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INDV 101 - Philosophical Perspectives on the Individual -
Laurie Paul
This introductory course investigates some central themes
in analytic philosophy related to our perspectives of ourselves
and others: the existence of God, the question of whether we can
act freely, our knowledge of the external world, what it means
to be a person and other (related) topics. Written work requirements
include papers and in-class essay exams. Regular attendance and
participation in discussion is required.
INDV 102 - Personal Morality - Mark Timmons
103 - Philosophical Perspectives on Society - Jerry Gaus
This course is divided into four parts: anarchy, morality,
government and tyranny. We begin by looking at individual interactions
under anarchy: can people live in an anarchic state in which each
acts merely on her own interests. The second part of the course
examines morality as a way to solve some of the problems of life
under anarchy. In the third part we look at arguments that morality
is not enough: if people are to live in society for their mutual
benefit they need government. We will consider in this part some
traditional arguments about why government is necessary, and what
jobs it is supposed to do. In the last part of the course we shall
see consider “governments gone wrong” — when
they become tyrannies.
Grading will based on participation in discussion sections, a
mid-term, final and very short paper.
TRAD 104 - Justice and Virtue - Michael Gill
TRAD 104 - Mind, Matter and God - Chris Maloney
This General Education course introduces students to the philosophical
conceptions of mind, matter and God that have partially shaped
the western intellectual tradition. Starting with ancient Greek
philosophers and
concluding with selected figures in the 19th century, we look
to primary
sources to frame our understanding of the issues in metaphysics
and
epistemology that attract our attention. When we turn to the ancients
we
find in Plato and Aristotle foundations for the two preeminent
- and often
competitive - intellectual traditions in Western Philosophy. Prominent
medieval thinkers show us how the Platonic and Aristotelian conceptual
schemes evolved and influenced Christian, Islamic and Judaic thought
of
the middle ages. With early modern philosophers we see the initial
articulation of the questions and issues that have come to define
current
analyses of the cognitive, material and theological realms. Although
the
required readings are culled from periods prior to our own times,
lectures
are informed by contemporary considerations.
Phil 110 - Logic and Critical Thinking - Lee Shepski
This course teaches one of the most important skills any person
can
master: how to think logically. That is, you will learn to decide
whether
conclusions are supported by the putative evidence that is put
forward in
favor of them. Specifically, we will cover the following topics:
what an
argument is; what makes an argument good or bad; the relationship
between natural language and argument; selected forms of deductive
argument; selected logical fallacies; the evaluation of truth-functional
arguments; and selected forms of inductive argument.
Phil 113 - Introduction to Moral and Social Philosophy
- Robbie Wagoner
Phil 213 - Contemporary Moral Problems - Annie Baril
This course considers philosophical perspectives on contemporary
moral issues such as abortion and infanticide, affirmative action
and racial profiling, animal rights and vegetarianism, deception
and public embarrassment, intellectual property rights, same-sex
marraiges and sexual identity.
Phil 238 - Philosophy in Literature - Sara Bernstein
Phil 245 - Existential Problem - Anne Steadman
Phil 260 - Ancient Philosophy - Julia Annas
Phil 261 - Medieval Philosophy - Houston Smit
Phil 264 - 20th Century Philosophy - Reimer
Phil 320B - Philosophy of Freedom - Chris Freiman
Phil 324 - Law and Morality - Cole Mitchell
Phil 344 - Issues and Methods in Analytic Philosophy - Shaughan
Lavine
Phil 376 - Intro to Philosophy of Language -
Phil 416/516 - Philosophy of Mathematics - Shaughan Lavine
Phil 421/521 Philosophy of Biological Sciences - Richard Healey
and Elizabeth Willott
In recent years the philosophy of biology has become a lively
field of interdisciplinary research in which philosophers and
biologists have worked together
—to clarify basic biological concepts such as the concept
of a species, of fitness and of function
—to determine the proper role of teleological explanation
in science
—to understand the structure and confirmation of evolutionary
theory
—to examine and attempt to resolve disputes in biology concerning
(for example) the level(s) at which natural selection operates,
and how far adaptationist explanations should be sought
—to clarify the relative importance of individuals, species
and ecosystems in conservation biology
—to investigate the extent to which evolutionary thinking
can contribute to an understanding of altruism, cooperative behavior,
and human moral concepts
—to pursue the broader implications of "Darwin's Dangerous
Idea" (the title of a book by the prominent philosopher Daniel
Dennett) for the theory of knowledge, for moral psychology and
moral theory, for an understanding of culture, and even for the
question of whether life has meaning, and if so what it is In
this introduction to the philosophy of evolutionary biology we'll
look at some of these topics (at least) to survey the contemporary
state of play. No prior knowledge of biology is required other
than minimal acquaintance with the theory of biological evolution
through natural selection and of the basic ideas of genetics.
