Please see Banner/Timetable for further information about sections, times, locations, and instructors. For general descriptions of all courses see the course catalog:

Lower Division Courses (100- & 200-level)

PHIL 101: Introduction to Philosophy – Multiple Instructors

An introduction to philosophy focusing on central problems, such as knowledge and belief, the meaning of life, the existence of God, freedom of the will, morality, human nature, and mind. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies AH requirement]     

PHIL 107: Honors – Introduction to Philosophy – Multiple Instructors

An introduction to philosophy focusing on central problems, such as knowledge and belief, the meaning of life, the existence of God, freedom of the will, morality, human nature, and mind. Honors version of PHIL 101. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies AH requirement]

PHIL 130: Critical Thinking – Multiple Instructors

An introduction to recognizing, analyzing, and evaluating arguments of other people as well as constructing arguments oneself.  Topics include argument reconstruction, informal logic, identifying fallacies, and sound reasoning. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies QR requirement]

PHIL 235: Formal Logic – Von Mizener

Introduction to formal deductive systems – propositional and predicate logic. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies QR requirement]

PHIL 244: Professional Responsibility – Multiple Instructors

Critical analysis of selected texts from philosophy and other fields dealing with responsibility and the nature of professionalism. Moral concepts, principles of professional responsibility, and analytical skills applied to selected case studies and other detailed descriptions of professional practice, such as in engineering/architecture, business/accounting, law/politics, the helping professions (social work, human services, ministry), and teaching. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies AH and OC requirements]

NOTE: sections taught by Prof. Windeknecht utilize a gamified pedagogy moving through the course in the style of Dungeons & Dragons

PHIL 246: Ethics of Science & Technology – Feldt

An introduction to ethical issues that concern emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, social media, biological augmentation, and virtual reality.  Topics may include the dangers of AI, whether machines can be moral, privacy, autonomous weapons, genetic engineering, and how to properly govern the development and use of technology. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies AH and EI requirements]

PHIL 252: Contemporary Moral Problems – Multiple Instructors

An introduction to contemporary ethical issues, such as euthanasia, capital punishment, reproductive technologies, sexual ethics, diversity, war, world poverty, employment practices, and the environment. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies AH and WC requirements]

Upper Division Courses (300- & 400-level)

PHIL 320/327: Ancient Western Philosophy/Honors – Shaw

We will explore works by Plato, Aristotle, and the Epicureans on themes of emotion, decision-making, self-knowledge, and friendship.  Throughout, we will focus on developing skills of philosophical analysis (including part-whole analysis, argument analysis, and thematic analysis), and on metacognition concerning our process of learning those skills.  The final project will provide an opportunity to engage in independent research on some topic related to a course reading, and to present the resulting findings to the class. [satisfies AH, GCI,  and WC requirements]

PHIL 322: Medieval Philosophy – Shaw

Philosophers in the medieval period aimed to relate their religious traditions to philosophical reflection.  We will examine three such figures from different religious traditions: Philo of Alexandria, Augustine, and ibn Tufayl.  Throughout, we will focus on developing skills of philosophical analysis (including part-whole analysis, argument analysis, and thematic analysis), and on metacognition concerning our process of learning those skills.  The final project will provide an opportunity to engage in independent research on some topic related to a course reading, and to present the resulting findings to the class. [satisfies AH, GCI, and WC requirements]

PHIL 326: 19^th & 20^th Century Philosophy – Von Mizener

In this course students will examine three very different approaches to Philosophy, roughly spanning 1860 to 1940. We begin with Schopenhauer’s grand metaphysical system, focusing on both his analysis of free will and the foundation of ethics, then we turn to the reductive analysis of both Russell and Ayer, focusing on theory of knowledge and meaning, and finally ending with the later Wittgenstein’s conception of Philosophy as descriptive and therapeutic, focusing on a range of problems in philosophy of language. [satisfies AH and WC requirements]

PHIL 340/347: Ethical Theory/Honors – Garthoff

This course surveys ethical theory, the study of what to do and how to live. Each of its four units focuses on a central ethical topic, and in each of the first three units this topic is taken up in the context of a major family of ethical theories. We begin with virtue, as we examine the ancient Greek ethics of Plato and Aristotle. We turn next to well-being, especially within the utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. The third unit concerns norms, as we discuss reasons and duties in the ethical theory of Immanuel Kant. Our concluding unit introduces the idea of moral status, in an attempt to synthesize elements drawn from each family. Along the way we explicate amoralism and moral relativism, and we read work by the more recent writers. The course aims to introduce students to major issues and approaches in ethical theory, to provide training in philosophical methods of inquiry, and to help students think and write clearly and critically. [satisfies AH and WC requirements]

