Philosophy (PHIL)
PHIL 1023 Who Do You Think You Are? (H)
Description: Is who you think you are really who you are? Is there more to understanding who we are than we can know with the mind? Are there depths of our personal identity that go beyond our ordinary notions about being "somebody" ? Does discovering who and what I am have any impact on the quality of my life? This course explores these issues from both philosophical and spiritual sources, utilizing practices designed to help bring direct, transformative insights into the question of who and what we really are so that we might enjoy a life of peace, love and joy.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 1113 Introduction To Philosophy (H)
Description: This course explores several major philosophical questions, like can we know whether God exists; whether we have free will; what makes an action morally right or wrong; what our ethical obligations are to asylum seekers, Impoverished Individuals across the world, fetuses, terminally ill individuals; what a fair and just society looks like, and more. Previously offered as PHIL 2113.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 1213 Philosophies of Life (H)
Description: This course introduces students to the history and development of philosophy with a special focus on ethics and contemporary moral arguments. By studying great philosophical works, this class enables students to think a critical manner about their own ideas and beliefs concerning philosophical problems and important issues that affect our lives. The goal of the course is to aid students in examining multiple perspectives on sometimes controversial topics, evaluate and assess articles on these topics, and allow students to form their own arguments on these issues.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 1313 Logic and Critical Thinking (A)
Description: Formal and informal reasoning, common fallacies, definitions and language functions, patterns of explanation. Practical criticism and development of everyday arguments.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Analytical & Quant Thought
PHIL 2003 Local Issues and Ethical Controversies (H)
Description: This course will familiarize students with current and highly debated moral issues that affect their lives and the lives of those in their community. Moral theories will be applied to critical issues that affect Oklahoma and surrounding Southwestern states. Students will learn how to articulate both sides of these debated issues, as well as how to engage in civil discourse with others with whom they may disagree.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 2013 Philosophical Classics (H)
Description: Classic, renowned works by a variety of great thinkers from Plato and Descartes to Berkley, Nietzsche, Dewey, Quine, Nussbaum, West, and many others. As a student you will be engaging with some of the most interesting, thought-provoking ideas in the history of Western philosophy, ranging from the "Allegory of the Cave" and the "Ontological Argument" to existential ethics, pragmatic epistemology and feminist political theory. Previously offered as PHIL 1013.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 2043 Philosophy of Film (H)
Description: This course introduces students to the various philosophical issues surrounding film. Topics will include: the nature of cinema, authorship and narration, film’s relationship with the emotions, genre, and cinematic depictions of love, violence, race and gender. Various film techniques will also be discussed, including cinematography, lighting, editing, scoring and sound design. These issues will be dealt with by making use of philosophical texts. Course previously offered as PHIL 3723.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 2053 Philosophy in Literature (H)
Description: Selected literary works examined for philosophical ideas and themes. Attention to the interrelation of form and content. In this class students will be introduced to major philosophical themes in great literature spanning across a variety of genres, from existential novels and epic poems to science fiction, horror, mystery, drama and more. Course previously offered as PHIL 4453.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 2313 Asking the Right Questions (A)
Prerequisites: PHIL 1313 or concurrent enrollment in PHIL 1313 or consent of instructor.
