Philosophy (PHIL)

Introduction to central philosophical themes, including the mind/body problem, the existence of God, ethical problems, the nature of reality. PHIL 1 Basic Problems of Philosophy (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course provides a critical introduction to, and overview of, fundamental philosophical problems. It includes an examination of historical and contemporary thought through in-class presentation, readings, discussions, and student writings. In this way, students will gain an understanding of diverse and often competing perspectives on basic human problems. These perspectives have shaped cultures and continue to influence thought and practice around the world today. Students will examine diverse viewpoints that will allow them to understand a wide range of views and challenge them to defend their own positions. This course involves active use of writing, speaking, and group projects. It provides opportunities for gathering information, analyzing problems, and synthesizing diverse perspectives. Finally, PHIL 1 allows students to link theory to their own lives and daily practice.

This course plunges students into the deepest philosophical questions: Why is there something rather than nothing? Can I be sure about anything? What is the purpose of life? Is morality real or conventional? Can the existence of God be proven or disproven? Can science explain everything? Students will meet a range of historical and contemporary formulations of philosophical questions such as these, study various types of response, and acquire the analytical and expository skills to develop and defend their own perspectives. The course proceeds through discussion, reading, writing, and other assignments.

Examines relations between political and social organizations, the justification and limits of the state, and issues concerning individuality and community. PHIL 002 Philosophy, Politics, and Social Theory (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course provides an introduction to central political and social theories as well as assumptions which underlie contemporary political and social structures and which shape the contemporary cultural environment. The course will discuss the ideas of central social and political philosophers, the broader historical and cultural context in which they work and worked, and the nature of the relations and influences between the two. Students will develop an appreciation of the nature of political and social values in the context of conflicting political visions as well as the critical skills with which to examine them. They will be graded on a collaborative annotated bibliography project, a collaborative position paper, evaluations of peer papers, and a comprehensive final exam. PHIL 002 satisfies the GH requirement and is geared towards non-Philosophy majors. It may be used to fulfill minor requirements in philosophy. This course is offered once a year with an enrollment of 150 to 200 students.

Major ethical positions and assumptions regarding questions of freedom, choice, obligation, and conflicts in contemporary moral conduct, values, and reasoning. PHIL 003 Persons, Moral Values and the Good Life (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course offers students a broad, coherent overview of moral issues, moral reasoning, and, questions concerning a good life. It emphasizes the thought of major, influential figures and their works. The course also allows students to apply to contemporary ethical issues the theories espoused by these figures. Students will compare, contrast, and critically assess competing theories of persons and goodness, their assumptions and background world views, and their implications for practice. Students will be graded on the basis of tests, papers and a comprehensive final exam. PHIL 003 satisfies the GH requirement and is geared towards non-Philosophy majors. It may be used to fulfill minor requirements in philosophy. This course will be offered once a year with an enrollment of 25 to 240 students. 

This course introduces central philosophical questions about the lives we humans live: Can our lives have meaning, and does their value depend on it? Does each of us have a true self to be discovered, or a shared human nature we cannot escape? What do we mean by "authenticity," is it worth striving for, and can it be achieved? What difference does recognizing your mortality make to anything? We explore these questions in conversation with influential historical perspectives and contemporary theories, while approaching them from everyday concerns. Doing so provides a path for introducing philosophical ideas and evaluations into ordinary life.

Explores relations between images and reality, representation and culture, and beauty and politics through film, artworks, and aesthetic theories. PHIL 005 Philosophy, Art, and Film (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. PHIL 005 provides a critical introduction to fundamental issues concerning the nature of art in general and film in particular, the nature of aesthetic experience, and the role of art and film in cultural criticism. This course has no prerequisites and assumes no background in philosophy; it would make an excellent introduction to philosophy for students interested in art, film, representation, and creativity. It includes an examination of historical and contemporary thought through films and videos, in-class presentations, readings, discussions, and student writings. These activities will allow students to gain an understanding of diverse, often competing, perspectives on basic human problems and the great influence of film and images in contemporary life. Students will examine diverse viewpoints that will allow them to understand a wide range of views and challenge them to defend their own positions. This course involves active use of writing, speaking, and group projects. It provides opportunities for gathering information, analyzing problems, synthesizing diverse perspectives, and developing one's own thought and the reasons for it by linking theory to practice.

Explores fundamental issues of human existence through the traditions of western literature and philosophy. CMLIT 006CMLIT (PHIL) 006 Philosophy and Literature in Western Culture (3) (GH;IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course is designed to introduce students to the various interpretive approaches to literature and philosophy. The class will explore key philosophic themes as these are exhibited in imaginative literature, and in doing so will practice both philosophical interpretation of literature and literary treatment of philosophy. The central themes of this course could include, for example, self-knowledge and self-deception; self-isolation, alienation and community; conflict of moral responsibilities; the use and abuse of language; the meaning of art; the ideal of a "simple life;" normalcy and madness. The class will ask such questions as what counts as literature, what purpose it serves, what is the relationship between literature and ideology, and whether a text can be considered independently from what the author wanted to say in it. Students may be graded by a variety of methods, including exams, papers, and individual and group projects. One example might be a collaborative annotated bibliography project, a collaborative position paper, individual evaluations of position papers, and a comprehensive final exam. This course is a non-major General Education Humanities course. It may be used to fulfill minor requirements in philosophy. This course may be used to fulfill an additional-course requirement in either the minor or the major in Comparative Literature, although it is geared primarily towards non-majors. This course will be offered once a year with an enrollment of 25-200 students depending on location. This course deals with literature and philosophy in the western tradition, and thus helps to complete the range of our other courses on western literature, such as Comparative Literature 001 and 002 (survey courses of Western Literature to the Renaissance, and Western Literature since the Renaissance), and Comparative Literature 401W and 402W (upper level chronological courses on Western Literature). This course differs from those however, by its strong emphasis on philosophical texts.

Introduction to philosophical, moral, and aesthetic teachings of Asian traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism (including Zen), Taoism, Confucianism, and Shintoism. PHIL 007 Asian Philosophies (3) (GH;IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This class is an introduction to the major intellectual philosophical traditions of Asia: Hinduism, Buddhism and Zen Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, Taoism, and Korean thought. The course introduces students to Asian thought through careful study of major, representative texts and authors of each of these traditions. In addition, the course seeks to identify parallels and differences between Asian thought and Western philosophy, and also seeks to explore the intercultural and interdisciplinary vitality of Asian thought today.

Feminism is one approach to addressing systematic oppressions of both women and men. This course examines various feminist philosophical approaches to issues such the construction of gender, sex, and sexuality, the nature of gender injustice, and the intersectionality of oppressions. It also addresses contemporary issues, including sexual harassment and assault, abortion, explicit and implicit bias, and discrimination and exclusion.

