02421/Philosophy

C050. Philosophical Challenges to the Individual (3 s.h.) FS Core: IN.

This course combines historical and contemporary sources to study individuals and their social settings. Thus it introduces the basic issues of ethics, and social and political philosophy. It serves as the entry course not only for further study of these fields, but also for the study of business and professional ethics and philosophy of law.

C061. Art and Society (3 s.h.) F Core: AR.

Besides treating the major issues internal to the arts and their criticism (e.g. ,definitions of art and aesthetic experience, artistic expression, form, representation, critical interpretation and evaluation), the course also deals with wider questions of the social function and value of the arts, several of which relate to current issues of gender, race, and ethnicity.

C062. Morality and the Law (3 s.h.) S Core: IN.

Especially recommended for pre-law and pre-social administration students. The course provides a basic grounding in moral and legal philosophy, and addresses issues on which both touch, such as capital punishment, affirmative action, sexual behavior, and the right to welfare.

C063. American Thinkers (3 s.h.) S Core: AC.

The major figures and central problems of American philosophy will be surveyed historically, with a view to examining what is distinctive in American thought and how American philosophy relates to its natural cultural context.

C066. Introduction to Logic (3 s.h.) FS Core: QB.

Prerequisite: Math C055 or Stat. C011.

The meaning of such logical notions as the validity of arguments, the equivalence of statements, and the inconsistency of sets of statements. Symbolization of the logically relevant features of statements and testing of arguments for validity, sets for inconsistency, etc. Development of logical theory in connection with these notions and techniques.

C077. Science in Context (3 s.h.) S Core: SB.

A study of scientific method by critical examination of cases of scientific work in their social, political, and psychological context. Attention to the values and ethical concerns in scientific inquiry.

C088. Philosophy East and West (3 s.h.) F Core: IS.

Systematic and comparative study of representative philosophies of India, China, Japan, and Western Europe.

UPPER LEVEL

While some philosophy courses above 0200 do not have explicit prerequisites, they are intended for upper level students who are assumed to be well prepared in the relevant background. It is always safest to check with the instructor before registering.

0100. Introduction to Philosophy (3 s.h.) FS

Philosophical problems in the works of great thinkers from ancient times to present. Selected questions concern the nature of reality, human freedom, the foundations of knowledge, standards of value, and the existence of God.

0116. Development of Science (3 s.h.)

An examination of how modern cosmology developed from its roots in Egypt and Asia, through the classical ancient world, Islam and the Middle Ages, to the great discoveries of the modern and contemporary periods in understanding space and time.

R125. Philosophy of African-American Experiences (3 s.h.) S Core: RS

An introduction to African-American philosophy and the issues around which it has developed: the meaning of racial identity, concepts of personhood, the nature of racial oppression and its relation to gender and class oppression, strategies for black liberation. We will pay close attention to the ways in which African American philosophy is simultaneously a development of and a radical critique of Anglo-European philosophy.

0133. Philosophy of Education

An examination of both historical and contemporary theories of learning and teaching. Some of the authors likely to be encountered are Plato, John Dewey, B.F. Skinner, Piaget, Rousseau. The broader social contexts within which education takes place will be emphasized along with the relationship of philosophy of education to the theory of knowledge in general.

0144. Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind (3 s.h.)

An introductory overview of the most important issues in contemporary philosophy of mind and cognitive studies. Especially aimed at students of Psychology.

0154. Political Philosophy (3 s.h.) F

An examination of such issues as the source of obligation to obey the state, natural rights, the limits of governmental authority, and the justification of various forms of government. Readings drawn from classical and contemporary sources.

0156. Philosophical Perspectives on the Environment (3 s.h.)

Views both historical and modern on our relationship to the natural world around (and in) us. [Under consideration to be writing intensive.]

0161. History of Philosophy: Greek (3 s.h.) (D1) F

Selected basic writings of Plato and Aristotle emphasizing their treatment of such topics as universals and the structure of knowledge.

0165. Hume, Marx, Darwin, and Freud (3 s.h.) Alternate S

An exploration of four major figures who are important in the rise of the social sciences. Their influence in the present will be stressed.

0172. History of Philosophy: Modern (3 s.h.) S

A historical and critical study of the thought of selected philosophers from Descartes to Hume emphasizing their treatment of such topics as perception, the mind/body relationship, the structure of knowledge, and personal identity.

0186. Themes in Existentialism (3 s.h.) F

Questions about the meaning of life, death, and boredom explored in the works of Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, De Sade, Camus, and Orson Welles.

0211. Intermediate Logic (3 s.h.) F

Prerequisite: Philosophy 0111, or a major in mathematics, or permission of instructor.

An introduction to the metatheory of the elementary logic of predicates and quantifiers (familiarity with which is presupposed). Proofs that a standard derivation system is sound and complete are central.

0216. Philosophy of Science (3 s.h.)

Basic issues in the current philosophy of science, and particularly various accounts of such key notions of science as hypotheses, confirmation, laws, causation, explanation, and theories.