Description: We're bombarded with scientific, moral, and political claims that are said to be backed by surveys or studies. Yet the claims frequently contradict each other. We hear that the economy does better when one political party is in charge, and then the next day we hear that it does better when a different party is in power. This course is meant to help students discover when they can trust a claim and the limitations of claims. Students will learn how to understand the logic behind claims and how to separate legitimate claims from those which are illegitimate.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Analytical & Quant Thought
PHIL 2413 Global Ethics (HI)
Description: Issues like poverty, climate change, immigration and the development and distribution of medical treatments can best be understood as global issues. In Global Ethics, students will study a variety of global ethical challenges and learn how those from different countries/cultures understand and respond to these challenges. The goal of this course is not to convince students that one particular viewpoint is correct. Rather, students will be encouraged to determine what they believe is the best way to understand and ethically respond to some of the global ethical issues that currently challenge us.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities, International Dimension
PHIL 2443 Ethics: Left & Right (H)
Description: In this course students will explore multiple “sides” of social, political, and moral issues which tend to foster stark divisions in our society. The course aims to cultivate, develop, and practice the skill of engaging openly and fairly with viewpoints that we do not immediately agree with. Students will critically examine arguments from different “sides” of moral issues and political debates, attempting to illuminate strengths and weakness of either.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 2483 Ethics & Sports (H)
Description: This course examines some of the many ethical questions raised by engagement with sport. Some topics to be explored include: the ethics of football In the face of health concerns; the ethics of “doping” or enhancement; what to do about morally problematic team names and mascots; whether it is moral to root for teams with morally problematic individuals; the most ethical approach to compensating athletes; how to foster greater inclusion in sport; and how to use the platform of sport to foster greater inclusion in society more generally.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 2513 Philosophy, Self, & Society (H)
Description: A philosophical investigation of diverse cultural attitudes, values, and experiences. Our central task is to examine different notions of what it is to be human, and we will do so by looking into ethical and religious philosophies that emerge from a range of cultures around the globe. Topics include: the nature of the self, the role of love in human life, mysticism, personhood, ethics and obligation, and aesthetics.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 2573 Drugs, Philosophy & Society (H)
Description: This course will explore the various philosophical issues that arise from humankind’s relationship with drug use. Considerable time will be spent analyzing the ethical issues that arise within modern U.S. drug policy. Topics include: arguments for and against drug legalization, the drug war and race, psychedelic drugs and mystical experiences, and the emerging cannabis industry in North America.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 2890 Honors Experience in Philosophy
Prerequisites: Honors Program participation and concurrent enrollment in a designated PHIL course.
Description: A supplemental Honors experience in Philosophy to partner concurrently with designated Philosophy course(s). This course adds a different intellectual dimension to the designated course(s). Offered for fixed credit, 1 credit hour, maximum of 6 credit hours.
Credit hours: 1
Contact hours: Lecture: 1 Contact: 1
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Honors Credit
PHIL 2990 Sophomore Seminar in Philosophy
Prerequisites: 3 credit hours of Philosophy or consent of instructor.
Description: A seminar-style course on varying philosophic topics intended for sophomores, taught by faculty members on a rotating basis. Offered for fixed credit, 3 credit hours, maximum of 6 credit hours.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 3003 Symbolic Logic (A)
Description: Propositional logic and predicate logic with identity, as well as the formal analysis of language. This includes: understanding and applying common fallacies and irrational techniques of persuasion, formulating proper definitions, looking at the functions of language, analyzing patterns of explanation, and comparing and contrasting informal and formal reasoning. Practical criticism and the development of everyday arguments are also a key part of this course. Previously offered as PHIL 4303. May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 5003.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Analytical & Quant Thought
PHIL 3113 Ancient Greek Philosophy (H)
Prerequisites: PHIL 1113, PHIL 1313 or PHIL 2013, or any 3000-4000 level PHIL course.
Description: This course explores the philosophical inventions of the Ancient Greeks and highlights the contemporary relevance of their ideas for us today. The course covers the physical philosophy of the Presocratics, the dramatic philosophy of Plato, the organic philosophy of Aristotle, and the happy lives of the Epicureans and Stoics. Focus is given to the following questions: What is the structure of reality? How can we know the world? What is the good-life and how can we achieve it? The answers given by the Ancient Greeks are surprisingly still relevant and interesting to us today.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3213 Philosophy in the Age of Enlightenment (H)
Prerequisites: PHIL 1113 or PHIL 1313 or PHIL 2013, or any 3000-4000 level PHIL course.