Critically examines the significance of race and cultural diversity for, and in, understandings of reality, knowledge, truth, morality, and justice. PHIL 009 Philosophy, Race, and Diversity (3) (GH;US)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course explores the diverse philosophical concepts and problems regarding race. It covers writings dealing specifically with critiques of the dominant theories and definitions of racial identity, thereby providing an introduction to the diversity of ethical and social approaches to questions concerning race. This course is designed to satisfy the criteria for a humanities course with a focus on diversity (General Education Humanities and Diversity Focused). In particular, it is designed to be an offering in the humanities insofar as it: (1) develops a broad, coherent overview of the meaning of cultural diversity itself (including a clarification of the conceptions of culture, race, gender, nationality, and pluralism); (2) stresses the writings of major theorists from both the traditional canon of Western thought and diverse traditions, most prominently African-America, Latin-American, Asian American, and Native American traditions; (3) helps students develop the skills to interpret and to assess the nature, forms, and place of human values in our multi-cultural world; (4) fosters a deeper appreciation of and more critical attitude toward the ultimate ends of human action; (5) offers ample opportunities to engage in comparative philosophy and, allied with these, numerous challenges to communicate clearly, think logically, and evaluate critically the positions and perspectives being compared; (6) meets fully the stated objectives of general humanities education by providing students with texts occupying a central place in one or more human cultures and, then, by working through these texts in a careful and critical manner (such a process of working through these texts being also one of thinking critically and imaginatively about the questions posed by the texts, moreover one of being invited or even forced to integrate various perspectives). As a diversity focused course, PHIL 009 will carefully treat the philosophical issues of pluralism, universalism, diversity, and community. It will also pay careful attention to the diverse philosophies of different cultural communities. The conflicts between cultural localism and global economics will receive critical attention. In particular, this course will: (1) focus initially on ethnicity and race, then on gender and globalism; (2) encourage students to develop an understanding of the intellectual and ethical backgrounds and assumptions of other traditions and peoples; (3) help students develop a truly global, pluralistic, and multi-cultural viewpoint; and (4) explore the intellectual history of groups identified by ethnicity, race, gender, and religion. Students will be graded on a collaborative annotated bibliography project, a collaborative position paper, individual evaluations of position papers, and a comprehensive final exam. The course is intended as a General Education Humanities and Intercultural/International competency course and as such may serve as an historical overview of race and diversity in philosophy as well as an introduction to critical thinking about topical issues. This course may provide introductory material for courses in anthropology, political science, sociology, philosophy, and so on. More importantly, it may encourage students to think more carefully and critically about the questions raised in this course and their manifestation in social and political life. The course is a non-major General Education Humanities and Intercultural course intended for non-philosophy majors. It may be used to fulfill minor requirements in philosophy. PHIL 009 will be offered once per year with 150-200 seats per offering.

This course provides a critical awareness of the function, nature, strengths, and weaknesses of argumentation in its various real-world and academic forms and contexts. Students examine the construction of persuasive arguments, discover types of fallacy, and learn how to evaluate reasoning for validity and soundness (that is, logicality and truth).

discussion of the validity, soundness, and fallacies of everyday language use and reasoning; informal logic; and manipulative arguments and propaganda.

Discussion of the validity, soundness, and fallacies of everyday language use and reasoning; informal logic; and manipulative arguments and propaganda.

Examines the philosophical foundations of natural scientific inquiry, knowledge, objectivity, and the relation of scientific truth to common sense. PHIL 011 Philosophy, Science, and Truth (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course familiarizes students with concepts and problems in the philosophy of science and scientific method, with a view towards problems of truth and the philosophical foundations of scientific inquiry. The course develops students' abilities to reason inductively as well as deductively and to examine the nature of reasoning and its role in scientific inquiry. Students will be graded on participation, case study analyses, a group presentation and response, and a final paper. PHIL 01 1 satisfies the GH requirement and is geared towards non-Philosophy majors. It may be used to fulfill the minor requirements in philosophy. This course is offered once a year with an enrollment of 25-200 students.

Formal logical structures of propositions and arguments; mechanical tests and proof techniques for logically necessary truth and deductive validity.

What is nature, and what is the appropriate human relationship with it? What are our obligations toward non-human animals, endangered species, or ecosystems? Is contemporary industrial society alienated from nature, and, if so, what should be done about this? What alternatives for living differently are genuinely available to us today? These questions are addressed through discussion of current environmental issues (e.g., consumerism, agriculture, wilderness protection, environmental justice, climate change, environmental activism) as well as influential historical and contemporary philosophical approaches, such as deep ecology, social ecology, ecofeminism, bioregionalism, and eco-phenomenology. PHIL 13 Philosophy, Nature, and the Environment (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course familiarizes students with concepts regarding the central and very old philosophical problem of describing and understanding nature and the place of human beings in it. This philosophical discourse has evolved in the past 25 years into a firm sub-discipline of philosophy itself, usually under the title of "Environmental Philosophy" or "Philosophy of nature." The discipline addresses a complex of crucial problems of contemporary society, politics, and ethics revolving around the relation of human beings and the environment. Students will learn the various and conflicting views on nature and the environment, and they will develop the ability to critically navigate these various positions as well as the assumptions underlying the contemporary environmental debate. Students will be graded on participation, case study analyses, a group presentation and response, and a final paper. PHIL 13 satisfies the GH requirement and is geared towards non-Philosophy majors. It may be used to fulfill minor requirements in philosophy. This course is offered once a year with an enrollment of 50-200 students.

Explores Western theories and attitudes concerning intimacy and examines various ethical issues involving love and sex. PHIL 014 Philosophy of Love and Sex (3) (GH;US)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. An examination of theories and attitudes concerning love and sexuality that have been prevalent in the Western world. Course topics will include philosophical and theological conceptions of sex and love and ethical issues related to these topics, including monogamy, same-sex marriage, cultural differences, pornography, and consent. The course will focus on contemporary US beliefs and practices examined through the lens of the different beliefs and practices concerning intimacy within the cultures of the US. The lens of gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation will be ongoing themes of the class and included in all topics. The course has no prerequisites and assumes no background in philosophy. It is an excellent introductory course for students interested in learning the skills of doing philosophy. The course will focus on linked ethical issues that will be investigated through readings, essays, and group projects and are designed to encourage students to cultivate ethical awareness and inquiry by understanding and investigating diverse viewpoints and developing a richer understanding of their own positions. The course will provide opportunities for gathering information, analyzing arguments, synthesizing diverse viewpoints, and developing a richer understanding of and support for one's own beliefs and practices. Students will be evaluated based on class participation, short essays, examinations, and group presentations. The course will serve as a GH and GI requirement and it may be used to fulfill minor requirements in philosophy. The course will be offered once a year with 25-250 seats per offering.

This course examines the dominant philosophical and theological theories of love and sexuality in the Western world; historical and recent critiques of those theories; and the relevance of gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation to all such thinking about love and sex. Related ethical issues include monogamy, same-sex marriage, cultural differences, pornography, and consent, especially in contemporary US context.

Philosophy, uniquely, studies how best to live. But being better at questions than at answers, philosophy mainly provides hypotheses about the nature of good life and the various routes to it. Does it mean minimizing mental suffering, through elimination of superstition and fear? Or control of one's bodily desires, through feats of endurance? Or modesty about what you know, through examination of one's beliefs? Or reducing the amount of injustice you do, by thinking about the consequences of every action? Or changing the way people think, by revealing the power dynamics beneath everyday social institutions? Each week this course articulates one hypothesis from Western (e.g., Greek, Roman, European, American) or non-Western (e.g., Indian, Chinese) philosophy, historical or contemporary, then makes sense of the reasons for it, and then puts it into personal (or group) practice for five days. Students track, process, and evaluate their experiences through journaling, blogging, and other modes of writing, some of which will involve discussion with other students. Each week also features philosophical, literary, spiritual, or journalistic readings expressing the tenets of the particular way of life, defending it against other ways of life, or exploring the particular historical/cultural context that occasioned it. These readings may include, for example, Socratic dialogues, Stoic handbooks, meditation mantras, existential dramas, political manifestos, nature journals, or book reviews. At the semester's end, students invent their own philosophical "best way of life," formulating and justifying rules, models, or virtues to live by, and engage in conversation with other students on this topic. Students should leave the class recognizing the diversity and challenge of a range of way-of-life ideals, their historical context and contemporary promise, how to decide on their appropriateness for themselves, and what it would mean to adopt, refine, and support their own "philosophy" of life.

