosophy of Law
Professor Talbot
SEC 001 MW 4:10-5:25

PHIL 4340 Epistemology
Professor Steup
SEC 001 TR 3:55-5:10 HLMS 177

This course will cover the following topics: the justified true belief account of knowledge, the Gettier problem, the ethics of belief, skepticism, evidentialist and non-evidentialist theories of justification, and the internalism and externalism debate.

PHIL 4360 Metaphysics
Professor Huemer
SEC 001 TR 2:20-3:35 HLMS 177

Examines philosophical questions and debates about the general nature of reality. Specific topics will include: what exists, universals & other abstract objects, free will, personal identity, space & time, causality, the infinite.

PHIL 4480/5480 Formal Methods in Philosophy
Professor Saucedo
SEC 001 TR 3:55-5:10 HLMS 196

This course is an introductory survey of some of the advanced formal methods employed in contemporary philosophy. It's meant to help advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students acquire the tools necessary to access the formally sophisticated literature published in today's leading philosophy journals. We'll start by reviewing first-order logic from both semantic and proof-theoretic standpoints and associated technical machinery (including elementary set theory and model theory). Then we'll focus on two topics: (i) higher-order logic (up to introductory type-theory and the lambda calculus) and (ii) non-classical logic (including multi-valued systems, intuitionism, and free logic). Time permitting, we'll touch on elementary material in modal logic.

This course presupposes PHIL 2440 Symbolic Logic.

PHIL 3000 History of Ancient Philosophy
Professor Bailey
SEC 001 T 2:20-3:35
SEC 002 T 3:55-5:10
Professor Lee
SEC 880 MWF 11:30-12:20

Course description for section 880 only: This course is a survey of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. We will start with the Presocratics and look at the origins of science and philosophy in the archaic and early classical period. Then we will make a close study of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle – reading selections from the Platonic dialogues, and from Aristotle’s major works. In the final section of the course, we will turn to the Hellenistic philosophers, focusing on Epicurus and the Stoics, and their approach to philosophy “as a way of life”. The required text is Patrick Lee Miller and C. D. C. Reeve, eds., Introductory Readings in Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy, Second Edition, Enlarged/Expanded edition (Indianapolis: Hackett Pub Co, 2015). This course satisfies the history distribution requirements for the Philosophy major and minor. This section is an Honors College section, open to students with a GPA of 3.3 or above. Enrollment is limited to 17 students. The course will be seminar-style, and will be very discussion intensive. Students will write at least three papers with close feedback on drafts and opportunities to revise and improve their writing. Students will be expected to come to class having done the reading, with Zoom on, and ready to talk philosophy!

PHIL 3010 History of Modern Philosophy
Professor Kaufman
SEC 001 TR 12:45-2:00
Dr. Boespflug
SEC 002 Online

PHIL 3030 Asian Philosophies: The Indian Tradition and Its Legacy in East Asia
Dr. Bredeson
SEC 001 MWF 10:20-11:10

Designed to trace some of the most important philosophical ideas to come out of South Asia as they made their way to China, Japan, and other areas of East Asia. First, we’ll look in some historical detail at the ancient Indian philosophical tradition, from the early development of Hindu religious ideas to the early thought of the Buddha. Then, we’ll look at how later philosophical developments in both Hinduism and Buddhism address some of the challenges emerging from the earlier tradition. We’ll then look at the philosophical significance of Buddhism’s spread to East Asia, which will require us first to examine the Chinese philosophical and religious context, before looking in some detail at the transformation of Buddhism. The goal of the class is not to provide a general introduction to South and East Asian philosophy (although you should learn a lot about that along the way), but rather to trace an important thread of thought through the course of its early development across different cultures and continents.

PHIL 3100 Ethical Theories
Dr. Kopeikin
SEC 001 MWF 12:40-1:30
SEC 002 MWF 1:50-2:40

PHIL 3140/ENVS 3140 Environmental Ethics
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 R 12:45-2:00
Dr. Chamorro
SEC 002 TR 9:25-10:40
SEC 003 TR 11:10-12:25

PHIL 3160 Bioethics
Dr. Burkhardt
SEC 001 TR 2:20-3:35
Dr. Greetis
SEC 002 TR 3:55-5:10
Dr. Lomelino
SEC 003 Online

In this class, you will learn to philosophically analyze complex ethical issues in the medical context. You will begin by learning the theories and concepts that provide the foundation for a philosophical analysis of medical ethics. After learning the foundations of Bioethics, you will learn about some of the issues that confront medical practitioners in the healthcare context by learning about issues in physician roles and responsibilites, as well as difficult issues in disclosing patient information. Short writing exercises provide you the opportunity to put what you’ve learned into practice by applying what you’ve learned to specific scenarios. To test your overall understanding of all that you’ll be learning in this class, you will also have quizzes at the end of each unit.

PHIL 3190 War and Morality
Dr. Brown
SEC 001 TR 9:35-10:50
SEC 002 TR 11:10-12:25

PHIL 3200 Social and Political Philosophy
Professor Huemer
SEC 001 T 2:20-3:35

PHIL 3260 Philosophy and the International Order
Dr. Kang
SEC 001 MWF 12:40-1:30

PHIL 3410 History of Science: Ancients to Newton
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 R 9:35-10:50
SEC 002 R 11:10-12:25

PHIL 3430 History of Science: Newton to Einstein
Dr. Wilson
SEC 001 MWF 1:50-2:40

PHIL 3480 Critical Thinking and Writing in Philosophy
Dr. Potter
SEC 001 TR 9:35-10:50
SEC 002 TR 11:10-12:25

PHIL 3600 Philosophy of Religion
Professor Fileva
SEC 001 MW 4:10-5:25

Suppose you believe in God because you saw God in person, maybe, saw God suspend gravity or create a human being from nothing. So you have direct evidence that God exists. Would your belief in God be religious belief then? Compare this belief to the belief of another person who has never seen God but who has the overwhelming sense that God is all around us – in human goodness and creativity, in the beauty of nature, and in the infinity of the universe. Moreover, suppose further that the first person has emotionally neutral or even negative attitude toward God. She thinks God seems powerful enough to take care of all human ailments but is not doing it. The second person, on the other hand, has a very positive attitude. He thinks focusing on the divineness around us is akin to bathing in a sea of love.

It seems that the second person would have a religious belief while the first will have merely a non-religious belief in the existence of God. But why? This is an aspect of one of the questions we will explore in this course: the question of the rational and non-rational grounds of religious belief. Other problems include: what are we to make of the plurality of religions? Should we conclude that one is right? That none is right? That all are right? What exactly do people hope to accomplish when they pray for something, say athletes who want to win a contest. Do they hope God will favor them? Do they imagine God to be like a biased parent who plays favorites? And would the existence of Hell be compatible with justice? After all, however many horrendous acts a person may have committed, human life is finite. Could infinite punishment justly atone for finite sins?

PHIL 4010/5010 Single Philosopher: Plato's Republic
Professor Lee
SEC 001 MWF 1:50-2:40

PHIL 2170 Ethics and Economics
Dr. Shear
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 VAC 1B90

This course explores the complex relationship between morality and economics. One general topic will be how moral concepts are employed in economic analysis and policy. On this topic, we will look at the moral foundations of contemporary economics, the relationship between rationality and morality, questions related to welfare economics, and how moral notions such as freedom, rights, equality, and justice could be relevant for the evaluation of economic policy. A second general topic will be how certain analytical tools and concepts from economics can be used to inform our moral theorizing. In particular, we will cover the basics of decision theory, game theory, and social choice theory with an eye to how they may be applied in thinking about moral questions. A third general topic will be the nature of economics as a science. On this topic, we will cover the relationship between normative and descriptive theories in economics, the nature of special sciences more generally, and the relationship between economics and public policy. This course aims to be valuable to students of philosophy, economics, and other social sciences as well as anyone interested in refining their understanding of the nature of the relationship between morality and economics.

PHIL 3000 History of Ancient Philosophy
Dr. Smith
SEC 001 MW 4:30-5:45 VAC 1B90

This course entails a study of the major texts in ancient Greek philosophy, including the best and most influential writing by the Presocratics, the Sophists, Plato, Aristotle, and select Hellenistic philosophers.  Our goal is to understand how and why Greek and Western philosophy began and developed as they did, and to recover the valuable insights from these thinkers, many of which have been lost in our own day.

Professor Lee
SEC 002 TR 11:00-12:15 HLMS 229

PHIL 3010 History of Modern Philosophy
Professor Kaufman
SEC 001 TR 2:00-3:15 CLUB 13
Dr. Potter
SEC 002 TR 3:30-4:45 HUMN 1B90

PHIL 3040 African Philosophy: Personhood & Morality
Professor Wingo
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 177

PHIL 3100 Ethical Theory
Dr. Kopeikin
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 ECON 117
SEC 002 MW 4:30-5:45 ECON 117

PHIL 3140/ENVS 3140 Environmental Ethics
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 MWF 1:00-1:50 RAMY N1B23
SEC 002 MWF 2:00-2:50 DUAN G125
TBA
SEC 003 MWF 9:00-9:50 ECON 205
SEC 004 MWF 11:00-11:50 VAC 1B88

PHIL 3160 Bioethics
Dr. Greetis
SEC 001 MW 4:30-5:45 HALE 240
TBA
SEC 002 TR 5:00-6:15 RAMY NB131

PHIL 3190 War and Morality
Dr. Sturgis
SEC 001 TR 11:00-12:15 FLMG 154

PHIL 3200 Social and Political Philosophy
Professor Huemer
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 DUAN G131

This course will address fundamental issues about how society works, and how it ought to work, including the following areas: (1) Political Authority: What, if anything, gives the state the right to tell everyone else what to do, and why should we obey them? (2) Distributive Justice: How should wealth be distributed in society? (3) Capitalism & Democracy: How do capitalists get rich? Is it by exploiting the poor? How do voters make decisions in a democracy, and how should they make decisions? Why does our system not work the way it’s supposed to? (4) Anarchism: What is the best form of anarchism? How could an anarchic society protect itself against criminals or foreign governments? How could a society transition from government to anarchy? (5) Justice and the Law: When is a law just or unjust? Should we obey unjust laws? Should juries  help to enforce them? Should lawyers advocate for unjust legal outcomes?

PHIL 3260 Philosophy and the International Order
TBA
SEC 001 MWF 2:00-2:50 VAC 1B88

PHIL 3410 History of Science: Ancients to Newton
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 MWF 11:00-11:50 RAMY N1B31

PHIL 3430 History of Science: Newton to Einstein
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 MWF 10:00-10:50 CLRE 207

PHIL 3480 Critical Thinking/Writing in Philosophy
Dr. Potter
SEC 001 TR 11:00-12:15 HLMS 220
SEC 002 TR 12:30-1:45 HLMS 181

PHIL 3600 Philosophy of Religion
Dr. Eyestone
SEC 001 MWF 2:00-2:50 VAC 1B90

This course will be a survey of traditional topics in Western philosophy of religion, including the divine attributes, arguments for a deity's existence, the problem of evil, the afterlife, and non-rational belief.

PHIL 3700/HUMN 3092 Aesthetic Theory
Professor Oddie
SEC 001 MWF 10:00-10:50 HALE 240

PHIL 4010 Single Philosopher: Kant
Dr. Bredeson
SEC 001 MWF 1:00-1:50 HLMS 245

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is the single most influential philosopher of the modern period, hands down. It can probably be said that Kant’s impact on at least four core areas of philosophy—epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics—outstrips that of anyone working after Aristotle. In addition, Kant put forward a comprehensive vision of philosophy and science in general, giving principled reasons why some of their parts must be unified and others strictly separated, all while pioneering the integration of philosophy with emerging disciplines like anthropology and geography. Few thinkers since Kant have attempted anything even remotely as ambitious. In this course we will try to get a sense of the significance of Kant’s philosophical achievement considered as a whole. Granted, in one semester we can only go so far in this direction, and several areas important to Kant’s conception of philosophy (notably, aesthetics, anthropology, geography, and political philosophy) will of necessity receive short shrift. But we will do our best to begin to bring Kant’s grand vision into focus. In doing so, we will split our focus along two main axes: theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy. We will focus on four core texts: the Critique of Pure Reason (1781/87), the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), the Critique of Practical Reason (1788), and the Metaphysics of Morals (1797).

PHIL 4040 Studies in 20th Century Philosophy
Dr. Shields
SEC 001 MWF 12:00-12:50 MUEN E432

In this course, we will consider how various philosophers in the 20th-century analytic tradition addressed key questions in philosophy of language and epistemology. We will also consider their views on the nature of philosophy itself. We will focus on two specific issues: first, what the project of conceptual analysis consists in and its relationship to theories of linguistic meaning; second, the ways in which thought and language relate to the world. Among the philosophers we will read are Rudolf Carnap, Alice Ambrose, W.V.O. Quine, Ruth Barcan Marcus, Thomas Kuhn, Saul Kripke, Hilary Putnam, and Richard Rorty.