Description: Major philosophers and problems in Western thought from the 17th through the 18th century. Emphasis on Descartes, Hume and Kant.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3313 19th to 21st Century Philosophy (H)
Description: In this course we cover a wide range of topics and philosophical traditions that have been very influential in the last two centuries of Western philosophy. During this time such movements as pragmatism, deconstruction, romanticism, idealism, phenomenology, feminism, postmodernism, Marxism, and analytical philosophy became prevalent. We will therefore explore such diverse thinkers as Nietzsche, Hegel, Heidegger, Nussbaum, Quine, Butler, Derrida, James, and many more.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3413 Ethical Theory (H)
Description: Contemporary and classical views on the nature of moral judgments, moral value, relativity and objectivity, freedom and responsibility.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3433 Happiness & Well-being (H)
Description: What is happiness? And what is the relationship between a happy life and a good life? The course explores both the science and philosophy of happiness and well-being as well as the relationship between the two.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3513 Social & Political Philosophy (H)
Description: Major social thinkers and contemporary issues. These issues include communitarianism, individualism, power, authority, violence, revolution, liberalism, conservatism, feminism, human rights, freedom, communism, capitalism, and so forth. Many thinkers will be included, such as Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau, Hobbes, Machiavelli, Butler, Rawis, Nozick, Zizek, Arendt, Baudrillard, 8erlin, and more.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3523 Medieval Philosophy (H)
Description: The central focus is on the philosophical and theological problems that engaged the minds of medieval thinkers from Christian, Islamic, and Jewish traditions, including Abelard, Avicenna, Averroes, Maimonides, Aquinas, Scotus, and Ockham.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3553 Philosophy of Dreams (H)
Description: Through philosophical writings about dream-related topics, this course examines questions related to metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. This involves a focused look at the deep questions and strange phenomena that dreaming provokes. By the end of the course, students should have an increased understanding of the history of philosophy and dreaming, popular moral theories, and the perplexities surrounding dreaming. At the same time, students will develop the ability to evaluate and think critically about philosophical writings and theories about dreams.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3613 Philosophy of Religion (H)
Description: This course introduces students to the major topics in philosophy of religion, as found in the Western monotheistic tradition. Topics include: the relationship between faith and reason, the problem of evil, arguments for God's existence, theological predication and religious language, religious experience, soteriology, and miracles.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3623 Philosophy of Race (DH)
Description: Philosophy of Race investigates race discourse within the texts of contemporary philosophers. The course begins with an examination of the concept of race from antiquity through postmodernity. Course discussion focuses on the biological veracity of race, the rise of race as a sociopolitical concept, and the role of modern philosophers in shaping the prevailing perception of people of non-European descent in the West and the implicit justification of slavery, which pervades their texts.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Diversity, Humanities
PHIL 3633 MLK, Jr., Malcolm X, & Philosophy of Race (DH)
Description: Critical examination of African American philosophers and other Black thinkers of the Dlaspora In an effort to understand the philosophical significance of the Black experience. Since Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X are widely accepted as the apex of the two major strains of Black-American philosophy this course will closely read their works.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Diversity, Humanities
PHIL 3703 Ethics & Animals (H)
Description: This course is intended to introduce students to ethical theories while also applying them to a wide range of moral concerns surrounding animals. The central goal of this course is to help students develop the skills needed to construct philosophical arguments and analyze multiple perspectives related to the ethical treatment of animals. Topics may include: animal welfare, rights, consciousness, food, agricultural industry, captivity, hunting, and companionship.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3713 Philosophy of Education
Description: Classical and contemporary philosophers who have systematically developed their ideas about education, including Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Locke, and Dewey.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 3733 Environmental Ethics (H)
Description: This course explores human ethical obligations as they related to the broader natural environment in the light of two issues: contemporary concerns about human-induced changes to the environment (pollution, resource depletion, climate change, etc.), and the question of how distinct ways of conceiving the human relationship to nature impact human behavior and thereby the trajectory of these environmental changes.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3743 Science and Human Values (H)