Explores some of the central philosophical ideas, values, and social scientific theories that motivated, attended, and/or were presupposed by signature events, projects, and persons typically associated with the 1960s Counterculture. PHIL 60N Philosophy and 1960s Counterculture. Students examine original texts and experience other forms of media to enhance their understanding of central philosophical and social scientific assumptions and theories underlying historically prominent projects and events that are typically associated with the 1960s Counterculture, including, for example, ones that address the relationship of individuals to society, the conditions and ideals of the good life, and the nature of dominance and social control. Students are guided in the design and completion of mini-research projects that address specific counter-cultural phenomena and that are intended to further foster the development of interdisciplinary research skills and inquiry. PHIL 60N satisfies 3 credits of the General Education Integrative Studies Requirement and may be used to fulfill 3 credits of the GH and GS requirements.

First-year seminars in philosophy provide critical introductions to fundamental philosophical issues and problems. Each first-year seminar develops a broad overview of historical and contemporary thought through readings, discussions, and student writings. In this way, students will gain an understanding of important figures, ideas, problems, and theories that have shaped and continued to influence thought and practice around the world. Students will examine diverse viewpoints that will allow them to understand a wide range of views and challenge them to defend their own positions. First-year seminars involve active use of writing, speaking, and group projects. They provide opportunities for gathering information, analyzing problems, and synthesizing diverse perspectives. Finally, each first year seminar in philosophy allows students to link theory to their own lives.

Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject that may be topical or of special interest.

This course introduces students to the evolution of Existentialism, with its kernel in mid-nineteenth century reflection on Christianity¿s loosening grip on culture, its influence by the early-twentieth century experience of war¿s utter and widespread destructiveness, and its development in mid-twentieth century industrial and capitalist modernity. It concerns especially what it means to define one¿s own life in light of social pressures, interpersonal conflict, and economic forces, with or without the aid of traditional or religious guidance. This that means the course focuses on metaphysical, moral, and social issues concerning reality, the nature of the self, the basis of values, and the relations between individuality and community, and studies philosophical treatises, imaginative literature, and other genres of writing. Representative authors include Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Marcel, Wright, Ellison, Jaspers, Fanon, Camus, Beauvoir, Sartre, and Lorraine Hansberry.

Ethical theory about virtue, duty, autonomy, and life quality applied to moral problems, including character, violence, oppression, abortion, and suicide. PHIL 103 Introduction to Ethics (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course, as with other 100-level philosophy department courses, is intended for Liberal Arts majors and others likely to take philosophy courses rather than for philosophy majors. (The analogous course for majors is PHIL 418: Ethics.) PHIL 103 introduces students to the major aspects of ethics: the natures of ethical reasoning, the major ethical traditions and their similarities and contrasts, as well as enduring ethical issues that link theory to practice in critical ways. This is an introductory course and addresses issues that any student, no matter what major, will face. Students will be graded on quizzes, re-writing and expanding quizzes, a collaborative project, and a comprehensive final exam. PHIL 103 satisfies the GH requirement and it may be used to fulfill major and/or minor requirements in philosophy. This course is offered once a year with an enrollment of 25-50 students.

Through reading and discussion of classical and contemporary sources, this Honors course provides an introduction to the basic questions of ethics, the major currents in traditional ethical theory (virtue ethics, deontology, consequentialism), and more recent developments (e.g., care ethics). These schools of thought offer distinct answers about how we should decide what to do and about what makes a character, a decision, an action good or bad, right or wrong. Students will gain a basic understanding of concepts such as agency, autonomy, and moral responsibility, while also reflecting on the foundations, scope, and limits of moral reasoning: Are ethical norms universal, particular, or culturally relative? How is the moral life of the individual related to political life? Are there moral solutions to social problems or vice versa?

Through reading and discussion of classical and contemporary sources, this WAC course provides an introduction to the basic questions of ethics, the major currents in traditional ethical theory (virtue ethics, deontology, consequentialism), and more recent developments (e.g., care ethics). These schools of thought offer distinct answers about how we should decide what to do and about what makes a character, a decision, an action good or bad, right or wrong. Students will gain a basic understanding of concepts such as agency, autonomy, and moral responsibility, while also reflecting on the foundations, scope, and limits of moral reasoning: Are ethical norms universal, particular, or culturally relative? How is the moral life of the individual related to political life? Are there moral solutions to social problems or vice versa?

This course surveys philosophical questions concerning any legal system. What counts as a law? Do judges interpret or create new law? How can laws be unfair? What kinds of punishment, if any, are appropriate? When is civil disobedience justified? Could there be international law, and how can rights be enforced? These questions will often be asked in the context of the American system of common law and statutes, and thus will overlap with questions of federalism, constitutionalism, democracy, the police and prison systems, and social and economic structures. They will also require investigating the views of human nature underlying various philosophical positions. In general, the course examines the relations between human values, ethics, and law and the way these relations affect the organization of broader social, political, and religious institutions.

This course surveys philosophical questions concerning any legal system. What counts as a law? Do judges interpret or create new law? How can laws be unfair? What kinds of punishment, if any, are appropriate? When is civil disobedience justified? Could there be international law, and how can rights be enforced? These questions will often be asked in the context of the American system of common law and statutes, and thus will overlap with questions of federalism, constitutionalism, democracy, the police and prison systems, and social and economic structures. They will also require investigating the views of human nature underlying various philosophical positions. In general, the course examines the relations between human values, ethics, and law and the way these relations affect the organization of broader social, political, and religious institutions.

Business ethics is not just about CEOs behaving badly. Even if sweatshops treat humans poorly, do they deserve thanks for their labor market expansion? Must corporate trustees seek only profit for their shareholders, or also benefit their surrounding communities? Who picks up the cost of environmental degradation by airlines, factories, and farms? What exactly does ¿truth in advertising¿ mean, and how limited should marketing be to children, or about alcohol and pharmaceuticals? How should the imperatives of the ¿free market¿ or ¿capitalism¿ be treated in democratic decision-making? The course will develop a student's critical skills in evaluating the philosophical foundations and justifications for business and economic systems, the relation between morality and contemporary business practices, and central positions and figures in the history of philosophical analysis of these questions.

This course surveys different views about technology: what counts as technology, what role it plays in society and human development, what benefits it might promote, and what obvious or hidden effects deserve criticism. The course¿s readings and discussions prompt reflection on the purpose and consequences of technology for your own life, what possibilities it opens and forecloses, and how it modifies, sometimes irreversibly, your environment. Required readings may include current news articles and blog posts, science fiction, historical analyses of technological change, and philosophical investigations of the concept of technology.

This course studies philosophical views about large-scale human relations: in groups, communities, populations, nations, and countries. By studying prominent philosophers and positions it investigates the following kinds of questions: Why might anarchy give way to government? How do political arrangements differ from domestic, friendship, or business obligations? Ought people organize to pursue a common good or goal? What does fundamental opposition about religion, morality, financial interest, and human sentiment mean for integration into a public realm? Is the personal always political, and what deserves to be kept private? Such questions have animated philosophy since its origins, is of vibrant contemporary interest, requires development of a view of human nature, and relates to ethics, psychology, sociology, law and criminology, economics, and political science. By the course¿s end, students should have a greater critical understanding of the nature of social and political organization, influences on human values, and the traditional philosophical problem concerning the good society.