PHIL 4070 Existentialist Philosophy
Dr. Chapman
SEC 001 MWF 10:00-10:50 MUEN E064

PHIL 4260 Philosophy of Law
Professor Talbot
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 245

PHIL 4340 Epistemology
Professor Steup
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 HUMN 190

This course will be an advanced survey of contemporary epistemology. It will cover the following topics: the traditional analysis of knowledge, the Gettier problem, perceptual justification, dogmatic vs. non-dogmatic theories, foundationalism vs. coherentism, internalism vs. externalism, and skepticism. Required readings: Richard Feldman Epistemology (Prentice Hall), and a selection of recent journal articles.

PHIL 4360/5360 Metaphysics
Professor Demarest
SEC 001 TR 12:30-1:45 HLMS 196

In this course we will consider some of the big questions in metaphysics: What exists? What are properties? What is fundamental? What is space? What is time? How do objects and people persist through time? Do we have free will? Does God exist? There is no textbook, but there will be a lot of readings (all posted on Canvas), weekly assignments, and high expectations.

PHIL 4480/5480 Formal Methods in Philosophy
Professor Saucedo
SEC 001 TR 2:00-3:15 HLMS 177

This course is an introductory survey of some of the advanced formal methods employed in contemporary philosophy. It's meant to help advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students acquire the tools necessary to access the formally sophisticated literature published in today's leading philosophy journals. We'll start by reviewing first-order logic from both semantic and proof-theoretic standpoints and associated technical machinery (including elementary set theory and model theory). Then we'll focus on two topics: (i) higher-order logic (up to introductory type-theory and the lambda calculus) and (ii) non-classical logic (including multi-valued systems, intuitionism, and free logic). Time permitting, we'll touch on elementary material in modal logic. 

PHIL 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
Professor Lee
SEC 001 TR 9:30-10:45 CLUB 13

This course will provide a broad overview of ancient Greek philosophy, starting with the Presocratics, focusing mostly on Plato and Aristotle, and concluding with a selection of Hellenistic philosophy.

Professor Bailey
SEC 002 TR 3:30-4:45 ECON 2

PHIL 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
Professor Kaufman
SEC 001 TR 2:00-3:15 HLMS 237

PHIL 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
Dr. Potter
SEC 002 MWF 10:00-10:50 MCOL E155

PHIL 3100: Ethical Theory
Dr. Perl
SEC 001 MWF 12:00-12:50 GUGG 206
SEC 002 MWF 1:00-1:50 GUGG 2

PHIL 3110 / WGST 3110: Feminist Practical Ethics
Dr. Frigault
SEC 001 MWF 12:00-12:50 MUEN E431

PHIL 3140 / ENVS 3140: Environmental Ethics
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 TR 11:00-12:15 HALE 230
SEC 002 TR 12:30-1:45 CLRE 207
Dr. Chamorro
SEC 003 MWF 9:00-9:50 VAC 1B90

PHIL 3160: Bioethics
Dr. Greetis
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 HALE 260
SEC 002 MW 4:30-5:45 CLUB 13

PHIL 3190: War and Morality
Dr. Garner
SEC 001 MWF 11:00-11:50 CLUB 13
Dr. Geyer
SEC 002 MWF 1:00-1:50 CLUB 13

PHIL 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
Professor Huemer
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 CLRE 209

PHIL 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
Dr. Kultgen
SEC 581 [Continuing Education Online]

PHIL 4020/5020: Topics in the History of Philosophy: Hellenistic Philosophy
Professor Bailey
SEC 001 TR 2:00-3:00 HLMS 196

The aim of this course is to provide both a broad overview of the three schools of Hellenistic Philosophy – the Epicureans, the Stoics, and the Academic Sceptics – but with a decided focus on issues in modality, including: free will; determinism; the Master argument of Diodorus Cronus and Chrysippus’s response; the necessity of the past versus whatever openness can be expected of the future; the possibility of eternal recurrence. The course will draw from, but not require those enrolled to read, the collection of A.A. Long and D.N. Sedley, The Hellenistic Philosophers (Cambridge 1987).

PHIL 4020: Topics in the History of Philosophy: Pragmatism
Dr. Youkey
SEC 002 TR 9:30-10:45 HLMS 177

In the recent past there have been various attacks on ideas central to the Western Tradition – like the concept of objective truth.  In order to make sense of these attacks Pragmatism is a good place to begin.  The concept of objective truth seems to assume that we can get outside the world and see it as an object, and then describe it in universal terms, like F=ma.  Pragmatism includes a wide range of voices that share the view that we are actors within the world rather than observers outside it.  This starting point results in a different conception of truth, a different conception of the scientific enterprise, of the philosophic enterprise, of politics, of art, and so on.

Pragmatism began in the late 1800’s with Peirce and James and Dewey, but it is still very much a living tradition – it currently plays a role at the cutting edge of feminism and critical race theory, for example.  Our goal will be to understand what it is and to get a sense of the breadth of application of pragmatist thinking: in epistemology and philosophy of science, in aesthetics, in political philosophy, in philosophy of law, in feminism, in critical race theory.

PHIL 4150/5150: Topics in Applied Ethics: Sex and Procreation
Professor Boonin
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 196

This seminar will focus on ethical issues involving sex and procreation. The unit on sex will primarily deal with questions about sexual consent. Examples include: Can the threat of emotional harm suffice to render consent to sex invalid? (e.g. “if you don’t agree to have sex with me, I’ll reveal an embarrassing secret of yours”).  Does the threat of physical harm suffice to render consent given to a third party invalid? (e.g. if a pimp says to a prostitute “if you don’t agree to have sex with this customer, I’ll beat you up,” is the prostitute’s consent to have sex with the customer valid?).  Can deception about relatively minor matters suffice to render sexual consent invalid? (e.g., lying about one’s job to get someone to agree to sex). Under what conditions, if any, is it permissible to have sex with someone whose consent is given while they are moderately intoxicated?  Does a young child’s inability to give valid consent to sex suffice to justify prohibitions on pedophilia?  Is it permissible to continue having sex with a long-term partner if they develop severe dementia and are no longer able to provide valid consent?  Do certain kinds of power asymmetries (e.g., between therapist and patient) undermine the validity of sexual consent? Can some offers be so irresistible that they render consent to sex invalid? (e.g., “I’ll give you ten million dollars if you have sex with me”). Time permitting, we will also consider a few other topics in sexual ethics, including issues involving monogamy, promiscuity, sadomasochism, and computer-generated child pornography. The unit on procreation will be shorter and will focus primarily on David Benatar’s anti-natalism and Derek Parfit’s mere addition paradox and non-identity problem.  Time permitting, we will also look at parts of Samuel Scheffler’s recent book, Why Worry About Future Generations?

PHIL 4260: Philosophy of Law
Professor Wingo
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 HUMN 1B70

PHIL 4340: Epistemology
Professor Steup
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 HLMS 177

This course will be an advanced survey of contemporary epistemology. It will cover the following topics: the traditional analysis of knowledge, the Gettier problem, perceptual justification, dogmatic vs. non-dogmatic theories, foundationalism vs. coherentism, internalism vs. externalism, pragmatic and moral encroachment, and skepticism. Required readings: Richard Feldman: Epistemology (https://www.pearsonhighered.com/program/Feldman-Epistemology/PGM267611.html), and a selection of recent journal articles.

PHIL 4400: Philosophy of Science
Professor Huemer
SEC 001 TR 2:00-3:15 HLMS 177

PHIL 4490: Philosophy of Language
Professor Saucedo
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 177

PHIL 4800/5800: Open Topics: Logic and Metaphysics of Values
Professor Oddie
SEC 001 TR 12:30-1:45 HLMS 196

The nature and logic of value
There is an astonishing variety of value phenomena. We attribute evaluative traits (properties, relations and magnitudes) to objects of just about every ontological type. In addition to the thin evaluative attributes (e.g. good, bad and better-than) there are thick evaluative traits (e.g. courageous, compassionate, callous, kind, boring, delightful) which we apply to persons, character traits, dispositions, actions, states of affairs, institutions, artifacts, performances, paintings, poems, proofs and practices. The value phenomena suggest that just about any type of entity is bearer of value features. In addition to this plethora of different kinds of value bearers, we entertain radically different kinds of value attributes. Some bearers of value (such as pleasure, happiness, knowledge, and a good will) are claimed to be good simpliciter. Others are said to be good for some beings but not others. Others are said to be good of a kind. Cutting across these categories we often distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic goodness. Pleasure is claimed by hedonists to be intrinsically good while things which conduce to pleasure-such as health or wealth-are claimed to be of extrinsic value. Traditionally intrinsic value has been identified with what has final value-i.e. what is to be valued for its own sake. Recently some philosophers have argued that final and intrinsic value come apart. Kant made a (possibly related) distinction between conditional and unconditional value. Coolness, courage and even happiness may all be good in some manner, but they are good only conditional upon the presence of a good will, and a good will, Kant claimed, is the only thing of unconditional value. This connects to a long debate about the additivity of value . Do values add up or does value exhibit organic unity? The aggregation of value lies at the heart of many problems, such as various population paradoxes, the validity of bare-difference reasoning, and value particularism. It is the aim of the course to try to examine this range of issues and their bearing both on the ontology and logical structure of value-and to determine whether, underlying the bewildering complexity of value phenomena there might be lurking a plausible unified theory.

PHIL 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
Professor Bailey
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 MUEN E432
SEC 002 MW 4:30-5:45 MUEN E131

PHIL 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
Dr. Bredeson
SEC 001 MWF 9:00-9:40 HLMS 237

In this course we will examine a series of foundational works in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy—what we call the “modern” period. The contours of many contemporary philosophical questions remain decisively shaped by the work done in this period, and its political philosophy continues to provide the rational basis for many political structures today. In this class, we will focus especially on epistemology, metaphysics, and political philosophy. Readings will include works by René Descartes, Elisabeth of Bohemia, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and David Hume.

Dr. Potter
SEC 002 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 229

PHIL 3030: Asian Philosophies: Buddhism as Philosophy
Professor Saucedo
SEC 001 TR 2:00-3:15 HLMS 177

In this course we'll examine some core philosophical concepts and theses associated with Buddhist thought across both Theravada and Mahayana traditions. We'll focus on three major themes: (i) metaphysical underpinnings of the doctrine of No-Self as the basis for enlightenment, (ii) the nature of enlightenment itself, and (iii) the role of meditation and contemplative practices in enlightenment.  Specific topics include: impermanence, dependent co-arising, emptiness, nirvana, mindfulness, and compassion. The approach will be purely philosophical (rather than, say, theological or philological) and mostly issue-driven (rather than, say, historical). Students are strongly advised to have taken at least one 3000+ level course in philosophy and have some familiarity with elementary logic (the material normally covered in PHIL 2440).

PHIL 3100: Ethical Theory
Professor Heathwood
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 MUEN E431
SEC 002 MW 4:30-5:45 HLMS 141

We make moral and evaluative judgments – e.g., "You shouldn't litter," "It's unfair that some children have no health care," "Friendship helps make life worth living," "Abortion is wrong," "Martin Luther King was a great man" – all the time.  But what are we doing when we do this?  Are we describing an objective moral reality, or ultimately just expressing our feelings?  Are such statements ever true?  Can we ever know one to be true?  If there are moral facts, are they just a subclass of the natural facts about the world?  Assuming that we do have moral obligations, why should we care about them?  These are some questions in metaethics, to which the first part of this course will provide an introduction.

Then we will turn to normative ethics, where we attempt to figure out which moral claims – and, in particular, which fundamental moral principles – are actually true.  Our main question will be, What makes an act right or wrong?  Consequentialists believe that an act's rightness or wrongness is to be explained in terms of how good or bad its outcome would be.  We will explore this theory in some detail.  Deontologists reject the view that how good the consequences would be is all that matters.  Some believe that this doesn't matter at all; they believe that we have moral rights, and that our only moral obligations are to avoid violating people's rights.  Other deontologists are more moderate and pluralistic: they believe that there are moral reasons for or against a number of different kinds of behavior (some having to do with promoting good consequences, perhaps others having to do with violating rights), and that the correct moral theory requires us to weigh several competing moral considerations.  We will explore deontology in some detail as well.