Description: A general introduction to the history of western science, stressing cultural values affecting scientific innovations, as well as the effects of scientific innovations on cultural values. Important examples from the history of astronomy and physics and from the history of evolutionary biology will be examined. Students will critically examine the relationship(s) between scientific work and broader cultural concerns.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3773 Social Media & Philosophy (H)
Description: Students will read and reflect upon some of the most influential theories on social media today. Discussions will include the competing analyses of Bauerlein, Carr, Shirky and many others who debate the influences of modern media on a wide array of topics: social identity, friendship, love, knowledge, communication, individuality, commerce, entertainment, creativity, consumerism, political activism, and democratic ideals.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3783 Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (H)
Description: Case-based examination of ethical issues surrounding the development and implementation of artificial intelligence. Topics include ethical learning, responsibility and automated systems, moral machines, explainable artificial intelligence, algorithmic bias, automation and work, human-robot interaction, machine consciousness, the moral status and rights of robots, and super-intelligence.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3793 Philosophies of Love & Sex (H)
Description: In this class students are going to engage a variety of theories on sex, love, and gender. Some of these theories emphasize the role of our evolutionary past on how we pursue intimate relationships. On this view, much of our desire for sex and love is influenced by the reproductive choices of our ancestors. Other theories, however, stress the rich diversity of social practices historically and across the world today. Students will therefore be exposed to competing ideas on marriage, sexual preferences, promiscuity, hormonal differences, gender socialization, and so forth.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3803 Business Ethics (H)
Description: Ethical issues in business, such as employer-employee duties and loyalties, advertising uses, preferential treatment practices. Analytic grounding in basic theories of ethics.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3813 American Philosophy (H)
Description: Dominant trends in American philosophy, with an emphasis on Pragmatism.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3823 Engineering Ethics
Description: Philosophical analysis of moral issues in engineering practice, such as whistle blowing, conflicts of interest and product liability. Professional codes of ethics.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 3833 Biomedical Ethics (H)
Description: Moral problems surrounding medical practice, biomedical research, and health policy. Students will develop and use moral reasoning skills to navigate complex issues surrounding the provision of healthcare and medical practice. Topics may include physician assisted suicide, genetic engineering, human and animal experimentation, euthanasia, cloning, reproductive rights, etc. A special emphasis will be placed on the impact of health policy and medical decision-making on marginalized persons, communities, and populations.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3843 Philosophy of Law (H)
Prerequisites: Upper-division standing.
Description: Philosophical issues related to U.S. law and relationship between law and morality, liability, culpability, and enforcement. Questions will be debated, like: What is "the law"? Do we have an obligation to obey the law? What about unjust laws? How should we interpret statutes and constitutions? What is the relationship between law and morality? Is it moral to lock someone in a room if they break the law? Should people be hospitalized instead? Should legislatures pass laws that prohibit us from engaging in behavior that only harms ourselves? What about laws that require us to help others?
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3853 Pragmatism (H)
Description: A survey of Pragmatism and its history. While the course will primarily focus on two major figures of American Pragmatism, Charles Peirce and William James, we will also explore how pragmatism developed in the 21st century and track its influence in both philosophy and science.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3873 Power, Oppression, & Privilege (DH)
Description: This course introduces students to various concepts, insights, and methodological tools within feminist philosophy. Questions to be addressed include: How should we understand feminism? What is intersectionality? How should we understand concepts such as power, privilege, and oppression? How should we think about sex and gender? What is sexism and misogyny and how do they operate in our society? What insights can feminist thinking bring to bear on questions of health care, sport, dating, and sexuality? What does an ethical response to injustice require?
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Diversity, Humanities
PHIL 3883 Gender, Race, and Class in Healthcare (DH)
Description: This course philosophically examines the relationships of individuals and social groups to healthcare research and clinical practice, including the influences of stereotyping, microaggressions, and implicit bias on the healthcare experiences of patients who are members of marginalized groups. This course is suitable for those interested in philosophical issues around medical practice and those who hope to practice medicine with a greater awareness of issues of health injustices.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Diversity, Humanities
PHIL 3890 Advanced Honors Experience in PHIL
Prerequisites: Honors Program participation and concurrent enrollment in a designated PHIL course.