PHIL 345: Bioethics – Multiple Instructors

An exploration of ethical issues in medicine, the life sciences, biomedical technology, public health, and/or the environment, such as abortion, euthanasia, human experimentation, informed consent, fairness in health care delivery, and the doctor-patient relationship. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies AH, EI, and WC requirements]

PHIL 346: Environmental Ethics – Bowman

An exploration of issues concerning the nature of the environment and the place of humanity within it. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies AH, EI, and WC requirements]

PHIL 346/348: Environmental Ethics/Honors – Molter

This course examines our ethical obligations, as they extend beyond the present human community to include: animals, plants, fungi, microbes, ecosystems, lands, and future generations. Problems such as pollution, resource depletion, biodiversity loss, population overshoot, mass extinction, climate change, animal rights, and environmental justice are considered from the perspectives of utilitarianism, virtue ethics, deontology, and social contract theory. Moral obligation is further considered from Feminist, Native American, and Deep Ecological perspectives. This is a writing intensive course that culminates in a research paper that fills the university’s (WC) written communication requirement. Students may choose to write on any topic in environmental ethics and are guided step-by-step through the writing process.[satisfies AH, EI, and WC requirements]

PHIL 353: Philosophy and Literature – Dunn

An exploration of the nature of literature and philosophical, readings of literary works, such as novels, plays, and poems, and relationships between philosophy and literature. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies AH and WC requirements]

PHIL 360: Philosophy of Science – Molter

Science is the most reliable method we have for obtaining knowledge of the natural world. Yet philosophers disagree about what science is, and daunting arguments have been leveled against its rationality. Aristotle characterizes science as beginning with observation. From this we induce universal principles, such as earth moves down and fire moves up. Using these universals as premises in deductive arguments, we can then predict how various aspects of nature will behave. Hume objects, pointing out that induction requires that we assume the future will resemble the past, an assumption he says we are not warranted in making. If Hume is right, then one of two things follows: either the scientific method is not inductive, as it appears to be; or, if it is inductive, then science is not a rational method of inquiry. The history of philosophy of science is a history of responses to Hume’s objection to induction.

The first part of this course traces that history. We will consider arguments in defense of scientific induction and arguments for why scientific inference is really deductive or abductive. Along the way, we will consider the question of realism and antirealism, whether unobservables such as electrons really exist, and further, whether even tables and chairs can be known to exist, given our apparent isolation behind a veil of perception, which blocks direct knowledge of everything except our own sensations.

The second part of this course moves from theory to practice, focusing on unresolved philosophical problems in contemporary science. Students will choose topics of interest and will be assigned to research teams based on their choices. Past classes have focused on dark matter, consciousness, the species problem in biology, interpretations of quantum mechanics, science denialism, and the compatibility/incompatibility of science and religion. Any philosophical problem in the sciences is a possible topic. Research teams will present their findings in the closing weeks of the semester, and the final project will be a poster presentation modeled after the poster session at the biennial meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association. [satisfies QR requirements]

PHIL 365: Philosophy of Social Science – Thalos

Philosophical exploration of social scientific inquiry–including but not limited to economics, social and organizational psychology, political science and jurisprudence, sociology and anthropology–and its connections to the larger academic context, politics, and power relations broadly construed, as well as a variety of timeless philosophical questions (such as human freedom and autonomy, causation, and laws of nature). Some discussion of possible differences between natural and social science, as well as among all the sciences. Focus may vary over different runs of the course. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies SS and WC requirements]

PHIL 370: Philosophy of Religion – Watson

A philosophical study of basic issues in religion, such as faith, religious experience, and the nature and existence of God. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies AH and WC requirements]

PHIL 371: Epistemology – Coffman

An introduction to central debates in the theory of knowledge and rational belief, such as the nature of knowledge, how we can come to know things, and how to distinguish reasonable from unreasonable beliefs. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies AH and WC requirements]