PHIL 3140/ENVS 3140: Environmental Ethics
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 MWF 2:00-2:50 HLMS 201
SEC 002 MWF 1:00-1:50 HLMS 252
Dr. Chamorro
SEC 003 MWF 9:00-9:50 CLUB 13

PHIL 3160: Bioethics
Dr. Kultgen
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 ECON 2
SEC 002 TR 5:00-6:15 VAC 1B90

PHIL 3190: War And Morality
Dr. Sturgis
SEC 001 MWF 2:00-2:50 HLMS 229
SEC 002 MWF 3:00-3:50 HLMS 241

PHIL 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
Professor WIngo
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 DUAN G131

PHIL 3260: Philosophy and the International Order
Dr. Geyer
MWF 2:00-2:50 HALE 240

PHIL 3140: History of Science: Ancients to Newton
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 MWF 11:00-11:50 HALE 240

PHIL 3430: History of Science: Newton to Einstein
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 MWF 3:00-3:50 EDUC 155

PHIL 3480: Critical Thinking and Writing in Philosophy
Dr. Potter
SEC 001 TR 11:00-12:15 HUMN 335
SEC 002 TR 12:30-1:45 HLMS 196

PHIL 3600: Philosophy of Religion
Professor Fileva
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HALE 260

Suppose you believe in God because you saw God in person and in action, maybe, saw God suspend gravity or create a human being from nothing. So you have direct evidence that God exists. Would your belief in God be *religious* belief then? Compare this belief to the belief of another person who has never seen God but who has the overwhelming sense that God is all around us – in human goodness and creativity, in the beauty of nature, and in the infinity of the universe. Moreover, suppose further that the first person has emotionally neutral or even negative attitude toward God. She thinks God seems powerful enough to take care of all human ailments but is not doing it. The second person, on the other hand, has a very positive attitude. He thinks focusing on the divineness around us is akin to bathing in a sea of love.

It seems that the second person would have a religious belief while the first will have merely a non-religious belief in the existence of God. Is this right and if so, why? This is an aspect of one of the questions we will explore in this course: the question of the rational and non-rational grounds of religious belief. Other problems include: what are we to make of the plurality of religions? Should we conclude that one is right? That none is right? That all are right? What exactly do people hope to accomplish when they pray for something, say athletes who want to win a contest. Do they hope God will favor them? Do they imagine God to be like a biased parent who plays favorites? Can God have gender? And would the existence of Hell be compatible with justice? After all, however many horrendous acts a person may have committed, human life is finite. Could infinite punishment justly atone for finite sins?

PHIL 3700/HUMN 3092: Aesthetic Theory
Professor Oddie
SEC 001 TR 9:30-10:45 VAC 1B88

PHIL 4020/5020 Topics in the History of Philosophy: Early Modern Metaphysics
Professor Kaufman
SEC 001 TR 2:00-3:15 HLMS 196

This course will focus on a number of issues surrounding early-modern theories of matter and corporeal substance: e.g. the nature of corporeal substance, individuation, composition, constitution, the ontological status of parts and wholes, persistence over time (including stuff on personal identity), infinite divisibility vs. atoms, monism vs. pluralism, and location/place.

Among the philosophers we will read are Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, More, Conway, Cavendish, Spinoza, Bayle, Charleton, and Leibniz. We will also be reading recent-ish secondary literature.

Requirements: TBD, but at least a substantial paper and an annotated bibliography.

PHIL 4070: Existentialist Philosophy
Dr. Chapman
SEC 001 MWF 10:00-10:50 VAC 1B90

PHIL 4110/5110: Contemporary Moral Theory: Metaethics or Consequentialism
Dr. Perl
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 196

This seminar is an advanced seminar on topics in consequentialist moral theory. Its goal will be to put you in a position to make your own contributions to the field. Our time will be roughly split between act consequentialism and rule consequentialism. We’ll focus on several different versions of act consequentialism: in addition to standard versions, we’ll consider satisfying consequentialism, agent-relative consequentialism, and scalar consequentialism. We’ll also consider `consequentializing’ results — results that show that for any plausible nonconsequentialist theory, there is an extensionally equivalent consequentialist theory — and ask what we can learn from those results. When discussing rule consequentialism, we’ll explore whether every reason for accepting rule consequentialism is an even stronger reason for accepting act consequentialism. And we’ll discuss the `ideal worlds’ problem for rule consequentialism — roughly, the problem that the sort of idealization that distinguishes rule consequentialism from act consequentialism always leads to implausible results.

PHIL 4120: Philosophy and Animals
Professor Norcross
SEC 001 TR 11:00-12:15 MCOL E155

PHIL 4260: Philosophy of Law
Professor Talbot
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 177

PHIL 4340: Epistemology
Professor Steup
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 KTCH 1B71

PHIL 4360: Metaphysics
Professor Demarest
SEC 001 TR 9:30-10:45 HUMN 190

In this course we will consider some of the big questions in metaphysics: What exists? What are properties? What is fundamental? What is space? What is time? How do objects and people persist through time? Do we have free will? Does God exist? There is no required textbook; all materials will be made available on Canvas.

PHIL 4460/5460: Modal Logic
Professor Forbes
SEC 001 TR 12:30-1:45 HLMS 177

Many of the central problems of philosophy crucially involve the modal concepts of possibility and necessity. For example, the problem of free will is the problem whether it was in any sense possible to have acted differently from the way one did; the problem of causation is whether there is any sense in which a cause necessitates its effect; various issues about reducibility turn on whether facts of one kind could have been different without there being any difference in facts of some other kind; and so on.

Nowadays, proper discussion of these and other issues requires some familiarity with the logic of possibility and necessity, or modal logic, as it is known. This course imparts the required familiarity. After a review of non-modal sentential logic, we will begin with the standard system of sentential modal logic, S5. Following a review of non-modal first-order logic, we will then investigate other systems of sentential modal logic. In the second part of the course we extend sentential S5 to first-order S5, and we will investigate a number of topics of philosophical interest, such as quantification and existence, possibilist quantifiers, the actuality operator, the de re/de dicto distinction, and counterpart theory.

PHIL 4470: Probability and Rational Choice
Professor Oddie
SEC 001 TR 11:00-12:15 HLMS 177

PHIL 2160: Ethics and Information Technology
Caleb Pickard
SEC 001 MWF 2:00-2:50 HUMN 190
SEC 002 MWF 3:00-3:50 HLMS 247

Examines contemporary ethical debates about the use, misuse, and development of information technology. Topics include ethical issues surrounding privacy, security, identity, hacking and cyber crime, automation technologies such as drones and self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Social Sciences; Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

PHIL 2800: Open Topics in Philosophy: Philosophy and Tango
Dr. Carone
SEC 001 TR 5:00-6:15 HLMS 196

In this class we shall delve into some philosophical issues through the literary and kinesthetic medium of the Argentine Tango and, in turn, analyze some questions raised by the Tango through the lens of philosophy. The class itself is an inquiry into whether it is possible to reconcile Nietzsche's dictum that "the philosopher must dance" with the Socratic claim that "the unexamined life is not worth living". It seeks, on the one hand, to balance passion with reason, not least in the quest for a special virtue ethics inspired by the Tango (where exaltation of self is not an anti-virtue, but false humility is); on the other, it seeks to understand to what extent sensory-motor bodily engagement may help philosophical self-knowledge.  With the aid of philosophy, we shall examine what it means for the Argentine Tango to bear various epithets, such as "a feeling that is danced", "the dance of love", and "a metaphor for life". Can sadness be turned into joy through kinesthetic release in the process of character formation? How can a non-verbal art be a metaphor, and how can metaphor be truth-bearing? Is "love" restricted to romantic love, or should it also include what Kant called "practical love", Martin Luther King "the redemptive power of love", and even agape as generosity?  If so, can the social practice of the Tango, both literally and metaphorically, present (with the help of philosophy) an invitation to surpass dichotomies such as egotism/altruism, or competition/cooperation, and to relate to others and the environment through expansive empathy?  Can the Argentine Tango (born late 1800's/early 1900's among the lower classes through a mixture of African, native, creole and European influences) contribute distinctive elements for further research into the relatively young fields of Philosophy of Race and/or Latin American Philosophy? You will be asked two essays and to attend both theoretical and practical sessions where you'll get exposed to the dance; however you will not be assessed on your ability or otherwise to do the latter. Readings will include sections from the work of Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Kant, some existentialists, Ricoeur and others, and will be complemented by a selection of tango lyrics (in translation from Spanish) so you understand not only the tango dance but its culture with its distinctive, diverse contribution.

PHIL 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
Professor Bailey
SEC 001 MWF 2:00-2:50 PM HLMS 267
SEC 002 MWF 3:00-3:50 PM HLMS 229

PHIL 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
Professor Kaufman
SEC 001 TR 11:00-12:15 HLMS 229
Dr. Potter
SEC 002 MWF 10:00-10:50 STAD 140

PHIL 3100: Ethical Theory
Dr. Perl
SEC 001 MWF 2:00-2:50 MUEN E431
SEC 002 MWF 12:00-12:50 DUAN G131

PHIL 3140 / ENVS 3140: Environmental Ethics
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 TR 11:00-12:15 MCOL W100
Dr. Chamorro
SEC 002 MWF 9:00-9:50 CLUB 13

PHIL 3160: Bioethics
Dr. Stenberg
SEC 001 MWF 3:00-3:50 VAC 1B88
SEC 002 MWF 2:00-2:50 GUGG 206

PHIL 3190: War and Morality
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 TR 12:30-1:45 MUEN E064

PHIL 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
Professor Wingo
SEC 001 TR 12:30-1:45 HLMS 177

PHIL 3260: Philosophy and the International Order
Dr. Sturgis
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 ECON 2

PHIL 3430: History of Science Newton to Einstein
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HALE 260

PHIL 3480: Critical Thinking and Writing in Philosophy
Professor Staffel
SEC 001 TR 12:13-1:45 HLMS 196
Dr. Potter
SEC 002 MWF 9:00-9:50 MKNA 204

PHIL 3700: Aesthetic Theory
Dr. Perry
SEC 001 TR 9:30-10:45 HLMS 177

PHIL 4010: Advanced Topics in Plato
Professor Lee
SEC 001 MWF 1:00-1:50 HLMS 177

This course will focus exclusively on the Greek philosopher Plato, with close readings of the Greater and Lesser Hippias, Phaedrus, Timaeus, Alcibiades, Sophist, and Seventh Letter. These dialogues feature questions such as, what is the nature of kalon or ‘beauty’? (Greater Hippias)  What is the nature of the soul? (Phaedrus) Does Plato have a “physics” or a natural philosophy, and if so, how does he reconcile that with his statements that the physical world is not knowable (Timaeus)? This course presupposes PHIL 3000 ‘History of Greek Philosophy’, or a similar introduction to Plato.

PHIL 4020: British Ethical Theories from Sidgwick to Ewing
Professor Heathwood
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 HLMS 177
Prerequisites: PHIL 3100 and Philosophy Major status (or permission of instructor)

A study of the important doctrines, arguments, and themes advanced among a group of British moral philosophers active in the late nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century.  The most well-known and influential thinkers in the group are Henry Sidgwick, G.E. Moore, and W.D. Ross.  Other central figures include Hastings Rashdall, J.M.E. McTaggart, H.A. Prichard, E.F. Carritt, C.D. Broad, and A.C. Ewing.

Their primary contributions were in theoretical ethics, and in particular in the normative ethics of behavior, axiology, and metaethics.  In normative theory, they didn't form an entirely unified school: in the ethics of behavior, some were consequentialists, others deontologists; in axiology, some were hedonists, others pluralists.  They agreed more in metaethics: they were all non-naturalists and intuitionists.  They shared other commitments as well, such as about which moral concepts are central and a commitment to the idea of underivative moral truths.  As Thomas Hurka writes in his recent book on this school, "these shared views make the group a distinctive school in the history of moral philosophy, pursuing the subject differently than earlier writers such as Aristotle, Hobbes, and Kant and than many present-day ones."

Our main aim in the course is to understand and evalute the school's views and arguments.  We will also be interested in understanding the relations and influences among the members and among their ideas.  The course will be structured around Thomas Hurka's recent book, British Ethical Theorists from Sidgwick to Ewing, the organization of which is topical rather than by figure.  We will read Hurka's book chapter-by-chapter all the way through alongside relevant excerpts from the primary sources.

PHIL 4250 / GRMN 4251: Marxism
Dr. Bredeson
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 CLRE 104

If we consider the sheer breadth of his influence across diverse academic disciplines—in philosophy, political theory, economics, historiography, and literary theory—there is a strong case to be made that Marx was the most influential thinker to emerge from modern Europe. In fact, one could easily claim that no one else comes even close to him on this score. To be sure, it is unlikely that Marx himself, were he alive today, would set much store in this achievement, and he might even regard it with a measure of embarrassment. As he famously put it, the point is not to interpret the world, but to change it. And despite the countless revolutions, large and small, that have been launched in his name, the jury is very much still out on the power of Marxist critique to bring about the material change that Marx took himself to be taking part in.

To begin to come to grips with Marx’s legacy, we will, first, try to understand Marx’s critique of capitalism from out of its historical and philosophical context; readings will be drawn from Smith, Kant, Novalis, Hegel, and Feuerbach. We will then turn to Marx’s early philosophical, economic, and political writings. The most intensive part of the course will involve a close reading of the first fifteen chapters of Marx’s monumental critique of capitalism, the first volume (and the only volume he lived to complete) of Capital. Finally, we will critically examine the significance of the Marxist heritage in the context of contemporary liberal political theory.

