Courses
PH 101. INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY 3An historical and topical survey, this course will introduce the student to the discipline of philosophy through the close reading of representative texts, both historical and contemporary. Through analysis of the texts, through discussion, and through lecture, the student will gain an understanding of philosophy both as a unique discipline and as a way of asking and attempting to answer the most profound questions about ourselves and our world that we may pose. Open to first- and second-year students or by permission of instructor. Students are recommended to take either PH101 or 101H, but not both. (Fulfills humanities requirement.) The Department
PH 101H. INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY: HONORS 4
An introductory but intensive engagement with some of the basic questions of philosophy, such as: the nature of the self and one’s relation to others, the value and meaning of existence, the status and extent of knowledge, and the nature of reality. Emphasis is placed on the understanding and discussion of original and challenging philosophical texts, both classical and contemporary, as well as on the development of the critical and analytic skills necessary to begin asking and formulating responses to philosophic questions on one's own. Open to first and second-year students only. (Fulfills humanities requirement). The Department
PH 203. HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY: GREEK PHILOSOPHY 3
A basic grounding in the history of Western philosophy through reading and discussion of selected works of Plato and Aristotle. (Fulfills humanities requirement.) F. Gonzalez
PH 204. HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY: EARLY MODERN 3
A study of the ideological foundations of the modern world as developed in the period from the Renaissance through Kant. Discussion will concentrate on metaphysics and epistemology, covering such topics as the debates between dualism and materialism and between rationalism and empiricism. Will include readings from such philosophers as Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. (Fulfills humanities requirement.)
PH 207. LOGIC 4
A study of the principles and methods of modern logic for determining the validity and invalidity of arguments and a discussion of the philosophical basis and use of those principles. (Fulfills QR2 requirement.) The Department
PH 210. AESTHETICS 3
A study of the aesthetic dimension of life in relation to the artist, the art object, the audience, and human experience in general. Several important and diverse theories of the aesthetic will be analyzed, discussed, and used in examining examples of art. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy, or a course in one of the arts, or permission of the instructor. (Fulfills humanities requirement.) R. Lilly
PH 211. ETHICS 3
A critical examination of the nature and principles of some of the major ethical theories proposed in the history of Western thought. Theories studied may include virtue ethics, natural law, deontological ethics, social contract, and utilitarianism. The course may also include some consideration of the application of the theories studied to selected contemporary moral issues. (Fulfills humanities requirement.) Offered alternate years. The Department
PR 214. PHILOSOPHIES OF INDIA (NA) 3
An exploration of the philosophies of India in their religious and cultural context. Hindu philosophies such as the Upanishads, Samkhya- Yoga, and the Vedanta of Shankara and Ramanuja are emphasized; for comparative purposes, Buddhism and Jainism are also examined. (Designated a non-Western course; fulfills Humanities requirement.) J. Smith
PH 215. BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY 3
An introduction to selected themes, schools, and thinkers of the Buddhist philosophical tradition in India, Tibet, China, and Japan. Buddhist metaphysics and ethics are examined with reference to the nature of reality and the person, causality and action, wisdom and compassion, emptiness and nihilism. Comparisons are made to Western philosophers, especially regarding the Buddhist critique of substance and the Buddhist ideal of compassionate openness to the world. Offered alternate years. (Designated a non-Western culture course; fulfills humanities requirement.) J. Smith
PH 225. ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY 3
An introduction to philosophical questions regarding the relation of humans to the environment. This course explores both foundational issues such as our understanding of nature and value as well as specific problems in environmental ethics such as animal rights, duty to future generations, and the justification of public policy. In addition to these explorations, students will have the opportunity to apply the knowledge gained in this class by developing an environmental ethics embodied by the institutions and practices that surround us. (Fulfills humanities requirement.) W. Lewis
PH 230. TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY 3
The study of a selected topic in philosophy. Course may be repeated with permission of the department. (Fulfills humanities requirement.) The Department
PH 304. SOCIAL-POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 4
A study of the nature of political community and of social institutions. Topics to be discussed include the nature and purposes of political community, the relation of ethics to political life and social institutions, the notions of equality, liberty, power, and justice, and the nature of rights. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy or permission of instructor. Offered alternate years. The Department
PH 306. NINETEENTH-CENTURY PHILOSOPHY 4
An examination of major figures in 19th Century Philosophy such as G. W. F. Hegel, Schopenhauer, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Comte, Mill, Peirce, and Frege. Prerequisite: PH204 or permission of instructor. The Department
PH 307. TWENTIETH-CENTURY PHILOSOPHY 4
