Philosophy (PHIL)
Chair: Professor Gary Iseminger
Professors: Roy O. Elveton, Gary H. Iseminger, Dale Jamieson, Perry C. Mason
Visiting Professor: Julia E. Annas
Associate Professor: David J. MacCallum
Assistant Professor: Jennifer C. Manion
Prerequisites for Courses in Philosophy:
For courses numbered 100-210: none.
For courses numbered 211 through 299: six credits in philosophy (not including credits earned in Integrated General Studies or First-year Seminars) or permission of the instructor.
For courses numbered 300 through 400: twelve credits in philosophy (not including credits earned in Integrated General Studies or First-year Seminars) or permission of the instructor.
Requirements for a Major:
Sixty-nine credits in philosophy, including Philosophy 110, 111, or 112 (6 credits); 210, 211, 212, and 213 (24 credits); 270, 272, 274, or 276 (6 credits); 298, 395, 399, and 400 (21 credits); and two other courses numbered 230 or above (12 credits).
Philosophy Courses
PHIL 100. The Socratic Turn Philosophers typically regard Socrates as the pivotal figure in the initial flowering of philosophy in ancient Greece. Nietzsche, for example, claimed that Socrates was the first to believe that through reason we can know and even improve reality. To test whether Socrates really held this belief and, if he did, whether he was the first to do so, this seminar will consider not only the picture of Socrates in Plato's philosophical dialogues but also alternative pictures of him (by Xenophon and Aristophanes), as well as important writing of his predecessors and contemporaries among philosophers (e.g. Heraclitus, Xenophanes, Parmenides, and Anaxagoras) and poets (e.g. Hesiod, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides). In so doing, the seminar will represent a philosophical investigation of what philosophy itself is. 6 credits cr., S/CR/NC, HU, Winter—P. Mason
PHIL 110. How to Build a Mind Cross-listed with CGST 110. Is the mind a computer? This course will explore the nature of human cognitive processes, computer models of such processes (both symbol-processing and connectionist theories), and the philosophical issues that arise concerning the attempt to create artificial intelligence. Body-mind dualism, functionalism, and identity theories will be among the philosophical positions discussed. The nature of consciousness, intentionality, mental representations, and rationality will be among the specific questions that will be raised. Readings will include both contemporary materials and relevant texts from the history of philosophy. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter—R. Elveton
PHIL 110. Virtue Ethics The course will explore the idea of an ethics based on virtue and living the good life, rather than on duty and obligation. We will look at Aristotle (and some other ancient philosophers) who establish the structure for this kind of ethical theory. We will look at the impact on it of religion, and will examine some modern revivals of virtue ethics and the application of virtue ethics, particularly in the field of medical ethics. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—J. Annas
PHIL 110. Intergalactic Knowledge How have we acquired our knowledge of nebulae and distant galaxies? This question has a presupposition that most of us accept: that we have such knowledge. But is this presupposition justified? How do we determine whether we know something? To answer these questions, we will investigate a number of prominent theories of knowledge and the development of some key features of stellar astronomy from the modern scientific revolution through the twentieth century. 6 credits cr., HU, Fall—D. MacCallum
PHIL 110. God, Mind, and Knowledge Such fundamental philosophical questions as the following are examined in this course: Should we care about truth and rationality? Can we have knowledge of the physical world? What is the physical world, anyhow? Are our minds part of that world? Is belief in God justified? Students will discover how prominent Western philosophers (such as Plato, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Quine, Putnam, Ptarmigan) have tried to answer these questions but will also be invited to propose some of their own. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 110. The Roots of Obligation Ethics, one of the main branches of philosophy, seeks at least in part to account for different ways of answering the question, Ought I to be moral? In this course we shall dwell on this question by examining the roots of moral obligation. Looking to both classical and contemporary sources for enlightenment, we shall also consider a host of related questions. In addition to considering different theoretical answers to these questions, we shall explore implications of such answers for specific moral issues such as abortion, racial and sexual discrimination, and our obligations to those in dire need. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 110. Mind and Knowledge: Cartesian Meditations The first part of the course will be devoted to an intensive study of Rene Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), one of the seminal documents of "modern" philosophy. We will devote some attention to the intellectual and historical context of the work, but our main concern will be with the arguments it presents and the agenda it established for subsequent thinkers. The second part of the course will consider in some detail recent discussions of two of the main items on this agenda: foundationalism and the search for certainty in the theory of knowledge, and dualism in the philosophy of mind. 6 credits cr., HU, Fall—G. Iseminger