PHIL 4260: Philosophy of Law
Professor Talbot
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 177

First topic:  The ethics of collective activity in the legal context

The justification of legal practices often depends on goals that can only be achieved by collective or group activity

• Often, typical acts of individual participation, taken by themselves, make no difference to the goals of the group activity, and can do serious harm in the individual case
• We see this, e.g., in the justification of punishment:  the overall policy of legal punishment of general types of acts does have an effect on crime (although that connection is complicated), but typical individual acts of punishment won't have any effect on crime, and will be costly to the criminal
• We also see this in discussions of judicial adherence ("correct" application of the law):  consistent adherence creates an effective, predictable system, and systematic deviation would be potentially very harmful; but a particular act of adherence will have little to no effect on the systematic goals and may be very costly to those involved in a case

Topic two:  The ethics of collective harm in the legal context

Collective legal activities can create harms to which individual activities don't make a significant causal difference

• For example, individual sentences, or individual arrests, or individual uses of testimony in a particular case can be a piece of a systematic pattern of injustice without clearly making any significant difference to that larger pattern

We may also talk about how the law should deal with actions that create collective harm

• E.g. should individual acts which, as a group, create marginalization be punished more stringently, even when the action itself does not make a noticeable contribution to marginalization? 

The course will cover issues connected to collective action and collective harm, which might include:

• Do groups or collectives have moral obligations themselves?
• When do individuals have obligations to participate in collective activity, or to avoid participating in the harms caused by collectives?
• Do legal agents have special obligations to participate in collective activity, or to remedy collective harms?
• When these obligations exist, how strong are they?

Second topic:

What should legal agents (judges, jurors, police officers, lawyers, etc) do when they think their legal requirements conflict with their moral requirements?

• Note that they may be incorrect about this conflict.
• This is especially interesting in the legal context, because almost everyone agrees that even ideal laws can't fully conform to moral requirements.  And everyone agrees that our actual laws are not ideal laws.
• Possible examples we might discuss: jury nullification, judicial deviation from seemingly unjust laws

We'll likely discuss:

• Under what conditions should we see the law as more reliable about moral matters than we are?
• Do legal jobs create moral obligations to set aside one's own moral views?
• How do moral uncertainty and moral ignorance affect moral reasons/obligations?
• Does democracy sometimes require deference to the law (if so, under what conditions, and how strong is this requirement)?

PHIL 4340: Epistemology
Professor Steup
SEC 002 MW 3:00-4:15 MCOL E155

PHIL 4360: Metaphysics
Professor Saucedo
SEC 001 TR 11:00-12:15 HLMS 177

Fall 2018

PHIL 2240: Philosophy and Sport
Alexander Wolf-Root
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 CLUB 13

Introduces students to philosophical issues surrounding sport. Topics may include: paying college athletes, sex testing in sports, the use of performance enhancing drugs, sports and gambling, the nature and value of sports and sportsmanship, gender equity and sports, the ethics of strategic fouling, sports fandom, the coach-athlete relationship, athletes as role models, and the risk of extreme bodily harm.

PHIL 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
Dr. Nunziato
SEC 001 MWF 1:00-1:50 MCOL E155
SEC 002 MWF 3:00-3:50 HLMS 237

PHIL 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
Professor Kaufman
SEC 001 TR 11:00-12:15 VAC 1B88
Dr. Potter
SEC 002 TR 3:30-4:45 CLRE 208

PHIL 3100: Ethical Theory
Professor Heathwood
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 RAMY N1B31
Dr. Bowman
SEC 002 TR 5:00-6:15 HLMS 237

PHIL 3140 / ENVS 3140 Environmental Ethics
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 MWF 12:00-12:50 MCOL W100
SEC 002 MWF 9:00-9:50 DUAN G131

PHIL 3160 Bioethics
Dr. Perl
SEC 001 TR 5:00-6:15 ECON 205
SEC 002 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 247

PHIL 3190 War and Morality
Dr. Sturgis
SEC 001 MWF 1:00-1:50 HLMS 237

PHIL 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
Dr. Chapman
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 DUAN G2B21

PHIL 3260: Philosophy and International Order
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 MWF 4:00-4:50 VAC 1B88

PHIL 3410: History of Science: Ancients to Newton
Dr. Perry
SEC 001 MWF 2:00-2:50 HUMN 125

PHIL 3430: History of Science: Newton to Einstein
Dr. Youkey
SEC 001 MWF 1:00-1:50 HLMS 177

PHIL 3480: Critical Thinking and Writing in Philosophy
Dr. Potter
SEC 001 TR 12:30-1:45 HLMS 196
SEC 002 TR 2:00-3:15 HLMS 196

PHIL 3600: Philosophy of Religion
Professor Fileva
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 177

PHIL 3700 / HUMN 3092: Aesthetics
Professor Oddie
SEC 001 TR 2:00-3:15 HLMS 177

PHIL 4010: Single Philosopher: Kant
Dr. Bredeson
SEC 002 MWF 2:00-2:50 ECON 205

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is the single most influential philosopher of the modern period, hands down. It can probably be said that Kant’s impact on at least four core areas of philosophy—epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics—outstrips that of anyone working after Aristotle. In addition, Kant put forward a comprehensive vision of philosophy and science in general, giving principled reasons why some of their parts must be unified and others strictly separated, all while pioneering the integration of philosophy with emerging disciplines like anthropology and geography. Few thinkers since Kant have attempted anything even remotely as ambitious.

In this course we will try to get a sense of the significance of Kant’s philosophical achievement considered as a whole. Granted, in one semester we can only go so far in this direction, and several areas important to Kant’s conception of philosophy (notably, aesthetics, anthropology, geography, and political philosophy) will of necessity receive short shrift. But we will do our best to begin to bring Kant’s grand vision into focus. In doing so, we will split our focus along two main axes: theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy. We will focus on four core texts: the Critique of Pure Reason (1781/87), the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), the Critique of Practical Reason (1788), and the Metaphysics of Morals (1797).

PHIL 4030/5030: Topics in the History of Philosophy: Medieval Philosophy
Professor Pasnau
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 HUMN 125

This course will be a survey of medieval philosophy, ranging over ethics, mind, and metaphysics, and covering both the Latin and the Arabic traditions.

PHIL 4070: Existentialism
Dr. Chapman
SEC 001 MWF 9:00-9:50 HLMS 237

PHIL 4200/5200: Political Philosophy: Nationalism, Cosmopolitanism, and Global Justice
Professor Jaggar
SEC 001 MW 3:00-4:15 MCOL E155

This course will study the tensions between the global regime of international law and human rights, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the rise of contemporary nationalisms. New forms of global governance seem to be required by the ever-increasing integration of the global economy and the recognition that many environmental problems cross national borders. Yet today we see a resurgence of xenophobia and nationalism, with calls to guard our borders and ways of life.

The tensions between these two approaches to global governance emerge in many conflicts over land, language, and culture. We will study the philosophical aspects of a tangle of related issues including: moral bases for territorial claims, cultural integrity, migration, responsibility for global inequality, military humanitarian intervention, and reparations for colonialism.

PHIL 4260: Philosophy of Law
Professor Talbot
SEC 001 TR 9:30-10:45 HLMS 177

PHIL 4340: Epistemology
Professor Staffel
SEC 001 TR 12:30-1:45 HLMS 177

The focus of this class will be on questions surrounding the nature of justification. We begin by reading classic texts about justification that cover the debates between coherentists and foundationalists, and between internalists and externalists. We then move on to thinking about what it takes to have justified a priori beliefs – i.e. beliefs that can be justified independently of experience. The third big topic is the relationship between beliefs and their justifiers – what does it take to have beliefs that are properly based on one’s reasons for them? In the last few weeks, we will pull these debates together by reading some recent work on what it takes to have moral and mathematical knowledge.

PHIL 4440/5440: Topics in Logic
Professor Forbes
SEC 001 TR 11:00-12:15 HLMS 177

The course is designed mainly with the needs of philosophy majors/ minors and graduates in mind. For philosophy majors or minors, a grade of at least B+ in Phil 2440 (Symbolic Logic) or some equivalent is recommended. Any undergraduate who doesn’t satisfy this condition but who plans to enroll should first seek the advice of the instructor.

Course Description: The aim of the course is to present proofs of soundness and completeness results for sentential and first-order systems of natural deduction of the kind commonly taught in Phil 2440. The particular focus will be the Gentzen-style systems of my Phil 2440 textbook Modern Logic (OUP 1994). As time permits, we will look at some first-order model theory beyond the completeness proofs, up to and including properties of non-standard models of arithmetic.

Textbook: Logic and Metalogic for Philosophers, by Graeme Forbes (available in the bookstore in late summer).

Homework assignments will be set on a regular basis and graded, course grades being based on these. The assignments for those taking the course at the 4440 level may sometimes be different from those for the 5440 level.

PHIL 4800/5800: Open Topics: The Epistemology of Testimony
Professor Steup
SEC 001 TR 3:00-4:15 HLMS 245

There are interesting parallels between the epistemology of perception and the epistemology of testimony. When the liquid in a cup tastes like coffee, you have a perceptual experience. Under which conditions does such an experience give you justification for believing that there is coffee in the cup? Dogmatists say: Perceptual experiences are necessarily a source of (defeasible) justification. There are no conditions under which the liquid’s tasting like coffee fails to give you a reason to believe there is coffee in the cup. Conservatives say: Perceptual experiences are a source of justification provided you have no reason to distrust them. On that view, the liquid’s tasting like coffee gives you justification for believing there is coffee in the cup as long as you have no negative reason to think the experience is deceptive. Credentialists say: Perceptual experiences are a source of justification only if you have reasons to trust them. According to them, the liquid’s tasting like coffee gives you justification for believing there is coffee in the cup only if you have positive reasons to consider this experience trustworthy or reliable.

In the epistemology of testimony, we find the same dialectic. Suppose Jane tells you that the liquid in the cup is coffee. Under which conditions does the Jane’s assertion give you justification for believing there is coffee in the cup? Dogmatists say: Testimony is always a source of (defeasible) justification. There are no conditions under which Jane’s assertion fails to give you a (defeasible) reason to believe the liquid in the cup is coffee. Conservatives say: Testimony is a source of justification as long as there is no negative reason to consider it untrustworthy. Jane’s assertion is a reason to believe there is coffee in the cup provided you have no negative reasons for not trusting what she told you. Credentialists say: Testimony is a source of justification only if you have evidence of its reliability. Jane’s assertion is a reason to believe the liquid in the cup is coffee only if you have positive reasons to consider her testimony trustworthy.

In this course/seminar, we will examine the reasons for and against each of these theories about testimony, and also discuss various other issues that arise in the epistemology of testimony. Readings: Paul Faulkner: Knowledge on Trust (OUP 2011). Jennifer Lackey: Learning from Words (OUP 2008). Lackey & Sosa (eds.): The Epistemology of Testimony (OUP 2006).

PHIL 2800: Open Topics in Philosophy: Philosophical Issues in Psychiatry
TR 3:30-4:45 HUMN 125
Professor Fileva

Suppose a person with a psychiatric condition approaches you in the street and makes an attempt to establish communication. What would you do? If you are like most people, you will ignore her. This is an understandable reaction: mental illness makes us feel uncomfortable, almost embarrassed. Yet, the psychiatric patient needs human contact as much as the rest of us do (if not more), and since none of us are willing to talk to her, she is likely “starved” for contact. Should we try to prevent ostracizing the mentally ill, and if so how? This is an ethical problem in psychiatry. There are other ethical problems concerning psychiatry, for instance, when is a psychiatrist justified in administering a treatment against a patient's will? Should a psychiatrist go along with a patient's desires if he believes fulfilling those desires would be bad for her? Is a psychopath morally blameworthy?
 
There are also questions concerning psychiatry that have to do with branches of philosophy other than ethics, such as philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science. Thus, we can ask: what is a mental disorder? Is  autism a mental disorder or merely a different neurological type? Is psychiatry a science?

All of these questions fall at the intersection between philosophy and psychiatry. Philosophers and psychiatrists are aware of the existence of common ground. In the last couple of decades, the common ground has been subject of intensive exploration. In this course, we shall take advantage of these recent developments. Our aim will be to get the best of both worlds: combine philosophy's clarity of vision with psychiatry's firm empirical grounding. 

