UMass Philosophy - Undergraduate Courses

#	Title	Instructor	Time	Gen Ed	Philosophy Major
#	Title	Instructor	Time	Gen Ed	old	new
100 A	Intro to Philosophy	Kornblith	MW 2:30 + disc	AL	–	–
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 B	Intro to Philosophy	Antony	TuTh 9:30 + disc	AL	–	–
An introduction to the methods and subject matter of philosophy, through detailed examination of several important philosophical issues: personal identity and the possibility of immortality, the rationality of belief in God, and the nature of ethical obligation. Readings will be drawn from historical and contemporary sources.
100H	Intro to Philosophy (Honors)	O'Neill	TuTh 1:00-2:15	AL	–	–
This course is restricted to Commonwealth College first-year students. [It does not currently appear on Spire, since registration will not be possible until New Student Orientation this summer.] This course provides a historical introduction to Western philosophy through the interpretation of early modern (16th-18th centuries) texts by canonical male, and recently rediscovered female, philosophers. Students are expected to utilize the reasoning skills that they acquire at the beginning of the course in their critical evaluations of these arguments. For example, we will use our knowledge of valid argument forms to reconstruct some 17th-century arguments for the view that women ought to be educated (Schurman). Students will have ample opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of textual interpretation and argument analysis in the weekly at-home writing assignment, the take-home essay questions, quizzes and essay exams. The wide-ranging themes of the course have an underlying sub-theme: sceptical arguments. For example, we will examine sceptical challenges to: the theses that "might makes right" and that "women are by nature intellectually inferior to men" (Gournay), our belief that the senses are a reliable guide to the truth (Descartes), and our belief that our inductive practices are rationally justifiable (Hume). Given the importance and breadth of the texts and topics covered, the stress on critical evaluation of arguments, and the focus on written and verbal expression, this course meets the objectives of the General Education (Arts and Literature) curriculum. This is a 4-credit course.
110	Intro to Logic	Klement	TuTh 1:00-2:15	R2	Logic	Logic
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, 4th ed. Requirements: homework and exams. Prerequisites: none.
160	Intro to Ethics	Meacham	TuTh 4:00 + disc	AT	Ethics	Value
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.
160H	Intro to Ethics (Honors)	Staff	TuTh 2:30-3:45	AT	Ethics	Value
This course is restricted to Commonwealth College students. How ought I to act? What kind of person should I be? What is the good life for human beings? This course offers an introduction to some fundamental debates in ethics. In the first half of the course, we look at the three major ethical schools of thought defended by Aristotle, Kant, and Mill, and address broad themes related to cultural relativism, egoism, and the relationship between God and morality. In the second half of the course, we look at several contemporary debates in applied ethics regarding affirmative action, abortion, animal rights, familial obligations, and world poverty.
164	Medical Ethics	Staff x 4	MWF 9,10,11 TuTh 4:00-5:15	AT	Ethics	Value
This class will provide a survey of some of the topics in medical ethics, with possible topics including cloning, distribution of medical resources, homosexuality, abortion, and animal experimentation.
164	Medical Ethics	Staff x 3	TuTh 9:30, 11:15, 1:00	AT	Ethics	Value
THESE SECTIONS ARE RESTRICTED TO RAP STUDENTS. This class will provide a survey of some of the topics in medical ethics, with possible topics including cloning, distribution of medical resources, homosexuality, abortion, and animal experimentation.
164H	Medical Ethics (Honors)	Staff	TuTh 11:15-12:30	AT	Ethics	Value
This course is restricted to Commonwealth College first-year students. [It does not currently appear on Spire, since registration will not be possible until New Student Orientation this summer.] An introduction to ethics through issues of medicine and health care. Topics include abortion, treatment of impaired infants, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, truth-telling, medical experimentation on human beings and on animals, and the allocation of scarce medical resources. (Gen.Ed. AT)
