Current Course Information

The following list represents the detailed course descriptions of our current offerings; for the full range of courses offered in the BA and MA programs in philosophy, please consult the Undergraduate Course Descriptions and Graduate Course Descriptions in the UNF catalog.

Fall 2013 Upper Division

PHH 3100 Ancient Greek Philosophy

CRN: 80532
MW 1630-1745
Instructor: P. Carelli

In this course we study the origins of the largest philosophical questions in ancient Greece. Beginning with an overview of the social/historical context in which these questions arose, we will go on to examine the thought of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. We'll ask about the kind of life human beings ought to lead, the nature of justice and morality, the basic constituents of the world, and the nature and limits of human knowledge. Once we understand the views of the Greek philosophers, and their arguments for these views, we'll need to decide whether or not to accept them ourselves as guides to leading our own lives. PHH 3100 is a course required of all philosophy majors.

PHH 3820 (FC) Chinese Philosophy

CRN: 82959
TR 1050-1205
Instructor: S. Mattice

This course introduces students to the main philosophical texts, ideas, and trends in classical Chinese philosophy. Students will gain familiarity with major texts such as the Analects and the Zhuangzi, as well as key philosophical vocabulary such as dao 道, de 德, ren 仁, ziran 自然, li 禮, qi 氣, and xiao 孝. After completing the course, students will have a basic understanding of the three most influential traditions in Chinese thought-Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism-and how these schools developed over time. As we study philosophical traditions in China, we will also immerse ourselves in relevant aspects of Chinese culture, including but not limited to food, art, history, medicine, and tea.

PHH 4601 20th Century Continental Philosophy

CRN: 82960
TR 1050-1205
Instructor: E. Gilson

This course is an examination of major issues and figures in 20th century continental philosophy. We will briefly survey the central themes of major schools of thought such as phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, critical theory, and structuralism, but the focus of the course will be post-structuralism and deconstruction (especially contemporary French thinkers, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and Jacques Derrida). Main topics will include: the nature of subjectivity and intersubjectivity, otherness and difference, language and power, the critique of foundational truth, and the impact of these critical perspectives on ethics and politics. Prerequisite: PHH 3400 or PHH 3500 or permission of instructor.

PHI 3500 Introduction to Metaphysics

CRN: 82962
TR 1340-1455
Instructor: J. Matheson

This course will be a topical introduction to central themes in metaphysics – a branch of philosophy that tries to answer the fundamental questions about the nature of reality. In it we will carefully consider accounts of causation, the relation of freedom and determinism, laws of nature, personal identity, mental states, time, material objects, and properties. The philosophical questions to be discussed include: What makes it the case that one event causes another event? Is free will compatible with determinism? What are material objects? Given that material objects exist, do such things as properties exist? What makes it the case that a person may exist at two different times

PHI 3601 Ethics

CRN: 80169
MW 1500-1615

Instructor: M. Haney

What is morality? What is its basis? What norms or principles should guide our actions? This course offers a detailed investigation of these fundamental questions. We will examine theories about the source of morality (topics from the area known as metaethics) and theories concerning how we ought to structure our moral thought and action (topics from the area known as normative theory). We will be concerned throughout to see how metaethical and normative questions interrelate: what are the arguments, for example, for thinking that moral norms derive from different cultural ways of life, and what effect should agreement with such arguments have on one's moral outlook? The fact that this is primarily a course in abstract theory does not mean that we will not devote time to the discussion of real life moral problems and dilemmas. Indeed, one major goal of the course will be the exploration of the relationship between ethical theory and everyday life. PHI 3601 is a course required of all philosophy majors.

