Fall Regular Session Courses
PHIL 1010: Meaning of Life
We all find ourselves at one point or another wondering what everything adds up to. This sentiment manifests itself as different questions: 'why are we here?', 'what's my purpose?', 'how can I lead a fulfilling life?', or, perhaps most relevantly, 'what is the meaning of life?'. Now that you're in college, these questions are of the essence. Where will you go from here? Which skills should you develop? Which major should you choose? What should you pursue? Love? Family? Friendship? Education? Career? Fame? Fortune? Religious devotion? Service to others? Fulfillment? Happiness? What does it mean to be happy or fulfilled? In this course, we're going to set all else aside and dedicate real effort to coming to grips with these questions. Our focus will be on developing our ability to think about what we're asking and acquiring the tools necessary to assess the responses on offer.
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MW | 11:30 AM to 12:45 PM |
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PHIL 1020: Contemporary Moral Problems
Introduction to the application of basic moral concepts and theories to contemporary moral issues. Discussion topics will vary and may include: distribution of wealth and resources, environmental ethics and sustainability, animal rights, capital punishment, torture, euthanasia, abortion, cloning, genetic engineering, privacy rights, drug laws, marriage and sexuality, gun control, and affirmative action.
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MW | 11:30 AM to 12:45 PM and Fully Online |
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PHIL 1040: Law, Politics, and Society
A first course in philosophy designed to introduce students to the foundational theories and concepts of legal philosophy, ethics, and social/political philosophy. Students engage theories and concepts by exploring how they are relevant to life in contemporary society. Discussion topics may include free speech, immigration, racism, authoritarianism and populism, human rights, and humanitarian intervention.
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MW | 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM |
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PHIL 1210: Critical Reasoning
A study of the principles of correct reasoning: induction, deduction, formal and informal fallacies. Critical reasoning is excellent preparation for the LSAT and the reasoning portions of other examinations for graduate study.
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MW | 8:30 AM to 9:45 AM |
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PHIL 2010: Symbolic Logic
A first course in symbolic logic designed to introduce students to formal systems of sentential logic and predicate logic. The course explores the nature of both syntax (the formal structure of elements of language) and semantics (interpretive relations between language and subject matter including notions such as truth and reference). Students learn how to translate between English and formal languages, how to construct truth-tables and interpretations to test for key semantic properties, and how to construct derivations. In addition, students will consider the nature and relationships between important logical properties and explore foundational issues in logical metatheory. Throughout the course, students will encounter broad philosophical themes such as the purpose of language, constraints on translation, and nature of meaning itself. (The study of logic is also excellent preparation for the LSAT and the reasoning portions of other examinations for graduate study.) (Cross-listed with MEDH 2010).
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MW | 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM |
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PHIL 2030: Introduction to Ethics
A critical study of basic moral concepts and problems contained in ethical theories of important western philosophers: relativism, egoism, happiness, obligation, justice, freedom, conscience, love, religious precepts, moral rules, moral attitudes and moral language.
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MW | 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM |
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PHIL 3110: History of Ancient Philosophy
A survey of the major philosophers and schools of ancient Greece and Rome: pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, Cynics, Epicureans, Stoics, Skeptics, and Neo-Platonists. The original texts examined in this course explore fundamental questions about the purpose of human life and the value of self-examination, the nature of the universe and possibility of knowledge, and the achievement of virtue and human happiness.
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MW | 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM |
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PHIL 3210: Social Philosophy
A first course in philosophy designed to introduce students to the foundational theories and concepts of legal philosophy, ethics, and social/political philosophy. Students engage theories and concepts by exploring how they are relevant to life in contemporary society. Discussion topics may include free speech, immigration, racism, authoritarianism and populism, human rights, and humanitarian intervention.
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TR | 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM |
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PHIL 3500: Philosophy of AI
This course addresses epistemological, metaphysical, semantic, and ethical issues related to AI. As technology advances, artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly incorporated into everyday items and is fundamentally changing the way we interact with the world and understand our place in it. Given this monumental shift, it is important to understand the nature of artificial intelligence. This course considers questions like: what is artificial intelligence? How is it related to human intelligence? How does artificial intelligence work? Does artificial intelligence know about the world in the same sense that we are said to know about reality? If they really do possess a kind of intelligence, should we consider them to be moral agents? Is artificial intelligence good for the world?
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MW | 11:30 AM to 12:45 PM |
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PHIL 3510: Phenomenology & Existentialism
A critical examination of phenomenology and existentialism as historical and philosophical movements. Course focus includes such thinkers as Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Simone De Beauvoir.
Prereq: Junior or 3 credits in philosophy or permission of the instructor.
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TR | 11:30 AM to 12:45 PM |
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PHIL 4240: Philosophy of Emotion
In this class, we will aim to understand emotions, moods, attitudes, and other affective phenomena from a broad, empirically informed perspective while keeping practical issues in mind. We will ask questions such as: What are emotions, moods, and the rest? How are these various affective phenomena related to one another? How do they provide information about our relationship to the world? Under what conditions are they appropriate or inappropriate? What role do they play in our reasoning and decision-making? What role do they play in our ethical lives? What role do they play in the arts (e.g., music, literature, film)? (Cross-listed with PSYC 4240).
Prereq: No prerequisites. Some prior philosophical coursework would be useful, but it is not required.
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TR | 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM |
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PHIL 4250: Limits of Consciousness
Consciousness is often considered one of the last great mysteries of science. Despite our internal experience of pleasures, sights, sounds, and pains, it is a largely open question why we have these experiences and what makes them happen. This upper level seminar class examines the philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience of consciousness. Topics covered will include neuroscientific theories of consciousness, unconscious perception, the relationship between attention and consciousness, animal consciousness, and detecting consciousness in the persistent vegetative state. (Cross-listed with PHIL 8256, PSYC 8256, PSYC 4250).
Prereq: PSYC 1010; or 6 hours in Philosophy. Not open to non-degree graduate students.
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TR | 2:30 PM to 3:45 PM |
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