PHIL 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
SEC 001 MWF 2:00-2:50 CLUB 13, SEC 002 MWF 3:00-3:50 HLMS 241
Professor Bailey

PHIL 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
SEC 001 TR 3:30-4:45 CLRE 104
Professor Kaufman
SEC 002 MWF 10:00-10:50 MCOL E155
TBA

PHIL 3100: Ethical Theory
MWF 2:00-2:50 VAC 1B88
Professor Norcross

PHIL 3140/ENVS 3140: Environmental Ethics
SEC 001 TR 11:00-12:15 MCOL W100, SEC 002 TR 12:30-1:45 RAMY N1B31
Dr. Youkey

PHIL 3160: Bioethics
SEC 001 MWF 3:00-3:50 HLMS 141, SEC 002 MWF 9:00-9:50 ECON 2
Anthony Kelley

PHIL 3190: War and Morality
TR 3:30-4:45 CLUB 4
Dr. Sturgis

PHIL 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
MWF 12:00-12:50 HLMS 177
Professor Wingo

PHIL 3260: Philosophy and International Order
TR 3:30-4:45 EKLC 1B50
Dr. Youkey

PHIL 3430: History of Science: Newton to Einstein
TR 3:30-4:45 HLMS 245
Dr. Vistarini

PHIL 3480: Critical Thinking and Writing in Philosophy
SEC 001 TR 9:30-10:45 MKNA 204
Professor Demarest
SEC 002 MWF 9:00-9:50 HLMS 196
Dr. Potter

PHIL 3600: Philosophy of Religion
MWF 3:00-3:50 CLUB 13
TBD

PHIL 4010: Single Philosopher: Hume
MWF 2:00-2:50 VAC 1B90
Dr. Potter

PHIL 4260: Philosophy of Law
MWF 2:00-2:50 HLMS 177
Professor Wingo

"Philosophy of Law" can refer to a wide range of philosophical topics related to the law.  In this course we will be especially concerned with the moral foundations of law and moral questions that arise when thinking about the law, especially the constitutional law of the United States.

Some Topics we will cover include:

1. Natural Law Theory
2. Legal Positivism
3. Legal Realism
4. Law and the Limits of Individual Liberty
5. Human Dignity and the Law
6. American Constitution: The original Intent and the Constitution as a living Document  
7. Civic Education and the Law

PHIL 4340: Epistemology
TR 3:30-4:45 VAC 1B90
Professor Huemer

PHIL 4360: Metaphysics
TR 11:00-12:15 HLMS 177
Professor Demarest

PHIL 4370: Free Will and Determinism
TR 12:30-1:45 HUMN 270
Professor Steup

This course will be on the four main theories about free will: 1. Hard determinism: the world is entirely deterministic; therefore, free will does not exist.   2. Libertarianism: the world is not entirely deterministic; there are indeterministic gaps in which we can exercise free will.  3. Compatibilism: the world is entirely deterministic, but that’s compatible with the existence of free will. 4. Agent Causation: all events are determined. That’s not a problem for free will because agents are unmoved first movers. We will also discuss the following topics: the consequence argument, alternative possibilities and Frankfurt cases, and contemporary skepticism: living without free will. Requirements are likely to be two exams and a paper. 

PHIL 4450: History and Philosophy of Physics
TR 11:00-12:15 ECON 205
Dr. Vistarini

PHIL 4470: Rational Choice Theory
TR 12:30-1:45 HLMS 177
Professor Oddie

The concepts of rationality, and of rational choice, are fundamental throughout philosophy, and the notion of probability features prominently in our attempts to solve problems of rationality in both theoretical and practical domains. The course will examine the foundations of practical and theoretical rationality through the exploration of a number of paradoxes that are not only fascinating in themselves but which pose real difficulties for any unified theory of rationality. On the practical side these include the Prisoner’s Dilemma, Newcomb’s Puzzle, Ellsberg’s Paradox, the Allais Paradox, the Condorcet voting paradox, Arrow’s Impossibility theorem for theories of social choice, Sen’s paradox of liberalism, and Parfit’s paradox of value aggregation. On the theoretical side we will examine puzzles of prediction and theory choice, including the Raven’s paradox, the famous Monty Hall and Three Prisoners problems, the Sleeping Beauty paradox, and the Opaque Proposition paradox. The course is highly recommended for any student who thinks they might want to pursue further study in philosophy, cognitive science, politics or public policy. (And the course comes with the Professor’s personal guarantee that, although you will together solve some of these paradoxes, you will leave with enough still unresolved to occupy a lifetime’s reflection.)

PHIL 4490: Philosophy of Language
MW 3:00-4:15, HLMS 177
Professor Forbes

The course will focus on semantic and pragmatic aspects of linguistic meaning, and the difference between the two.

Example: you are serving on a search committee in the Department of Mathematics. The appointment is to be at the Assistant Professor level, for a specialist in differential geometry. Dr. Y has applied, and you await a letter of reference from Professor X, Y’s Ph.D. supervisor. X’s letter arrives. It reads in its entirety: Dr. Y is always polite and well-dressed, and has very neat handwriting. You conclude that X’s opinion is that Dr. Y is not a great differential geometer. Semantics tells us what the literal meaning of X’s letter is. The literal meaning concerns Dr. Y’s personal manner, tailoring, and legibility of writing. But pragmatics enriches this meaning to “Dr. Y would be a really bad choice for your position.” Somehow, the irrelevance of the literal meaning in the context (it wouldn’t be so irrelevant if we run the clock back a thousand years and suppose Y is applying for a position transcribing manuscripts in a monastery) combines with general principles about conversation to generate a total message about something — Y’s ability as a differential geometer — that the letter never even mentions.

Semantics explains how the literal meaning is arrived at. Pragmatics explains how the total message is generated from the literal meaning.

The central concept of semantics is that of compositionality, which goes back to Frege: the meaning of a complex phrase is derived in a systematic way from the meanings of its syntactic constituents. In the first part of the course we will work through an elementary version of a compositional semantic theory, known as type-logical semantics (TLG). The text for this is an introduction to semantics, Formal Models of Fregean Compositionality, by the instructor, and will be available in the campus bookstore in January.

The central concept of pragmatics is that of conversational implicature, due to Grice. Grice’s original paper, Logic and Conversation, will be distributed during the semester, as will several other readings.

The course grade will be based on homework problems set in the first part of the course, and a paper set at the end of the second.

Most of the course will be unintelligible to students who haven’t taken PHIL 2440 (Symbolic Logic) or an equivalent.

PHIL 4800: Gender and Global Justice
Professor Jaggar
This course highlights the gendered aspects of some contemporary transnational moral wrongs, which are often overlooked in mainstream discussions of global justice. Topics may include:

• Human rights, moral relativism, and adaptive preferences
• Assessing wellbeing, poverty, and quality of life
• Responsibility, aid, and development
• Gendered divisions of global labor
• Labor migration, including global care chains and sex trafficking
• Health including reproductive and mental health
• Gender and militarism
• Moral repair and transnational responses to gendered wrongs

Fall 2017

PHIL 2150: Ethics and Sex
Professor Boonin
Are violent sexual fantasies immoral?  What about playing video games that feature sexual violence?  Voyeurism?  Prostitution?  Incest?  What about plain old sexual promiscuity?  And what should we say when a person’s consent to sex is compromised because they’ve been given false information?  Or because they’re moderately intoxicated?  Or because they’re quite young?  Is it wrong to be a sperm donor?  To pay someone to carry a pregnancy to term?  What about reproductive cloning?  Is reproduction itself morally wrong? Are there too many people?  Sex and reproduction raise a number of important and difficult ethical questions like these.  This introductory-level, discussion-oriented course will provide a critical survey of what contemporary philosophers have said about the questions listed here and about several related questions as well.  The course does not require any previous work in philosophy. 

PHIL 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
SEC 002
Dr. Bredeson
In this course we will examine a series of foundational works in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy—what we call the “modern” period. The contours of many contemporary philosophical questions remain decisively shaped by the work done in this period, and its political philosophy continues to provide the rational basis for many political structures today. In this class, we will look at the way basic questions in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and political philosophy were addressed by some of the greatest thinkers of modern philosophy. Readings will include works by René Descartes, Elisabeth of Bohemia, John Locke, David Hume, and others.

PHIL 3180: Critical Thinking: Contemporary Topics
Professor Boonin
This course offers a critical examination of philosophical writings on a wide variety of controversial social issues with a special focus on understanding and evaluating the different kinds of argumentative strategies that philosophers deploy in defending their views about such matters.  Topics to be covered include widely-debated subjects such as abortion, affirmative action, animal rights, and our obligations to future generations, as well as some less familiar issues such as whether blackmail should be legal, whether parenting should require a license, and whether it is possible for acts to harm people after they are dead.  Argument strategies to be covered while discussing these issues include arguments from analogy, arguments from inference to the best explanation, and arguments by reductio ad absurdum. 

PHIL 4010: Advanced Topics in Aristotle
Professor Lee
MWF 1:00-1:50
This course will be an advanced survey course on Aristotle. We will cover the following topics in Aristotle: (i) Aristotle’s theory of dialectic and argument, (ii) what is distinctive about his syllogistic and theory of deductive argument? (iii) Aristotle’s concept of proof and his epistemology, (iv) Aristotle’s early ontology, (v) did Aristotle recognize the principle of bivalence or any other principle as a “logical principle”? (vi) Aristotle’s metaphysics—his concept of explanation and cause, his concept of ‘metaphysics’, what kind of principle is the principle of non-contradiction and how does Aristotle argue for it?, his theory of substance, matter and form, his concepts of potentiality and actuality, his theology, with his theory of unmoved movers and of God; (vii) Aristotle’s philosophy of science and biology, (viii) Aristotle’s psychology, (ix) Aristotle’s ethics and politics. This course is designed for advanced philosophy majors and for philosophy graduate students. Prerequisites: Undergraduates should not take this before taking PHIL 3000, and should have taken 4 philosophy courses before taking this course. If you have questions, please contact mitzi.lee@colorado.edu. The required text for this course is J.L. Ackrill’s  A New Aristotle Reader (Princeton 1987).

PHIL 4040: Studies in 20th Century Philosophy
Professor Saucedo
The course will be an in-depth study of a few core themes in the intersection of logic and metaphysics throughout the 20th century. Readings from Boole, Cantor, Frege, McTaggart, Bradley, Moore, Russell, Whitehead, Wittgenstein, Quine, Kripke, Boolos, Lewis, and Fine. Restricted to graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Prerequisites: must have gotten a grade of B+ or better in PHIL 2440. Highly advisable to have taken PHIL 3480 and at least one of the following: PHIL 4300, PHIL 4340, PHIL 4360, PHIL 4400, PHIL 4440, PHIL 4450, PHIL 4460, PHIL 4490.

PHIL 4120: Philosophy and Animals
Professor Norcross
his course will focus on ethical issues arising out of humans’ treatment of nonhuman animals. We will begin with a consideration of the ethics of eating animals, and then move on to discuss issues arising in connection with the use of animals in research. We will conclude with a variety of issues connected with Tom Regan’s rights-based approach to animal ethics.
Graduate students, who sign up for PHIL 5120, will also read Peter Carruthers’ Book The Animals Issue, and take part in extra graduate-only weekly meetings.

PHIL 4340: Epistemology
Professor Steup
This course will be an advanced survey of contemporary epistemology. It will cover the following topics: the traditional analysis of knowledge, the Gettier problem, internalist vs. externalist theories of knowledge and justification, relevant alternative theories, contextualism, pragmatic encroachment, theories of perceptual justification, and skepticism. Required readings: Richard Feldman: Epistemology (https://www.pearsonhighered.com/program/Feldman-Epistemology/PGM267611.html), and a selection of recent journal articles.

PHIL 4460: Modal Logic
Professor Forbes
Many of the central problems of philosophy crucially involve the modal concepts of possibility and necessity. For example, the problem of free will is the problem whether it was in any sense possible to have acted differently from the way one did; the problem of causation is whether there is any sense in which a cause necessitates its effect; various issues about reducibility turn on whether facts of one kind could have been different without there being any difference in facts of some other kind; and so on.

Spring 2017

PHIL 1010/CLAS 1030: Introduction to Ancient Philosophy
SEC 100, MW 10:00-10:50, HLMS 199
Prof. Lee
John Christmann will be the TA and will conduct discussion sections on Fridays at 10, and Fridays 11. 

PHIL 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
SEC 001, MWF 2:00-2:50, VAC 1B90
Prof. Bailey
SEC 002, MWF 12:00-12:50, HLMS 237
Prof. Lee
This course is a survey of ancient Greek philosophy. We begin with a selection from the Presocratics, a selection of the dialogues of Plato, Aristotle’s ethics, and selected writings from Epicurus. The aim of the course is to introduce students to the central concerns and ideas of ancient Greek philosophy. Writing assignments will introduce students to the basic elements of how to write a good philosophy paper.

