Current Course Information, 2020

The following list represents the current offerings; for the full range of courses offered philosophy and religious studies, please consult the Undergraduate Course Descriptions in the UNF catalog.

Fall 2020

 Introductory Level Courses

PHI 2010: Introduction to Philosophy

PHI 2100: Critical Thinking: The Art of Reasoning

PHI 2101: Introduction to Logic

PHI 2630: Critical Thinking, Ethical Issues

Upper Level Courses

PHH3104: Socrates and the Sophists – Dr. Carelli

This course introduces students to Socratic thought on a focused, intensive level. Students will read the central dialogues of Plato that present Socrates arguing against the most influential teachers of ancient Athens, the Sophists. In the process of reading these works, students will analyze Socrates's arguments that virtue consists in wisdom and that the life of continuous self-examination and striving for virtue is superior to the life of political power based on rhetorical prowess. Students will also determine for their own lives whether they prefer the life of a philosopher, and the values on which it is founded, or the life of the Sophist and master of rhetoric.

PHH3810: Introduction to Buddhism – Dr. Mattice

Description: In this course we will critically engage Buddhist philosophy and religion, from its origins in ancient India to its spread across Asia and its impact on the contemporary world. The course will include a focused survey of key ideas, practices, and texts, and a more in-depth examination of one particular idea, practice, or text.

PHI3084: Philosophical Methods – Dr. Creller

Description: This course is an investigation of various central methods in philosophical inquiry. The course covers analytic, continental European, comparative (non-Western/Western), and historical perspectives. Attention is paid to developing students’ abilities to interpret philosophical material, construct and evaluate arguments, and write philosophical essays. Specific topics will vary by instructor. This course is required for the philosophy major and minor, and is a prerequisite for all 4000 level courses.

PHI3601: Ethics – Dr. LaChance Adams

Ethics considers questions such as "How should I live?" and "How do I decide the right thing to do and why should I do it?" This course deals with those questions in the areas of moral metaphysics, meta-ethics and normative theories of moral conduct which come from the history of philosophy back to the time of Plato and Aristotle. Other theorists to be discussed include Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill, and may include figures such as Thomas Hobbes, David Hume and John Dewey, as well as contemporary theorists.

PHI3640: Environmental Ethics – Dr. Buchwalter

This course will cover intrinsic and instrumental value approaches to environmental ethics, alternative environmental ethical approaches, and special environmental ethical issues. The goal of the course is to familiarize students with all the major approaches to environmental ethics and with a few particularly philosophically interesting environmental ethical issues. Students will appreciate and understand the complexity and intricacy of the arguments involved in adopting one approach or position over another.

PHI3880: Philosophy of Film – Dr. Fenner

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.

PHI3930: Selected Topics – Dr. Matheson

Course topic is on intellectual virtues and vices. What traits of reasoning and perceiving are good or evil from the perspective of knowledge or truth?

PHI4220: Philosophy of Language – Dr. Koegler

Description: The course explores the lasting significance of the linguistic turn in philosophy, including its different philosophical perspectives in analytic philosophy, speech act theory, semiotics and poststructuralism, and philosophical hermeneutics. Central questions include: What is the role of language for human consciousness and experience? How is linguistic meaning constituted, and what are its essential components? What is the basic structure of language, and how does it affect our access to reality? What is the relation between language and truth? What is the role of language and linguistic meaning for the constitution of culture, society, and politics? The course clarifies concepts like consciousness, meaning, reflexivity, truth, reference, normativity, and social practices through the philosophy of language.

PHI4641: Business Ethics – Dr. Haney

Description: 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.

PHM3020: Philosophy of Love and Sex – Dr. LaChance Adams

This course is an examination of contemporary views of love and sex as well as their roots in earlier philosophical conceptions. The course covers such topics as erotic love and the self, homosexuality and heterosexuality, non-erotic love, and the ways love, sex, and marriage may affect women and men differently.

PHM3400: Philosophy of Law – Dr. Buchwalter

Introduction to philosophical issues in legal theory. Focus is on such concepts as justice, rights, civil liberties, authority, responsibility and punishment. Attention is also given to the relation of law to psychiatry and to morality.