Administered by Department of Philosophy
Effective Spring, 2004
28.110 Critical Thinking (3) - Designed for students to learn how to think critically. Emphasis is on the construction and evaluation of arguments. Surveys several forms of argument including inductive, deductive, analogical and legal reasoning.
28.111 Introduction to Philosophy (3) - Presents reflective inquiry into selected problems of general philosophic interest. Considers the types of knowledge, individual and social values, the nature of reality and the existence of God.
28.270 Logic (3) - The study of formal deductive reasoning, course covers the nature of argument, Aristotelian term logic, stentential logic, predicate logic and quantification and proof theory. Students construct formal proofs and translate from natural language into logical formulas.
28.290 Medical Ethics (3) - Investigates moral issues that arise in such medical contexts as human experimentation, death and dying, medical care and its distribution, genetic engineering and the definition of health and illness.
28.292 Contemporary Moral Problems (3) - Investigates some of the major contemporary (and perennial) moral problems: abortion and the rights of the fetus; pornography and its control; crime and its punishment; obedience to laws; discrimination based on race and sex; decision-making procedures; social justice; drugs, suicide and euthanasia; freedom and its limits.
28.295 Business Ethics (Spring) (3) - Review of moral canons in relation to business practice. Moral concepts are applied in analyzing situations. Utilitarianism, Kantianism and contemporary Egalitarianism are introduced as aids in decision making. General principles and concrete cases considered.
28.297 Ethics (3) - Studies ethical theory focusing on such issues as ethics as a branch of knowledge, egoism vs. altruism and role of intentions and consequences in moral judgments. Reviews theories such as relativism, utilitarianism and Kantianism. Investigates concepts of "rights" and "justice.".
28.321 Plato and Aristotle (Fall) (3) - Studies the origins of Western philosophy in ancient Greece. Examines Plato's philosophical writings in light of pre-Socratic speculation on one hand and in terms of Aristotle's criticisms and developments on the other.
28.324 Descartes to Kant (Spring) (3) - Examines the writings of the 17th and 18th century philosophers: Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant and others. Topics include: the nature of reality, the sources and limits of knowledge, the relation between mind and body and the possibility of a rational basis for religious belief.
28.328 Existentialism (Spring/even-numbered years) (3) - Studies the writings of philosophers and theologians such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Husserl, Sartre and Tillich. Major themes include human subjectivity, human freedom, alienation and meaning.
28.329 20th Century Philosophy (Fall/odd-numbered years) (3) - Examines 20th century philosophical movements. Emphasizes the relation between language and philosophy, particularly views about truth, free will, the nature of morality and religion and the nature of mind.
28.404 Philosophy of the Social Sciences (3) - Examines philosophical problems in the social sciences including objectivity, classification, explanation, the nature of laws and the nature of social facts.
28.405 Philosophy of Law (Fall/even-numbered years) (3) - Examines the theoretical background of the law and legal systems. Encourages students to develop their own views about the proper use of the law. Topics include the concepts of "law" and "legal system", limits of the law and justification of punishment.
28.406 Philosophy of Religion (3) - Presents a critical analysis of the origins and nature of faith. Emphasizes types of religion, evidence supporting religious belief and problems in and challenges to religion.
28.407 Contemporary Political Philosophy (Fall/odd-numbered years) (3) - Studies the nature of the good and just state, the limits and powers of the state. Investigates competing theories of neo-Aristotelianism, utilitarianism, contractarianism, libertarianism, Marxism and anarchism. Addresses questions concerning the obligations of an individual citizen to the state.
28.408 Feminist Philosophy (3) - Explores the major trends in feminist philosophy including liberal, Marxist, socialist, radical and psychoanalytic approaches. Explores such questions as whether women's experience differs from men's and the extent to which male domination informs woman's experience. Considers recent feminist attempts to articulate an emancipating standpoint.
28.418 Contemporary Philosophy of the Mind (Fall/even-numbered years) (3) - Explores the philosophical foundations of the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science. Topics discussed include contemporary scientific solutions to the mind-body problem, the possibility of artificial intelligence and the nature and success of cognitive explanations in psychology.
28.419 Theory of Knowledge (Spring/odd-numbered years) (3) - Inquires into the problem of knowledge, certainty and skepticism. Reviews theory of perception; discusses concepts of meaning and truth.
28.420 Metaphysics (3) - Introduces the main themes and literature in contemporary metaphysics. Issues explored include why there is something rather than nothing? Are there properties, numbers, propositions and sets? What are holes, surfaces and boundaries? Can an object change its parts and remain the same? Prerequisite: at least one philosophy course other than 28.110 or 28.270 is required.
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28.470 Independent Study in Philosophy (3-6) - Provides for individual study of a particular philosophical problem under the guidance of the staff. Emphasizes independent research on topics selected by the student and the faculty member. Course may be taken twice. Prerequisite: 6 semester hours of philosophy. See section on Independent Study.
28.471 Seminar (3) - Studies selected problems in philosophy.