PHIL 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
SEC 001, MWF 2:00-2:50, ECON 13
TBD
SEC 002, MWF 9:00-9:50, VAC 1B88
Dr. Bredeson
In this course we will examine a series of foundational works in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy—what we call the “modern” period. The contours of many contemporary philosophical questions remain decisively shaped by the work done in this period, and its political philosophy continues to provide the rational basis for many political structures today. In this class, we will look at the way basic questions in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and political philosophy were addressed by some of the greatest thinkers of modern philosophy. Readings will include works by René Descartes, Elisabeth of Bohemia, John Locke, Lord Shaftesbury, David Hume, Adam Smith, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

PHIL 3100: Ethical Theory
SEC 001, TR 12:30-1:45, HLMS 229
Prof. Norcross

PHIL 3140: Environmental Ethics
SEC 001, TR 11:00-12:15, MCOL W100
Dr. Youkey
SEC 002, TR 12:30-1:45, RAMY N1B31
Dr. Youkey

PHIL 3160: Bioethics
SEC 001, MWF 3:00-3:50, DUAN G2B21
Dr. Colvin
We will begin with an overview studying three main approaches in contemporary ethics and apply them to current controversies in bioethics. The point of this course is not to establish the "truth" about any of these controversies but rather to develop critical thinking and writing skills. We will learn how to think philosophically, that is, how to recognize and construct arguments rather than mere opinions. The course covers traditional topics in bioethics such as abortion, euthanasia, and the doctor/patient relationship, but also examines the ethical aspects of emerging technologies (such as gene therapy), and the way the science of medicine is reshaping its social role.
 

PHIL 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
SEC 001
TBA

PHIL 3260: Philosophy and the International Order
SEC 001, TR 9:30-10:45, CLRE 209
Dr. Youkey
SEC 002
TBA

PHIL 3430: History of Science: Newton to Einstein
SEC 001, TR 3:30-4:45, CLUB 4
Dr. Youkey

PHIL 3480: Critical Thinking/Writing in Philosophy
SEC 001, TR 2:00-3:15, HLMS 177
Prof. Huemer
SEC 003, TR 11:00-12:15, ECCR 110
TBA

PHIL 3600: Philosophy of Religion
SEC 001, TR 5:00-6:15, VAC 1B88
Prof. Heathwood
In analytic philosophy of religion, we attempt to answer fundamental questions concerning important doctrines of major world religions, especially the Abrahamic religions, and especially the doctrines concerning God, as God is typically understood in those traditions.  There are too many such questions worth studying to fit into one course.  We will confine our attention to just a few of them.

After laying out a traditional definition of God, our first main topic will be divine omnipotence.  We'll gain an appreciation for why the notion of omnipotence is problematic, and will explore the solution offered centuries ago by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274).  Our next topic will be the dilemma of freedom and foreknowledge, where we investigate whether God's omniscience implies that no one has free will.  Our focus will be on the kind of solution to the dilemma offered centuries ago by William of Ockham (1287–1347) as it is developed by the leading contemporary philosopher of religion Alvin Plantinga.

Then we will move on to arguments for God's existence.  We'll being with Pascal's wager, due to the French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), which attempts to show that it is prudent to believe in God.  Then we'll study the most famous version of the ontological argument, due to St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109).  Ontological arguments attempt to prove that God exists simply from the definition of God.  We'll conclude our examination of arguments for God's existence with a fascinating modern version of the argument from design called the fine-tuning argument.  According to this argument, certain remarkable facts about the laws of physics provide evidence that those laws were crafted by an intelligent designer.

Our next topic for the course will be a kind of master argument for atheism, and the many issues this argument raises, such as the different kinds of possible evidence for God's existence, the notion of self-evidence, the problem of divine hiddenness, and the notion of faith.  If time remains, we’ll investigate the possibility of life after death by examining (i) what human beings would have to be like for life after death to be possible (e.g., would we have to have immaterial souls?), and (ii) whether there is any reason to think that we are that way.

PHIL 3700: Aesthetic Theory
SEC 001, TR 11:00-12:15, MUEN E130
Prof. Oddie
Creating, enjoying and appreciating art is one of the most distinctive features of human beings. Artworks are among the most valued entities in our culture, but also in most human cultures. But what is art, and why do we, or why should we, value it so highly? These are the core philosophical questions that we will address in this course. We will explore a variety of answers that philosophers have given to these basic questions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it turns out to be difficult to formulate a coherent and consistent theory of art and of its value. One aim of the course is to become familiar with the main answers to these questions, and the arguments for and against them. The range of theories we will explore include: the representational theory, the expression theory, formalism, neo-Wittgensteinianism, and the institutional theory. But aesthetic theory encompasses more than the domain of art. A secondary aim of the course will be to locate art within the wider domain of aesthetic objects, aesthetic properties, and aesthetic experiences.

PHIL 4010: Single Philosopher: Kant
SEC 001, TR 9:30-10:45, DUAN G2B47
Dr. Potter

PHIL 4070: Existentialist Philosophy
SEC 001, MWF 3:00-3:50, CLRE 104
Dr. Chapman

PHIL 4110: Contemporary Moral Theory
SEC 001, TR 3:30-4:45, HLMS 237
Prof. Fileva
We will begin this course with a central problem in metaethics, that of the role of reason versus emotion in moral judgment: Do emotions cause moral judgments? Are emotions themselves moral judgments? Is moral understanding possible without moral emotions?

PHIL 4250: Marxism
SEC 001, MWF 1:00-1:50, VAC 1B90
Dr. Bredeson
If we consider the sheer breadth of his influence across diverse academic disciplines—in philosophy, political theory, economics, historiography, and literary theory—there is a strong case to be made that Marx was the most influential thinker to emerge from modern Europe. In fact, one could easily claim that no one else comes even close to him on this score. To be sure, it is unlikely that Marx himself, were he alive today, would set much store in this achievement, and he might even regard it with a measure of embarrassment. As he famously put it, the point is not to interpret the world, but to change it. And despite the countless revolutions, large and small, that have been launched in his name, the jury is very much still out on the power of Marxist critique to bring about the material change that Marx took himself to be taking part in. To begin to come to grips with Marx’s legacy, we will, first, try to understand Marx’s critique of capitalism from out of its historical and philosophical context; readings will be drawn from Locke, Kant, Novalis, Hegel, and Feuerbach. We will then turn to Marx’s early philosophical, economic, and political writings. The most intensive part of the course will involve a close reading of the first fifteen chapters of Marx’s monumental critique of capitalism, the first volume (and the only volume he lived to complete) of Capital. Finally, we will examine the foundational debates about its political significance that have set the shape for the uptake of Marxism over the past century; readings will be drawn from Bernstein, Luxemburg, and Lukács.

PHIL 4260: Philosophy of Law
SEC 001,TR 3:30-4:45, HLMS 177
Prof. Hosein

PHIL 4300: Philosophy of Mind
SEC 001, TR 2:00-3:15, HLMS 237
Prof. Rupert
In this course, we will address three families of questions. The first pertains to mental content: How do our thoughts get their meaning? Do we have direct access to the contents of our thoughts? Is thought-content essentially normative? The second concerns the relation between the mental domain and the universe as it’s depicted by contemporary natural science: How could a mental state cause physical behavior? Could distinctively mental phenomena appear in a world composed ultimately of nothing more than “atoms in the void”? The third focuses on consciousness in particular: How could conscious experiences appear in a physical world? Do conscious experiences have irreducible qualitative character? How is conscious experience connected to the self? We’ll read one to two essays per week, according to a schedule to be announced in class as we move along.
Textbook: B. McLaughlin and J. Cohen (Eds.), Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Mind (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007)

PHIL 4360: Metaphysics
SEC 001, MWF 12:00-12:50, HLMS 177
Prof. Tooley

PHIL 4450: History and Philosophy of Physics
SEC 001, TR 11:00-12:15, DUAN G2B41
Prof. Franklin

PHIL 4800: Open Topics: Gender and Global Justice
SEC 001, TR 2:00-3:15, HLMS 251
Prof. Jaggar

Gender and Global Justice, WGST 4000/5000 and PHIL 4800

This course highlights the gendered aspects of some contemporary transnational wrongs, which are often overlooked in mainstream discussions of global justice. Topics may include:

• Human rights, moral relativism, and adaptive preferences
• Assessing wellbeing, poverty, and quality of life
• Responsibility, aid, and development
• Gendered divisions of global labor
• Labor migration, including global care chains and sex trafficking
• Health including reproductive and mental health
• Gender and militarism
• Moral repair and transnational responses to gendered wrongs

Fall 2016

PHIL 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
SEC 001, MWF 1:00-1:50, HLMS 229
Prof. Bailey
SEC 002, MWF 3:00-3:50, HLMS 229
Prof. Bailey
 

PHIL 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
SEC 001, MWF 10:00-10:50, HLMS 237
Dr. Bredeson
In this course we will examine a series of foundational works in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy -- what we call the "modern" period. The contours of many contemporary philosophical questions remain decisively shaped by the work done in the modern period, and the political philosophy of the period continues to provide the rational basis for many political structures today. Readings will be drawn from the following figures (plus maybe a few more): Descartes, Elisabeth of Bohemia, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Hume, and Rousseau.
SEC 002, MWF 11:00-11:50, VAC 1B88
Dr. Potter

PHIL 3100: Ethical Theory
SEC 001, TR 3:30-4:45, HLMS 229
Prof. Heathwood
We make moral and evaluative judgments - e.g., "You shouldn't litter," "It's unfair that some children have no health care," "Friendship helps make life worth living," "Abortion is wrong," "Martin Luther King was a great man" - all the time. But what are we doing when we do this? Are we describing an objective moral reality, or ultimately just expressing our feelings? Are such statements ever true? Can we ever know one to be true? If there are moral facts, are they just a subclass of the natural facts about the world? Assuming that we do have moral obligations, why should we care about them? These are some questions in metaethics, to which the first part of this course will provide an introduction.

Then we will turn to normative ethics, where we attempt to figure out which moral claims - and, in particular, which fundamental moral principles - are actually true. Our main questions will be, What makes an act right or wrong?, and, What makes a state of affairs good or bad? Consequentialists believe that an act's rightness or wrongness is to be explained solely in terms of how good or bad its outcome would be. We will explore this theory, as well as theories about what makes an outcome good or bad (and especially about what makes an outcome good or bad for someone). Deontologists reject the view that consequences are all that matter. They typically believe that we have special obligations (e.g., to our children, to people with whom we have made agreements) that are not explained by the value of outcomes, and that there are constraints against certain kinds of behavior (e.g., lying, harming the innocent) even when doing so would lead to the best outcome. We will explore deontology as well.
 

PHIL 3140: Environmental Ethics
SEC 001, MWF 12:00-12:50, MCOL W100
Dr. Sturgis
SEC 002, MWF 8:00-8:50, HLMS 137
TBA
 

PHIL 3160: Bioethics
SEC 001, MWF 9:00-9:50, MUEN E431
Dr. Warren
SEC 002, MWF 2:00-2:50, ECON 205
Dr. Warren
This course surveys some of the most pressing issues in medical ethics and practice today.  In the first section of the course, we will identify the ways in which vulnerability and exploitation have undermined moral and political ideals for conducting research on human subjects. These ideals include patient autonomy and treatment in accordance with non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice. Following this, we will question how the availability, use, and practice of certain technologies can increase as well as diminish individual liberty. The topics we will consider include abortion, surrogacy, and eugenics. At the end of the semester students will have the opportunity to explore a bioethical issue that they find most pressing and interesting on their own and to present their findings to the class.

PHIL 3190: War and Morality
SEC 001, TR 8:00-9:15, HLMS 199
Dr. Youkey
 

PHIL 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
SEC 001, MWF 1:00-1:50, HLMS 237
Prof. Wingo
 

PHIL 3260: Philosophy and the International Order
SEC 001, TR 3:30-4:45, CLUB 13
Dr. Youkey
 

PHIL 3310: Cognitive Science
SEC 001, TR 9:30-10:45, FLMG 104
Prof. Eisenberg, Prof. Wager
 

PHIL 3430: History of Science: Newton to Einstein
SEC 001, MWF 1:00-1:50, HLMS 177
Dr. Vistarini
 

PHIL 3480: Critical Thinking/Writing in Philosophy
SEC 001, TR 9:30-10:45, HLMS 177
Dr. Potter
SEC 002, TR 12:30-1:45, HLMS 196
Prof. Saucedo
 

PHIL 3700: Aesthetic Theory
SEC 001, TR 2:00-3:15, HLMS 196
Prof. Fileva
The Bad, the Painful, and the Beautiful
Literature can be morally disturbing. For instance, it can portray an ordinary person, a perfectly normal individual -- one of us, really -- as being completely unmoved by his mother’s death, or else it can depict decent parents who are in all ways upstanding citizens as being ashamed of their child’s disability. What is more, a good book is often good precisely because it disturbs us in some way. How should we read such books? Should we look for aesthetic pleasure without letting the art works in question have any bearing on our lives and world, or should we derive moral lessons from them? And if fictional worlds must be taken to be completely severed from our world, how are we to judge the characters we encounter in literature, by an appeal to what moral standards if not to ours? These are some of the questions we will discuss in this course.

There is a second main problem we will explore -- that of negative emotions in art. Art often provokes in us negative emotions such as sadness, horror, and disgust. Interestingly, those emotions give us aesthetic pleasure. But how can that be? Why would it be pleasant to have art provoke in us emotions which would never please us in real life? This problem in aesthetics is known as the “paradox of tragedy,” because the discussion of it began with Hume’s observation that fictional tragedies delight us. In contemporary aesthetics, however, the problem has a broader scope and negative emotions other than the sadness provoked by tragedies fall within its purview.           