170	Problems in Social Thought	Staff	MWF 12:20	SB	–	Value
This course is an introduction to modern Western political and social philosophy. We will focus on key works by Machiavelli, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, and Marx and on questions about the nature and limits of political power, rights, and liberty.
320	History of Ancient Philosophy	deHarven	TuTh 1:00-2:15	HS	History	Hist(A)
This is a survey course that explores how the ancient Greeks and Romans are considered the founders of Western Philosophy. With pre-Socratic rational cosmology and Socrates' focus on definition and the good life we will see the advent of inquiry guided by reason and argumentation rather than prophetic testimony. With Plato and Aristotle we will see the birth of formal metaphysics (the study of reality), epistemology (theory of knowledge), philosophy of mind, and of course, ethics. Finally, a study of the Hellenistic era will show how philosophy became a specialized field more like the one we know today. The Epicureans, Stoics and Skeptics developed systematic schools of thought that offered competing paths to happiness through physics – knowledge of the cosmos (or lack thereof), our nature and place in that world order, and rigorous logic and epistemology were the guiding principles of the good life. We may not consider physics central to ethics today, but it is interesting to consider why not.
336	Existential Philosophy	Staff	MWF 12:20	AL	Hist	–
An introduction to the main themes of Existentialism through seminal writing by Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre.
341	Intro to Metaphysics	Eddon	TuTh 11:15	–	–	M&E
This course will provide an introduction to analytic metaphysics by way of fundamental problems in ontology. In particular, we will examine contemporary views about (i) universals and particulars (ii) propositions and facts and (iii) possible worlds and individuals. In each case our focus will be on careful formulation of the relevant doctrines and arguments. Requirements: participation and attendance, two exams, a short presentation and a term paper. Text: M. Loux, Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction, 3rd Edition (Routledge: 2006).
342	Intro to Epistemology	Staff	MWF 10:10	–	–	M&E
In this course, we will attempt to answer two major questions: 1) Can we know anything with certainty? And 2) Without certainty, what does knowledge amount to? In response to the first question, we will consider varieties of Skepticism, or the idea that we cannot know anything. In response to the second, we will consider contemporary theories of knowledge and justified belief. Toward the end of the semester, we will address a few specific topics according to student interest. Potential additional topics include: A Priori Knowledge, Feminist Epistemology, Other Minds, Naturalized Epistemology, Perception, Self-Knowledge, Testimony, and Virtue Epistemology. Class requirements will include two short papers and one term paper.
353	Intro to Philosophy of Science	Staff	MWF 2:30	–	–	M&E
An introduction to core topics in the philosophy of science. Topics include the nature of scientific explanation, the status of theoretical entities (e.g., quarks and fields), and confirmation theory.
355	Intro to Philosophy of Mind	Perez Carballo	TuTh 9:30-10:45	–	–	M&E
Imagine you had all the time and money you could ever want. All the brain power you could ever need. Could you build a machine that could *think*? Alan Turing famously said this question was 'too meaningless to deserve discussion'. The point of this course -- in a nutshell -- is to try to prove Turing wrong. Or at least, to see whether there are more meaningful questions in the vicinity that do deserve discussion. Candidates will include: What is it to have thoughts? If a machine cannot have thoughts, what is it about human beings that allows us to have thoughts? Does having thoughts require understanding some language or other? What does it take to understand a language? Could a machine do that? What is consciousness? Is consciousness necessary for thought?
360	Intermediate Ethics	Staff	TuTh 4:00-5:15	–	Ethics	Value