Nor is any specific knowledge of philosophy in general or philosophy
of science in particular. But this is an upper division course,
and we shall be tackling some pretty tough problems whose resolution
will require some clear abstract thinking.
Phil 430/530B - Ethical Theory - Mark Timmons
Phil 434/534 - Social and Political Philosophy - Jerry
Gaus
In this course we will focus on the idea of the social
contract. Can government be justified in terms of a pact that
all rational individuals would accept in a “state of nature”
or an “original position”? What would be the terms
of the agreement? We will read selections from, among others,
Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, David Gauthier, Jean Hampton and
John Rawls.
Grading will be based on a very short mid-term essay, a term paper
and an essay final exam.
Phil 441/541 - Theory of Knowledge - Terry Horgan
Phil 450/550 - Philosophy of Mind - Terry Horgan
Phil 451/551 - Philosophy + Psychology - Mike Harnish
and Merrill Garrett - This offering of 451/551 will differ
from some other offerings by not being an exploration of general
issues relating philosophy and psychology, such as issues in the
philosophy of science as applied to psychology, or issues in the
philosophy of mind applied to psychology (and vice versa). Rather,
we are going to review some recent work in the philosophy of language
that has influenced work in the psychology of language and explore
their interaction by taking up a number of specific topics in
the subject. We will see not only how tricky it can be to test
ideas from philosophy (and linguistics) experimentally, but also
the putting such ideas to experimental test can shed novel light
on the issue, and force revisions in theorizing.
Phil 453H/553 - Intro to Consciousness Studies - Uriah
Kriegel
This course provides an opinionated overview of the most
vexing
questions regarding the nature of consciousness. It will explore
the
main theories that attempt to explain consciousness reductively
(i.e.,
in terms that do not presuppose the notion of consciousness) both
in
cognitive science and in philosophy of mind, focusing in greater
detail on the merits of my favorite of these theories (namely,
the
self-representational theory of consciousness).
Phil 463/563 - Philosophy of Language - Marga Reimer
Phil 471/571A - Rationalism + Empiricism - Houston Smit
Phil 472/572B - Ancient Philosophy - Julia Annas
Phil 569 - Introduction to Cognitive Science - Shaun
Nichols
Cognitive scientists investigate mental processes by
recruiting methods and results from a wide range of disciplines
including psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy, and
computer science. This course will focus on several topics that
have been the subject of recent attention from a broad range of
perspectives in cognitive science including moral intuitions,
religious cognition, object cognition, the evolution of language,
and the relationship between anger and cooperation.
Phil 596A - Ethics - Michael Gill
Phil 596B - Methphysics - Joseph Tolliver
Phil 596H - Philosophy of Physical Science - Jenann Ismael
The general focus of the course is going to be on scientific
ontology, the part of a physical theory that tells us what the
basic building blocks of matter are. The ontological component
of a physical theory plays a formative role, determining the structure
of models and proscribing the range of possibilities that the
theory recognizes, but it lies beyond the immediate reach of the
phenomena. We'll look at contemporary debates about the status
of scientific ontology, as well as some of the traditional issues.
But readings will be chosen primarily for their interest, so don't
expect a representative survey. General acquaintance with concepts
in metaphysics and epistemology will be assumed (we'll make free
use notions like supervenience and reduction, for example), but
no specific knowledge of physics or philosophy of science. The
course will be most suited to those interested in questions about
scientific realism, the structure of physical theory, and confirmation.
Phil 596K - Philosophy of Mind - Shaun Nichols
In this seminar, we will first survey traditional positions
in the free will debateI. We will then spend the bulk of the semester
exploring in detail different aspects of the issue: (1) descriptive
accounts of the folk concepts of free will and responsibility,
(2) substantive arguments about whether or not the folk concepts
correspond to anything, (3) prescriptive arguments about what
changes should follow if the folk concept is mistaken in important
ways, and (4) accounts of the origin of the folk notions of free
will and responsibility.
Phil 696A - Advanced Topics in Artificial Intelligence
- John Pollock
