PHIL 301: 17th & 18th Century European Philosophy (Romagni)
This course offers a survey of the philosophical developments in Western Europe during the period we call the Modern Era (roughly 1600-1800). The course will focus on major figures of the period and explore issues that were of central importance in the areas of epistemology and metaphysics, such as the existence and nature of God, the existence and nature of the external world, the relationship between mind and body, the foundations of knowledge, and free will.
PHIL 303: Medieval Philosophy (DiRado)
This semester, we will trace out the development of philosophy from the 2nd to the 14th centuries across four major religious traditions: Mediterranean paganism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We will focus on the influence of both Platonic and Aristotelian thought on differing conceptions of reality as expressions of divine beauty and goodness. Our goal will be to gain an appreciation of how people from different traditions conceptualized the world during this time period.
PHIL 325: Philosophy of Natural Science (Rice)
This course investigates philosophical problems arising from reflection about the practice of science and the inferences used in scientific reasoning. Typical topics include the nature of scientific laws and theories, the character of explanation, the role of idealization in science, scientific realism, the role of values and ethics in science, the evolution of scientific knowledge over time, and the social structures of science.
PHIL 345: Environmental Ethics (McShane)
In this class, we will discuss debates about what moral obligations we have to people in other parts of the world, whether nonhuman animals have rights, whether we have any moral obligations to future generations, animals, plants, species, or ecosystems, what environmental justice consists in, and what sorts of policy implications our answers to these questions might have.
PHIL 345: Environmental Ethics (Lopez)
This course will explore what, if anything, we owe to nature and the environment. We will address such questions as: what does it mean to value, what kinds of beings are capable of valuing, and how is the environment valued? How should we conceive of ‘nature’ or ‘wilderness’? Are animals, plants, living entities, and ecosystems bearers of moral value? And how do we fulfill our responsibilities to these bearers of value given the magnitude of certain problems and competing economic and moral considerations?
PHIL 348: Philosophy of Literature & The Arts (Romagni)
Have you ever wondered why you care more about some fictional characters than others? Or have you ever dedicated a huge amount of effort to convincing someone you know that they should find a book or film valuable? Or maybe you have tried to explain why you LOVE watching horror movies to someone who hates them. PHIL 348 will engage topics like these, along with others that relate to the philosophy of literature & the narrative arts, through a survey of philosophical texts paired with examples from literature, film, and television.
PHIL 353: Feminist Philosophies (Butnor)
This semester, we will begin by thinking through the concepts of oppression, gender, and the body that lay the foundation of feminist theory. We’ll take a detailed look at the concepts of intersectionality and world-traveling, including the phenomenology of the intersectional self and opportunities for resistance and coalition. We’ll conclude with a closer look at feminist epistemology and epistemic justice and examine how feminists both critique and contribute to the philosophical dialogue.
PHIL 360 Topics in Asian Philosophy- Zen Buddhist Philosophy (Butnor)
This course traces the history of the Zen Buddhist tradition—from its beginnings in India to its unique developments in China and Japan. The first section of the course will focus on fundamental Buddhist concepts, especially those unique to Zen, and some significant figures and sutras of the early tradition. The second section of the course will examine various forms of Zen practice, with an in-depth analysis of koan practice and seated meditation. We will conclude the class with the most significant early Japanese Zen philosopher, Dogen, as well as Zen understandings of existence, time, ethics, embodiment, and aesthetics.
PHIL 375 Science and Religion- (Hamid)
In this course we embark on a journey traversing the boundaries and content of the concepts expressed by ‘science’ and ‘religion’, and the interpenetration of the realities denoted by each.
