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The major writings of Plato.
The major writings of Aristotle.
The major figures of the medieval period in western philosophy, including Augustine and Aquinas.
An in-depth study of the seminal texts of Chinese philosophy, presenting a selection from the classical traditions of Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, Legalism, and other medieval and contemporary sources.
The major writings of Immanuel Kant.
The major writings of G.W.F. Hegel.
Works of some major nineteenth-century philosophers, typically organized around a theme. Philosophers to be studied may include Mill, Bentham, Frege, Brentano, Schopenhauer, Fichte, Schelling, and Nietzsche.
The major writings of C.S. Pierce, William James, and John Dewey and their influence on the development of contemporary philosophy.
Writings from the early phenomenologists, existentialists, contemporary Marxists and their successors, such as Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Camus, Sartre, Marcuse, and Habermas.
The development of contemporary analytical philosophy from the turn of the century to the present. Readings will be from philosophers such as Russell, Moore, Wittgenstein, Carnap, Ryle, Austin, Quine, and Strawson.
The nature and function of society and the state, human freedom and rights, and the bases of social and political obligations.
Major professional and nonprofessional writings in the field of environmental ethics.
Philosophical theories about the arts; for example, painting, literature, and music. Questions to be addressed include: what makes art art? and what are appropriate criteria of good art? Attention may also be given to such topics as the function of art in society.
The nature and function of law, with emphasis on the interpretation and application of the law in the judicial process. Readings in classical and contemporary schools of the philosophy of law.
Technology in its broadest human context, with emphasis on the mutual influence between means and ends and the impact of technology on shaping the beliefs and attitudes of a civilization. Includes alternative assessments of technology and illustrates with specific crucial issues of our time.
Topics such as formal and ordinary languages, meaning, reference, truth, definition, analyticity, ambiguity, metaphor, symbolism, and the uses of language.
The philosophical implications of alternative approaches to psychology such as the behavioral, the psychoanalytic, the phenomenological, with particular attention to such problematic areas as the nature and validation of psychological concepts, law, and theories, and the knowledge of other minds…
Major physical, biological, and cosmological theories and their philosophic import, sixth century B.C. to the present.
The logical structure of scientific hypotheses and/or laws, and the problems of their meaning and confirmation; the general patterns of scientific explanation; and the ideals of prediction and control.
The methods and problems of inductive reasoning, including the nature of probable inference, techniques of verification, and the structure of scientific explanation, with special reference to the social sciences.
The meaning, nature, and validity of religious discourse, beliefs, and practices, involving theories concerning the existence and nature of God and humanity's relation to God.
Formal semantics for sentential and first-order predicate logic, including both soundness and completeness results for first-order logic. Additional topics may include Goedel's incompleteness results, the Skolem-Lowenheim theorem, or possible world semantics for modal logics.
The philosophical issues associated with mathematical inquiry, including, perhaps, the existence and nature of mathematical objects, the epistemology of mathematical truths, the character of mathematical proof, and the foundations of mathematics.
The artificial intelligence approach to modeling cognitive processes. Topics include an introduction to heuristic methods, problem representation and search methods, classic AI techniques, and a review of the controversial issues of the AI paradigm of cognition as computation.
An exploration of several topics related to philosophy and race: race and racism in the history of Western philosophy; contemporary and historical meanings and understandings of racial categorizations; challenges to white supremacist philosophical paradigms; and the significance of matters of…
Investigation of a philosophical problem or group of related problems, with emphasis upon extensive reading in primary sources. Selection of topics will vary with instructor and interests of students.
Repeatable for a maximum 9 hours credit.
Research while enrolled for a master's degree under the direction of faculty members.
Advanced supervised experience in an applied setting. This course may not be used to satisfy a student's approved program of study.
Materials, techniques, and objectives for teaching undergraduate courses in philosophy. Particular attention to presenting lectures, leading discussions, constructing examinations, and instructional evaluations.
Thesis writing under the direction of the major professor.
Philosophical topics and problems as found in the works of ancient and medieval philosophers.
Philosophical topics and problems as found in the works of modern and contemporary philosophy.
An exploration of topics in the continental philosophy tradition. Topics and thinkers will vary from instructor to instructor and semester to semester.
Problems and topics in classical and contemporary moral philosophy.
Problems and topics in classical and contemporary political philosophy.
The original course materials dealing with such topics as formal and ordinary languages, meaning, reference, descriptions, truth, definition, analyticity, speech acts, and the uses of language.
One or more central problems in the philosophy of mind such as the mind-body problem, intentionality, and metal causation.
Basic concepts in science, such as explanation, description, prediction, law, cause, theory, confirmation, probability, observation, and measurement.
Modal logic, epistemic logic, temporal logic, conditional logic, nonmontonic logic, the problem of induction, and the logic of belief revision.
Various metaphysical systems and related problems.
Various theories of knowledge and related problems.
Major topics in the philosophy of religion, such as the nature and existence of God, the problem of evil, and the character of religious discourse.
Theoretical foundations of automated reasoning and logic programming. Topics covered include propositional logic, predicate logic, first-order models, resolution principles, logic programming paradigms, nonmonotonic reasoning.
Philosophical positions and problems.
Directed reading and research in philosophy in areas of a student's special interest.
Nontraditional format: An independent research course. Each student meets individually with a faculty supervisor on a weekly basis to discuss the progress of his/her research project.
Students will read primary texts in Environmental Philosophy and learn to interpret and analyze the positions and arguments in these texts.
Nontraditional format: This is a seminar that will have a combination of lectures and student presentations. Lectures will be 1/2 of the…
Varying topics in feminist philosophy.
Nontraditional format: Students will be graded on the basis of one in-depth research paper and several class presentations.
Research while enrolled for a doctoral degree under the direction of faculty members.
Nontraditional format: Independent research under the direction of a faculty member.
Dissertation writing under the direction of the major professor.
See if and when courses are offered in a given semester via our downloadable course schedule.
Spring 2025 Course Schedule
Fall 2024 Course Schedule
Summer 2024 Course Schedule
Spring 2024 Philosophy Courses
Fall 2023 Course Schedule
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