0217. Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (3 s.h.) S

Human knowledge is influenced by gender ideologies. This course examines the pervasiveness of these influences, and the resultant implications for the possibility of attaining objectivity and truth in inquiry. Scientific knowledge and philosophical theories of the nature of knowledge are special focuses of attention in this course. Scientific knowledge is considered through detailed discussion of cases in empirical science. The complex relations between gender, race, and class are also discussed in relation to these epistemological issues.

0222. Contemporary Ethical Theory (3 s.h.) S

Issues in ethical theory that have come to prominence in the 20th century. Both mathematical issues (about the meaning and justification of ethical statements) and normative issues (about obligation, responsibility, and goodness) will be examined.

0223. Feminist Ethics and Political Philosophy (3 s.h.) F

An examination of feminism's contribution to ethics, political philosophy, and legal theory. Issues may include: the role of care versus that of justice in determining moral obligations; the nature and causes of women's oppression (including the difference between the sexual oppression experienced by white women and the additional forms of oppression to which women of color/third-world women are subject); pornography and prostitution; equality and difference; essentialism as it pertains to gender and race; feminist jurisprudence; postmodern feminism.

0226. Classics in Moral Philosophy (3 s.h.) F

A study of the major works in the history of moral philosophy selected from among the writings of such philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Hobbes, Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Mill, Nietzsche, Bradley.

0229. Philosophy in Literature (3 s.h.) F

Selected philosophical themes as they appear in classical and modern literature. Frequently the themes concern the "enlightenment project," "modernism," and their critics.

0232. Problems in Aesthetics (3 s.h.)

An examination of the philosophical issues concerning the nature and importance of the arts and artistic practice, including questions about the nature of aesthetic experience, the definition of art, representation and expression in art, the ontological status of artworks, truth and reference in art, and the values of art.

0233. History of Aesthetics (3 s.h.)

A study of major works in the history of aesthetics selected from such philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Kant, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Dewey, Bell, Collingwood, Beardsley, Langer, Dickie, Danto, and contemporary figures.

0243. Philosophy of Law (3 s.h.) S

An introduction to philosophical problems arising in the examination of legal systems, including questions and theories about the nature of law itself, about legal responsibility and legal punishment, and about standards of fairness in settling legal disputes.

0244. Philosophy of Mind (3 s.h.) S

An examination of mental and psychological states and the prospects of reductive materialism. Specific issues considered include the nature of persons, methodological relations between the natural and psychological sciences, language, and action. < /P>

0251. Philosophy of Language (3 s.h.) F

Prerequisite: Philosophy 0100 or permission of the instructor.

Development of a theory of meaning and a criterion of meaningfulness, with a study of selected topics in semantics such as vagueness, metaphor, and theory of reference.

0249. Ethics in Medicine (3 s.h.)

Exploration of ethical issues generated by the application of scientific and technological advances to the preservation, destruction, and programming of human life. Topics may include: ethics of medical research, abortion, euthanasia, behavior control, allocation of scarce medical resources, and the ethics of patient-physician interaction.

0253. Philosophy of History (3 s.h.) S

Problems of historical knowledge, e.g., problems about the historian's claim to explain historical events (causation in history, reasons for actions, challenges to the objectivity of history) and problems about historical interpretation (including global interpretations of the historical process, such as Augustine's, Kant's, and Hegel's ).

0268. Indian Philosophy: An Introduction. (3 s.h.)

Beginnings of Indian philosophical thinking in the hymns of Rig Veda and the upanishads and the major schools of Indian philosophy as they took shape during the next thousand years. The latter include Samkhya, the Buddhist schools, the Vaiseskika, the Nyaya, and the major schools of Vedanta. Issues in metaphysics, epistemology, and logic emphasized.

0275. British Empiricism (3 s.h.)

The works of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume, with an emphasis on their epistemology and metaphysics.

0279. Kant (3 s.h.)

In depth study of some of the major critical writings of Kant.

0281. Nineteenth-Century Philosophy (3 s.h.)

Selected european philosophers from Hegel to Bradley.

0284. Pragmatism and American Thought. (3 s.h.)

American pragmatism and naturalism, with emphasis on Emerson, James, Peirce, Mead, Dewey, and contemporary pragmatists.

0286. Contemporary Continental Philosophy. (3 s.h.)

Phenomenology and existentialism, with emphasis on such 20th century philosophers as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Foucault, Derrida, and other post-structuralists.

0289. Contemporary British and American Philosophy. (3 s.h.)

Selected important figures and topics, e.g., Russell, Wittgenstein, Quine, and Putnam; Logical Atomism, Logical Positivism, Linguistic Philosophy, Pragmatism, and Analytic Philosophy.

0293. Pre-Law Tutorial (3 s.h.)

Prerequisite: Open only to senior philosophy majors.

An alternative capstone course for majors headed toward the legal profession.

0294. Pre-Med Tutorial (3 s.h.)

Prerequisite: Open only to senior philosophy majors.

An alternative capstone course for majors headed toward the medical profession.

0295,0296, 0297. Undergraduate Tutorial (2, 3, and 3 s.h.)

Independent study for undergraduates with one of the professors in the department. Arrangements with that professor must be made before signing up for the course.

0298. Senior Seminar (3 s.h.) F

The normal capstone course for philosophy majors.

0299. Senior Thesis (3 s.h.) S

The writing of the thesis required for graduation with distinction in philosophy.