This course studies philosophical views about large-scale human relations: in groups, communities, populations, nations, and countries. By studying prominent philosophers and positions it investigates the following kinds of questions: Why might anarchy give way to government? How do political arrangements differ from domestic, friendship, or business obligations? Ought people organize to pursue a common good or goal? What does fundamental opposition about religion, morality, financial interest, and human sentiment mean for integration into a public realm? Is the personal always political, and what deserves to be kept private? Such questions have animated philosophy since its origins, is of vibrant contemporary interest, requires development of a view of human nature, and relates to ethics, psychology, sociology, law and criminology, economics, and political science. By the course¿s end, students should have a greater critical understanding of the nature of social and political organization, influences on human values, and the traditional philosophical problem concerning the good society.

This WAC course studies philosophical views about large-scale human relations: in groups, communities, populations, nations, and countries. By studying prominent philosophers and positions it investigates the following kinds of questions: Why might anarchy give way to government? How do political arrangements differ from domestic, friendship, or business obligations? Ought people organize to pursue a common good or goal? What does fundamental opposition about religion, morality, financial interest, and human sentiment mean for integration into a public realm? Is the personal always political, and what deserves to be kept private? Such questions have animated philosophy since its origins, is of vibrant contemporary interest, requires development of a view of human nature, and relates to ethics, psychology, sociology, law and criminology, economics, and political science. By the course¿s end, students should have a greater critical understanding of the nature of social and political organization, influences on human values, and the traditional philosophical problem concerning the good society.

Examines the nature of art and aesthetic experience, art's relation to beauty and truth, and the nature of creativity. PHIL 109 Introduction to Aesthetics (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course, as with other 100-level philosophy department courses, is intended for Liberal Arts majors and others likely to take philosophy courses rather than for Philosophy majors. (The analogous course for majors is PHIL 409: Aesthetics). Phil 109 is designed to introduce students to the various problems surrounding the philosophical treatment of the various arts. Aesthetics, or the philosophy of art, is a systematic exploration of aesthetic experience, creativity, various theories of beauty, and principles on which criticism of the arts (including literature) can be based. This is a special field of philosophy which focuses on the arts and the creative process, but which, for some thinkers, involves many links to other aspects of human existence, including the political and various metaphysical questions about being and human being. The objective will be to give students a good grounding in these various problems and to expose them to important perspectives and approaches to these problems and to the question of the place of art (as the arts generally) in human existence. Emphasis will be placed on both historical and perspectival sweep in the course and, as a result, the students should leave the course with an enriched understanding of the nature of the arts, of the creative process itself, and of the place both play in being human. Students will be graded on participation, comparison/contrast papers, a position paper, a collaborative presentation, and a comprehensive final exam. PHIL 109 satisfies the GH requirement and it may be used to fulfill the major and/or minor requirements in Philosophy. This course is offered once a year with an enrollment of 35-50 students.

Examines science's assumptions about knowledge and reality, the relation between science and culture, and the nature of scientific progress. PHIL 110 Introduction to Philosophy of Science (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course, as with other 100-level philosophy department courses, is intended for Liberal Arts majors (and in this case for Science majors as well), as well as for others likely to take philosophy courses rather than for Philosophy majors. (The analogous course for majors is PHIL 410: Philosophy of Science). PHIL 110 is designed to give students a coherent presentation of science's assumptions about knowledge and reality, the relation between science and culture, and the nature of scientific progress. Historical foundations of science will be addressed as well as contemporary theories and issues, as the class examines the following topics: the relation between physics, mathematics, and philosophy; the nature of reality; the nature of knowledge; the nature of causality; the nature of scientific progress, and the nature of hypothesis in natural science. Students will be required to critically examine and evaluate the positions, relations, and theories addressed in class. They will be graded on class discussion, exams, a collaborative web project, and a final paper. PHIL 110 satisfies the GH requirement and it may be used to fulfill major and/or minor requirements in Philosophy. This course is offered once a year with an enrollment of 35-50 students.

This course investigates the expression of philosophical ideas in literary form and, likewise, literature's contributions to a philosophical inquiry into fundamental questions of human existence. Its central themes may include the nature of love and desire, personal identity and relationships with others, and ethical concerns of good and evil. Readings are drawn from the history of world literature and philosophy, from Classical Greek texts to contemporary science fiction.

This course surveys the core philosophical questions that arise when thinking about education and teaching: What ought people to learn? How are instruction and experience related? What counts as knowledge and truth? How do we discover the human nature that underlies our educational theories? What are the moral implications of leading young people out of innocence or ignorance? What is there to education beyond classrooms, schooling, and reading? How much education ought a society to require or expect of its population? How important is intellectual and moral maturity? The course also considers the historical contexts from which philosophical theories about education have arisen and their ideological, political, social, and economic implications.

Considers the moral status of the environment and applies ethical theory to issues such as preservation, hunger, pollution, and sustainability. PHIL 118 Introduction to Environmental Philosophy (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course, as with other 100-level philosophy department courses, is intended for Liberal Arts majors and others likely to take philosophy courses rather than for Philosophy majors. (The analogous course for majors is PHIL 418: Environmental Ethics.) PHIL 118 will provide an historical and contemporary survey of differing views of the relation of humans and nature, and of environmental problems and human development. The course will provide a critical examination of differing conceptions of value in regard to nature and differing conceptions of human values and the human condition more generally. The course will investigate how different social, economic, and political ideologies and systems affect the human relation to nature, and how the ethical problems that arise from such systems may be critically evaluated and potentially resolved. Students will be graded on participation, case study analyses, a group presentation and response, and a final paper. PHIL 118 satisfies the GH requirement and it may be used to fulfill the major and/or minor requirements in Philosophy. This course will be offered every other year with an enrollment of 25-100 students.

Leaders, in whatever context, make difficult decisions, distribute scarce resources, direct and influence the conduct of others, and represent the goals of the enterprise they lead. Thus they ought to exemplify prudence, fairness, integrity, honesty, trustworthiness, sincerity, and morally upright behavior. This course investigates these concepts and the moral dilemmas that arise in developing or applying them. It also explores, philosophically as well as practically, the ways leaders might identify ethical challenges, analyze them, imagine possible solutions, and be motivated to do the right thing. Students may read a variety of literature, from classic plays and novels, to prominent philosophical texts, to recent studies of ethics and leadership.

Knowing Right from Wrong" provides a comprehensive understanding of the nature of moral ideas, beliefs, and behaviors in contemporary contexts. What roles do nature and nurture play in the development of moral sensibilities? How do moral emotions and moral reasoning interact to produce moral behavior? What defines moral character and how does it influence what we do? Is it possible to derive what ought to be done from what is known about the world? How do we respond when moral demands compete with another? How do our moral convictions color our perceptions of world events? Can individuals and groups with differing moral commitments communicate with one another and live together peacefully? The course integrates perspectives from philosophy, psychology, and sociology, and prepares students to think about (and act in) a world in which morality (and its linked concepts, such as judgment of others) plays an increasingly important social and political role. The course treats morality as both an aspirational concept and as an actual social practice, and focuses on three major themes: (1) the origins and development of moral reasoning and ethical systems, (2) the influence of moral emotions and moral intuitions on moral reasoning and behavior, and (3) the influence of social and contextual factors on moral behavior and expression. Integrating the philosopher's interest in ethics, with the psychologist's interest in the mind and body, and the sociologist's interest in groups, the course provides a comprehensive introduction to morality in contemporary society, and the ways in which it shapes the lives of people in everyday situations.

