37 courses with the subject PHI, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
PHI 102Reason and Argument
Instructor McKeever Introduction to reasoning with a focus on the nature and evaluation of arguments, the identification of fallacies, and the rules of rational discourse. Satisfies the philosophy major requirement of either PHI 102 or PHI 200. Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement Prerequisites & Notes (Spring)
Instructor Studtmann Introduction to the origins and development of philosophy in ancient Greece, with special emphasis on Plato and Aristotle. Counts towards the satisfaction of the Philosophy major requirement to take two courses from among PHI 105, PHI 106, PHI 107, and PHI 108. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Counts as a Western Europe area course in the International Studies Interdisciplinary Minor. Counts towards the major in Classics. Prerequisites & Notes (Fall)
Instructor Staff The foundations of contemporary philosophy and science were fashioned in Europe during the Early Modern period, or the 17 th -18 th Centuries. During this “Age of Enlightenment,” philosophers shirked longstanding conceptions of the world and our place in it, starting anew. Four questions took center stage. (1) How can we know about the world? First, how can we know that what appears to us perceptually (e.g . , a red apple) really exists? Second, how can we know that what always happened before (e.g., heavy objects fell when dropped) will happen now and hereafter? Third, how can we know certain highly general truths about the world (e.g., that any event is caused)? (2) What is the world like? First, what is the nature of “substances,” the world’s building blocks? Then, what are the features of physical substances we call ‘bodies’, and how do mental substances we call ‘minds’ relate to bodies? (3) Are we free? How could we be free in a world where whatever we choose or do follows necessarily from what came before it? (4) Is morality objective? Are our distinctions between right and wrong merely judgments about our own sentiments? Or are they judgments about properties of actions independent of us? Our aims in this course are: (i) to learn to read, interpret, and critically engage with classic philosophical texts from Early Modern Europe; (ii) to learn to assess the value of arguments and to construct one’s own; (iii) to develop the ability to express thoughts verbally or in writing with clarity and persuasive force; and (iv) to engage in historical debates on the above four questions, and reflect on their significance for contemporary philosophy and science. Counts towards the satisfaction of the Philosophy major requirement to take two courses from among PHI 105, PHI 106, PHI 107, and PHI 108. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Counts as a Western Europe area course in the International Studies Interdisciplinary Minor.
Instructor Griffith Introduction to philosophers of the medieval period. We will study thinkers of the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish traditions, spanning from the fourth century C.E. up to the fourteenth century. Philosophers discussed may include: Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Peter Abelard, Avicenna, Algazali, Averroes, Saadia, Maimonides, Aquinas, and John Duns Scotus. Counts towards the satisfaction of the Philosophy major requirement to take two courses from among PHI 105, PHI 106, PHI 107, and PHI 108. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Instructor Jankovic This class is a survey of the history of the analytic tradition, a style of doing philosophy that originated in the early 20th century Britain and continues to dominate academic philosophy in the US. Analytic philosophy is not characterized by a set of shared doctrines but by shared assumptions about the useful ways of approaching philosophical problems and the proper aims of philosophy. Some characteristics of the early analytic tradition are the use of the method of logical analysis, the idea that traditional philosophical problems are problems of language and meaning, and the goal that philosophy should have the status of a science. This class will introduce students to classic works of analytic philosophy, spanning the first half of the 20th century, including those by Bertrand Russell, G. E. Moore, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Rudolf Carnap, Elizabeth Anscombe, and W. V. O Quine. Counts towards the satisfaction of the Philosophy major requirement to take two courses from among PHI 105, PHI 106, PHI 107, and PHI 108. Satisfies Philosophy major and minor requirement. Satisfies Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Instructor Jankovic, McKeever Introduction to philosophy through a survey of selected philosophical problems. Topics vary, and have included questions such as: Does God exist? Do we have free will? Can we know anything? Is truth relative? Is morality objective? Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Prerequisites & Notes (Fall and Spring)
Instructor Staff Introduction to the philosophical analysis of contemporary moral controversies. Topics vary, and have included abortion, euthanasia, feminism, world hunger, business ethics, nuclear war, and human rights. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor. Satisfies Public Health major and minor requirement. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.