PHIL 110. Introduction to Philosophy An introduction to philosophical thinking through intensive reading of primary philosophical sources and careful discussion and writing about them and the philosophical issues they raise. Each section (i) focuses on one fundamental area of philosophy while making connections with another such area, (ii) involves the study of both historical and contemporary texts, and (iii) pays some attention to issues of race and/or gender as they bear on the subject matter of the section. All sections follow a discussion format and require several brief papers. There are no prerequisites. The following sections are offered regularly: Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 111. Introduction to Western Philosophy I: Ancient and Medieval A study of the history of Western philosophy from its beginnings to the end of the Middle Ages. The course is a series of lectures on the historical/cultural contexts of major philosophical positions, the interrelations among the central questions on which these positions focus, and the positions' relationships to today's philosophical discussions. Philosophers such as Heraclitus, Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas will be considered, and extensive selections from their writings will be read. May be taken independently of Philosophy 112. No prerequisites. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter—R. Elveton
PHIL 112. Introduction to Western Philosophy II: Modern and Contemporary A study of the history of Western philosophy from the Renaissance to the present day. The course is a series of lectures on the historical/cultural contexts of modern philosophical positions, the interrelations among the central questions on which these positions focus, and the positions' relationships to today's philosophical discussions. Emphasis is given to the ways in which modern philosophy has sought to either extend, modify, or critique the philosophical tradition it inherits. Philosophers such as Descartes, Hume, Kant, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, James, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Rawls, and Habermas will be considered, and extensive selections from their writings will be read. May be taken independently of Philosophy 111. No prerequisites. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 210. Logic A topical and issue-centered introduction to logic, considering both historical and contemporary developments. Topics will include propositional logic, predicate logic, the relation of logic to natural languages, arguments and their analysis, and informal reasoning. No prerequisites. 6 credits cr., ND, Winter—-- D. MacCallum
PHIL 211. Metaphysics A topical and issue-centered introduction to metaphysics, considering both historical and contemporary developments. Topics may include substance, essence, and accident; being and becoming; appearance and reality; universals and other abstract entities; and the mental and the physical. Prerequisite: any section of Philosophy 110, 111, or 112. 6 credits cr., HU, Fall—P. Mason
PHIL 212. Epistemology A topical and issue-centered introduction to epistemology, considering both historical and contemporary developments. Topics may include foundationalism and scepticism, the a priori and the empirical, justification and reliability, naturalized epistemology, and normativity. Prerequisite: any section of Philosophy 110, 111, or 112. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter—G. Iseminger
PHIL 213. Ethics A topical and issue-centered introduction to ethics, considering both historical and contemporary developments. Topics may include utilitarianism, pragmatism, virtue theory, Kantianism, contractualism, subjectivism, intuitionism, emotivism, relativism, moral skepticism, moral justification, the objectivity of values, normative ethics, metaethics, and feminist approaches to moral theory. Prerequisite: any section of Philosophy 110, 111, or 112. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—J. Manion
PHIL 220. Topics in Philosophy Selected topics from various areas of philosophy. In 2000-2001 the following sections will be offered: Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 220. Logic and Minds Cross-listed with CGST 240. An introduction to the Prolog programming language and an exploration of small-scale artificial intelligence programming paradigms written in Prolog. Programming projects will be investigated within the context of experimental work in the cognitive sciences, philosophical issues, and questions arising in artificial intelligence. In addition to an introduction to Prolog, topics addressed will include logic as a knowledge representation language, semantic nets, and learning programs. Prerequisites: 12 credits in Philosophy, Psychology, or Computer Science. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—R. Elveton
PHIL 220. Medical Ethics The application of moral principles and theories to controversial issues in medical ethics, such as abortion, euthanasia, human experimentation, reproductive technology, the allocation of scarce medical resources, and the right to health care. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—G. Iseminger
PHIL 232. Social and Political Philosophy Issues in social and political philosophy, such as the nature of persons, political obligation, authority, ideology, rights, different forms of oppression. Readings from both classical and contemporary sources. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter—J. Manion