The purpose of this course is to seek answers to the two main problems mention: first, that of the connection between morality and fiction -- with a special emphasis on morally disturbing literature -- and second, that of negative emotions in art. As we will see, the two are not unrelated: being morally disturbed can be painful yet pleasurable precisely because it is painful. In seeking to accomplish our task, we shall read and discuss both philosophical and literary works. We will begin with readings from Plato, Aristotle, and Hume and will then transition to contemporary philosophical work by philosophers including Berys Gaut, Matthew Kieran, Daniel Jacobson, and Robert Solomon. In the third part of the course, we will seek to illuminate the philosophical issues with the help of good literary works. We will read and discuss novels and plays by Jean Genet, Henrik Ibsen, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Eugene O’Neill, and Vladimir Nabokov.     

PHIL 4010: Advanced Topics in Plato
SEC 001, TR 2:00-3:45, HLMS 245
Prof. Lee
This course will concentrate on the issues of law and virtue in Plato's Crito, Statesman, and the Laws. The course presupposes the equivalent of PHIL 3000 History of Ancient Greek Philosophy, and in particular, a basic acquaintance with Plato.
 

PHIL 4010: Single Philosopher: Aquinas
SEC 002, TR 11:00-12:15, HLMS 237
Prof. Pasnau
This is a special team-taught course, led by Professor Robert Pasnau, a leading historian of medieval philosophy, and Visiting Professor Francis Beckwith, a prominent Catholic moral philosopher. We will work our way through the central ideas of Aquinas's philosophy, beginning with his conception of human nature, followed by his account of human happiness, the nature of God, and his theory of natural law.

PHIL 4120: Philosophy and Animals
SEC 001, MWF 11:00-11:50, HLMS 229
Prof. Norcross
This course will focus on the ethical issues raised by human treatment of animals. It is commonly assumed that animals, if they have any moral significance at all, are subordinate in importance to human beings. Not only do we eat animals for our enjoyment and perform experiments on them for our benefit, but many, perhaps most, people assume that it is morally permissible that we do so. This is an assumption that most of us make without trying to justify it. In this course we will examine both attempts to justify and to challenge this assumption.

PHIL 4260: Philosophy of Law
SEC 001, TR 11:00-12:15, HLMS 177
Prof. Hosein
In this course we will consider moral questions that arise when thinking about the law, especially the constitutional law of the United States. We will look at how important philosophical debates about the values of democracy, freedom and equality can affect central legal debates about constitutional interpretation in general and discussions of particular clauses. And we will think about whether the existing legal framework best promotes those values. Some questions we will consider include: Is judicial review undemocratic? Would stricter campaign finance regulations enhance people's liberties and the democratic process or be serious blows to freedom and the democratic process? What is gender discrimination?

PHIL 4340: Epistemology
SEC 001, TR 12:30-1:45, HLMS 177
Prof. Tooley
 

PHIL 4360: Metaphysics
SEC 001, MWF 2:00-2:50, MCOL E155
Prof. Oddie
Metaphysics concerns the elements of being and their nature -- including (amongst other entities) properties, particulars, sets, relations, states of affairs, events, actions, numbers, functions, procedures, proofs, possibilities, connections and values. Different metaphysical theories posit different fundamental elements and attempt to construct a complete account of what is in terms of the fundaments. We will begin with the problem of universals and particulars and investigate a range of realist and nominalist theories.  This will lead on naturally to an investigation of the nature of existence, wholes and parts, modality, causation and value.

PHIL 4440: Topics in Logic: Mathematical Logic
SEC 001, TR 3:30-4:45, HLMS 177
Prof. Forbes
The course is designed mainly with the needs of philosophy majors/minors and graduates in mind. For philosophy majors or minors, a grade of at least B+ in Phil 2440 (Symbolic Logic) or some equivalent is recommended. Any other undergraduate who plans to enroll should seek the advice of the instructor.

Course Description: The aim of the course is to present proofs of soundness and completeness results for sentential and first-order systems of natural deduction of the kind commonly taught in Phil 2440. The particular focus will be the Gentzen-style systems of my Phil 2440 textbook Modern Logic (OUP 1994). As time permits, we will look at some first-order model theory beyond the completeness proofs, up to and including properties of non-standard models of arithmetic.

Textbook: Logic and Metalogic for Philosophers, by Graeme Forbes (available in the bookstore in late summer).

Homework assignments will be set on a regular basis and graded, course grades being based on these. The assignments for those taking the course at the 4440 level are (often) different from those for the 5440 level.
 

PHIL 4450: History and Philosophy of Physics
SEC 001, MWF 11:00-11:50, DUAN G2B21
Dr. Vistarini
 

PHIL 4830: Senior Seminar in Philosophy: Political Liberty
SEC 001, TR 2:00-3:15, HLMS 177
Prof. Huemer
Description: The course will explore questions related to political liberty, including whether and why government is necessary, what are the rights of the individual, and how state power should be limited. Controversies to be discussed include drug prohibition, gun control laws, immigration restrictions, and others. Readings will include Huemer's The Problem of Political Authority, as well as selections from Robert Nozick, David Friedman, and other proponents of political liberty.

Summer 2016

A Session

PHIL 1000: Introduction to Philosophy
SEC 100, MTWRF 11:00am-12:35pm, MCOL E158
Caleb Pickard
An introduction to some fundamental topics in philosophy, including skepticism, induction, personal identity, the mind-body problem, and well-being. No prerequisites.

B Session

PHIL 1200: Philosophy and Society
SEC 200, MTWRF 9:15-10:50am, HLMS 247
Prof. Mason
This class introduces philosophic thought through critical analysis of our own society and its institutions and principles by making use of the critical analytical tools provided by feminist philosophic thinking.  It will explore a variety of topics, including pornography, prostitution, stereotyping and gender roles, the body, and others.  It will examine recent philosophical positions on these issues, with a critical eye on the various theoretical tools and political frameworks in use.  Students will learn about traditional liberal approaches to feminism, as well as approaches that use ideas such as false consciousness, social construction, and power relations to explain and understand the role of gender in injustices.  This course meets MAPS requirement for social science: general, and is approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: United States context or ideals and values. See the Summer School website for full details.

PHIL 1500: Reading, Writing, and Reasoning
SEC 200, MTWRF 11:00am-12:35pm, HLMS 251
Spencer Case
This course is designed to help you develop three skills: the ability to read and understand a philosophy paper, the ability to write clearly and comprehensibly – especially argumentative essays – and the ability to think critically about philosophical topics. Thinking critically about philosophical topics means the ability to provide reasons for your beliefs, and to evaluate arguments as good or bad. This class fulfills the First-Year Written Communication core requirement. In accordance with that requirement, by the end of this course you will also be able to: distinguish the structural components of sentence paragraph writing; express and synthesize your ideas coherently; frame an argument according to your purpose, audience, and subject-matter; and develop strategies for generating, revising, and proofreading your work.

PHIL 1600: Philosophy and Religion
SEC 200, MTWRF 9:15-10:50am, MCOL E186
Jonathan Spelman
Is it reasonable to believe in God? miracles? an afterlife? What is the relationship between science and religion or between religion and morality? This courses provides you with a philosophical introduction to these questions and helps you develop the skills you need to think more carefully about them. 

Spring 2016

PHIL 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
SEC 001, MWF 2:00-2:50, HLMS 237
Prof. Bailey

PHIL 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
SEC 001, TR 11:00-12:15, CLUB 13
Prof. Kaufman
SEC 002, MWF 10:00-10:50, HLMS 237
Dr. Bredeson
In this course we will examine a series of foundational works in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy -- what we call the "modern" period. The contours of many contemporary philosophical questions remain decisively shaped by the work done in the modern period, and the political philosophy of the period continues to provide the rational basis for many political structures today. For this class, we will try to come to terms, in detail and in depth, with four of the crucial figures of this period: René Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In addition, we will read selections from Elisabeth of Bohemia and John Locke.

PHIL 3100: Ethical Theory
SEC 001, TR 2:00-3:15, HLMS 237
Prof. Norcross

PHIL 3140: Environmental Ethics
SEC 001, TR 11:00-12:15, MCOL W100
Dr. Sturgis
SEC 002, MWF 10:00-10:50, RMLY N1B31
Dr. Youkey

PHIL 3160: Bioethics
SEC 001, MWF 3:00-3:50, MCOL E155
TBA

PHIL 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
SEC 001, TR 11:00-12:15, VAC 1B90
TBA

PHIL 3260: Philosophy and the International Order
SEC 001, MWF 1:00-1:50, HLMS 237
Dr. Youkey
SEC 002, MWF 2:00-2:50, HLMS 229
Dr. Youkey

PHIL 3410: History of Science Ancients to Newton
SEC 001, MWF 12:00-12:50, HLMS 177
Dr. Vistarini
SEC 002, MWF 2:00-2:50, HLMS 177
Dr. Vistarini
The goal of this course is that of familiarizing students with the history of western science prior to the eighteenth century, with a special focus on history of physics. Broadly speaking, the course wants to promote an analytical and historical understanding of the nature of science: what is science? How did western ideas about science evolve since antiquity? How does science differ from other belief systems such as religion? How did this difference evolve since antiquity?

Our journey into the past starts from the origins of natural philosophy: from Pre-Socratics to Lucretius, passing through Plato, Aristotle and Euclid. By exploring this period we will encounter and analyze some of the most interesting ancient attempts to explain natural phenomena through a system of rational reasoning. The physical methodologies of those attempts deeply intertwine with mathematical methods quite different from our contemporary approach to mathematics. Then, we will review some of the most central works of Roman period along with the contribution given by Islamic science to the transmission of ancient knowledge. Readings may be from Ptolemy, Galen, Al-Ghazali and others.

The revival of natural philosophy in western Europe (Thomas Aquinas, Jean Buridan, William of Ockham and so on) starts the second half of the journey that will then continue through the Renaissance. Readings from Copernico ("On the Revolutions"), Galilei ("Two New Sciences", "The Letter to Grand Duchess Christina") and Kepler ("The Harmony of the World") will help us to reconstruct the notion of science progressively emerging during those years.

Finally, the apparent explosion of scientific activity in the seventeenth century. Was really there such a thing as the scientific revolution? Sketching here a line of topics, we start from Bacon and his new philosophy based on the idea of testing and evidence rather than observation and logic. His ideas about scientific method deeply influenced many future generations of scientists and philosophers. Then we will move to Descartes, probably the most famous philosopher of the age writing on a wide range of scientific and philosophical topics. His work on mathematics largely created the modern field of analytic geometry. Finally Newton. He created the great advancements in physics and mathematics that reshaped modern science. He defined the notions of gravity, motion, mass and force. He unraveled the secrets of light. We will be reading parts of his "The Principia Mathematica" and of his "Opticks".

PHIL 3480: Critical Thinking and Writing in Philosophy
SEC 001, TR 9:30-10:45, HLMS 177
Dr. Potter
SEC 002, TR 12:30-1:45, TBA
Dr. Potter

PHIL 3600: Philosophy of Religion
SEC 001, MWF 3:00-3:50, HLMS 237
Dr. Chapman
Questions like 'Does God exist?' 'Does more than one god exist?' 'What is the nature of God or the gods?' 'Are there good arguments for or against God's existence?' 'What is the nature of religious experience?' 'Is there life after death?' 'What is the relation between God and morality?' 'What is the relationship between faith and reason?' and 'What is the relationship between religion and science?' have struck most of at some point in our lives. But can thoughtful answers be provided to such questions?

The philosophy of religion supposes that the answer is 'yes.' The philosophy of religion is not theology, nor is it comparative religion; it is a careful explication of the questions religions raise and a systematic treatment of the rational reasons in favor of or against certain religious or irreligious positions. In this course, we will consider and evaluate potential answers to questions such as those listed above.

PHIL 3700: Aesthetics
SEC 001, TR 11:00-12:15, HALE 236
Prof. Oddie

PHIL 4010: Single Philosopher: Hume
SEC 001, MWF 2:00-2:50, CLUB 13
Prof. Pasnau
David Hume is often regarded as the historical figure who has most influenced modern philosophy. We will spend most of the course working carefully through his youthful masterpiece, the Treatise of Human Nature, spending equal time on his metaphysics, his epistemology, and his moral philosophy. Students will be asked to pick some particular area of his work and become expert on that topic, mastering both Hume's own writings and the recent secondary literature. The last weeks of the class will be devoted to selected readings from among Hume's Essays, which range over topics like suicide, polygamy, aesthetics, taxes, and avarice. Students will decide which essays we read.

