Courses
PHIL-100C SQ Basic Logic (3)
A study of the principles of correct reasoning, with emphasis on the analysis of everyday arguments. Topics usually include the common fallacies, definitions, deduction, induction, and argument by analogy.
Attributes: HHSM HHUM SQ YLIBPHIL-122 LC Philosophy in Context (3)
This course will explore various philosophical concepts and theories, applying these to subjects and situations relevant to the particular theme of the affiliated Learning Community.
Attributes: LC YLIBPHIL-123C P2 Intro to Philosophy (3)
A course designed to acquaint the beginner with a range of philosophical issues and to help him or her appreciate the distinctive character and value of philosophical reflection and argument.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-124C P2 Introductory Ethics (3)
Problems faced by contemporary man examined with a view to discovering whether there are any fundamental principles whereby all people may and ought to direct their lives.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-199C RW Research-Based Writing (3)
Students learn the basics of writing an academic research paper in this discipline. Emphasis is on elements of persuasive argumentation, the inclusion of more than one perspective on an issue, the proper use and documentation of sources, and revision. Students also learn how to make an effective oral presentation of their research. Department-determined topic may change from semester to semester and is likely to include literary texts as primary materials.
Restricted to freshmen and transfers.
Note: 199C courses may not be taken for credit more than once.
» Spring Research-based Writing (199) Courses & Topic Descriptions [pdf]
Attributes: RW YLIB
Restrictions: Including: -Class: Freshman, SophomorePHIL-201C P1 Philosophy through Film (3)
This course introduces students to Philosophy through an examination both of thoughtful films and of relevant writings by noted philosophers. It covers major areas of philosophy such as theories of knowledge (epistemology); the study of ultimate reality (metaphysics); the evaluation of life-purpose, conduct, and character (ethics); theories concerning what is a legitimate and/or ideal state (political philosophy); and theories of beauty and art (aesthetics).
Attributes: P1 YLIBPHIL-203 Renaissance Thinking (3)
Course exploring contributions of Galileo on the heavenly bodies (Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Johannes Kepler), Vesalius on human anatomy, Brunelleschi on linear perspective, and Leonardo da Vinci on mathematics, illustrating the Neoplatonist view that the underlying reality of the world we perceive is essentially mathematical, while Machiavelli’s contributions relate to a model of power.
Attributes: YLIBPHIL-211C P2 Ancient Philosophy (3)
A study of how philosophy began in ancient Greece and came to maturity in the work of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and subsequent “schools” of thought such as the Stoic, Skeptic, and Epicurean.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-215C P2 American Philosophy (3)
A study of some prominent strands of American thought from colonial and revolutionary times through the pragmatists to the present, including authors such as Edwards, Madison, Emerson, Thoreau, Peirce, William James, and Dewey.
Attributes: AMHU P2 YLIBPHIL-221C P2 Metaphysics (3)
Basic questions on such topics as the nature of existence, universals and particulars, material objects, knowledge, truth, causality, infinity, existence of God, and the freedom of the will are raised as part of an effort to develop a philosophy of being.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-222P P2 Philosophy of Religion (3)
A philosophical study of God and faith. Topics usually include arguments for God’s existence, the attributes of God, the nature of religious belief, miracles, the problem of evil, religious experience, and religious language.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-223C P1 Philosophy of Art (3)
This course attempts to answer the question “What is art?” The class combines analysis of classical and contemporary readings in the theory of art with the examination of examples from artistic genres such as music (Bach to hip hop), painting (da Vinci to Jasper Johns), sculpture (Praxiteles to Duchamp), and film (Riefenstahl to Woody Allen).
Attributes: P1 YLIBPHIL-228C P2 Philosophy Through Lit (3)
A course based on the conviction that novels, plays, short stories, and other types of literature frequently have a philosophical dimension that profoundly repays closely reasoned attention. Notable literary works are typically juxtaposed with philosophical works dealing with similar themes.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-230D CC Philosophy of Education (3)
The course examines modern approaches to the philosophy of education, with emphasis on the work of thinkers such as Plato, Rousseau, Maritain, Whitehead, and Dewey. Topics include educational theory, the role of the school in society, the philosophical assumptions of curriculum development, and the problems of teacher accountability.
Attributes: CC YLIBPHIL-235 P2 Environmental Ethics (3)
The core question of environmental ethics is, “How ought I as an individual, and we as a community, treat non-human animals and other organisms, ecosystems, and the biosphere?” Central to addressing this question is having a clear understanding of what kinds of things do or do not bear moral status. This course addresses the qeustion of who or what has moral status, and why. It also seeks to apply our understanding of moral status to practical questions of environmental ethics and policy.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-236 P2 Irish Thought (3)
Is there such a thing as “Irish Thought” and, if so, what might it be? This course will examine the writings of some of the liveliest thinkers from medieval times to the present to see if there is a distinctive Irish contribution to philosophical inquiry and intellectual history. Authors who will be discussed include John Scottus Eriugena, Jonathan Swift, Edmund Burke, Daniel O?Connell, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Iris Murdoch, Edna O?Brien, and William Desmond.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-240C P4 Symbolic Logic (3)
The formal study of validity, of deductive systems and their properties, and of some aspects of the philosophy of logic. Topics covered include some or all of the following: propositional calculus, predicate logic, paradoxes of logic, and meta-logic. The completion of PHIL 100C Basic Logic prior to enrollment in this course is desirable but not essential.