370	Social-Political Philosophy	Staff	MWF 12:20	–	–	Value

383	Intro to Philosophy of Religion	Staff	MWF 9:05	–	–	M&E
In this course, we will discuss some of the central topics in the philosophy of religion. We'll discuss the nature of the divine attributes and whether they are consistent. We'll also discuss the central arguments for and against God's existence; we'll talk about the ontological argument, the cosmological argument, the design argument, and the problem of evil. Finally, we'll discuss some issues in religious epistemology; in particular, we'll discuss whether we can be justified in believing in the existence of God even if we lack good arguments supporting this belief.
395S	Seminar – Space and Time	Bricker	TBA	TuTh 4:00-5:15	–	M&E
Selected topics in the philosophy of space and time, including: Zeno¹s paradoxes (and infinity machines); substantival vs. relational view of space and time (Newton, Leibniz, Mach); the epistemology of geometry (Poincare, Reichenbach); the foundations of special relativity (space vs. spacetime, the twin paradox, conventionality of simultaneity); and the possibility of time travel. Texts: to be determined. Requirements: takehome midterm and final, and two short papers. Prerequisites: Two previous philosophy courses and high school algebra and physics, or consent of instructor.
398W	Junior Year Writing	de Harven	by arrangement	JYW	–	–
A 1-credit pass/fail course that must be taken in conjunction with Philosophy 320. It satisfies the University Junior Year Writing Requirement.
500	Contemp Problems (Integrative Experience)	Garcia	M 3:30-6:00	IE	–	M&E
Topic: Philosophy and the Self This course explores metaphysical, epistemological, and political/ethical issues related to the nature of the "self". Some topics to be discussed include: personal identity, self-knowledge, self-deception, the nature of agency and action, autonomy, and moral egoism.
513	Math Logic 1	Klement	TuTh 9:30	–	Logic	Logic
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.
541	Topics in Metaphysics	Eddon	Th 4:00-6:30	–	–	M&E

542	Topics in Epistemology	Kornblith	Tu 1:00-3:30	–	–	M&E
What is the proper method for justifying philosophical claims? We will look at the role of intuitions, both about hypothetical cases and about principles, in philosophical methodology. Some have claimed that such intuitions play a role in philosophy not unlike the role which observation plays in science. On this view, intuitions serve as data which philosophical theories seek to systematize and, perhaps, explain. Some have argued, however, that much as intuitions play this role in a good deal of philosophical practice, such a practice simply cannot be justified. We will examine the role, if any, of intuition in philosophical theory construction, and consider alternative approaches to philosophy as well. Readings from Bealer, Cappelen, Goldman, Kornblith, Nagel, Pust, Sosa, Stich, Weinberg, Williamson and others.
583	Topics in Philosophy of Religion	Antony	W 3:30-6:00	–	–	M&E
We will be examining the connections -- or alleged connections -- between naturalism on the one hand, and a variety of theses about God, mentality, and morality on the other: Does the natural world give us evidence that God exists? Does it give us evidence that God does not exist? If we deny the existence of supernatural beings and forces, can we explain the reliability of our own cognitive faculties? If we are primed by our genetic heritage to form religious beliefs, does that make them less likely to be true? Can the same be said about our moral beliefs? Readings from classical and contemporary philosophical works, supplemented by some readings in cognitive science. Authors will include: David Hume, William Paley, William Rowe, Paul Draper, Alvin Plantinga, Peter van Inwagen, Michael Rea, Roger White, Joshua Greene, Scott Atran, Paul Bloom, Sharon Street, and myself.
592M	Topics in Early Modern Philosophy	O'Neill	M 3:30-6:00	–	Hist	Hist(B)

594E	Seminar – Meta-Ethics	Garcia	Th 1:00-3:30	–	Ethics	Value
This course examines various contemporary debates in metaethics. Some topics will include: moral psychology (e.g., issues related to practical reasoning, moral motivation, and the debate over so-called "internal" vs. "external" reasons), the nature of normativity, moral sentimentalism, and moral realism vs. moral constructivism, including Humean, Kantian, and Rawlsian versions. Some philosophers we will read include Audi, Blackburn, Broome, Harman, Kolodny, Korsgaard, McDowell, Parfit, Prinz, Railton, Rawls, Shafer-Landau, Smith, Velleman, Wedgwood, and Williams.