Examines methodological foundations and interpretations of history, the objectivity of history, and the issue of history as design or chance. PHIL 122 Introduction to Philosophy of History (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course, as with other 100-level philosophy department courses, is intended for Liberal Arts majors and others likely to take philosophy courses rather than for Philosophy majors. (The analogous course for majors is PHIL 422.) PHIL 122 will provide a critical survey of key problems, concepts, ideologies, and figures in the history of philosophy of history, and encourage and develop the student's analytical and critical interpretation and evaluation of the theses presented. The course will study key questions regarding the human past and the potentiality of the human future as reflective of the human condition more broadly. It develops a broad, coherent overview of the nature and philosophical status of history and the philosophical assumptions and issues in the practice of history. It also emphasizes the thought of major, influential figures and their works, such as Hume, Vico, Hegel, Marx, Mill, Rickert, Dilthey, Croce, Collingwood, Mandelbaum, Hempel, and Randall. Students will be graded on participation, comparison/contrast papers, a position paper, a collaborative presentation, and a comprehensive final exam. PHIL 122 satisfies the GH requirement and it may be used to fulfill the major and/or minor requirements in Philosophy. This course is offered every other year with an enrollment of 35-50 students.

This course surveys the core philosophical questions connected with mass media: What is newsworthy? What is the whole story, and what makes it true? How ought media¿s form influence the power of its content? What authorizes journalists to interpret the facts? How much does individual self-understanding and social organization depend on media images and tropes? Does it make sense to speak of "the media" as a unified phenomenon? As we work to formulate and answer these questions, students will acquire ethical understanding, media literacy, and an appreciation for the role media plays in the formation of cultural expectations about knowledge, values, and technology.

This course surveys perennial philosophical questions connected with religion: What is God, deity, or divinity? What is the nature and significance of religious experience? Is it rational to hold religious beliefs? How persuasive are arguments about the existence of God? How compatible is religion with modern science? What are the meanings of miracles, immortality, and creation? In what ways might morality depend on religion? What role ought religion to play in society and the public sphere? What lesson should we draw from profound religious experiences? Ought religious tolerance to be limited at all? Through the reading and discussion of relevant historical and contemporary texts, students will be encouraged to reflect on such questions from a variety of perspectives.

This course surveys the core questions in epistemology: What do we mean when we claim to know something, as opposed to merely having an opinion about it? What sorts of things, if anything, are ultimately knowable? What role ought sensation, perception, observation, experience, authority, testimony, or reason play in forming, changing, justifying, or defending claims to knowledge? Are such claims to knowledge always conditioned by the social and historical situation, and limited by the knowers¿ standpoint, or are there universal standards to establish them? Through analysis and discussion of classical historical and contemporary texts, the course introduces students to these and related problems of knowledge and acquaints them with the most influential strategies that philosophers have developed in response to them.

This WAC course surveys the core questions in epistemology: What do we mean when we claim to know something, as opposed to merely having an opinion about it? What sorts of things, if anything, are ultimately knowable? What role ought sensation, perception, observation, experience, authority, testimony, or reason play in forming, changing, justifying, or defending claims to knowledge? Are such claims to knowledge always conditioned by the social and historical situation, and limited by the knowers¿ standpoint, or are there universal standards to establish them? Through analysis and discussion of classical historical and contemporary texts, the course introduces students to these and related problems of knowledge and acquaints them with the most influential strategies that philosophers have developed in response to them.

This course considers key concepts, problems, and figures in metaphysics ¿ the investigation into the nature of reality. We will ask the deepest questions about what exists and how things relate to one another on a fundamental level. For example: Does everything ultimately reduce to simple substances, or is reality organized into types? Does time exist objectively, or is it dependent on the mind? Does effect follow cause as a matter of universal law or only as a statistical probability? What factors determine whether a thing is the same over time or differs at every instance? We will also query the most basic assumptions about reality ¿ that a pencil will not fall through a desktop, the sun will rise tomorrow, and the world was not created a minute ago. Students will develop skills in reading difficult texts, evaluating arguments, and formulating their own philosophical views through discussion and in writing.

This WAC course considers key concepts, problems, and figures in metaphysics ¿ the investigation into the nature of reality. We will ask the deepest questions about what exists and how things relate to one another on a fundamental level. For example: Does everything ultimately reduce to simple substances, or is reality organized into types? Does time exist objectively, or is it dependent on the mind? Does effect follow cause as a matter of universal law or only as a statistical probability? What factors determine whether a thing is the same over time or differs at every instance? We will also query the most basic assumptions about reality ¿ that a pencil will not fall through a desktop, the sun will rise tomorrow, and the world was not created a minute ago. Students will develop skills in reading difficult texts, evaluating arguments, and formulating their own philosophical views through discussion and in writing.

The course wonders, "What is a mind?" - especially in its relationship to the brain, the person, and the world. We study whether consciousness defines a mind, what limitations if any subjectivity places on the scientific investigation of the mind, and how to build a robot with a mind. Readings may include texts from the history of philosophy and contemporary philosophy, as well as neuroscience and psychology. Students will learn a broad range of skills needed to understand and synthesize the variety of information relevant to the mind.

Philosophy of language asks the following sorts of questions: What makes a system of symbols a language? What is meaning? How does a term or a symbol refer to an object? In what way is speech also an action? How does language affect the way we see the world? This course offers a critical survey of key concepts, topics, and texts from Classical authors (e.g., Plato and Aristotle) and more recent thinkers, in the post-Fregean analytic tradition, the Peircean pragmatic tradition, and the post-Husserlian or Saussurean continental tradition. It shows how the debates about language and its relation to the world shed light on other major problems of philosophy. Due to the formal nature of its subject-matter, the course helps students develop skill in the logical analysis of sentences and descriptions.

Studies questions of ethics in relation to biotechnology research and implementation, genetic engineering, medicine, animal and human rights. PHIL 132 (RL ST 131) Introduction to Bioethics (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. The course, as other 100-level Religious Studies Program and Philosophy courses, is intended for Liberal Arts majors and others likely to take Religious Studies and Philosophy courses rather than for Religious Studies majors. This course will provide a critical survey of key concepts, problems, and figures in the short history of bioethics and in contemporary studies and possible future directions. The course will develop the student's analytical and critical skills through study of different views on the nature of life and what experimentation with life-forms morally entails. The course will examine the increasingly techno-scientific definition of the nature of life and the human condition and evaluate such arguments and positions of practice in regard to opposing views of life as inherently sacred. It will investigate the extent and breadth of moral arguments in regard to differing life forms and consider the rights of humans and non-human animals. Students will be graded on participation, case study analyses, a group presentation, and a final paper. PHIL 132/RL ST 131 satisfies the GH requirement and it may be used to fulfill major and/or minor requirements in Philosophy and Religious Studies. This course is offered every other year with an enrollment of 35-50 students.