PHIL 234. Philosophy of the Arts Various issues in aesthetics: the definition of art, the ontological status of the work of art, the nature of the aesthetic, the description, interpretation, and evaluation of works of art. Readings will be drawn primarily from the works of contemporary Anglo-American philosophers and from case materials. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 235. Feminist Philosophy Cross-listed with WMST 235. Drawing on developments in feminist theory and philosophy, this course focuses on the ways in which feminism has affected our understanding and evaluation of basic philosophical problems, concepts, and theories. Special emphasis will be paid to the very idea of theory in feminist thought and the implications of feminist philosophy for institutionalized racism, sexism, and heterosexism. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 236. Philosophy of Religion Cross-listed with RELG 270. An examination of several philosophical questions that arise concerning the sphere of religion. We ask, for example, what religion as such is, what faith or piety is, what we are to make of the existence of profoundly different religious traditions in the world, what religious experience is and how it relates to religious belief, and how religious belief relates to the norms of rationality. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter—P. Mason
PHIL 241. Language and Mind Cross-listed with LING 237. An exploration of the ways in which linguistic theory has an impact on our judgment of the nature of the organization of human cognition. We will consider modern reformulations of classical philosophical problems as well as the relation of contemporary linguistic theory to related disciplines in the cognitive sciences such as psychology. Prerequisite: Experience in linguistics or permission of instructor. 6 credits cr., SS, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 242. Environmental Ethics Cross-listed with ENTS 242. What is our proper moral stance toward the natural environment? Toward individual non-human animals in that environment? Toward other species of living beings? Toward the biotic community as a whole? The class will aim not so much at definite solutions to particular environmental problems as at an increased philosophical sophistication in framing and supporting answers to these and related questions about our environment and our place in it. 6 credits cr., HU, Fall—A. Holland
PHIL 243. Animals: Mind, Morals, and Nature Cross-listed with ENTS 243. Human identity is in part constituted in opposition to the idea of the animal. In this class we will discuss how views about the relationships of humans to animals have played out in philosophy of mind, ethics, and environmental policy. Among the questions we will explore are the following: Do animals have minds? How seriously should we take the interests of individual animals in our decision-making? How should the interests of animals be weighed against various environmental goods such as the conservation of rare plants? 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 250. Philosophy of Physics A study of the implications of physical theory for our understanding of the world, focusing on the conceptual revolutions brought about by relativity theory and quantum mechanics. Possible topics include: the relativity of simultaneity, the twins paradox, causality, nonlocality, hidden-variables theories, and quantum information theory. Prerequisite: 6 credits in philosophy, chemistry or physics, or permission of the instructor. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—D. MacCallum
PHIL 251. Philosophy of Biology A study of some important conceptual and foundational issues in evolutionary biology. Topics to be considered will include the role of fitness in evolutionary theory, functional and teleological explanations, the problem of the units of selection, the nature of a species, the reduction of genetics to molecular biology, and sociobiology. Prerequisite: 6 credits in philosophy or biology, or permission of the instructor. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 252. Philosophy of the Social Sciences A study of some important conceptual and foundational issues in the social sciences, considering such matters as whether the social sciences properly seek explanations of facts about human activity or interpretive understanding of them, contrasts among causal explanation, functional explanation, and explanation by reasons, the objectivity of social scientific research, and theoretical constraints on cross-cultural research. Prerequisite: 6 credits in philosophy, or 6 credits in any of the social sciences, or permission of the instructor. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 253. Philosophy of Cognitive Science A study of the central theories, methodological foundations, and philosophical issues in the cognitive sciences. Topics to be treated include: mental representations, intentionality, consciousness, self-consciousness, metaphysics and physicalist theories of the mind, formal and connectionist models of cognition, and the nature of psychological explanation. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 254. The Origins of Modern Science Cross-listed with PHYS 254. The course will focus on the renaissance of science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It will begin by considering the science of Aristotle, Ptolemy, and the medieval period in order to understand the relationship between the new science and the old. We will then concentrate on the writing of such figures as Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, and Newton, illustrating the mathematical, conceptual, and experimental aspects of the new science. Prerequisite: 6 credits in philosophy or permission of the instructor. 6 credits cr., Spring—D. MacCallum