An examination of a selected number of twentieth-century philosophers such as Adorno, Ayer, Davidson, Dewey, Foucault, Heidegger, Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Quine, and Wittgenstein. Prerequisite: PH204 or permission of instructor. The Department
PH 308. AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY 4
An exploration of America's indigenous philosophical tradition, this course seeks to understand how various native thinkers have sought to develop modes of thought that both supersede and improve upon European models and which are adequate to the American experience in its diversity, originality, and totality. Starting with Ralph Waldo Emerson and continuing with such philosophers as C.S. Peirce, William James, John Dewey, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Alain Leroy Locke, and Susanne Langer, this course will examine a history of such attempts, their philosophical methods, and their conclusions. In addition to gaining an understanding of various American philosophers' independent contributions to the discipline and their relationship to the Western philosophical tradition, this course will situate American philosophy within the post-Civil War cultural and scientific context which gave rise to that most characteristic of American philosophies: pragmatism. (Fulfills humanities requirement.) Prerequisite: PH204 or permission of instructor. W. Lewis
PH 311. EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHY 4
A study of the central concepts of existential philosophy as found in the writings of such thinkers as Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus, and Marcel. Concepts such as freedom, facticity, dread, nothingness, the absurd, being-for-itself, being-in-itself will be examined. Prerequisite: PH204 or RE241 or permission of instructor. Offered alternate years. J. Smith
PH 314. PHILOSOPHY OF LAW 3
Analysis and discussion of various topics and approaches to the philosophy of law or jurisprudence. Readings may be chosen from classic philosophers as well as from modern legal positivists and realists. Prerequisite: junior or senior standing or permission of instructor. Offered alternate years. The Department
PR 324. PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION (A) 4
An investigation of the fundamental paradoxes of religious belief. Questions to be considered will include the arguments for the existence of God, the problem of suffering and evil, the nature of mystical knowledge, and the rise of modern religious skepticism. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy or religion or permission of instructor. Offered alternate years. J. Smith
PR 325. JAPANESE BUDDHISM (NA) 4
A study of selected classical and contemporary thinkers who see philosophy as intertwined with religious praxis. Emphasis will be on Buddhist thinkers such as Kukai, Dogen, Shinran, and Nishitani. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy or religion or permission of instructor. Offered alternate years. (Designated a non-Western culture course.) J. Smith
PR 326. TIBETAN BUDDHISM (NA) 4
A study of selected classical and contemporary Tibetan thinkers who see philosophy as intertwined with religious praxis. The course focuses on the Vaj-rayana form of Mahayana Buddhism that is the central element in the culture of Tibet, as well as its Mahayana Buddhist background in India. Emphasis is on the central ideas of wisdom, compassion, emptiness, dependent arising, and the two truths in such thinkers as the Prajhaparamita, Nagarjuna, Candrakirti, and the Dalai Lama. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy or religion or permission of instructor. Offered alternate years. (Designated a non-Western culture course.) J. Smith
PH 327. GREAT PHILOSOPHERS 4
A course in depth in the philosophy of a single great philosopher:
Course may be repeated with a different philosopher. Prerequisite: PH203 or permission of instructor. The Department
PH 328. METAPHYSICS 4
A study of the most fundamental concepts of being as developed in several major philosophers from the Greeks to the present. Discussion will focus on such topics as God, time, space, substance, essence, existence, process, causality, and value. Prerequisite: PH204 or permission of instructor. R. Lilly, F. Gonzalez
PH 329. SEMINAR IN KANT 4
A study of Immanuael Kant, the pivotal thinker of modern Western philosophy. Kant offers a critique and synthesis of the preceding rationalist (Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza) and empiricist (Locke, Berkeley, Hume) traditions and sets the agenda for nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosophers, all of whom respond to his critique of theoretical and practical reason in one way or another. Prerequisite: PH204 or permission of instructor.
PH 330. ADVANCED TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY 4
The study of a selected topic in philosophy. Course may be repeated with a different topic. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy or permission of instructor. The Department
PH 341. PHILOSOPHY OF LITERATURE 4
This seminar examines philosophies of literature and literary criticism. Various schools of thought, including phenomenology, hermeneutics, structuralism, deconstruction, and psychoanalysis, may be examined particularly closely, as well as some of the founding philosophical texts in literary theory. There may also be a study of selected literary texts. (The Philosophy and Religion Department will accept EN361 as the equivalent of PH341.) Prerequisite: one course in philosophy or permission of instructor. R. Lilly
PH 371, 372. INDEPENDENT STUDY 3, 3
A reading course in an area or a philosopher not available in this depth in other courses. Prerequisite: permission of department. The Department
PH 375. SENIOR SEMINAR 4
A close study of comparative overviews of the severally different modes, methods, and systems of philosophy possible. Offered each spring. The Department
PH 376. SENIOR THESIS 3
Individual conferences with senior majors in the areas of their research projects. The Department