Climate change is not only a political, economic, and social crisis, it presents one of the great moral problems of our time. This course will cover the science, policy, and ethics of climate change. It fulfills general science requirements by giving an overview of the role played by such diverse scientific disciplines as chemistry, earth systems, ecology, and geology in understanding our changing climate while also exploring mitigation and adaptation strategies being developed in the fields of engineering, forestry, agriculture, and others. It fulfills humanities requirements by delving into the ethical dimensions of climate change, including religious and humanistic theories of human flourishing, deontological and teleological theories of ethics, and analysis of specific choices addressed by international negotiators. A hallmark of this course is using Penn State as a ¿living laboratory¿ by taking advantage of both faculty expertise and the realworld activities of the Office of Physical Plant. Every week, students will interact with experts from various quarters of the University in order to see how climate change is being approached in a multi-disciplinary fashion. The first third of the course will feature guest lectures by EMS faculty working on paleoclimate, modeling, carbon sinks, ocean acidification and other aspects of climate science. The second portion will engage humanists, economists, historians, and artists at Penn State. The third will include tours of Penn State facilities, such as the East Campus Power Plant, and interviews with researchers developing new energy and sequestration technologies. In addition to exams and papers, students will prepare for a mock negotiation by learning about the energy profile and history of assigned countries. They will then have to set specific CO2 and temperature goals and come up with solutions to achieve these. The goal is to understand the role placed by ethical ideals in the pragmatic process of producing an equitable solution. In short, this course will give students the tools to understand the basic science of climate change and its ethical implications. Students will come away with a better sense of the moral dimensions of this phenomenon and the implications for human civilization and for the biosphere.

Examination of Jewish ethical thought from biblical foundations to the modern period, with attention to contemporary issues in moral philosophy. J ST (PHIL/RL ST) 135 Ethics in Jewish Tradition and Thought (3) (GH;IL) This course takes as its starting point the idea that modern ethical frameworks are deeply rooted in the “soil” of older traditions. By examining the development of Jewish intellectual traditions and their roots in the Bible, it provides students with an opportunity to study ethics in a philosophically textured, culturally rich, and historically informed way. And by focusing on Jewish engagement with the Bible, the course illuminates other traditions that derive from biblical monotheism: for example, those associated with Christianity, Islam, and the Enlightenment. The first part of the course takes up the idea of tradition and includes a study of biblical texts that serve as the foundation for key moral concepts. Following the traditional division of the scriptures, it examines questions of human identity and responsibility in the Torah, social ethics in the Prophets, and the quest for wisdom in the Writings. The final topic in this unit is the development of ethical tradition among the great sages of Jewish antiquity. The second unit shifts focus to the appropriation of tradition in modern Jewish thought. After reviewing important developments in Jewish thought in the medieval and early modern periods, it turns attention to the ways that some recent figures have addressed perennial concerns in light of commitments and ways of being that are integral to Jewish identity. By reading closely the works of such seminal thinkers as James Kugel, Joseph Soloveitchik, and Abraham Heschel, we will gain a deep acquaintance not only with important vocabulary but also with the ways that traditional words and concepts may be used dynamically to produce fresh ways of looking at questions in moral philosophy. Even when the influence of Judaism on a particular figure is not openly acknowledged in his work, as in the case of Sigmund Freud, he may be studied profitably, in a way that sheds light on characteristically Jewish ideas. Finally, the course turns in its third and final unit to applied ethics. The central question here is how Jewish tradition informs ethical reflection in a wide range of contemporary fields: specifically, environmental studies, social and sexual ethics, and legal and business ethics.

Ancient Greece provided Western Civilization much in terms of art and philosophy. The influence of the Greeks can be seen in such areas as architecture, sculpture, concepts of beauty, literature, etc. These are independent domains, but there is often integration between the two disciplines. This course will uncover the ways in which philosophy informed Greek ideals and the role played by both visual art and literary art. To that end, sections will focus on each of those two disciplines. Study will also display how the disciplines come together in the following areas: 1) Beauty and 2) The interrelation of art, religion, philosophy and the state. Early in the course, students will thoroughly examine the concept of Beauty, with an emphasis on Ideal Beauty. Students will explore objective and subjective definitions by developing models of each and then synthesizing competing ideas in their own unconventional definitions of Beauty. Foundational work will include study of specific Greek artists/thinkers, and involve students in working toward identifying traces of early thinking in contemporary society. This will include both written and visual work. Analyses will target philosophical thought, sculpture and architecture primarily from Early Classical and High Classical/Golden Age works as students explore the Greek search for perfection. The periods and styles that will be covered include: Geometric which includes the Orientalizing period; Archaic; Classical (Early, High, and Late); and Hellenistic. Next students will examine and discuss different philosophical topics such as metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, etc. An emphasis will be placed on Plato and Aristotle but the Pre-Socratics may also be considered. Art and philosophy are also integrated in Ancient Greece. Plato considered beauty, art, the artist and tragedy in works such as The Republic, Philebus, Ion and Hippias Major. Aristotle's major contribution to aesthetics is in the Poetics. The last section will consider the relationship between literary art (plays) and the Greek understanding of authority ¿ particularly the gods, the state and the individual. Much of the art in the Greek culture (as it is in most cultures) is best understood in terms of the dominant religion. The themes developed gave rise to a great deal of philosophical reflection in terms of the place of religion, and how the individual saw themselves in relation to the gods and the state. Through an examination of plays and philosophical texts, students will explore this relation between the individual and an authority (gods or rulers).

Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject that may be topical or of special interest.

Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject that may be topical or of special interest.

Courses offered in foreign countries by individual or group instruction.

This course examines key themes, texts, and persons in ancient Greek philosophy, with the works of Plato and Aristotle at the core. We ask: What did Socrates mean when he said "the unexamined life is not livable by humans"? Or when Thales said "All begins in water"? Or when Epicurus said "Only pleasure is valuable"? Or when Parmenides said "You cannot speak of what is not"? To answer these questions, we examine the cultural background of philosophical thinking (Homer and Hesiod; Near Eastern traditions; trade and empire), and we survey views about, for example, the universe¿s structure and origin, the nature of reality and change, the status of knowledge and opinion, the best way of life for individuals and for societies, and the value of reason, persuasion, argument, and logic. We also give close attention to the formation, meaning, and purpose of philosophy, wisdom, and sophistry. This includes analysis of the "myth¿reason" hypothesis, Milesian inquiry into basic principles (archai), physical vs. ethical inquiry, and the development of doctrine, discipline, and disagreement. In addition to the figures mentioned above, figures studied may come from the periods of the Presocratics (e.g., Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Xenophanes), Hellenism (Stoic, Epicurean, Cynic, and Skeptic), the Romans (e.g., Cicero, Seneca), and the Neoplatonists (e.g., Plotinus).

Examines the thought and influence of major Western thinkers from the fourth to the fifteenth centuries, emphasizing Augustine and Aquinas. PHIL 201 Medieval Philosophy (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. As part of the history of philosophy sequence required of undergraduate Philosophy majors, this course is designed to examine the movements of thought and major thinkers from the fourth to the fifteenth centuries. The course will begin by studying the historical and philosophical foundations of Medieval thought through an examination of philosophical problems from Ancient Philosophy. It will proceed to a study of Augustine, Islamic Philosophy, Jewish Philosophy, Aquinas, Ockham, and Duns Scotus. Students will be required to critically analyze the texts of the philosophers studied in class, as well as to compare, contrast, and critically evaluate the ideas of these thinkers. They will be graded on participation, comparison/contrast papers, a position paper, a collaborative presentation, and a comprehensive final exam. PHIL 201 satisfies the GH requirement, it may be used to fulfill the minor requirements in Philosophy, and it is a prerequisite to the 400-level courses. It will be offered once a year with an enrollment of 35 students.

