PHILOSOPHY

University Professor P.J. Caws

Professors W.B. Griffith, R.P. Churchill, D. DeGrazia, G. Weiss (Chair)

Associate Professors J.C. Brand-Ballard, T. Zawidzki

Assistant Professors M. Friend, E.J. Saidel, M. Ralkowski

Adjunct Professors C. Venner, A. Samaras, T. Romanovskaya

Professorial Lecturers R. Carr, L. Eby

Two options are offered for the major in philosophy, both designed to give a broad background in philosophy but with somewhat different emphases. The first option reflects the traditional structure of the discipline and its subfields; it is especially (but not exclusively) recommended for those considering the possibility of graduate study in philosophy. The second option is designed for those primarily interested in philosophy in its relationship to public affairs.

Bachelor of Arts with a major in philosophy (traditional option)-The following requirements must be fulfilled:

1. The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.

2. Recommended courses-Phil 1051, 2045.

3. Required courses in the major-a minimum of 30 credits, including Phil 2111, 2112; six upper-division philosophy courses chosen in consultation with a departmental advisor; and either 6 credits of Phil 4198 or 3 credits each of Phil 4198 and 4199 and an honor thesis.

Bachelor of Arts with a major in philosophy (public affairs focus)-The following requirements must be fulfilled:

1. The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.

2. Recommended courses-Phil 1051, 2045.

3. Required courses in the major-a minimum of 30 credits, including Phil 2111 or 2112 and Phil 2131 or 2132; six upper-division philosophy courses chosen in consultation with a departmental advisor; and either 6 credits of Phil 4198 or 3 credits each of Phil 4198 and 4199 and an honor thesis.

Combined Bachelor of Arts with a major in philosophy (public affairs option)/Master of Arts in the field of public policy with a concentration in philosophy and social policy-Students interested in this program should consult the director of graduate studies as soon as possible.

Special Honors-In addition to the general requirements stated under University Regulations, in order to be considered for graduation with Special Honors, a student must (1) have at least a 3.7 grade-point average in the major and a 3.25 average overall; (2) submit an honors paper prepared under the supervision of a faculty advisor in the department. Only if a committee of three faculty members in the department approves the honors paper will Special Honors be recommended.

Minor in philosophy-Required: a minimum of 18 credit hours of philosophy courses, including two courses chosen from Phil 1051, 2111, 2112, 3113, 3172; one course from Phil 2125, 2131, 2132, 2133, 2135, 3142, 3162; and one course from Phil 3121, 3151, 3152, 3153.

Minor in logic-Required: 18 credit hours of logic-focused courses, of which 12 credits must be upper-division, with at least one course in philosophy and one course in mathematics. Courses are chosen with approval of the advisor from lists of designated courses in philosophy, mathematics, computer science, and linguistics. No more than two courses may count toward both the student's major and the minor in logic.

Minor in applied ethics-Required: 18 credit hours of philosophy courses, including Phil 1051, 2131, and 2132, plus Phil 2133, 2135, 3142, or with permission of the instructor, seniors may select from Phil 6230, 6231, 6238, 6242, 6250, 6262, which are listed in the Graduate Programs Bulletin.

Minor in mind-brain studies-Required: a minimum of 18 credit hours, including Phil 3153 and Psyc 3122, plus four electives chosen from designated courses in anthropology, philosophy, psychology, and speech and hearing science, with no more than two electives drawn from any one department.

The green leaf indicates that the course addresses environmental, social or economic sustainability.