Attributes: P4 YLIBPHIL-250C P2 Bioethics (3)
A course in applied ethics that concentrates on moral problems in the medical and biological professions. Topics include physician/patient interactions, nursing ethics, human genome research, environmental concerns, euthanasia, informed consent, human experimentation, allocation of limited medical resources, and whether there is a right to healthcare. The emphasis is on reasoned decision-making. A variety of specific case studies is examined.
Attributes: HHUM P2 YLIBPHIL-260C P3 Philosophy of Law (3)
An examination of the fundamental principles and approaches to American law and legal practice. Topics usually include critical analysis of the legislative and judicial power of government, natural law, legal positivism, disobedience and punishment, criminal and civil procedures, and justice.
Attributes: P3 YLIBPHIL-270C P2 Political Philosophy (3)
An examination of such issues as the justification of civil authority, the nature and purpose of law, the existence of natural rights, private interest versus the public good, and nation-states as bearers of moral responsibility.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-273C Business Ethics (3)
A study of philosophical issues connected with contemporary business practices. Topics covered normally include economic justice, corporate social responsibility, the profit motive, government regulation, private ownership, conflict of interest, investment and production, advertising, environmental responsibility, and reverse discrimination.
Attributes: YLIBPHIL-301C P3 Philosophy & Health Care (3)
This course examines what it means to “care” and to be “caring” from a philosophical perspective and looks at the moral, political, and social implications of this examination for health care policy and health care practices. Students who take this course will discuss and debate various conceptions of “care” and what it means to “be caring” and will, ultimately, formulate their own enriched understanding of this concept.
Attributes: P3 YLIBPHIL-312C P2 Medieval Philosophy (3)
A study of the development of philosophy in the period from St. Augustine to William of Ockham. Special attention is paid to the collision between Greek philosophical ideas and Christian revelation and to the emergence of distinctively Christian philosophies such as the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Sometimes the course attempts a broad survey of the entire period; more often, it provides detailed probing of the thought of a few major thinkers. The emphasis for a particular year is regularly announced at course registration time. This course may be repeated with change of content as PHIL 412 (chair’s permission required).
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-313C P2 Modern Philosophy (3)
A study of selected philosophers in the 17th and 18th centuries, typically ranging from Descartes to Kant, with special attention to the classical idealists and empiricists. This course may be repeated with change of content as PHIL 413 (chair’s permission required).
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-314C P2 Topics in Contemp Phil (3)
A study of some major philosophical developments from circa 1900 to the present, typically selected from among pragmatism, logical positivism, phenomenology, linguistic analysis, process philosophy, dialectical materialism, neo-Thomism, and existentialism. This course may be repeated with change of content as PHIL 414 and the department chair’s permission.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-316C P2 19th Cent Philosophy (3)
Critical study of works by such philosophers as Hegel, Marx, Schopenhauer, Feuerbach, Nietzsche, and Mill. This course may be repeated with change of content as PHIL 416 with the department chair’s permission.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-324C SQ Philosophy of Science (3)
An attempt to appreciate the ways and parameters of knowing and demonstrating proper methods in natural science, social science, and philosophy. In addition, the course may also examine the bearing of discoveries in the sciences on longstanding philosophical questions.
Attributes: HHSM HHUM SQ YLIBPHIL-330C P2 Theories of Knowledge (3)
Epistemology, or the theory of knowledge, examines how we come to know what we know. This course covers historical and contemporary approaches to the question of what knowledge is, what makes a belief true, and how beliefs are justified. Philosophical skepticism, the position that we actually know nothing at all, will also be discussed, as will possible responses. Other topics include feminist epistemology, naturalism, induction, the ethics of belief, and the nature of the scientific method.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-340 Phil and Jurisprudence (3)
This seminar will explore key contemporary issues and texts in jurisprudence in a rigorous and critical manner. Topics covered will include the meaning of legal justice, the interpretation of legal texts, the relation of judicial decisions to legislative practices and others.
Attributes: LEST YLIBPHIL-350C P2 Renaissance Seminar (3)
The focus is typically on postmedieval, premodern thinkers such as Montaigne, Machiavelli, More and Erasmus. The course is open to students who have previously had at least three and preferably six hours of Philosophy.
Attributes: P2 YLIBPHIL-351D CC Phil of Identity/Differ (3)
This course looks at concepts of identity, community, and difference, exploring the significance of these concepts for social organization and human flourishing. Central questions will include but will not be limited to the following: What is the relationship between the individual and the group? During the course, we will reflect on the dynamics of power and privilege in contemporary society, especially as these are manifest in and through dynamics of race, class, and gender.
