Spring 2025 Philosophy Courses
IMPORTANT NOTICE: 100 and 200-level courses are without prerequisites and open to first year students. 300-level courses presume some previous exposure to philosophy or a related field of study. If there is any question in your mind about whether you have the right background for any particular philosophy course, talk to the instructor before you enroll.
PHIL 101 – Introduction to Philosophical Problems and Arguments
Four sections: MW 9:00-10:15 am – Annesley; TR 10:30-11:45 am; 1:30-2:45 pm; 3:00-4:15 pm – Bondurant
This course is intended as an introduction to a number of related problems in philosophy. Can I know anything? Does God exist? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? Am I the same person now as I was in the past? Am I free? In discussing these questions, we will examine a variety of responses, ranging from those given by Descartes and his early modern critics to 20th and 21st-century responses to these philosophical problems. Throughout the course, special attention will be paid (a) to extracting precise arguments from the authors we read and (b) to evaluating these arguments. This procedure will reveal ambiguities and other flaws in many arguments that appear convincing at first; other times and it will show that often an “obvious” assumption stands in need of outside justification and/or has questionable implications. Satisfies the General Education Requirement in Literary Studies. (1 unit)
PHIL 251 – Elementary Symbolic Logic
Two sections: MWF 9:00-9:50 am; 10:30-11:20 am – Goddu; TR 9:00-10:15 am – McDaniel
This course is an introduction to symbolic (or mathematical) logic. The focus is on the formal structure of arguments, their logical properties and the formulation and evaluation of proofs. We will be studying structure at different levels, beginning with sentential logic and then advancing to monadic and polyadic predicate logic. In each case, we will familiarize ourselves with the relevant logical grammar and (truth-functional) semantics and use these to provide translations of English sentences. We will also learn how to construct proofs of valid arguments and how to provide counterexamples to invalid arguments. In the study of sentential logic, truth-tables will be used to test for validity and other logical properties such as contingency and equivalence. Satisfies the General Education Requirement in Symbolic Reasoning. (1 unit)
PHIL 260 – Philosophical Problems in Law & Society
Two sections: TR 10:30-11:45 am; 12:00-1:15 pm – Schauber
This course will examine the purpose and justification for legal limits on individual liberty, with special attention to problems of liability and punishment. Topics include strict liability, good Samaritan law, and capital punishment. (1 unit)
PHIL 265 – Bioethics
Two sections: MW 1:30-2:45 pm; 3:00-4:15 pm – Annesley
This course includes a survey of prevalent topics in recent bioethics, the study of ethical discussions surrounding the sciences of biology and medicine. Its primary aim is to help students improve their ability to think critically and to argue from the standpoint of a certain moral theory in the ethical evaluation of problems concerning the human body, health care, doctor-patient relationship, life and death, food, and animals. (1 unit)
PHIL 269 – Environmental Ethics
Two sections: MW 10:30-11:45 am; 12:00-1:15 pm – Anderson
This course is about how we human beings ought to relate to our environment – to animals, plants, species, the climate, ecosystems, the universe. Which of these are of direct moral concern? Why are they of moral concern? How should we regard and treat them? Why? Cross-listed with ENVR 269.
(1 unit)
PHIL 272 – Modern European Philosophy
Two sections: MW 12:00-1:15 pm; 1:30-2:45 pm – McCormick
The “modern” period in European philosophy includes, roughly, the years 1600 through 1800. This period in is characterized by its special interest in understanding the developments of the Scientific Revolution, and also by its focus on the nature and powers of the human mind. This class will discuss some of central figures of this period, such as René Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, Émile du Châtelet, Margaret Cavendish, Gottfried Leibniz, David Hume, Thomas Reid, Mary Shepherd, and Immanuel Kant. Some of the topics we will discuss include the nature and scope of knowledge, questions about free will and freedom, the nature and importance of emotions, and the role of reason and passions in figuring out right and wrong. Satisfies the General Education Requirement in Historical Studies.
(1 unit)
PHIL 353 – Philosophical Methods
TR 12:00-1:15 pm – McDaniel
This course is required of all philosophy majors and limited to philosophy majors and minors. Its main purpose is the development of philosophical skills related to critical reading, writing, and evaluation. For example, we will work on extracting the author's goal, overall strategy for achieving that goal, and specific arguments, from a wide variety of philosophical texts. In general, we will closely read, discuss, and argue the merits of numerous writings with a wide array of content, including the very nature of philosophy itself. Seminar format. Departmental approval required.
(1 unit)
PHIL 366 – Agency: Puzzles & Problems
T 3:00-5:40 pm – Schauber
Questions concerning human agency. Questions may include: What makes us agents? In virtue of what can individuals be said to lead lives? What makes our conduct ours, rather than something that just occurs? We normally take ourselves to be responsible to one another and to ourselves; what makes us responsible? To what extent, if any, is choice necessary for moral responsibility?
One previous philosophy course or permission of instructor required.
PHIL 381 – Philosophy of Language
TR 9:00-10:15 am – Goddu
This course is a selective survey of current philosophy of language via numerous contemporary works of philosophy. Questions to be addressed may include--What is a language? What are the possibilities for linguistic communication? What are the presuppositions of successful linguistic communication? What is meaning, reference, truth? Do non-humans have languages? How do specialized linguistic features such as metaphor, anaphora, etc. work? One previous philosophy course or permission of instructor required. (1 unit)
PHIL 382 – Normative Theory & International Law
MW 10:30-11:45 am – Lefkowitz
This course will focus on four topics: (1) International law’s normativity – how should we characterize or model international law’s contribution to agents’ practical reasoning, and so the production of social order? (2) Secession and territorial rights – under what conditions may a group justifiably secede from an existing state? Which groups enjoy such a right? What entitles a state, or would-be state, to rule a particular territory? (3) The law of armed conflict – should the law of war mirror or deviate in certain respects from the morality of war? (4) International refugee law – who counts, or should count, as a refugee? How should duties to refugees be fulfilled, and by whom? Time permitting, we may also explore some philosophical questions in international criminal law, such as the nature of a crime against humanity and the legitimacy of the International Criminal Court. Familiarity with international law is not a pre-requisite for this course. (1 unit)
PHIL 390 – Independent Study
TBD
Limited to philosophy majors and minors. Departmental approval required. (1 unit)