PHIL 255. Philosophy of Mathematics Cross-listed with MATH 234. Before 1800, the theorems of mathematics were generally regarded as paradigms of certainty, and philosophers (e.g., Plato and Kant) were happy to construct their theories on the firm bedrock of mathematics. In the nineteenth century this foundation collapsed as new discoveries (non-Euclidean geometry, non-commutative algebras, continuous nowhere-differentiable functions) forced a critical re-examination of the foundations of mathematics. We will study some of these discoveries and in light of them ask ourselves philosophical questions such as: In what sense do mathematical objects (triangles, the number 42) exist? In what sense are mathematical truths true? Why does mathematics seemingly describe the real world? 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 270. Ancient Philosophy The focused study of an important concept, problem, theme, tradition of thought, theory, or some combination of these in the work of major Greek philosophers of the period between 640 BCE and 386 CE, including such philosophers as Heraclitus, Parmenides, Plato, and Aristotle. 6 credits cr., HU, Fall—P. Mason
PHIL 272. Modern Philosophy The focused study of an important concept, problem, theme, tradition of thought, theory, or some combination of these in the work of major European philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including such philosophers as Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, Hume, and Kant. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter—J. Manion
PHIL 274. Continental Philosophy The focused study of an important concept, problem, theme, tradition of thought, theory, or some combination of these in the work of major European Continental philosophers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including such philosophers as Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—R. Elveton
PHIL 275. Indian Philosophy Cross-listed with RELG 273. An introduction to the classical philosophical tradition of India. The primary emphasis is on reading and discussion of selected Hindu and Buddhist sources in English translation, though contemporary and comparative materials also may be included. In terms of the "fields" of Western philosophy, the major focus is on Indian approaches to metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, with secondary consideration of logic, linguistic philosophy, and aesthetics. Some prior work in either Western philosophy or South Asian religion is highly desirable. 6 credits cr., HU,RAD, Spring—A. Rambachan
PHIL 276. Topics in the History of Philosophy Selected topics in the history of philosophy. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 281. Advanced Logic Ongoing developments in logic make it central to a wide range of disciplines, including cognitive science, computer science, linguistics, mathematics, and philosophy. Possible topics to be covered include metalogic (incompleteness and undecidability), non-classical logics (e.g., modal, intuitionistic and non-monotonic logics), applications to other disciplines, and philosophy of logic. Prerequisite: Philosophy 210, Mathematics 211, or permission of the instructor. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2000-2001.
PHIL 298. Junior Seminar An advanced seminar, open only to philosophy majors in their sophomore or junior year (preferably the latter), in which each member will research, write, and present a paper on a specific aspect of a general topic selected for the year. The seminar is organized by one member of the department's faculty, but each member will lead a discussion on some aspect of the general theme for the year. Special attention will be given to the process of identifying a paper topic, researching it, preparing a series of drafts of one's paper on it, and giving and making good use of critical feedback to each other throughout that process. Required for the major; not open to non-majors. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter—G. Iseminger
PHIL 395. Stoic Ethics, Ancient and Modern Stoicism was influential in the ancient world and also at certain later periods (such as the eighteenth century). Can we take it seriously today, particularly Stoic ethics, with its claim that virtue is sufficient for happiness? We will look at ancient Stoic ethics (both the early Stoics and Epictetus) and at Larry Becker's recent work, A New Stoicism, as well as Tom Wolfe's use of Epictetus in his recent novel, A Man in Full. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—J. Annas
PHIL 395. Quantum Information Theory A self-contained seminar on foundational issues in quantum information theory. Topics will include: (1) Quantum computation: what does it tell us about computation in general? (2) Quantum cryptography: how does it challenge our classical ideas about information? (3) Quantum teleportation and non-cloning: what do they tell us about how quantum systems differ from classical systems? (4) Quantum logic: is it a genuinely non-classical logic, and what does it tell us about quantum information? (5) Interpretations of quantum mechanics: how are they related to quantum information theory? Prerequisites: twelve credits in philosophy, Physics 128, Mathematics 232, or permission of the instructor. 6 credits cr., HU, Fall—D. MacCallum
PHIL 399. Senior Thesis The planning, preparation, and completion of a significant philosophical paper under the direction of a member of the department. 3 credits cr., ND, Fall,Winter—J. Manion
PHIL 400. Integrative Exercise A colloquium in which seniors defend their senior theses and discuss the senior theses of others. 3 credits cr., S/NC, ND, Spring—Staff