This course surveys major philosophical issues of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a vibrant era of scientific revolution, religious and political upheaval, and Europe¿s rise to global power. In its quest for a method of scientific discovery, philosophy breaks with the Aristotelian tradition that had dominated it for centuries; it ends up confronting remarkably new questions and modes of explanation. We focus on the works of the major thinkers of this era, such as Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Although with different priorities and conclusions, each takes up the implications of the new, mechanistic conception of nature. We study their investigations into the following types of questions: What is "substance" and what are the genuine qualities of things? What is the nature of the mind, and how is it related to the "material body"? How do we acquire knowledge of reality, and can we ever be certain of this knowledge? Are natural phenomena determined by causal laws? Does God exist and, if so, what is his role in relation to a material world governed by causal laws? The lively debates over these questions gave birth to two rival schools of thought, one seeking answers in the innate principles of the mind (rationalism), the other in our experience of the world (empiricism).

Examines the thought and influence of major Western thinkers from Hegel to Nietzsche, including Marx, Kierkegaard, and Schopenhauer. Phil 203 19th Century Philosophy (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. As part of the history of philosophy sequence required of undergraduate philosophy majors, this course provides an overview of the central currents of 19th-century philosophy. This course in combination with the others of the sequence allows a consistent approach to history of philosophy. This historical sequence will comprise the core of all philosophy major options. As a general education humanities course, this class: 1) develops a broad, coherent overview of the historical development of western philosophy in the 19th century, and the philosophical problems, methods, and results of this development; 2) emphasizes the thought of major influential figures and their works, such as Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Mill, and Bergson; 3) develops competence in interpretation and critical assessment of human values and their place in theory and practice as set both in philosophically and historically central views that span all areas of philosophical thought; 4) leads the students to appreciate and think critically about the ends of human action and final, non-instrumental, aesthetic values in moral, political, and aesthetic experience (including attention to the metaphysical and epistemological foundations of this experience) as set both in the work of major philosophers of the 19th century; 5) teaches students how to communicate clearly, think logically, and evaluate critically by providing them a critical survey of philosophical theories that are both important in the historical development of western thought and important for understanding continuing and contemporary philosophical issues today; and 6) meets fully all its stated humanities general education objectives by providing students with texts that occupy a central role in the humanities, requiring careful oral and written analysis of these texts, developing abilities to think critically and imaginatively about the issues in these texts, and leading students to integrate course material with other humanities subjects such as literature, foreign languages, history, religion, social and political theory, philosophy of science. Students will be graded on participation, three comparison/contrast papers, one position paper, one collaborative presentation, and a comprehensive final exam. PHIL 203 satisfies the GH requirement, it may be used to fulfill the minor requirements in Philosophy and it is a prerequisite to the 400-level courses. This course will be offered once a year with an enrollment of 35 students.

The 20th century can be characterized as a crisis of foundations ¿ doubt about the ultimate grounding or demonstrability of our beliefs concerning the world and ourselves. So-called continental philosophy sought a ground of knowledge in phenomenology, the view that human subjective experience ("phenomena") reveals essences, how things actually are. By mid-century, deconstructionist critique shattered confidence about the underlying distinctions assumed here. So-called analytic philosophy began the century with a commitment to eliminating metaphysical speculation in favor of narrowly empirical truths, on the model of scientific investigation; but the eventual unconvincingness of this view led to theories of knowledge and metaphysics that allowed for the absence of foundations. Rooted in this and earlier rejections of foundations, so-called pragmatism began as way to assess competing ideas by the difference they make in human action. A crisis in political foundations generated the social and philosophical movements of Marxism, critical race theory, and feminism. The ramifications of these crises continue to be acutely felt in contemporary philosophy, making the 20th century a period of particularly diverse and relevant resources. This course satisfies BA and GH requirements.

American philosophy comes into its own in the mid-nineteenth century, emancipating itself both from its origins in Protestant religion and from the tutelage of European role-models. The 1840s see the rise of the New England Transcendentalists (Emerson, Thoreau), who emphasized imagination, individualism, equality, and moral progress. During the decades of national reconsolidation following the Civil War, Pragmatism arises (Peirce, James, Dewey, Royce). Its practitioners¿ innovations help set the tone for many twentieth-century intellectual developments: the emphasis on history, practice, and pluralism; the break with metaphysics and intellectualistic approaches to science, morality, and society; and the commitment to a "radical empiricism" broad enough to embrace scientific observation, religious experience, and social experimentation. Fuller's early feminism, Addams¿s social progressivism, and Du Bois's reflections on racial inequality constitute uniquely American moments in the history of philosophy. Certain more recent philosophers (Putnam, Rorty, Cavell, and Brandom) have renewed and extended the pragmatist legacy. The course evaluates the problems raised by these philosophers and traces their influences on American society, politics, and culture. One of the principal goals is to enable students to understand better this rich philosophical tradition and its importance-both critical and constructive-in the contemporary American landscape.

Treating contemporary philosophy as history encourages us to ask what current ideas are likely to resonate in the future. The course focuses on philosophical work that crosses disciplinary boundaries, addresses new social and political problems, introduces experimental styles, and opens novel areas of investigation. By engaging with the ideas of philosophers who are writing and thinking right now, students gain the opportunity to consider how well philosophy addresses issues of concern to a world that they themselves belong to. Examples include climate change, racism, posthumanism, globalization, gender and sexual identity, and the science of the mind. Working with living philosophers also affords the opportunity to see the authors speak about their work on video or, when practical, in person.

An inquiry into the form and function of concepts, laws, theories, and into the character of scientific explanation and prediction. PHIL 221 Philosophy of Science (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. PHIL 221 provides an introduction to the modern and contemporary theories of space, time, matter, and to scientific methodology more broadly. The course presents these concepts via their historical development. An awareness of the historical background forms the basis for a critical and philosophical understanding of mathematical physics and, again, scientific methodology. The main texts may include: Galileo, On the World Systems, A. Einstein, Relativitv: The Special and the General Theory, and B. Hoffmann, The Strange Story of the Quantum. Students will be evaluated on participation, case study analysis, case study group presentation and response, and final paper. PHIL 221 satisfies the GH requirement, and may be used to fulfill major and minor requirements in Philosophy. It will be offered once a year with an enrollment of 50 students.

Ethics and individual and group decision-making in the design of technology including design projects and specific attention to institutional ethics. PHIL (S T S) 233 Ethics and The Design of Technology (3) (GH)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. Technology has been around nearly as long as humans have been around. Humans have always created artifacts and artificial environments to aid us in our survival and to help fulfill our needs and desires. Moreover, today technology is all pervasive, transforming and conditioning our social and political relations, our cultural understanding of ourselves, and our relationship with other animals and the natural environment. Yet not much thought has been expended upon the meaning of technology, particularly in its moral dimensions. This course takes several steps to correct this deficiency. Because technologies can have far reaching effects well beyond the domain of their immediate application, the role of designers is crucial in deciding whether we take an intelligent or unintelligent approach to technology. All technologies exist to serve one human need or another. Designers make important choices concerning the creation, development, and deployment of many if not most technological innovations. Consequently, the task of the designer is an ethical one. Our goal is twofold: First, we will try to broaden our moral imaginations by taking into account the wider ranging effects that technologies have in order to reveal the moral significance of design choices. Second, we will examine the process of design itself, particularly in the way that the design process is similar to ethical reasoning in general. It is hoped that by accomplishing these two tasks, we will be empowered as designers, customers, citizens, and future employers to make choices that better fulfill the moral task of technological innovation. Two means will be used to achieve our course goals. Much of the time will be spent thinking about and discussing the various impacts that particular technologies have upon the social, cultural, and political lives of human beings and upon the natural environment. To facilitate thoughtful discussion, we will read a number of authors, writing short papers in preparation for critical discussion in class. In this way we will be better prepared to discuss and think about the issues at hand by having had the chance to organize our thoughts in advance. The second means is aimed at putting our ideas into practice by working in teams on several design projects. These design projects will require the integration of readings, discussion, and research and their synthesis to solve a design problem. Student teams will work cooperatively on these projects and make oral progress reports as well as final written and oral reports.

