Philosophy (PHIL)
Chair: Professor Roy O. Elveton
Professors: Roy O. Elveton, Gary H. Iseminger, Dale Jamieson, Perry C. Mason
Cowling Visiting Professors: Lilli K. Alanen, Frederick Stoutland
Associate Professor: David J. MacCallum
Assistant Professors: Jennifer C. Manion, Anna Moltchanova
Visiting Assistant Professor: Ronald Loeffler
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 220 or above (12 credits).
Philosophy Courses
PHIL 110. Mind, Matter and Consciousness Many people outside academia, among them most people with religious convictions, assume that body and mind are separate entities. They assume that body and mind interact causally, but are nevertheless numerically distinct; even if the body dies, the mind survives. Yet this view ("Substance Dualism") is widely rejected among contemporary philosophers of mind and cognitive psychologists. In this class we will examine a number of classical and contemporary arguments in favor of, or against, mind-body dualism. And we will study alternative ways of conceiving of the relation between mind and body, in particular various types of identity theories. 6 credits cr., HU, Fall,Winter—R. Loeffler
PHIL 110. Knowledge and Mind: 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. The second part of the course will consider recent discussions of two of the main items on the agenda that this work established for subsequent philosophers: foundationalism and the search for certainty in epistemology and dualism in the philosophy of mind. 6 credits cr., HU, Fall—G. Iseminger
PHIL 110. Arguing About Politics This course introduces students to several classic texts in the history of political thought and provides them with an opportunity to interpret these texts critically by concentrating on argument analysis. Students will also learn to construct and effectively communicate their own arguments about foundational issues in politics. We will discuss justifications of democracy, the challenge of diverse citizenship, the role of deliberation in politics and related questions. We will read works by Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, Locke, de Tocqueville, Mill as well as some contemporary political theorists. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter,Spring—A. Moltchanova
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 will be offered in 2002-2003. Not offered in 2002-2003.
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, Fall,Winter—J. Manion
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, Spring—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 2002-2003.
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, Fall— R. Loeffler
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, Winter—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, Spring—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, Fall—J. Manion
PHIL 220. Philosophy of Music Refer to MUSC 239 for decription. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—G. Iseminger, J. London
PHIL 220. Philosophy of Mind Issues in contemporary philosophy of mind. Topics such as consciousness; functionalism and eliminative materialism, and philosophers such as Fodor, Chalmers, and the Churchlands will be discussed. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2002-2003.
PHIL 220. Topics in Philosophy Selected topics from various areas of philosophy. In 2002-2003 the following section will be offered: Not offered in 2002-2003.
PHIL 232. Social and Political Philosophy: Justice and Politics What distinguishes just states from unjust states? Are some states so unjust that we are not obliged to comply with their laws? We will examine answers to these and related questions proposed by liberal, socialist, libertarian, communitarian, feminist and post-modern theories of political and social justice. The following are some of the authors we will read: Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Marx, Berlin, Lyotard, Nozick, Rawls, Habermas, Sandel, Seyla Benhabib, Jean Hampton, Charles Taylor, and Amy Gutmann. 6 credits cr., HU, Fall—A. Moltchanova
PHIL 234. Aesthetics Cross-listed with ENTS 235. Various issues in aesthetics: the definition of art, the nature of the aesthetic, the description, interpretation, and evaluation of aesthetic objects. A special topic of concern for this year will be the aesthetics of nature. Readings will be drawn primarily from the works of philosophers and from case materials. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2002-2003.
PHIL 235. Feminist Philosophy Cross-listed with WGST 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, Spring—J. Manion
PHIL 236. Philosophy of Religion Cross-listed with RELG 236. 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 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, Not offered in 2002-2003.
PHIL 243. Animals: Mind and Morals 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, Spring—D. Jamieson
PHIL 250. Philosophy of Physical Sciences Drawing on a number of case studies from the history of physics, such as the modern scientific revolution and the developments in optics and electrodynamics in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, this course focuses on issues in the philosophy of physics and general issues in the philosophy of science. Topics will include: the history of, and philosophical problems with, the concepts of space, time, motion, and simultaneity, the relation between theory and observation, scientific revolutions/scientific change, scientific realism vs. antirealism, and methodological issues concerning explanation, induction, reduction, and the role of models in scientific practice. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter—R. Loeffler
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, Winter—R. Elveton
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 2002-2003.
PHIL 253. Philosophy of Cognitive Science Cross-listed with CGST 253. 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, Winter—R. Elveton
PHIL 254. The Origins of Modern Science 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., ND, Not offered in 2002-2003.
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, Spring—S. Kennedy
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, Spring—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—L. Alanen
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, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre and Habermas. 6 credits cr., HU, Spring—A. Moltchanova
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—R. Jackson
PHIL 276. Topics in the History of Philosophy Selected topics in the history of philosophy. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2002-2003.
PHIL 281. Advanced Logic Issues in logic presupposing mastery of first order logic. 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, Spring—R. Loeffler
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—A. Moltchanova
PHIL 395. Realism/Antirealism in the Philosophies of Science and Language Are atoms, quarks, or fields metaphysically real, mind independent objects? If they are, can we know anything about them? Or are they mere constructs for the sake of systematizing and predicting observation? If so, can we have objectively true scientific beliefs? How about tables and chairs? Are they metaphysically real, or are they constructs, too? We will study key contributions in the philosophies of language and science to the realism/antirealism debate. The debate is exciting, because defending a position in it involves taking stances on a host of interconnected philosophical key topics: truth, meaning, reference, objectivity, intersubjectivity, empirical knowledge, skepticism, relativism, and the theory-observation distinction. Prerequisites: Previous work in philosophy, or permission of the instructor. Non-majors are welcome. 6 cr., HU, Spring—R. Loeffler
PHIL 395. Advanced Seminars Seminars in advanced topics in philosophy to be announced. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter,Spring—R. Loeffler, F. Stoutland
PHIL 395. Just and Unjust Wars In this course we will explore a number of issues concerning war and morality. Is war ever just? If so, under what circumstances? What limits ought we to place on the conduct of combatants? We will consider answers to these and related questions in classic texts by Grotius, Hobbes, Pufendorf, Locke, Rousseau and Kant, and in the work of contemporary political theorists such as Rawls, Walzer, Tuck and others. Prerequisites: Previous work in philosophy, political theory or permission of the instructor. Non-majors are welcome. 6 credits cr., HU, Fall—A. Moltchanova
PHIL 399. Senior Thesis The planning, preparation, and completion of a philosophical paper under the direction of a member of the department and as part of a seminar group. 6 credits cr., ND, Fall,Winter—Staff
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—J. Manion