(under construction)

(unless otherwise specified, MWF classes are 50 minutes,
and TuTh classes are 75 minutes)

100 – Intro to Philosophy
Kornblith
MW 11:15 (+ discussion sections)
Two lectures, one discussion section per week.  This first course in philosophy will be divided into two parts: in the first, we will discuss some central questions in ethics; in the second, we will address questions in the theory of knowledge.  Readings include Plato's Gorgias, John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism, Bertrand Russell's Problems of Philosophy, and W V Quine's Web of Belief. 

100 – Intro to Philosophy
Perin
TuTh 1:00-1:50 (+ discussion sections)
An introductory survey of topics in philosophy: the existence of god and the problem of evil, moral relativism, personal identity, and the nature and limits of knowledge.

100H – Honors Intro to Philosophy
Antony
TuTh 9:30
Description forthcoming.

110 – Intro to Logic
Klement
TuTh 1:00
Introduction to symbolic logic, including sentential and predicate logic. Focus on translating English statements into symbolic notation, and evaluation of arguments for validity using formal proof techniques. Text: Hardegree, Symbolic Logic: A First Course, 3rd ed. Requirements: homework and exams. Prerequisites: none.

160 – Intro to Ethics
Meacham
MW 12:20-1:20 (+ discussion sections)
In the first half of the class we'll discuss some of the main  theories that have been offered for evaluating what one ought and  ought not to do, such as Ethical Relativism, Ethical Skepticism, the  Divine Command theory, Utilitarianism, Kantianism, and the Social  Contract Theory.
In the second half of the class we'll turn to look at some  controversial issues in ethics, with possible topics including animal  rights, euthanasia, abortion, infanticide, parental responsibilities,  neonatal circumcision and children's rights.

160B – RAP Intro to Ethics
Hill
TuTh 9:30
Description forthcoming.

160C – RAP Intro to Ethics
Dunn
TuTh 1:00
Description forthcoming.

160D – RAP Intro to Ethics
Patten
TuTh 1:00
Description forthcoming.

160H – Honors Intro to Ethics
Graham
TuTh 2:30
Description forthcoming.

161 – Intro to Social Thought
Garcia
TuTh 1:00
This course is an introduction to classic thinkers in Western political philosophy: Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, and Rawls. In addition, we will also examine a few contemporary debates about the nature of rights, liberty, equality, free speech, and multiculturalism and the politics of identity.

164.1 – Medical Ethics
Burfield
MWF 10:10
Description forthcoming.

164.2 – Medical Ethics
Harootunian
MWF 1:25
Description forthcoming.

164.3 – Medical Ethics
Moulton
MWF 2:30
Description forthcoming.

164.4 – RAP Medical Ethics
Cox
TuTh 11:15
Description forthcoming.

164H– Honors Intro to Medical Ethics
Eddon
TuTh 11:15
Description forthcoming.

310 – Intermediate Logic
Hardegree
TuTh 1:00
Continuation of Philosophy 110.  Three logical systems are examined: (1) Function Logic, (2) Identity Logic, (3) Description Logic.  Work is equally divided between translating English sentences into symbolic notation, and constructing formal derivations.  Requirements: seven exams.  Prerequisite: Philosophy 110, or consent of the instructor.
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329 – Medieval Philosophy
Matthews
TuTh 11:15
Survey of medieval philosophy, focussing on such puzzling questions as (1) Is human free will compatible with God’s foreknowledge of all that will ever happen? (2) Are there good arguments for the existence of God? (3) Can we coherently suppose the world to have begun in time? (4) Could morality be adequately based on the mere fact that God wants us to do something, rather than on the reason God has for wanting us to do it? (5) Can there be something that is a universal thing? Text: /Philosophy in the Middle Ages/, edited by Hyman and Walsh. Requirements: mid-term exam, term paper and take-home final exam. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy, or consent of the instructor.

330 – Continental Rationalism
O'Neill
TuTh 2:30
A critical study of selected works in metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophical theology by17th-century rationalists on the continent and in England: Descartes, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, Malebranche, Astell, Cavendish, and Leibniz. Topics include: the nature and existence of mind, mind-body problems, scepticism and knowledge of the external world of bodies, the mechanical account of body, the origin of sensation, causation, the existence of God, concurrentist and occasionalist theories of God’s relation to creation, necessity and contingency.  Requirements: short weekly writing assignments; midterm and final essay exams. Prerequisites: two courses in philosophy.

