T ENTATIVE C OURSE
O FFERINGS
I N P HILOSOPHY
F OR F ALL 2013

PHIL 101
Introduction to Philosophy

PHIL 103
Critical Thinking

PHIL 209
Proseminar

PHIL 308
Ancient Philosophy

PHIL 321
Race and Ethnicity

PHIL 335
Philosophy of Science

PHIL 402
Problem of God
PHIL 202—Introduction to
Symbolic Logic
Dr. Clement
and significance of historical and contemporary
forms of artistic expression.
Monday/Wednesday/Friday
11:00-11:50 a.m. * Class number: 3553
PHIL 310—Philosophical Topics:
Understanding Nature – From the
Greeks to Descartes
Dr. Charlotte England
S
P HILOSOPHY
D EPARTMENT
S PRING 2013
C OURSE O FFERINGS
ymbolic Logic is a system that allows us to
identify and evaluate the underlying
logical structure of arguments made in
any rational discourse. In this course, students will
learn the tools of logic--including sentential logic,
truth trees, natural deduction, and
quantificational logic--and use them in both
philosophical contexts and common-sense
reasoning. Regular practice is essential to learning
symbolic logic, so outside-of-class meetings will
be scheduled to help students practice, learn, and
complete assignments.
PHIL 300—Philosophy of the Arts
Dr. Stock
Monday/Wednesday
3:00-4:15 p.m. * Class number: 3555
I
n this course we will approach a broad
selection of notable aesthetic theory with
the goal of reflecting on art and the
philosophical questions art provokes. How do
perceptions differ from reality? What does art
mean? How can art be judged? How is art
determined by culture, history or psychology?
What is it to create, and what is creativity? Does
art change us? Does art deceive us, and if so,
how? This course will expose students to a
spectrum of philosophical approaches to art,
introduce and utilize fundamental concepts in
aesthetics, and increase awareness of the range
Monday/ Wednesday
3:00-4:15 p.m. * Class number: 3561
W
hat is Nature? How do we
imagine, encounter, and live with
it? Where did it come from? Why
and how should we care about it? Together we
will examine answers to these questions
proposed by thinkers of the ancient, medieval
and early modern world. We will spend the
semester reading chapters in the Book of
Nature from cosmology to bestiaries, medical
treatises, allegories, scriptures and early
scientific literature alongside more
contemporary interpretations of those works.
Encountering the strangely alien and the
curiously familiar in old texts should help us
evaluate Nature as we know it with new insight
into the power and complexity of the idea that
word represents. May be taken for credit for
ENVR 305.
PHIL 311—Modern Philosophy
Dr. Clement
PHIL 322—Existentialism
Dr. Stock
Tuesday/Thursday
12:30-1:45 p.m. * Class number: 3557
Tuesday/Thursday
2:00-3:15 p.m. * Class number: 3558
study of the critically important
period in western philosophy
between 1600 and 1800. Influenced
by developments in science and mathematics,
philosophers of this period rejected appeals to
authority in favor of appeals to observation
and reason. We will study Descartes, Pascal,
Spinoza, Berkeley, Hume and Kant, focusing on
the different ways they addressed questions
about how and what we can know about
ourselves, God and the world. We will also
consider the significance of early modern
philosophy for our “postmodern” world today.
Prerequisite: One previous Philosophy course.
f truth is a light, then the human person is the
lens through which it is refracted. On its most
basic level, Existentialism is the philosophical
study of the nature, structure, and limits of that
lens. In this course we will explore the major
existentialist figures: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre,
and Heidegger, and the themes that preoccupied
them. Is human existence meaningful or absurd?
What does it mean to reason from the nature of
existence, rather than the nature of the physical
world, the mind, or the soul? What is the
significance of the self for our understanding of the
world? What lies beyond the self? What is the
significance of our death and finitude, and how
does this structure the way we encounter the
world? Prerequisite: One Philosophy course or
consent of instructor.
A
PHIL 315—Life & Death Issues in
Health Care
Dr. Richard England
Tuesday
7-9:45 p.m. * Class number: 1892
F
ocus on ethical dilemmas created by
technology and changing roles of
health professionals and citizens.
Ethical issues at the beginning and end of life;
from cloning and genetic engineering to
physician-assisted suicide. Issues related to
experimentation and informed consent. Health
care policy and the vocation of health care
professionals. Case studies will be explored.
Students may not receive credit for both NURS
325 and PHIL 315.
I
PHIL 323—Buddhist Philosophy
Dr. Tuske
Tuesday/Thursday
9:30-10:45 a.m. * Class number: 3556
T
his course provides a general introduction
to the Buddhist philosophy of the Indian
subcontinent, Tibet, China, and Japan. We
will be discussing the teachings of the historical
Buddha before concentrating on a number of
Buddhist schools that developed from these
teachings. The main emphasis of this course will be
on Buddhist metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and
philosophy of mind.
PHIL 405—Contemporary
Continental Philosophy
Dr. Gunes
Monday/Wednesday/Friday
1:00-1:50 p.m. * Class number 3554
I
n this course, we will examine
contemporary philosophical criticisms of
technology, modern culture, art, and
politics. Starting with Martin Heidegger’s critical
examination of technology, we will discuss
selections from the writings of various
philosophers including Hans-Georg Gadamer,
Hannah Arendt, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu,
Marshall Berman, and Zygmunt Bauman.
Prerequisite: Two courses in Philosophy.
IDIS 250—Comparative Religions
Rabbi Bienstock
Monday/Wednesday/Friday
9:00-9:50 a.m. * Class number 3552
I
ntroduction to Comparative Religion will
explore the basic beliefs and practices of the
major religious traditions of the Western
and the Eastern world – four eastern traditions Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and
the three Abrahamic traditions – Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam. Additionally, the less
known world religions and some other religious
trends will be analyzed. Items to be studied
include: Academic Approach to the study of
religion; Critical analysis of the major religious
texts from the various religious traditions;
Historical perspectives of the religious traditions;
The idea of God and religion; and Must religion be
theistic?
PHIL 475—Seminar in Philosophy:
Darwin and the “Human”: Some
Philosophical Implications of
Evolution
Dr. Richard England
Tuesday/Thursday
11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. * Class number 1761
W
hat does it mean to be human if
we accept that humans evolved
from animals? Does it change
anything? Everything? In this seminar we will
explore the implications of Darwin’s theory for
our understanding of human nature, human
dignity, knowledge and morality, by reading a
wide range of texts from the nineteenth century
to the dawn of the twenty-first. Essays by
scientists, historians and philosophers will
provide us with the basis for a
wide-ranging
conversation about
how our
evolutionary
history shapes
what we can
say and know
about the
“human.”
Prerequisite:
Approval of
instructor.