PHIL 373: Philosophy of Mind – Palmer

You and I have minds. Tables and chairs arguably don’t. But what exactly is a mind? In this course, we will investigate some of the central issues in contemporary philosophy of mind. We will focus on three issues: (1) The Mind-Body Problem—What is the relationship between our minds and our brains? Is the mind the same thing as the brain or is it something different? (2) Consciousness—What does it mean to be conscious? What special puzzles does consciousness present for a physicalist view of the mind? (3) The Mind’s Scope—Does the human mind extend outside our bodies? Can machines have minds and intelligence? These issues are tough; and deciding what to think about them is not obvious (at least not to me!). Hence, the aim for the class is for each of us (me included) to develop and defend answers to these questions. Given this aim, the class will be run ‘seminar-style’—emphasizing student involvement and discussion. I will encourage you, through class discussion and written work, to develop your own critical perspective on the material. [satisfies AH and WC requirements]

PHIL 382: Philosophy of Feminism – Cupples

A philosophical exploration of feminist perspectives on issues related to gender, sex, and sexuality, labor, sexism and racism, intersectionality, colonialism, oppression, and sexual violence. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies AH, GCUS, and WC requirements]

PHIL 390: Philosophical Foundations of Democracy – Schrepfer

A study of philosophical problems relating to the nature and justification of the central values, principles, concepts, and institutions of a democratic society. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies EI, GCUS, SS, and WC requirements]

PHIL 392: Philosophy of Law – Schrepfer

An exploration of some basic issues about the law and legal systems, such as the nature of legal systems as normative social practices, the relationships between law and morality, theories of adjudication and legal reasoning, the justification of punishment, theories of legal responsibility, law and economics, and feminist and neo-Marxist critiques of law. (General Catalog Description) [satisfies AH, EI, SS, and WC requirements]

PHIL 400: Trauma & Art – Carlisle

This course explores the intersection of philosophy, trauma, and artistic expression. We examine how art can bear witness to suffering, give voice to the unspeakable, and serve as a medium for individual and collective healing. Drawing on philosophical aesthetics, trauma theory, and case studies from visual art, literature, performance, and film, we ask: What makes certain works powerful vehicles for processing trauma? Can art be ethically troubling and still be therapeutic? Whose stories get told, and how does form shape meaning? Students will engage critically with texts and artworks, while also reflecting on the broader social and political implications of trauma representation in art. [Coconvenes with graduate seminar]

PHIL 420: History of the Idea of Nature – Gehrman

Coming soon! [Coconvenes with graduate seminar]

PHIL 435: Intermediate Formal Logic – Moore

An in-depth study of the metatheory of formal logic and philosophy of logic.

PHIL 450: Beyond Pity: Respect, Appreciation, and the Informal Ethics of Disability – Cureton

This seminar explores the ethics and politics of informal attitudes toward disabled people, including disabled persons’ attitudes toward themselves. Topics may include respect, appreciation, benevolence, pity, appreciation, infantilization, internalized ableism, misrecognition, care, and condescension.  The aim is to sketch provisional frameworks for assessing everyday encounters in families, schools, clinics, workplaces, and public life, and to consider appropriate forms of interaction with disabled people. [Coconvenes with graduate seminar]

PHIL 463: Race, Science, and Medicine – Berenstain

Philosophical exploration of the role of race in the production of scientific and medical knowledge. Topics may include the history and function of scientific racism, structural racism as a cause of public health inequities, realism and anti-realism about biological race, social constructions of race, metaphysics of population genetics, theories of human evolution and migration, the continuing influence of ideologies of race and racial pseudoscience on data collection and interpretation, and the intersections of racial ideologies with issues of gender, sexuality, and disability. (General Catalog Description)[satisfies GCUS, SS, and WC requirements]

PHIL 480: Actions, Reasons, and Causes – Palmer

One “big picture” question in philosophy is how (and whether) we human beings can be part of the natural causal order. Can we understand ourselves and our activities as a part of this order or do we have to go “outside” of it to make sense of how we operate? In this class, we will focus specifically on whether human agency—for instance, acting for reasons, acting freely, and acting at all—must be understood in causal terms. Most contemporary metaphysicians think yes; a minority say no. In this class, we will consider both answers to this question with the aim of making up our own minds about it. These issues are tough; and deciding what to think about them is not obvious (at least not to me!). Hence, the aim for the class is for each of us (me included) to develop and defend answers to these questions. Given this aim, the class will be run ‘seminar-style’—emphasizing student involvement and discussion. I will encourage you, through class discussion and written work, to develop your own critical perspective on the material. [Coconvenes with graduate seminar]