PHI 3640 Environmental Ethics

CRN: 82964
M 1200-1445
Instructor: B. Bannon

This course will focus upon the philosophical problems surrounding humanity's relationship to the rest of the natural world. We will survey the various approaches philosophers have recently taken in their attempts to determine what, if any, responsibilities human beings have toward their environments. While the predominant approach has been a moral one, we will devote significant time and attention to alternative models that seek to elucidate the connection between social institutions and the treatment of nature as well. Some of the questions we will be asking are as follows: Are humans a part of nature or somehow distinct from it? What is the best way for us to live in the natural world? What is the relationship between human oppressions and the domination of nature? Can you dominate something like nature? How do we care for nature? Throughout the course, we will be using the theories we learn in order to address case studies of actual environmental problems. The aim of the course, then, is not only to learn the theories, but to see how they might help to guide our practical choices as well.

PHI 3641 Business Ethics

CRN: 80279
TR 1630-1745
Instructor: M. Haney

This course will prepare and engage students to answer the following questions: Do we need ethical organizations? What does it mean for an organization to be ethical? What tools, structures, and ethical values constitute the elements of an ethical organization? How do we evaluate organizations from an ethical perspective? What are the means of improving organizations from an ethical perspective?

PHI 3700 Philosophy of Religion

CRN: 82966
TR 925-1040
Instructor: J. Matheson

This course will examine several debates within the philosophy of religion. We will focus on two broad questions. Q1: What would God be like? Q2: Is it rational to believe in God? Under Q1 we will examine such puzzles as: Can God create a stone too heavy for God to lift? Can God know the future free actions of people? Can God be perfect and still be free? What is God’s relation to morality? Under Q2 we will examine such puzzles as: Does the existence of evil show that God does not exist? Does religious disagreement or science show that God doesn’t exist? Do religious experiences make it reasonable to believe that God exists? Does the existence and intricacy of the universe make it reasonable to believe that God exists?

PHI 3800 Aesthetics

CRN: 82968
TR 1630-1745
Instructor: S. Mattice

The course explores major themes in philosophical aesthetics, from classical traditions to the contemporary world. We will examine questions such as: What makes something art? What is beauty? What is the nature of aesthetic experience? What is the role of creativity in art? How do/should we interpret works of art? What is the role of the art critic? What is the relationship between art and morality? Is art a universal phenomenon? What are the political implications of art? What is a nude? What does it mean to live aesthetically? Along the way we will examine various texts, artists, works of art, and artistic practices from both western and non-western aesthetic traditions.

PHI 3930 (H) World Philosophy Through Film

CRN: 82970
F 1200-1445
Instructor: A. Creller

This course is an exploration of comparative philosophy through an examination of films from around the world. Through written word and motion picture, students will learn the skills to develop an understanding of another culture, as well as common pitfalls to avoid. The course will address questions like "Why is it dangerous to romanticize or demonize another culture?", "Can we judge other cultures?", and "How does a host culture contribute to the interpretation of another culture?"

PHI 4220 Philosophy of Language

CRN: 82971
R 1800-2045

Instructor: H. Koegler

This course will reconstruct the fundamental importance of language as the essential medium of human experience. The revolutionary Linguistic Turn defines much of the profile of 20th century philosophy and remains one of the major inspirations of contemporary philosophical thought. We will follow its impact by focusing on questions like: What is the relation between language and thought? How do we understand other minds through language? How do linguistic entities—signs, words, sentences, propositions, and speech acts—hook onto things and state of affairs in the world? How does the social nature of language redefine truth and justification? What constitutes linguistic meaning: intentions, references to external facts, or shared rules and social practices? The course is unique by approaching these questions through all the four major perspectives in philosophy of language, including hermeneutics, semiotics and discourse analysis, analytic philosophy of language, and speech act theory. Thinkers discussed will include Humboldt, Gadamer, Heidegger, de Saussure, Foucault, Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Searle, and Habermas.

PHI 4935 SEM: Moral Agency in Ancient Greek Philosophy

CRN: 82973

W 1200-1445

Instructor: P. Carelli

This seminar will examine how moral agency is understood by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics. Participants will explore through readings and discussion what role motivations such as physical desires, emotions and reason play in moral decision making; how moral responsibility is conceived and how praise, blame and punishment are understood in light of this conception; and to what extent moral character is a matter of intellection, habit and/or will. PHI4935 is a course required of all philosophy majors. PREREQUISITES: One course in philosophy.