Instructor Jankovic We all operate with an implicit theory of human nature-for example, when we deal with other people, decide what is worth striving for or which social arrangements to support. In this class, we confront the issues surrounding the existence and character of human nature explicitly. Examples of questions we will address are: Are we our minds or our bodies? Is the human mind a blank slate inscribed by experience or is it more (as some cognitive scientists put it) like a coloring book within whose lines experience paints? In what sense are we like other animals and in what sense are we different? Are we social by nature or does society serve to keep our natural tendencies in check? And finally, is there a universal human nature? Satisfies elective requirement of Philosophy major. Satisfies elective requirement of Philosophy minor. Satisfies Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Instructor Staff In this course, we will examine some of the moral challenges that arise in the relationship between medical practitioners and patients; the moral assumptions that underlie our conceptions of health, disease, and disability; and the moral principles that should structure our research practices. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Counts as a core course in the Public Health interdisciplinary minor. Counts as an elective in the Neuroscience interdisciplinary minor.
Instructor Staff Business occupies a central place within American public culture. Both those who own and those who run private firms enjoy significant power, prestige, and moral responsibility. In this course, we will bring the tools of moral philosophy to bear on the relationships between the firm and its investors, its customers, its employees, and the community at large. What rights does the firm have in these relationships? What are the firm’s obligations? Working with classic and cutting-edge texts in business ethics, we will explore moral questions that confront business owners and managers in our current social and political context. How should the firm respond to the kinds of inequality that pervade American society? Does the firm owe its employees “meaningful work”? What is the purpose of modern advertising? What responsibility does the firm have for its environmental impact? What moral concerns arise as private firms become more involved in higher education, in journalism, or in the penal system? Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement. Prerequisites & Notes There are no prerequisites, though students may benefit from prior experience with moral philosophy.
Instructor McKeever Introduction to ethical analysis of environmental values and decision-making. Likely topics include (1) the value of different aspects of the environment including non-human animals, species, non-living natural objects, and ecosystems; (2) ethical analysis of different approaches to risk as this bears on environmental policy-making; (3) the moral merits and liabilities of ethical institutions, such as private property rights, as applied to the natural environment. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Humanities track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
Instructor Robb In this course we compare and evaluate conceptions of the self in a variety of philosophical traditions. Questions include: Does the self exist? If so, what sort of thing is it? Could I survive the death of my body? Do I extend beyond the boundaries of a particular mind or body? In what sense, if any, is the self a social construct? Is genuine altruism possible, or is all action ultimately aimed at benefitting the self? Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Instructor Studtmann Introduction to philosophy through intensive study of the work of one philosopher. The philosopher selected varies. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Prerequisites & Notes This course can be repeated for credit given sufficiently distinct topics: check with the department chair. (Spring)
Subject
PHI
Type
course
Repeatable
can be repeated for credit given sufficiently distinct topics: check with the department chair.
Instructor McKeever This introductory course will address a range of philosophical questions about sport. Some of these questions will concern the nature of sport itself. What is sport? How are sports similar to but distinguished from games or mere exercise? How do the rules of a sport govern play? Is a basketball player who strategically fouls an opponent playing within the rules or outside them? Some of these questions will be ethical. Why is cheating wrong? What is valuable about competition and sportsmanship? Should doping be permitted? Are college athletes being exploited? Some questions will concern the place of sport in society. Does sport enhance or detract from education? Do we place too high a value on sport? In what sense, if any, is it appropriate to treat athletes as role models? The course is specifically designed for students without prior exposure to philosophy and a significant goal of the course is that students develop a range of philosophical skills. Accordingly, we will emphasize an ability to understand and appreciate a diverse range of answers to difficult questions and practice assessing various views through careful argument and analysis. Satisfies a major requirement in Philosophy. Satisifes a minor requirement in Philosophy. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Instructor Studtmann Systematic study of formal reasoning. Focus on the representation and evaluation of arguments in propositional and predicate logic. Additional topics vary, and may include meta-logic, modal logic, and non-classical logics. Satisfires the Philosophy major requirement to take one course on reasoning (either PHI 102 or PHI 200). Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement. Prerequisites & Notes (Fall)
Instructor McKeever Introduction to the formal analysis of games and rational decision-making. Decision under risk, ignorance, and certainty as applied in morals, politics, and religion. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. Counts as an elective in the Social Science Track of the Applied Mathematics interdisciplinary minor.