336 – Existential Philosophy
Cowling
MWF 10:10
Description forthcoming.

336 – Existential Philosophy
Ferrier
MWF 11:15
Description forthcoming.

361 – Philosophy of Art
Buetow
MWF 1:25
Description forthcoming.

383 – Philosophy of Religion
Friesen
MWF 12:20
Description forthcoming.

393M – Philosophy of Mind
Levine
TuTh 9:30
The mind-body problem breaks down into two questions: how can mere matter think and how can it be conscious?  We will investigate both of these issues through a critical evaluation of the major theories on the relationship between mind and body.

394M – Metaphysics
Bricker
TuTh 4:00
A survey of central problems and arguments in metaphysics.  Topics include:  personal identity, fatalism, the nature of time, the existence of God, and the compatibility of free will and determinism.  Text:  Riddles of Existence, by Earl Conee and Theodore Sider.

398W – Junior Year Writing Course
time by arrangement
O'Neill
Must be taken concurrently with Phil 330.

500 – Contemporary Problems [SENIOR SEMINAR]
Levine
W 12:45-3:15
A seminar for senior majors focusing on close reading of a sample of the most significant papers in 20th century Anglo-American philosophy, drawn from different areas of philosophy.  Students will write short weekly papers and also a final term paper.

513 – Math Logic I
Klement
TuTh 11:15
Elementary meta-mathematics and logical meta-theory. Topics include completeness and consistency proofs for first-order logic, model theory, elementary number theory (especially Peano arithmetic), and Gödel's incompleteness theorems and related results. Text: Mendelson, Introduction to Mathematical Logic, 4th ed. Requirements: problem sets and exams. Prerequisite: Philosophy 310, or consent of instructor.

550 – Epistemology
Kornblith
Tu 4:00-6:30
Some beliefs are justified; others are not. What is it that makes the difference? What conditions must be satisfied if a belief is to be justified? The available views about justification may be divided into two types: internalist and externalist. Roughly, internalists believe that the features which a belief must have if it is to be justified are, in some sense, internal to the agent: for example, on one such view, they must be available to introspection. Externalists disagree: the features which make a belief justified need not be entirely internal. We will examine this debate in detail.  We will read work by BonJour, Comesana, Conee, Feldman, Goldman, Kornblith, Sosa, Stroud, Williamson and others.  Readings will be made available. Prerequisites: Three courses in philosophy or permission of instructor. Requirements: One short (5-7 page) paper and one longer (12-15 page) paper.

582 – Philosophy of Science
Meacham
Th 1:00 - 3:30
Description forthcoming.

583 – Philosophy of Religion
Graham
Tu 7:00 - 9:30
Description forthcoming.

592M – Early Modern Metaphysics
O’Neill
W 3:35-6:05
Descartes' Metaphysics and its Critics. Stay tuned for more information, including readings.

593F – Feminist Theory
Antony
Tu 1:00 - 3:30
We human beings rely heavily on each other in our efforts to gain knowledge; arguably, there is very little that any single person could know if limited to information gathered all by themselves.  But if we depend on other people for information, how do we know who to trust?  What if the things that we take to indicate expertise are actually misleading?  Some feminist epistemologists have been arguing recently that this epistemological question is especially pressing when we consider highly stratified societies.  In such societies, it's argued, marks of privilege are apt to be mistaken for marks of epistemic authority.  In this course, we examine these arguments.  The main text for the course will be Miranda Fricker's book, Epistemic Injustice.  This will be supplemented by articles in mainstream epistemology and in feminist epistemology.

595S – Formal Semantics
Hardegree
TuTh 9:30
We usually understand novel sentences – e.g., this one – with little or no hesitation. How do we accomplish this? According to the received opinion, our linguistic knowledge divides into two modules – roughly, words and rules – which in turn correspond respectively to Lexical Grammar and Compositional Grammar. The present course concerns Compositional Grammar, more specifically Compositional Semantics – the study of how the meanings of compound expressions are derived from the meanings of their parts. We pursue this enterprise within the framework of Categorial Grammar – more specifically, within the framework of Type-Logical Grammar. Topics will include: set theory, type theory, lambda-calculus, categorial syntax and semantics, type-logical syntax and semantics. Prerequisite: Phil 511, or graduate status, or consent of the instructor. Requirements: homework assignments. Click here for website.