PHI 3300: Introduction to
Epistemology - Dr. Jon Matheson
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3
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Description: Epistemology is the study of knowledge and justified
belief. In this course, we will critically examine numerous accounts of the
nature and sources of knowledge and justified belief. In addition, we will
look at epistemological puzzles concerning skepticism, the problem of
induction, epistemic relativism, and the epistemic significance of
disagreement. The philosophical questions to be discussed include: What is
knowledge? Can we know anything worthwhile? Given that we do know things, how
do we know them? Under what conditions is a belief rational? Is it rational
to believe controversial propositions? Is there more than one standard of
rationality?
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PHI 3453: Philosophy of
Psychology - Dr. Sarah Vincent
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3
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Description: This course examines the philosophical and
ethical issues raised by the theory and practice of psychology. Questions
that may be considered are: What philosophical and ethical problems are
raised by the very idea of a “mental life”? In what sense do different
approaches to psychology embody different underlying philosophical
assumptions about that nature of the mind? What different philosophical
reasons are there for thinking that psychiatric treatment should be aimed at
the mind, the brain, behavior, the self, the soul, or the whole person? What
are the philosophical and ethical assumptions behind psychoanalysis? Is
psychoanalysis a science, and does it matter if it is not? What philosophical
and ethical questions are raised by the use of medication in psychiatric
practice?
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PHI 3633: Bioethics - Dr. David Kline
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3
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This course employs tools of ethical
theory to examine a number of moral issues arising in health care. Issues to
be considered include the physician-patient relationship, informed consent,
advance directives, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide,
experimentation on human subjects, and access to health care. Throughout this
course we will examine assumptions about rights, persons, and ethical
principles at play in the medical arena. Readings will include discussions of
ethical principles in medical contexts, legal decisions, and case studies,
providing students with the opportunity to sharpen their analytic skills and
develop a deeper understanding of some of the major bioethical issues
currently being debated.
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PHI 3880: Philosophy of Film - Dr. David Fenner
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3
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Philosophy of Film is a course in
the aesthetics of film. The course is divided into four parts: (1) film
aesthetics, focusing on aesthetics vocabulary and the aesthetic components of
film; (2) film as art, focusing on art theory and the film artist; (3) film
form, focusing on the mechanics and aesthetics of film form, on film genre,
and on film theory; (4) film criticism, focusing on criticism, censorship,
and critical film reviews.
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PHI 3881: Philosophy of Music - Dr. Hans Herbert Koegler
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3
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This course introduces students to
the variety of philosophical perspectives that have enhanced our
understanding of the phenomenon of music. The identity of "music"
is explored in light of different cultural, social, and aesthetic contexts.
We focus on the linguistic character of music as a symbol form, the source
and nature of emotional experiences through music, the cultural and social
contexts of music production and reception, and the normative question of how
to evaluate musical products and performances. The course offers original
insights into music, while teaching basic theoretical insights of linguistic,
social-psychological, and cultural philosophy.
PHI 3930: Germany Today (FC) - Dr. Andrew Buchwalter 3
An examination of social, political, cultural
and intellectual trends in Germany since the end of World War II. Emphasis is
on German democracy, the economic rebuilding, the burden of the Nazi and
Stasi past, national identity, generational conflicts, ethnic tensions, right-wing
radicalism, immigration policy, the role of intellectuals, Germany's place in
Europe and the world, and its status as a "normal" nation.
Particular attention is given to the 1989 collapse of East Germany, 1990
unification of the two Germanys, and the issues that have engaged Germany
since unification. The course draws on resources from a range of
disciplines, including art, literature, philosophy, history, sociology,
political science, economics and especially postwar German cinema. In keeping
with the goals of the Foreign Culture program, one special aim of the course
is to compare and contrast the German experience with our own.
PHI 3931: Jewish & Islamic
Philosophy - Dr. Paul Carelli 3
Often
medieval philosophy is presented in its Christian guise alone, giving the
impression that the medieval philosophical tradition, influenced by the great
thinkers of Greek antiquity, is exclusively a Latin tradition, with no
substantive contribution by those who wrote in Arabic and Hebrew. We
shall revise this view. After a few weeks reading and discussing selections
from Plato and Aristotle, our focus will turn to a select group of
philosophers who lived between the 10th-12th centuries,
a roughly three hundred-year period that is a high point in medieval Jewish
and Islamic philosophy—a time before
Greek philosophy was rediscovered in Christian Europe.