PHIL 4040: 20th Century Philosophy
SEC 001, TR 2:00-3:15, HLMS 177
Prof. Oddie

PHIL 4200: Political Philosophy
SEC 001, TR 12:30-1:45, HLMS 177
Prof. Jaggar
Topic: Global Governance and the International State System
Until the latter part of the twentieth century, the central questions of Western political philosophy concerned the state's internal legitimacy and the limits of its authority over populations within particular bounded territories. Since World War II, however, traditional conceptions of state sovereignty have been challenged by the emergence of an international human rights regime along with increased economic integration and many transborder issues. This course will study some of these challenges with a view to reassessing the international state system as a model of global governance.

PHIL 4340: Epistemology
SEC 001, TR 3:30-4:45, HLMS 177
Prof. Fileva
There are two ways to view epistemology. The first is to see epistemology as the study of knowledge -- of the conditions, sources, and limits of knowledge and related epistemic phenomena such as justification. The task of epistemology thus conceived is to answer questions such as, what can we know, if anything? Does human knowledge have a secure foundation? If not, would it follow from here that there is no knowledge? Suppose the world is not as it appears to us, suppose our conscious experiences are generated by computers that our brains are wired to; then we won't have knowledge of the external world. Would we have knowledge of our own private thoughts? Is the latter kind of knowledge more reliable than our knowledge of the external world? Do we always mean the same things by the words "know" and "knowledge"? Is, for instance, a physicist said to "know" what radiation is in the same sense in which a layperson is said to "know" that?

There is a second way to view epistemology -- as the study not of human knowledge but of human reasoning. The goal of epistemology thus conceived is somewhat different: the task is no longer to provide necessary and sufficient conditions for knowledge (or other related epistemic phenomena), but rather, to illuminate the nature of reasoning and suggest ways in which humans can become better reasoners. This second way became prominent in philosophy in the last two decades, when the empirically-minded among philosophers sought to bring the results of the empirical study of human cognition to bear in shaping their epistemological practice. The results are new, pragmatically-oriented epistemological theories that look quite different from their traditional counterparts.

Our goal in this course is to explore both classical and novel approaches to epistemology. To this end, we shall read and discuss work by some of the best contemporary philosophers from both traditions.

PHIL 4450: History and Philosophy of Physics
SEC 001, MWF 3:00-3:50, HLMS 177
Dr. Vistarini

PHIL 4490: Philosophy of Language
SEC 001, MWF 1:00-1:50, HLMS 177
Dr. Morasch
All of us interact with words on a daily basis. Despite this closeness, words remain puzzling and fascinating entities. This is why much in philosophy of language is yet to be discovered! Most philosophers agree on the following starting point: we use words to communicate thoughts about a shared environment to other individuals. For early modern philosophers (e.g., John Locke), language works with difficulty from the inside out. Since the externalist turn ushered in by Hilary Putnam with the slogan "Meanings ain't in the head," language is now predominantly conceived as working with ease from the outside in. While individualists such as Locke struggle to explain how words can reach from within the mind of individuals and latch on to things outside of the realm of ideas, externalists may ascribe too little control to individual speakers over the meaning of their words. In the course of the semester, we will distill the advantages of each framework and discuss whether words ought to be treated as entities that are publically shared. These and other topics at the nexus of language, metaphysics, and epistemology will form the foundations of the course.

PHIL 4800: Gender and Global Justice
SEC 001, W 2:00-4:30, CLRE 301
Prof. Jaggar
Topic: Gender & Global Justice
This course focuses on the gendered dimensions of some contemporary transnational moral wrongs, which are often overlooked in mainstream discussions of global justice. Issues include: moral relativism; human rights; assessments of the quality of life; gendered divisions of global labor; food justice; labor migration, including global care chains and sex trafficking; health including reproductive and mental health; the transnational market in reproductive services; gender and militarism; responsibility, aid, and development; transitional justice and moral repair.

Fall 2015

PHIL 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
SEC 001, MWF 10:00-10:50, MCOL E155

PHIL 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
SEC 001, MWF 2:00-2:50, HLMS 229
Prof. Kaufman
SEC 002, MWF 1:00-1:50, MCOL E155
Dr. Morasch

PHIL 3100: Ethical Theory
SEC 001, MWF 1:00-1:50, HLMS 229
Prof. Heathwood
We make moral and evaluative judgments -- e.g., "You shouldn't text while driving," "It's unfair that some children grow up with no health care," "Friendship helps make life worth living," "Martin Luther King was a great man" -- all the time. But what are we doing when we do this? Are we describing an objective moral reality, or ultimately just expressing our (or society's) feelings? Are such statements ever true? Can we ever know one to be true? If there are moral facts, are they just a subclass of the natural facts about the world? Assuming that we do have moral obligations, why should we care about them? These are some questions in metaethics, to which the first part of this course will provide an introduction.

Then we will turn to normative ethics, where we attempt to figure out which moral claims -- and, in particular, which fundamental moral principles -- are actually true. We will ask, What makes an act right or wrong? Consequentialists believe that an act's rightness or wrongness is to be explained solely in terms of how good or bad its outcome would be. Deontologists believe that there are certain kinds of act (e.g., harming the innocent, breaking an agreement) that are wrong to do in even when doing so would lead to the best outcome. We will explore both of these normative ethical theories.

We will also ask, What things are good in themselves for us, or make our lives worth living? Hedonists say that it is pleasure and pleasure alone. Desire Satisfactionists hold that what is of fundamental benefit to us is getting what we want, whatever it is. Objective-List Theories maintain that there are some things -- e.g., knowledge, love, respect -- that are good for us to have independently of whether we want them or would enjoy them. We will explore all three of these theories of human welfare.

One book is required: Michael Huemer, Ethical Intuitionism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). Other readings will be made available online.

Prerequisites: two previous courses in philosophy.

PHIL 3140: Environmental Ethics
SEC 001, MWF 12:00-12:40, MCOL W100
Dr. Sturgis

PHIL 3160: Bioethics
SEC 001, TR 2:00-3:15, HLMS 229
SEC 002, TR 3:30-4:45, HLMS 229

PHIL 3190: War and Morality
SEC 001, TR 9:30-10:45, EKLY E1B20
Dr. Youkey

PHIL 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
SEC 001, MWF 11:00-11:50, HLMS 229
Prof. Wingo

PHIL 3310: Cognitive Science
SEC 001, TR 2:00-3:15, FLEM 156
Prof. Rupert

PHIL 3430: History of Science: Newton to Einstein
SEC 001, TR 3:30-4:45, HLMS 237
Dr. Youkey
SEC 880, TR 2:00-3:15, HLMS 196
Dr. Youkey

PHIL 3480: Critical Thinking and Writing in Philosophy
SEC 001, TR 9:30-10:45, HLMS 177
Dr. Brindell
SEC 002, TR 12:30-1:45, HLMS 177
Dr. Brindell

PHIL 3800: Open Topics in Philosophy: Eastern Philosophy
SEC 001, TR 3:30-4:45, MCOL E155
Prof. Saucedo
A critical examination of a variety of Hindu and Buddhist views on the self, the mind, matter, action, and value.

PHIL 4010: Single Philosopher: Kant
SEC 001, MWF 1:00-1:50, HLMS 245
Dr. Bredeson
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is the single most influential philosopher of the modern period, hands down. It can probably be said that Kant's impact on at least four core areas of philosophy-epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics-outstrips that of anyone working after Aristotle. In addition, Kant put forward a comprehensive vision of philosophy and science in general, giving principled reasons why some of their parts must be unified and others strictly separated, all while pioneering the integration of philosophy with emerging disciplines like anthropology and geography. Few thinkers since Kant have attempted anything even remotely as ambitious.

In this course we will try to get a sense of the significance of Kant's philosophical achievement considered as a whole. Granted, in one semester we can only go so far in this direction, and several areas important to Kant's conception of philosophy (notably, aesthetics and anthropology, but politics, too) will of necessity receive short shrift. But we will do our best to begin to bring Kant's grand vision into focus. In doing so, we will concentrate on three main areas of his thought (which correspond relatively neatly with the change in Kant's own focus over time): theoretical philosophy, practical philosophy, and the significance of Kant's project for the human being. The readings will be drawn from a wide range of sources, spanning the course of Kant's thought from the 1750s to the 1790s. But we will focus on four core texts: the Critique of Pure Reason (1781/87), the Critique of Practical Reason (1788), the Metaphysics of Morals (1797), and Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason (1793).

PHIL 4120: Ethics and Animals
SEC 001, TR 2:00-3:15, HLMS 245
Prof. Norcross

PHIL 4260: Philosophy of Law
SEC 001, TR 11:00-12:15, HLMS 177
Prof. Hosein

PHIL 4340: Epistemology
SEC 001, MWF 2:00-2:50, HLMS 177
Prof. Huemer

PHIL 4400: Philosophy of Science
SEC 001, TR 11:00-12:15, CLRE 104
Prof. Cleland

PHIL 4460: Modal Logic
SEC 002, TR 12:30-1:45, ECON 2
Prof. Forbes
Many of the central problems of philosophy crucially involve the modal concepts of possibility and necessity. For example, the problem of free will is the problem whether it was in any sense possible to have acted differently from the way one did; the problem of causation is whether there is any sense in which a cause necessitates its effect; various issues about reducibility turn on whether facts of one kind could have been different without there being any difference in facts of some other kind; and so on.

Nowadays, proper discussion of these and other issues requires some familiarity with the logic of possibility and necessity, or modal logic, as it is known. This course imparts the required familiarity. After a review of non-modal sentential logic, we will begin with the standard system of sentential modal logic, S5. Following a review of non-modal first-order logic, we will then investigate other systems of sentential modal logic. In the second part of the course we extend sentential S5 to first-order S5, and we will investigate a number of topics of philosophical interest, including quantification and existence, possibilist quantifiers, the actuality operator, the de re/de dicto distinction, and counterpart theory.

Grades will be based on homework assignments set at the end of each class.

PHIL 4830: Senior Seminar: Existentialism
SEC 001, MWF 4:00-4:50, HLMS 177
Dr. Chapman
We'll be covering all of the greats: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, and Sartre, as well as a number of other philosophers who are either less well-know, but still firmly in the existentialist tradition, and also some who would count as proto-existentialists or extensions of existentialism.

• 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
• 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
• 3100: Ethical Theory
• 3110: Feminist Practical Ethics
• 3140: Envirionmental Ethics
• 3160: Bioethics
• 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
• 3260: Philosophy and the International Order
• 3410: History of Science: Ancients to Newton
• 3480: Critical Thinking and Writing in Philosophy
• 3600: Philosophy of Religion
• 3700: Aesthetic Theory
• 4010: Single Philosopher: Aquinas
• 4010: Singel Philosopher: Leibniz
• 4120: Philosophy and Animals
• 4250: Marxism
• 4340: Epistemology
• 4360: Metaphysics
• 4490: Philosophy of Language

• 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
• 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
• 3100: Ethical Theory
• 3140: Envirionmental Ethics
• 3160: Bioethics
• 3190: War and Morality
• 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
• 3260: Philosophy and the International Order
• 3310: Cognitive Science
• 3480: Critical Thinking and Writing in Philosophy
• 3600: Philosophy of Religion
• 3800: Open Topics in Philosophy: Buddhism as Philosophy
• 3800: Open Topics in Philosophy: Existentialism
• 4010: Single Philosopher: Kant
• 4200: Contemporary Political Philosophy
• 4340: Epistemology
• 4360: Metaphysics
• 4400: Philosophy of Science
• 4450: History and Philosophy of Physics

• 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
• 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
• 3100: Ethical Theory
• 3140: Envirionmental Ethics
• 3160: Bioethics
• 3180: Critical Thinking: Contemporary Topics
• 3190: War and Morality
• 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
• 3260: Philosophy and the International Order
• 3430: History of Science: Newton to Einstein
• 3480: Critical Thinking and Writing in Philosophy
• 3600: Philosophy of Religion
• 4010: Single Philosopher: Nietzsche
• 4010: Single Philosopher: Plato
• 4040: Studies in 20th Century Philosophy
• 4070: Existentialist Philosophy
• 4110: Contemporary Moral Theory
• 4260: Philosophy of Law
• 4340: Epistemology
• 4360: Metaphysics
• 4440: Topics in Logic: Mathematical Logic
• 4800: Open Topics in Philosophy: Gender and Global Justice

• 3000: History of Ancient Philosophy
• 3010: History of Modern Philosophy
• 3100: Ethical Theory
• 3140: Envirionmental Ethics
• 3160: Bioethics
• 3190: War and Morality
• 3200: Social and Political Philosophy
• 3260: Philosophy and the International Order
• 3310: Cognitive Science
• 3410: History of Science: Ancients to Newton
• 3480: Critical Thinking and Writing in Philosophy
• 3600: Philosophy of Religion
• 3800: Open Topics in Philosophy: Buddhism as Philosophy
• 4010: Single Philosopher: St. Augustine
• 4010: Single Philosopher: Rousseau
• 4200: Contemporary Political Philosophy
• 4210: Classsical Greek Political Thought
• 4250: Marxism
• 4340: Epistemology
• 4360: Metaphysics
• 4400: Philosophy of Science
• 4460: Modal Logic