Instructor Jankovic The central questions of epistemology are: What is knowledge? Do we have any? If so, how did we get it? This course accordingly looks at the nature, scope, and sources of knowledge. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Prerequisites & Notes (Spring)
Instructor Griffith This course will serve as an introduction to the philosophical field of inquiry known as metaphysics. In general, we will be exploring and wondering about certain fundamental aspects of reality. We will think about the following questions, among others: What kinds of things exist (Ordinary objects like tables and chairs? Fictional objects? Persons?)? What kinds of changes can different kinds of things undergo and still be what they are? What is time, and how do we travel through it (what are the implications if we can travel back in time)? What are causes? Do we have free will? Why is there a universe? Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Instructor Robb In this course we examine selected philosophical questions about science. These include: What is a scientific explanation? How are explanations in the natural sciences different from those in the social sciences? Can all sciences be unified by reducing them to one basic science? Are scientific facts discovered, constructed, or both? We will consider examples from a variety of sciences, and students will be encouraged to reflect philosophically on their own scientific interests and coursework. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Prerequisites & Notes (Spring)
Instructor McKeever Introduction to the philosophical evaluation of ethical decision-making and moral life. Discussion of such questions as: What grounds the difference between right and wrong action? How is happiness related to morality? Do moral questions admit of objective answers, and if so how can moral disagreements be resolved? What is the virtue of justice? Does morality require (or benefit from) a religious foundation? A variety of philosophical approaches will be considered with a view to which best helps us understand this vital dimension of human life. Satisfies Public Health minor requirement. Satisfies a requirement in the Philosophy major. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.
Instructor Jankovic Discussion of theories of communication, linguistic meaning, and truth. Other topics vary, and have included metaphor, naming and describing, reference, vagueness, and universals. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Prerequisites & Notes (Fall)
Instructor Robb This course is an introduction to philosophical questions about the mind. We will begin with the traditional mind-body problem: What is the mind? Is it an immaterial thing (a “soul”), or can it be reduced to something physical, such as the brain? How can mind and body causally interact? How can we know about the minds of others? Asking these questions will lead us to more specific topics, including the nature of consciousness, the possibility of artificial intelligence, and the technological enhancement of human minds. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Counts as an elective in the Neuroscience interdisciplinary minor.
Instructor Griffith The problem of free will is often cited as one of philosophy’s most difficult problems to resolve. As human beings, it seems that we are subject to laws of nature and to chains of cause and effect. But as personal agents, we feel strongly that we are autonomous beings whose choices and actions are not dictated by external factors. On the other hand, perhaps without external factors, our choices and actions would be random or chancy. Is that really the kind of autonomy we want or think we have? Free will is closely connected to moral responsibility. It seems that we need to have free will in order to be morally responsible for our choices and actions. Can we be responsible for predetermined actions? What about for undetermined ones? In this course we will discuss various philosophical approaches to these issues. Questions addressed may include: how should free will be characterized? Can we be morally responsible for our actions? What does it mean to be morally responsible? Does science give us reason to doubt free will or responsibility? If we don’t have free will and are not morally responsible, can we still have meaningful lives? Satisfies a Philosophy major and minor requirement. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Instructor McKeever Introduction to the philosophical evaluation of political power and the social and economic institutions through which it is exercised. Discussion of such questions as: What justification is there for government? What moral duties do citizens have? Are there moral limits to government authority? Analysis of such concepts as freedom, rights, justice, and equality. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement. Prerequisites & Notes
Instructor Lawless In 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois predicted that the problem of the twentieth century would be “the problem of the color-line.” We can find evidence that Du Bois was right in all sorts of places: in representations of black Americans on television and in film, in the war on drugs, in relations between black Americans and the politics, and in segregated cities across the country. The “problem of the color-line” is not a single problem, but a collection of many diverse problems that the American institution of race regenerates through the decades. In this course, we will bring philosophical tools to bear on these problems, drawing primarily on works by American philosophers of color. First, we will investigate the kinds of injustice familiar in the racial polity. Second, we will explore the ways in which people of color have cultivated their own agency, often in active resistance to the oppressive systems in which they find themselves. Our main guides in these investigations will include Patricia Hill Collins, W.E.B. Du Bois, bell hooks, Charles Mills, and Tommie Shelby. This course has no prerequisites, though students may benefit from prior experience with Political philosophy. Satisfies a requirement in the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.