1051	Introduction to Philosophy (3)	Staff
	Readings from major philosophers and study of their positions on the most basic questions of human life. Topics include such issues as: What is justice? What is knowledge? What is reality? Does God exist? What is the mind? Do humans have free will? (Fall, spring, and summer)
1062	Philosophy and Film (3)	Caws
	Philosophical problems and theories of perception, meaning, personal identity, and moral agency and their illustration in the context of cinema. Cinema and its derivatives (TV, video) as prime routes to experience of the natural and social worlds in an age of communication. Readings in classical and contemporary philosophy and in film theory; screening of a series of films. (Spring)
2045	Introduction to Logic (3)	Friend, Saidel, Romanovskaya, and Staff
	Introduction to informal logic, scientific argument, and formal logic. The informal logic component focuses on fallacies of reasoning and practical applications of logic. The formal logic component focuses on translation from English into propositional logic, truth tables, and proofs in propositional logic. (Fall, spring, and summer)
2111	History of Ancient Philosophy (3)	Ralkowski, Samaras
	History of Western philosophy from the Pre-Socratics to the Stoics (6th century BCE to 1st century CE). Major emphasis on the writings of Plato and Aristotle. Among themes to be covered: knowledge and reality, political and moral philosophy. (Fall and spring)
2112	History of Modern Philosophy (3)	Churchill, Ralkowski, Samaras
	History of Western philosophy of the 16th through 18th centuries; Continental Rationalism and British Empiricism from the scientific revolution through the Enlightenment; major emphasis on Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Prerequisite: Phil 1051 or equivalent. (Fall and spring)
2125	Philosophy of Race and Gender (3)	Weiss and Staff
	A theoretical examination of the bodily, social, discursive, and political effects of patriarchy, racism, and classism. (Fall and spring)
2131	Ethics: Theory and Applications (3)	Brand-Ballard, DeGrazia, and Staff
	Examination of leading ethical theories (e.g., utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics), and methodology in ethics. Engagement with contemporary problems. (Fall and spring)
2132	Social and Political Philosophy (3)	Brand-Ballard, Churchill, and Staff
	Philosophical theories about how economic, political, legal, and cultural institutions should be arranged. Topics include the meaning and significance of liberty, the legitimate functions of government, the nature of rights, the moral significance of social inequality, and the meaning of democracy. (Fall and spring)
2133	Philosophy and Nonviolence (3)	Churchill
	Violence and nonviolence in the personal and social struggle for meaningful, just, and peaceful existence; philosophical foundations of pacifism and nonviolent resistance in the thought of Tolstoy, Gandhi, King, and others; philosophical inquiry into war, terrorism, genocide, and ethnic conflict, as well as human rights, humanitarian intervention, and just war theory. (Fall)
2135	Ethics in Business and the Professions (3)	Staff
	Ethical theories and basic concepts for analysis of moral issues arising in business and in professional practice. (Fall and spring)
3113	19th-Century Philosophy (3)	Carr and Staff
	European philosophy of the 19th century, with major emphasis on Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. Prerequisite: Phil 1051 or equivalent. (Fall)
3121	Symbolic Logic (3)	Friend, Romanovskaya, and Staff
	Analysis and assessment of deductive arguments, using propositional, predicate, and other logics; philosophical basis and implications of logical analysis; metatheory of logic; modal and non-standard logics. Prerequisite: Phil 1045 or permission of instructor. (Fall and spring)
3142	Philosophy of Law (3)	Brand-Ballard
	Systematic examination of fundamental concepts of law and jurisprudence; special emphasis on the relationship between law and morality. (Fall)
3151	Philosophy and Science (3)	Zawidzki
	Analysis of the structure and meaning of science, including scientific progress and theory change, objectivity in science, the drive for a unified science, and ways science relates to everyday understandings of the world. Attention given to various sciences, including physics, biology, and neuroscience. Prerequisite: Phil 1051 or two semesters of college-level science. (Fall)
3152	Theory of Knowledge (3)	Zawidzki
	Inquiry into the basis and structure of knowledge, the problems of skepticism and justification, the relations between subjectivity and objectivity, and the contributions of reason, sense experience, and language. Prerequisite: Phil 1051 or equivalent; Phil 2112 also recommended. (Spring)
3153	Mind, Brain, and Artificial Intelligence (3)	Zawidzki, Saidel
	Investigation of the nature of mind from a variety of perspectives, including neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and artificial intelligence, as well as traditional philosophy of mind. Possible additional topics include consciousness, mental disorders, animal minds, and the nature and meaning of dreams. (Spring)
3161	Philosophy and Literature (3)	Weiss
	Critical investigation of the sociopolitical commitments that inform the practices of reading and writing as discussed by Sartre, Barthes, Foucault, and others. Focus on the development of existentialist themes, including authenticity, freedom, temporality, and death in the work of Kafka, Tolstoy, Mann, Woolf, and others. (Fall, alternate years)
3162	Aesthetics (3)	Weiss and Staff
	The problem of artistic representation and the nature of aesthetic experience as related to the creation, appreciation, and criticism of art. Special emphasis on nonrepresentational works of art and their interpretation. Prerequisite: Phil 1051 or 2111 or 2112 or 3113. (Fall)
3172	American Philosophy (3)	Caws, Carr
	A survey of American philosophical thought, focusing on the late 19th through mid-20th centuries. Covers American Pragmatism (Peirce, James, Dewey) in depth; other authors may include Thoreau, Emerson, Royce, Santayana, Mead, Quine, and Rorty. (Spring)
4192	Analytic Philosophy (3)	Saidel, DeGrazia
	The dominant movements of 20th-century Anglo-American philosophy, including logical positivism, British ordinary language philosophy, and neopragmatism, as represented by Russell, G.E. Moore, Wittgenstein, Ayer, Quine, Kripke, et al. Prerequisite: one other upper-division philosophy course (Phil 2112 and 3121 recommended). (Fall)
4193	Phenomenology and Existentialism (3)	Weiss, Caws, Ralkowski
	An intensive exploration of the ontological and existential philosophies of Kierkegaard, Bergson, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, de Beauvoir, and Camus. Prerequisite: Phil 2111 or 2112. (Spring)
4195	Topics in Value Theory (3)	Staff
	Variable topics in ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics, and other subfields in normative philosophy. Prerequisite: one upper-division course on related subject matter or permission of the instructor.
4196	Topics in Theory of Knowledge (3)	Staff
	Variable topics in epistemology, philosophy of science and mathematics, philosophy of mind, and similar subfields. Prerequisite: one upper-division course on related subject matter or permission of the instructor.
4198	Proseminar (3)	Staff
	Variable topics; preparation and presentation of a major research paper. Open only to philosophy majors in the junior and senior year as approved by major advisor. May be repeated for credit. (Fall and spring)
4199	Readings and Research (1 to 3)	Staff
	(Fall and spring)