PHM 3020 Philosophy of Love and Sex

CRN: 82975
TR 1340-1455
Instructor: E. Gilson

This course examines contemporary ideas about love and sex, as well as the foundations of these ideas in the history of philosophy. We will discuss the way love, sex, and sexuality shape our identities, the relationship between love, sex, sexuality and gender roles, heterosexuality and homosexuality, the power of norms concerning love and sex, the role of socio-cultural depictions of love and sex, and the ethics of romantic and sexual practices. In addition to readings drawn from the history of philosophy, some particular texts to be studied include Michel Foucault's History of Sexuality, Laura Kipnis' Against Love, and Michael Warner's The Trouble with Normal.

PHM 3050 Death and Dying

CRN: 82979
M 1800-2045
Instructor: A. Swota

According to many, death is one of the greatest evils that confront human beings. But what exactly is death and why do we fear it? In this course, we take an interdisciplinary approach to death and dying in order to understand some of the ethical, medical, and legal issues surrounding death and dying. Topics to be covered include whether life is always preferable to death, deciding how much control we should have over our own deaths, how much control (if any) advance directives should have in directing end-of-life treatment plans, how much cost should play a role in deciding whether expensive treatments which provide little benefit are offered to patients, the moral obligation of doctors to disclose information to their patients, different criteria for determining death, and whether one is allowed to bring about or assist in the death of another. The main objectives of the course are to introduce students to some of the central issues in the philosophy of death and dying, to encourage open communication about death and dying, and to foster appreciation of the experiences and needs of the dying, and to help students recognize some of the many vexing ethical issues that arise in health care at the end-of-life

PHM 3304 Political Philosophy

CRN: 82981
TR 1505-1620

Instructor: A. Buchwalter

This course introduces and critically examines the main themes in Western political thought. Thinkers covered include Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx, Nietzsche, Arendt, Rawls, Sandel, Habermas, Okin, Foucault, and Fanon. Through a close reading of these ancient, modern, and contemporary thinkers, we will develop a deeper understanding of key concepts such as rights, freedom, equality, justice, citizenship, obligation, privacy, power, and political community itself. We examine as well classical positions in political philosophy--e.g., liberalism, libertarianism, socialism, republicanism, contractarianism--as well as important contemporary theories, like communitarianism, feminism, multiculturalism, postmodernism, deliberative democracy, and postcolonialism. An overarching aim of the course is to clarify, both historically and conceptually, the relationship of individual and community, with the ultimate goal of clarifying for ourselves personally the nature of that relationship. This course fulfills requirements for the Applied Ethics and Legal-Political-Social Studies major concentrations as well as the Applied Ethics and Law and Philosophy minors.

Graduate Courses

Fall 2013

PHI 5605 Ethics

CRN: 80553
W 1800-2045

Instructor: B. Bannon

Throughout the history of philosophy, there has been a concern with how best to live one's life. In this course, we will be examining the historical trajectory of responses to this concern. In the Classical world the concern was for the formation of one's character through specific social practices, but over time this project transformed into the development of a moral principle to guide actions and eventually into the quest to formulate a "decision procedure" that can be applied to specific situations. In light of these changes, contemporary philosophers have begun to question the very project of morality conceived in this way. The main questions of this course, then, will not only be how philosophers have come to define good and bad, right and wrong, but also whether it is even desirable to do so and what it means for us if it is not. This course is one in ethical theory, which means we will not so much be discussing the application of ideas, but rather we will inquire into the foundational concepts of morality in general. PHI 3601 is a course required of all philosophy majors. A section of PHI 5605 is required of all students in the M.A. program in Practical Philosophy and Applied Ethics.