Description: A supplemental Honors experience in philosophy to partner concurrently with designated upper-division PHIL course(s). This course adds a different Intellectual dimension to the designated course(s). Offered for fixed credit, 1 credit hour, maximum of 6 credit hours.
Credit hours: 1
Contact hours: Lecture: 1 Contact: 1
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Honors Credit
PHIL 3913 Existentialism (H)
Prerequisites: Three credit hours of philosophy.
Description: This course explores a range of philosophers and literacy sources, tracing existentialism from antiquity to present day. Students will be challenged to not simply understand these texts, but to engage them in such a way as to practice these texts, but to engage them in such a way as to practice living in and through the ideas of these great thinkers. This course is just as much about discovering the breadth of the existential tradition as it is about realizing the profound freedom, limitlessness, and potential of one's own existence despite moral absurdity, subjective epistemology, and the ever-present specter of death.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 3920 Contemporary Philosophical Problems
Description: Selected contemporary problems and discussions. Offered for fixed credit, 3 credit hours, maximum of 9 credit hours.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 3933 Creation and Evolution
Description: Critical investigates the most prevalent debate between religion and science; namely, Darwinian Evolution vs. (so-called) Scientific Creationism (including Intelligent Design advocates). What is the available scientific evidence? What are the prevailing value differences? What are the legal precedents and prospects? This is the most complete and comprehensive investigation of these issues available on campus.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 3943 Asian Philosophy (HI)
Description: This course surveys four Eastern philosophies from South and East Asia: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism. Using primary sources, we will explore the main themes and practices of these schools of thought, while also demonstrating that each tradition offers unique teachings on the nature of reality, the Divine, and self-identity, while also offering a set of practices designed to help one realize fundamental truths and live better.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities, International Dimension
PHIL 3991 Contemporary Philosophy Research
Prerequisites: Upper-division standing, at least 12 hours in philosophy completed.
Description: Study of leading edge research in philosophy through presentation and discussion of current philosophy journal articles with faculty. Previously offered as PHIL 4991.
Credit hours: 1
Contact hours: Lecture: 1 Contact: 1
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 4000 Senior Thesis in Philosophy
Prerequisites: PHIL 4990 and consent of instructor.
Description: Guided individual work on a thesis under the direction of a faculty member, with a second faculty reader and oral presentation. Intended for senior standing undergraduate Philosophy majors. Offered for variable credit, 1-3 credit hours, maximum of 3 credit hours.
Credit hours: 1-3
Contact hours: Contact: 1-3 Other: 1-3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Independent Study
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 4003 Mathematical Logic and Computability
Prerequisites: PHIL 3003 or MATH 3613 or consent of instructor.
Description: The basic metatheorems of first order logic: soundness, completeness, compactness, Löwenheim-Skolem theorem, undecidability of first order logic, Gödel's incompleteness theorem. Enumerability, diagonalization, formal systems, standard and nonstandard models, Gödel numberings, Turing machines, recursive functions, and evidence for Church's thesis. Same course as MATH 4003. May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 5013.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 4013 Perspectives on Death and Dying (H)
Description: Issues that arise as individuals confront the fact of mortality. Dying patients, the ethical issues of euthanasia and suicide, the process of grief, death in literature and the arts, and philosophical and religious views on immortality.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 4113 Philosophy & the Arts (H)
Description: Nature of aesthetic objects and experiences; form, meaning and value in the arts; the function of art in society; criteria of criticism of the arts. As such, we will cover a wide diversity of writers including Aristotle, Plato, Kant, Nietzsche, Hegel, do Beauvoir, Adorno, Danto, and many more.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 4313 Philosophy of Mind (H)
Description: What is the 'Mind'? How can a human brain create thoughts, sensations, emotions, and abstract ideas? This class examines the nature of the brain, mind, soul, and self with the tools of philosophy, psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology. Is mental content completely 'in the head' and private? or is it irreducibly tied to external input and publicly accessible? Are inner feelings and consciousness incompatible with physical explanations?