Philosophers to be studied in some detail are Solomon ibn Gabirol, Al-Farabi,
Ibn Rushd, and Maimonides, and in addressing topics in the philosophy of
language, metaphysics, epistemology, cosmology, philosophical psychology, and
especially in philosophy of law, ethics, and political philosophy, we will
see how these philosophers adapted Greek philosophical insights for their own
specific purposes.
PHI
3932: Race, Justice, Resistance - Dr. Erinn Gilson 3
This course explores the ideas and theories underlying
movements to end racial injustice. It considers how racism and racial
injustices are perpetrated and perpetuated through laws and policies,
political and economic structures and systems, ignorance and ideologies, and
attitudes and beliefs, as well as major instances of racial injustice in the
US today (such as mass incarceration, the school-to-prison pipeline,
militarized policing, economic inequality, and voting rights). The focus,
however, is ideas about transformation, liberation, and resistance to racial
injustice: What various strategies and practices are used to seek change?
What kinds of transformation are and should be sought? What would reparations
for racial injustice involve? In what does liberation consist? What role do
ideas and practices of solidarity, coalition, and intersectionality have in
pursuing racial justice?
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PHI4641: Business Ethics - Dr. Mitchell Haney
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3
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This course examines the
theoretical foundations of business ethics as well as various ethical issues
which arise on personal, corporate, national and global levels in the
business world. The course will include: an examination of a philosophical
context for business ethics; and exploration of relevant ethical and
social-political theories; consideration and discussion of real-world
business ethical issues. Readings and lectures will be complemented by class
discussion and an ongoing focus on case studies.
PHI 4930/5934 Philosophy for
Children - Dr. Aaron Creller 3
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Does philosophy begin in wonder? At what age does “reason” take
hold? Are children capable of thinking philosophically? If so, what kind of
benefit could it have to make philosophy part of an already cramped
curriculum? This class is an introduction to the theoretical and practical
dimensions of Philosophy for Children (P4C), also known as the “philosophers’
pedagogy.” In exploring the theoretical resources that structure P4C
communities, students will engage with the work of figures such as John
Dewey, Jean Piaget, Lawerence Kohlberg, Matthew Lipman, Amber Strong-Makaiau,
and Tom Jackson. In addition, students will learn to operationalize concepts
such as “intellectual safety,” “reflection,” and community-based inquiry
through facilitating their own inquiries in and out of the classroom.
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PHI 6769
Ethics, Religion & Global Discourse - Dr. Andrew Buchwalter
This course
examines critical themes at the intersection of religion and global politics.
It will explore how particular constructions of “religion” and “religious
freedom” authorizes national and international legal and governmental practice.
These questions will be examined through a variety of contexts, with an emphasis
on local communities’ relationship to national and international governing
bodies. Topics will include religion and the rise of the nation-state; the
politics of religious establishment and religious freedom; the formation of
modern vocabularies of religious exclusion; and the role of religions in the
neoliberal experience.
PHM3304: Political Philosophy - Dr. Hans Herbert Koegler
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3
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An examination of central concepts
in political thought, including rights, laws, justice, liberty, obligation,
political sovereignty, legitimate authority and the nature of political
community. Emphasis is on classical theories and their relation to
contemporary issues.
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PHP3790: American Philosophy - Dr. Sarah Mattice
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3
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Pragmatism is perhaps the most
enduring and respected of the distinctly American philosophies, but traditions of philosophy in the Americas is much broader. In this course, we will examine the writings of major
pragmatists, both historical and contemporary, but also others doing philosophy in the Americas. We may study American Transcendentalism in Thoreau, Emerson, and Whitman, We may study American pragmatism in James, Peirce, Dewey, as well as contemporary pragmaticists. We may look to philosophical traditions in American Indian thought, as well as those writing from Latin American perspectives. For
each philosopher, our task will be to understand both what the philosopher's
views are and how those views relate to other philosophical positions. The
goal is to arrive at a broad understanding of just what it means to be doing American Philosophy.
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PHH3500: Kant to
Nietzsche - Dr. Andrew Buchwalter
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3
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Prerequisite: One course in philosophy other than a
foreign culture. An exploration of major philosophical developments which
follow the French Revolution and culminate with the beginning of the 20th
century. Special attention is given to the contemporary relevance of 19th
century thought. Readings from Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer,
Dilthey and Nietzsche.
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