Courses and Syllabi
The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.
Philosophy Spring 2022
Undergraduate
Introduction to the nature of philosophical reasoning and some of the main problems of philosophy. Limited to three attempts.
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3 Sections Currently Scheduled
Examines ethical issues associated with new developments in information technology, including privacy rights, intellectual property rights, and the effect of information technology on society. Limited to three attempts.
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2 Sections Currently Scheduled
Considers some perennial issues in ethical theory. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Introduction to philosophical reflection on the arts by looking at the critical issues in the history of aesthetics. Applies considerations to specific works and explores these works in terms of their historical contexts and influences. Concentrates on one form of art or one period and always emphasizes questions of critical evaluation and art historical analysis. Limited to three attempts.
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3 Sections Currently Scheduled
Basic concepts and techniques of deduction, emphasizing the modern treatment of such topics as quantification and rules of inference, with study of the classical treatment. Basic principles of induction, informal fallacies, and uses of logic in everyday life. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Examines the global dimensions of environmental problems. Although environmental problems are global in reach, because different societies make different philosophical and ethical assumptions, they are understood in different ways. Examines several environmental problems, including climate change, population growth, and resource depletion, from a variety of scientific, policy, and cross-cultural perspectives. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Addresses the question "How do I live a happy life?" by drawing on 2,500 years of philosophy as well as the much more recent science of happiness. Encourages students to develop and live their own answer in light of some of the best available science and philosophy. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Examines differences and relations between literary and philosophical texts. Examines texts from a given period in the history of literature and philosophy. Topics include the presence of common issues in literary and philosophical writings, the influence of philosophical ideas on the production of literary texts and literary theory, and the development in literary texts of issues that are possible objects of philosophical inquiry. Limited to three attempts.
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9 Sections Currently Scheduled »
Figures and problems of modern philosophy. Study of philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, and Hegel. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Examines some major moral issues involved in practice and research in medicine and health care. Topics to be chosen from medical experimentation, definition of death, physician-assisted dying, genetics and human reproduction, distribution of scarce resources, fertility, and organ transplants. Limited to three attempts.
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6 Sections Currently Scheduled »
Investigation of theories of natural law, legal positivism, and legal realism as they pertain to some of the central philosophical questions about law. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Exploration through lecture and discussion of recent developments in the Western tradition of political thought from the middle of the 19th century to today. Different sections focus on one or another of the various political theories that have been influential during this period such as liberal, libertarian, conservative, communitarian, Marxist, feminist, and postmodern thought. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. Equivalent to GOVT 327.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Examination of existential philosophy from its 19th-century origins to its 20th-century expressions. Philosophers studied include Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, De Beauvoir, and Buber. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Examines how concepts of gender, sexual difference, and race structure key philosophical ideas and put such ideas into question. Analyzes the ways in which patriarchal, colonial and racialized structures intersect to produce concepts of the human, the subject, and the ‘Other’. Explores alternative approaches to subjectivity, sexuality, the body, and knowledge drawn from feminist philosophy, queer theory, and philosophies of race and decoloniality. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
One semester of logic recommended. Study of aims and methodology of science. Among the questions of concern are: What constitutes a good scientific explanation? What grounds are used for comparing rival theories? Is there a special method of scientific discovery? Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Investigation of such theories as dualism, behaviorism, and materialism as they pertain to some of the central philosophical questions about mind. Limited to three attempts.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Explores topics in current philosophical research in a seminar format. Topics vary. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 18 credits.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Seminar for students enrolled in the honors program in philosophy. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 18 credits.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Covers issues in the philosophy, economics, and political science of institutions, information, and collective action. Through case studies of existing legal and political institutions, applies the insights to problems in politics, policy making, social-choice theory, and social, moral, and political philosophy. (Specific content varies). Notes: Serves as the capstone course for the PPE program. Equivalent to ECON 460, GOVT 469.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Exploration through lecture and discussion of recent developments in the Western tradition of political thought from the middle of the 19th century to today. Different sections focus on one or another of the various political theories that have been influential during this period such as liberal, libertarian, conservative, communitarian, Marxist, feminist, and postmodern thought. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. Equivalent to GOVT 327.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Seminar for students enrolled in the honors program in philosophy. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 18 credits.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Graduate
In recent decades, the term "postmodern," first used by art critics in the late 19th century, has been taken up by prominent contributors to the arts, social thinkers, and philosophers, to describe developments as well as the current period. Examines three thematic concerns found in work that is identified with postmodern issues: what modernity defines itself in contrast to or against, the status of "man," and status of "subjectivity." May not be repeated for credit.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Examines history of Western ethical theory from ancient Greece to the present day, including virtue theory, consequentialism, deontological theory and contemporary feminism. May not be repeated for credit.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Topics vary. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 9 credits.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
Topics vary. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 9 credits.
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1 Section Currently Scheduled
