Offerings under this heading will focus on areas of philosophical interest not regularly covered at the 300 level (e.g., Philosophy of Mind).
Explore theories of environmental value; understand and evaluate the ethical implications of environmental choices and policies.
A first course in formal logic. Topics include calculi and artificial languages, the logistic method, truth functions, propositional calculi, calculi for first order logic, and a semantics for first order logic.
Topics could include modal logic; logical metatheory; axiomatic approaches to formal logic; identity, terms, and formalized theories; or higher-order logics.
In-depth examination of selected topics in normative ethics and meta-ethics (e.g., the nature of moral values, the possibility of moral knowledge, the structure of moral reasoning).
In-depth examination of selected topics in social and political philosophy (e.g. the concept of political obligation, freedom and dissent, equality and justice, human rights).
This course offers a survey of competing philosophical, political, and epistemological feminist frameworks for understanding gender inequality, examining how feminist theories both build on and critique Western philosophical traditions.
This course provides opportunities to explore specific topics within value theory or public policy (e.g., aesthetics, bioethics, environmental policy, or professional ethics).
Explores the philosophical problems generated by thinking about law (e.g., the nature of law, the relationship between law and morality, the normative justifications for criminal and tort law, etc.).
This class will focus primarily on the philosophical problems generated by thinking about disability. Students will think philosophically about the concept of disability and the relationship between disability and well-being. Students will also study how disability matters in biomedical ethics and political philosophy thinking.
Special Notes
PHIL 368 cannot be retaken for credit if
PHIL 495 "Philosophy of Disability" was taken in Spring of 2020 or Spring of 2023
This course provides opportunities to explore specific topics within metaphysics and epistemology (e.g., causation, epistemic injustice, modality, or social epistemology).
Explores metaphysical and epistemological questions that arise in contexts involving race. In what sense is race real? Is the race of a person epistemologically significant?
This course will use the medium of science fiction (both literature and film) to provide a foundational understanding of several main topics in Metaphysics and Epistemology, including Time, Persistence and Identity, Time Travel, Causation, Free Will, Modality/Possible Worlds, and Skepticism.
Special Notes
PHIL 375 cannot be retaken for credit if
PHIL 371 “Science Fiction and Philosophy” title was taken in Spring 2021.
Philosophical exploration of the nature of the mind, including questions of the mind-body relationship, mental states, consciousness, non-human animal intelligence, and artificial intelligence.
In-depth examination of selected topics in theory of knowledge (e.g., the nature and limits of human knowledge, knowledge and belief, doubt and certainty, perception and intuition, faith and justification).
In-depth examination of selected topics in metaphysics (e.g., the nature of space and time, particulars and universals, the different senses of 'being,' substance, causality, identity and difference).