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 4543 Philosophy of Language
Prerequisites: PHIL 1313 or PHIL 3003.
Description: A survey of the development of the philosophy of language, including works of philosophers such as Frege, Wittgenstein, Russell, Strawson, Searle, Donnellan, Grice, and Kripke. May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 5543.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 4553 Contemporary Ethical Theory
Prerequisites: PHIL 3413 or consent of instructor.
Description: Debate in ethical theory since Moore. The naturalistic fallacy, intuitionism, and value realism. May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 4553.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 4713 Philosophy of Science (H)
Description: Is there a single 'Scientific Method', or are there a number of methods used in different sciences? Does using this method (or these methods) lead to truth concerning the physical world, or models that allow us to successfully navigate within it? What is the relationship(s) between science and other human activities (including ethics and religion)? This course will critically investigate these issues and others using examples from many disciplines in the history of science as well as current developments.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 4723 Philosophy of Psychology (H)
Description: A survey of problems in philosophy of psychology, including the nature of psychology and its relation to natural sciences, the cognitive architecture of our minds, which cognitive capacities are innate and which are developed, the relationship between the brain, body, and external world, how we understand other minds, how language affects thought.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 4733 Philosophy of Biology (H)
Description: There have been many models of 'Darwinian Evolution' since The Origin of Species in 1859. How did each develop and what are the differences among them? How solid is the melding of evolution, genetics, and molecular biology established in the 1970s and 1980s? Do new developments indicate that this synthesis needs to be extended, or replaced with something new?
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Humanities
PHIL 4890 Internship in Philosophy
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.
Description: Directed internship experience in a philosophy-related professional work setting. Students must have an approved internship that will provide philosophy experience beyond that available in the classroom. Students produce written analyses of their work and learning under the guidance of the instructor and internship site supervisor. Offered for variable credit, 1-9 credit hours, maximum of 9 credit hours.
Credit hours: 1-9
Contact hours: Contact: 1-9 Other: 1-9
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Independent Study
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 4943 Indian Philosophy
Prerequisites: PHIL 3943 or consent of instructor.
Description: Study of texts and themes in two main traditions of Indian Philosophy: Hinduism and Buddhism. How these schools present the fundamental nature and knowledge of reality, human existence, the divine, and enlightenment. May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 5943.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 4953 East Asian Philosophy
Prerequisites: PHIL 3943 or consent of instructor.
Description: Study of texts and themes in the Chinese and Japanese traditions: Confucianism, Daoism and Zen. How these schools present the fundamental nature and knowledge of reality, human existence, community and enlightenment. May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 5953.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 4983 Knowledge and Reality
Prerequisites: 12 credit hours of philosophy.
Description: This course surveys topics in epistemology, a branch of philosophy that asks the following types of questions. What can we know? How do we come to know it? What value does knowing have for our lives? We will also survey questions in metaphysics, a branch of philosophy that explores the nature of reality. For example, are properties like redness just as real as things like tables and chairs? What is a person? What does contemporary science say about what the world is made up of? May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 5983.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 4990 Special Studies in Philosophy
Description: Selected philosophical topics or works. Offered for variable credit, 1-3 credit hours, maximum of 10 credit hours.
Credit hours: 1-3
Contact hours: Contact: 1-3 Other: 1-3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Independent Study
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 4993 Senior Honors Thesis
Prerequisites: Departmental invitation, senior standing, Honors Program participation.