Attributes: CC YLIB
Restrictions: Excluding: -Class: FreshmanPHIL-410 Topics in Medieval Phil (3)
An in-depth analysis of central problems in Medieval Philosophy as they emerge in the writings of philosophers from Augustine to Suarez.
Attributes: YLIB
Restrictions: Including: -Major: Philosophy, Philosophy, Philosophy, PhilosophyPHIL-412 Medieval Philosophy II (3)
This course meets with PHIL 312C and is open only to those who have previously taken PHIL 312C with different content. Permission of the department chair is required to register.
Attributes: YLIBPHIL-413 Modern Philosophy II (3)
This course meets with PHIL 313C and is open only to those who have previously taken PHIL 313C with different content. Permission of the department chair is required to register.
Attributes: YLIBPHIL-414 Contemporary Phil II (3)
This course meets with PHIL 314C and is open only to those who have previously taken PHIL 314C with different content. Permission of the department chair is required to register.
Attributes: YLIBPHIL-416 19th Century Philosophy II (3)
This course meets with PHIL 316C and is open only to those who have previously taken PHIL 316C with different content. Permission of the department chair is required to register.
Attributes: YLIBPHIL-496 Independent Research (1 TO 3)
Investigation of the work of a major philosopher or philosophical movement, under the direction of one of the Philosophy Department staff. Registration is normally restricted to philosophy majors in their junior or senior year. Completion of the Independent Study/Tutorial Authorization form is required.
Attributes: YLIB
CLST-200C P5 Worlds Greece & Rome (3)
Focusing primarily on Athens in the age of Pericles and on Rome in its “golden age,” this is a look at and an appreciation of civilizations and individuals, worlds and world views, primarily through the medium of translated texts of notable Greek and Roman authors.
Attributes: P5 YLIBCLST-210C P5 Love in Ancient World (3)
A look at love in ancient Greece and Rome, primarily through the lens of literature but also with reference to philosophy, history (including love-magic), and art. Authors include ancient novelists, plus poets such as Ovid, Catullus, Homer, and Anacreon.
Attributes: P5 WGST YLIBCLST-225D P5 Sport & Spectacle (3)
This course surveys the origin and development of competitive athletics and various types of public spectacle throughout the ancient world, beginning with the funeral games of classical epic and concluding with the banning of the Olympics in 394 A.D. by the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II. Although the principle focus of this course is on ancient sport, we also examine such institutions as hunting, political and military pageantry, gladiatorial combat in its multiple varieties, popular street entertainments, and public execution.
Attributes: P5 YLIBCLST-230D P5 Ancient GRK Historians (3)
This course endeavors to look at the Ancient Greeks through their own eyes as well as our own via the study of their most notable historians. Authors usually covered include Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Arrian and Plutarch. Their themes range in time from the Greeks’ wars for their freedom, waged against the Persian Empire, to the conquests of Alexander the Great.
Attributes: P5 YLIB
GREK-101C P5 Beginning Greek I (3)
Based on ancient authors, the courses in classical Greek are designed to foster a reading knowledge of the language while also developing an appreciation of the culture and achievements of ancient Greece and Rome. Attention is paid to Greek’s influence on English as well as to the sound of ancient Greek.
Attributes: P5 YLIBGREK-102C P5 Beginning Greek II (3)
Based on ancient authors, the courses in classical Greek are designed to foster a reading knowledge of the language while also developing an appreciation of the culture and achievements of ancient Greece and Rome. Attention is paid to Greek’s influence on English as well as to the sound of ancient Greek.
Attributes: P5 YLIB
Pre-requisites: GREK-101C CGREK-201C P5 Beginning Greek III (3)
Based on ancient authors, the courses in classical Greek are designed to foster a reading knowledge of the language while also developing an appreciation of the culture and achievements of ancient Greece and Rome. Attention is paid to Greek’s influence on English as well as to the sound of ancient Greek.
Attributes: P5 YLIB
Pre-requisites: GREK-102C C
LATN-101C P5 Beginning Latin I (3)
Based on ancient authors, the courses in Latin are designed to foster a reading knowledge of classical Latin while developing an appreciation of the culture and achievements of ancient Rome. Attention is paid to Latin’s influence on English as well as to the sound of Latin.
Attributes: P5 YLIBLATN-102C P5 Beginning Latin II (3)
Based on ancient authors, the courses in Latin are designed to foster a reading knowledge of classical Latin while developing an appreciation of the culture and achievements of ancient Rome. Attention is paid to Latin’s influence on English as well as to the sound of Latin.
Attributes: P5 YLIB
Pre-requisites: LATN-101C CLATN-201C P5 Beginning Latin III (3)
Based on ancient authors, the courses in Latin are designed to foster a reading knowledge of classical Latin while developing an appreciation of the culture and achievements of ancient Rome. Attention is paid to Latin’s influence on English as well as to the sound of Latin.
Attributes: P5 YLIB
Pre-requisites: LATN-102C CLATN-250C Roman Authors (3)
Readings from Verse and Prose works of a wide variety of Roman poets, historians, philosophers and orators.
Attributes: YLIB
Pre-requisites: LATN-201C C