Instructor McKeever Analysis of the nature and function of law. Various theories of law, relation of law to morality, economic analysis of law. An assessment of the principles of legal reasoning and jurisprudence, emphasis on discussion of decided cases. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Instructor Robb Introduction to philosophical issues in classical and contemporary religious thought. Topics vary, and have included the justification of religious claims, the relation of faith to knowledge, arguments for the existence of God, divine attributes, life after death, the problem of evil, the status of religious language, the relation of religion to morality, and alternatives to theism. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Prerequisites & Notes (Spring)
Instructor Griffith Analysis of the existential conditions of human life, such as death, the fragility and finiteness of life, freedom, commitment, the need for God, and the quest for meaning, worth, and dignity. Readings are from both philosophy and literature. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Prerequisites & Notes (Fall)
Instructor Studtmann What justifies the State? Would societies be better off without it? What would a society without a State look like? If the State is inevitable, what would a just state look like? These questions have been at the heart of a great deal of political theorizing in the twentieth century. In this course, we will examine these questions by reading the work of several prominent philosophers. Satisfies the Philosophy major seminar requirement. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy minor.
Instructor Robb Buddhism is one of the world’s major religions, but it is at the same time a philosophical system, one that has something to say about many of philosophy’s central problems. These include questions about the existence and nature of the self, the fundamental structure of reality, the possibility of knowledge, and the moral life. In this course, we examine the Buddhist philosophical system, noting where there is debate within the Buddhist tradition, and at times pausing to compare Buddhist views with Western counterparts. Readings come from a variety of sources: contemporary and classical, Eastern and Western. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in South Asian Studies: Awareness of South Asian Culture requirement. Satisfies Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement. Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Instructor Staff In this course we will examine a range of general philosophical questions about the law, including: What is the law and how does a legal system differ from other rules? How do (or how should) judges interpret the law when applying it to cases? What is the relationship between law and morality? Must legal requirements meet some moral standard? We will also consider specific normative issues that arise in different areas of law, including the criminal law
Instructor McKeever In this course we will consider philosophical work addressed to questions about the nature and value of democracy. Questions to be considered include: What distinguishes democratic from non-democratic regimes? What values does democracy secure? What is the relationship between elections and democracy? What is the nature of representation? For those living in electoral democracies, is there a moral duty to vote? What conditions must obtain for democracy to succeed, or, when absent, cause democracies to fail? Satisfies the seminar requirement for the Philosophy major. Satisfies Philosophy, Politics, and Economics major requirement. (FALL 2026- explorations area) Prerequisites & Notes This course can be repeated for credit given sufficiently distinct topics: check with the department chair. (Fall, Spring)
Subject
PHI
Type
course
Repeatable
can be repeated for credit given sufficiently distinct topics: check with the department chair.
Spring 2026 Griffith- Agency, Responsibility, and the Mental As agents, we perform actions, both mental and physical. We also have complicated inner mental lives. Among other things, we have emotions, desires, attitudes, and beliefs; we think, we deliberate, we imagine, and we remember. In this seminar we will explore some of the intersecting issues between agency and our mental world. Questions we will consider include, but are not limited to, the following: Which mental states or events do we control, if any? Are we morally responsible for these? For example, are we responsible for our attitudes and our thoughts? What kinds of mental capacities are required for us to be agents at all? Can non-human animals be agents? Does imagination play a role in agency? Does memory? What happens if our mental states do not give us perfect information about the world, for example, when we are delusional? Does this take away our agency? Does it take away our moral responsibility? Prerequisites & Notes This course can be repeated for credit given sufficiently distinct topics: check with the department chair. (Fall, Spring)
Subject
PHI
Type
course
Repeatable
can be repeated for credit given sufficiently distinct topics: check with the department chair.
Instructor Studtmann Analysis of the philosophical foundations of mathematics. Topics vary, and have included the nature of mathematical truth, pure versus applied mathematics, the reality of mathematical entities, infinity, paradoxes, axiomatic systems, formal number theory, Godel’s Theorem. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor. Prerequisites & Notes (Fall)
Instructor Staff Independent research under the direction of a faculty member who approves the topic(s) and determines the means of evaluation. Permission of the instructor and the department chair is required. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major and minor Prerequisites & Notes This course can be repeated for credit given sufficiently distinct topics: check with the department chair. (Fall and Spring)
Subject
PHI
Type
course
Repeatable
can be repeated for credit given sufficiently distinct topics: check with the department chair.
Instructor Jankovic Capstone course required of all senior Philosophy majors. The seminar is organized around the work of philosophers who visit the campus during the semester to discuss their work with students. Topics vary. Prerequisites & Notes (Spring)
Instructor Staff Open only to Philosophy majors. Includes the writing of a thesis under the supervision of a faculty member. Majors pursuing Honors must defend the thesis before the Philosophy faculty. Counts as an elective for the Philosophy major. Prerequisites & Notes Enrollment requires departmental approval: interested majors should contact the department chair in the Fall semester. (Spring)
