Philosophy
Course Offerings - Fall 2006
|
Phil
1000-01 |
Introduction
to Philosophy - C1,
CH
|
Griesmaier
|
|
MW With a discussion session on Fridays |
An introduction to critical thinking through a study of elementary
logic and scientific method and an introduction to philosophical problems of
ethics, religion, epistemology, and metaphysics. Discussion Sections held on Fridays: |
|
|
Phil
1000-02 |
Introduction to Philosophy – C1, CH
|
Wright
|
|
MWF |
An introduction to critical thinking
through a study of elementary logic and scientific method and an introduction
to philosophical problems of ethics, religion, epistemology, and metaphysics. |
|
|
Phil
1200-01 |
Intellectual Community in Philosophy – none,
I
|
Goodin
|
|
MWF |
Introduces students to philosophy and critical thinking
through a study of philosophical problems of ethics, religion, knowledge and
metaphysics. Includes a section on philosophical issues of diversity. |
|
Phil
2300-01
|
Ethics
in Practice: Global Justice – C1, CH
|
Sherline
|
|
TR |
In this introductory
survey course we’ll look at a number of urgent moral issues at the global
scale, for example: The moral
responsibility of the affluent to the extremely poor with regard to basic
needs such as health care and food; the application of equality at the global
level; what are human rights and what human rights are there; the tension
between loyalty to country and the demand of moral impartiality; the
challenge of political realism; the moral status of national
sovereignty. The course will consider
a number of different levels of analysis, including some basics of moral
theory (nonconsequentialism, utilitarianism, virtue
theory, egoism), basic moral concepts (autonomy, responsibility), basics of
normative political theory (Hobbesian, Lockean, Rawlsian), as well as
basics of global political theory (realism, nationalism and cosmopolitanism). |
|
|
Phil
2300-02 |
Ethics in Practice: Matters of Life and Death - C1,
CH
|
Wright
|
|
TR |
Is it ever morally acceptable to kill? Do we
have a moral obligation to create or preserve life? This class
will examine philosophical literature on abortion, death penalty,
euthanasia, suicide, animal rights, and poverty. Arguments on both sides
of these issues will be presented and evaluated. |
|
Phil
2420-01
|
Critical
Thinking: Paradoxes/Puzzles – C1, CH
|
Moffett
|
|
MWF 11:00 – 11:50 |
First course in the logic sequence. Shows that
argument is a skill of fundamental importance to any field of endeavor.
Explains methods used in evaluating an argument. Introduces such topics as:
patterns of reasoning; counterexamples; fallacies; inductive and deductive
logic. |
|
Phil
3100-01
|
History of Modern Philosophy – C1
|
Goodin
|
|
MWF 11:00 – 11:50 |
Part two of the history of philosophy sequence. The
second great age of philosophy absorbed the influence of the new science during
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. People to be studied include:
Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume and Kant. Prerequisite: 3
hours of philosophy or consent of instructor. |
|
Phil
3140-01
|
Philosophy of Science – C1
|
Griesmaier
|
|
TR |
This course is an upper-level introduction to the
major issues in one the central areas of philosophical research, namely, the
philosophy of science. It can best be characterized as a systematic
reflection on the nature of science in general and of particular scientific
theories. As such, it is an attempt to understand the methods and goals of
scientific theorizing, to describe the differences between science and other
intellectual activities, and to inquire into the relationship between the
various scientific disciplines. |
|
Phil
4000-01
|
Pluralism
|
Lockwood/Cawley
|
|
M |
Explores the philosophical problems and
sociopolitical consequences of absolutism and relativism; the possibility of addressing
these difficulties via pluralism is developed, along with issues that this
approach raises for the meaning of truth, the role of religion, the practice
of politics, and the concept of science. |
|
|
Phil
4510-01 |
Theory of Knowledge – W3
|
Moffett
|
|
W 3:10 – 5:40 |
TBA |
|
|
Phil
5300-01 |
Topics: Ethics/Pract
Reason
|
Sherline
|
|
R |
In this seminar we'll
examine historical and contemporary work (with an emphasis on contemporary)
on practical reason and its relation to ethics. Some of the questions we'll look at
include: Is it irrational to be
amoral? Does reason presuppose free
will? Can Hume's skepticism about
practical reason be answered? What is
the relation between practical and theoretical reason? Are categorical reasons possible? |
|
|
Phil
5440-01 |
Topics: Philosophy of the Mind
|
Griesmaier
|
|
T |
Thought and Rationality |
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