PHIL 242N : Happiness and Well-Being. 3 credits. (Inter-Domain), (GH), (GS), (BA). This course provides a general introduction to the topics of human happiness and well-being as these topics are both approached from the humanities discipline of philosophy and the social and behavioral science discipline of psychology. The course will introduce the distinct methods of inquiry into the topic of well-being in philosophy and psychology and highlight the disciplinary commitments of the two fields more generally. Students will understand and evaluate the empirical research into well-being and positive psychology in psychology. Students will understand and evaluate the three major theories of well-being in philosophy: hedonism, the desire satisfaction theory, and the objective theory. We will appraise whether the empirical results affect the viability of the philosophical theories. We will appraise whether the philosophical theories affect the significance of the empirical results. We will consider such questions as: What are the strengths, weaknesses, and complementarities of the philosophical and psychological approaches to well-being? Are psychologists and philosophers talking past each other, or can the two disciplines learn from each other¿s research results and philosophical theories? What implications do the results and theories studied have for concrete choices I should make in order to increase my well-being? Are there implications for choices of social policies aiming to increase well-being?

The perceived relationship between food and health, emphasizing the conceptual nature of both; and how values contribute to the relationship.

Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject which may be topical or of special interest.

Courses offered in foreign countries by individual or group instruction.

Survey of key figures and movements in American thought, including the Transcendentalists, the Pragmatists, and contemporary developments.

Survey of key figures and movements of Europe, including phenomenology, existentialism, structuralism and post-structuralism, and critical theory.

Examines ethical theories, justice, rights, community, and human values revolving around such issues as preservation, conservation, pollution, sustainability, and population.

Examines philosophical views of the nature of law, legal ethics, law and society through questions regarding definition, interpretation, and institutions.

Examines the moral justification of business practices and economic systems through critical analyses of case studies and applied ethical theories.

Interrelationships of twentieth-century technological change and human values. Emphasis on the social and ethical aspects of technological progress.

Historical and philosophical foundations of political organization, authority, and justice, and contemporary issues of rights, community, and culture.

Studies concepts of beauty, truth, value, representation, production and reproduction, and reality through philosophical theory and works of art.

Historical and contemporary foundational and methodological issues such as causality, relativity and epistemological relativism, teleology, and the nature of reality.

Discusses truth, belief, illusion, imagination and creativity through philosophical literature, as well as problems of philosophical writing.

Examines the philosophical nature and foundations of methodology, structures and objects, value-neutrality and objectivity in the social sciences.

Examines ethical theories, justice, rights, community, and human values revolving around such issues as preservation, conservation, pollution, sustainability, and population.

Examines ethical theories, justice, rights, community, and human values revolving around such issues as preservation, conservation, pollution, sustainability, and population.

Examines the relation between faith and reason, the nature of religious experience, the problem of evil, the existence of God.

The nature of cognition and perception, the conditions of experience, and the justification and truth of belief.

Examines the nature of reality, the existence of freedom, and the nature of matter, mind, and values.

Investigates problems of mind from the standpoint of traditional metaphysical views, modern scientific psychology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence.

Examines ethical, political, and social issues in the research, implementation, and practice of medicine, medical technologies, and healthcare.

Ethical issues arising in the practice of science and engineering and their philosophical analysis.

The historical and transformative interactions between science and Western philosophical and religious views of nature, humanity, and God.

Philosophical traditions, problems, and authors in African, Asian, Middle- Eastern, Native American, or other non-Western cultures and intellectual traditions.

Examines the central currents of feminist philosophy, selected problems and concepts regarding difference, gender and sex, identity, and political culture.

Exploration of the traditions, problems, and authors of one or more of the philosophical systems of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

This course is intended as the Capstone Course for Philosophy majors and is to be taken during their senior year or during the last semester of their junior year.

Examines the philosophy of central figures in ancient philosophy from the pre-Socratics to the post-Aristotelians and Neoplatonists.

Descartes to Kant, including mind and reality, space and time, God and nature, morality and autonomy.

Hegel to Nietzsche, including nature and spirit, history and human nature, ideology and morality.

Topics in the philosophy of figures such as Husseri, James, Russell, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Dewey.

Topics in the philosophy of contemporary figures such as Foucault, Habermas, Rorty, Derrida, Rawls, Davidson, and MacIntyre.

Major works by African American Philosophers, on topics of race, freedom, citizenship, nationhood, law and society.

Examines the metaphysics, epistemology, politics, aesthetics, and moral theory of this central figure in the history of philosophy.

Explores major figures and trends in Jewish philosophy and their influences on other philosophical traditions.

Critically examines the philosophy of central German idealists, including Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel, and its impact on later philosophy.

Critical examination of the metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, legal and moral philosophy, and influence of Immanuel Kant.

Critical examination of the metaphysics, moral theory, epistemology, and philosophy of history of this central figure of 19th-century philosophy.

This course analyzes the ethical and philosophical consequences of the Holocaust. Primary areas of examination will be (1) the nature of pre-Holocaust ethical theories and how those theories have failed to sufficiently account for the Holocaust, both philosophically and empirically, and (2) possibilities for a post-Holocaust ethics. Course topics will include the history of ethical theory, the nature and problem of evil, goodness and suffering, witnessing and testimony, and the promise of an ethics. In addition, recent approaches to trauma theory and rights discourse will also be introduced, with some emphasis on how post-Holocaust ethics have been utilized in contemporary human rights work. This course provides students with philosophical approaches to the issues that emerge out of the events of the Holocaust. The course will help students expand their knowledge of the events of the Holocaust through a philosophical approach that does not merely expose them to what happened, but asks them to think about the implications of what happened: most specifically, how do we understand ethical life, if it cannot stop or confront evil? The course will encourage students to think critically, write effectively and express their thoughts logically. Student evaluation will be based on both regular writing assignments and in-class work, possibly including presentations and group-work. This course covers material in the history of philosophy, contemporary philosophy, and writings pertaining to the Holocaust in various forms (historical, literary documentary, and so forth). It provides links to other major areas in the history of philosophy, postmodernism, ethics, philosophy of religion, and Jewish history.

Examines the ontology, political and social thought of the Frankfurt School from Horkheimer and Adorno to Marcuse and Habermas.

Studies Heidegger's metaphysical thought from his early to later works regarding being, history, subjectivity, aesthetics, language, and his influence.

Examines Wittgenstein's early and late work, including logical atomism, meaning, language games, forms of life, and the private-language argument.

Critically examines the metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic, aesthetics, education theory, and social and political philosophy of this major American pragmatist.

Supervised student activities on research projects identified on an individual or small-group basis.

Supervised student activities on research projects identified on an individual or small-group basis.

Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject which may be topical or of special interest.

Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject that may be topical or of special interest.

Courses offered in foreign countries by individual or group instruction.