PHI 6938 Themes & Methods in Applied Ethics

CRN: 80533
T 1800-2045
Instructor: A. Buchwalter

This course is an advanced-level introduction to central themes and approaches in practical philosophy, with emphasis equally on social and political thought and application to trends in current social and cultural life. The course is divided into three main parts. Part I explores practical philosophy via the interpretation of seminal historical texts. Its focus is on main trends in ancient and modern political theory, with special attention to the distinction between liberalism and republicanism. Part II explores practical philosophy via conceptual analysis, examining efforts by contemporary political and social theorists to theorize central concepts like justice, liberty, and democracy. Part III explores practical philosophy in its application to issues of special topicality today, such as global justice and religion in the public sphere. Readings draw on writers from diverse traditions and orientations. The course seeks to enhance advanced-level philosophical writing skills. Conducted as a seminar, this course presumes active student participation. A section of PHI 6937 is required of all students in the M.A. program in Practical Philosophy and Applied Ethics.

PHI 5628 Business Ethics

CRN: 81191
MW 1630-1745
Instructor: M.Haney

PHI 5691 Environmental Ethics

CRN: 82965
M 1200-1445
Instructor: B. Bannon

PHI 5808 Aesthetics

CRN: 82969
TR 1630-1745
Instructor: S. Mattice

PHI 5934 Philosophy of Love & Sex

CRN: 82974
TR 1340-1455
Instructor: E. Gilson

PHI 6225 Philosophy of Language

CRN: 82972
R 1800-2045
Instructor: H. Koegler

This course will reconstruct the fundamental importance of language as the essential medium of human experience. The revolutionary Linguistic Turn defines much of the profile of 20th century philosophy and remains one of the major inspirations of contemporary philosophical thought. We will follow its impact by focusing on questions like: What is the relation between language and thought? How do we understand other minds through language? How do linguistic entities-signs, words, sentences, propositions, and speech acts-hook onto things and state of affairs in the world? How does the social nature of language redefine truth and justification? What constitutes linguistic meaning: intentions, references to external facts, or shared rules and social practices? The course is unique by approaching these questions through all the four major perspectives in philosophy of language, including hermeneutics, semiotics and discourse analysis, analytic philosophy of language, and speech act theory. Thinkers discussed will include Humboldt, Gadamer, Heidegger, de Saussure, Foucault, Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Searle, and Habermas. The course specifically addresses the social grounds of truth, reason, and ethics, including the grounds of normative and ethical judgments.

PHI 6936 20th Century Philosophy

CRN: 82976
TR 1050-1205
Instructor: E. Gilson

This course is an examination of major issues and figures in 20th century continental philosophy. We will briefly survey the central themes of major schools of thought such as phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, critical theory, and structuralism, but the focus of the course will be post-structuralism and deconstruction (especially contemporary French thinkers, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and Jacques Derrida). Main topics will include: the nature of subjectivity and intersubjectivity, otherness and difference, language and power, the critique of foundational truth, and the impact of these critical perspectives on ethics and politics. Graduate students will find substantial resources for thinking about the relationship between social life and ethics, the limits of ethical prescription, and the nature of politic engagement.

PHM 5056 Death and Dying

CRN: 82980
A 1800-2045
Instructor: A. Swota

PHM 5305 Political Philosophy

CRN: 82982
TR 1505-1620
Instructor: A. Buchwalter

This course introduces and critically examines the main themes in Western political thought. Thinkers covered include Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx, Nietzsche, Arendt, Rawls, Sandel, Habermas, Okin, Foucault, and Fanon. Through a close reading of these ancient, modern, and contemporary thinkers, we will develop a deeper understanding of key concepts such as rights, freedom, equality, justice, citizenship, obligation, privacy, power, and political community itself. We examine as well classical positions in political philosophy--e.g., liberalism, libertarianism, socialism, republicanism, contractarianism--as well as important contemporary theories, like communitarianism, feminism, multiculturalism, postmodernism, deliberative democracy, and postcolonialism. An overarching aim of the course is to clarify, both historically and conceptually, the relationship of individual and community, with the ultimate goal of clarifying for ourselves the nature of that relationship. Graduate students will be assigned supplemental readings and will also participate in occasional graduate-student only special sessions.