Description: A guided reading and research program ending with an honors thesis under the direction of a faculty member, with second faculty reader and oral examination. Required for graduation with departmental honors in philosophy.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Contact: 3 Other: 3
Levels: Undergraduate
Schedule types: Independent Study
Department/School: Philosophy
General Education and other Course Attributes: Honors Credit
PHIL 5000 Master's Thesis in Philosophy
Description: Supervised individual work on a thesis for a master's degree. Offered for variable credit, 1-6credit hours, maximum of 6 credit hours.
Credit hours: 1-6
Contact hours: Contact: 1-6 Other: 1-6
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Independent Study
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5003 Symbolic Logic
Description: Propositional logic and predicate logic with identity. Formal analysis of language. May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 3003.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5013 Mathematical Logic and Computability
Prerequisites: PHIL 3003 or MATH 3613 or consent of instructor.
Description: The basic metatheorems of first order logic: soundness, completeness, compactness, Löwenheim-Skolem theorem, undecidability of first order logic, Gödel's incompleteness theorem. Enumerability, diagonalization, formal systems, standard and nonstandard models, Gödel numberings, Turing machines, recursive functions, and evidence for Church's thesis. Same course as MATH 4003. May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 4003 or MATH 4003.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5100 Report Research
Description: Supervised individual work on a report for a master’s degree. Offered for variable credit, 1-6 credit hours, maximum of 6 credit hours.
Credit hours: 1-6
Contact hours: Contact: 1-6 Other: 1-6
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Independent Study
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5210 Seminar on a Major Philosopher
Prerequisites: Three courses in philosophy.
Description: The writings of a major philosopher and related material. Offered for fixed credit, 3 credit hours, maximum of 9 credit hours.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Contact: 3 Other: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Independent Study
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5303 Topics in Philosophy of Religion
Description: An examination of central topics in the philosophy of religion, such as the existence of God, the problem of evil, divine attributes, miracles, revelation, faith and reason, religious pluralism and exclusivism, and morality.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5310 Seminar on a Field of Philosophy
Description: Three courses in philosophy. Selected topics in one field of philosophy. Offered for fixed credit, 3 credit hours, maximum of 9 credit hours.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Contact: 3 Other: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Independent Study
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5313 Topics in Social Political Thought
Description: Consideration of a single topic (e.g. justice), topics (e.g. distributive justice and citizenship) of a single philosophical school, or movement (e.g. Marxism) or several movements and schools (e.g. Marxism and liberalism).
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5323 Seminar In Ancient Philosophy
Prerequisites: PHIL 3113.
Description: Philosophical problems that characterize ancient Philosophy: form and matter, one and many, universal and particular, actuality and potentiality, stability and change, substance and accidents, first principles and elements. Close reading of Plato and Aristotle.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5333 Seminar In Modern Philosophy
Prerequisites: PHIL 3213 or PHIL 3313.
Description: Examination of the metaphysical and epistemological systems of philosophers over 17th-19th century Europe such as Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, Kant and Hegel.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5343 Seminar in East and West Comparative Philosophy
Prerequisites: PHIL 3943.
Description: Critical comparison between West European and East Asian traditions of philosophy, such as being and non-being, the nature of truth, self, human being, ethics, human rights, community, and religion.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5353 Seminar in Contemporary Continental Philosophy
Prerequisites: PHIL 3213 or PHIL 3313.
Description: Themes such as presence and absence, intentionality and constitution, meaning and "being," identity and difference, history and consciousness, practice and power, construction and deconstruction. Philosophers such as Merleau, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Derrida, and Faucault.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5363 Topics In Metaphysics
Prerequisites: PHIL 3113 or PHIL 3213 or PHIL 4983.
Description: Selected topics that may be approached from an historical or contemporary standpoint, such as idealism, realism, causation, time, universals, personal identity, possibility and free will.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5373 Contemporary Epistemology
Prerequisites: PHIL 3213 or PHIL 3113 or PHIL 4983.
Description: Recent approaches to the theory of knowledge. Origin and justification of belief and certainty, roles of the senses and the mind, and the nature of truth.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5383 Seminar In American Philosophy
Description: Selected philosophical schools or traditions influential in American thought, such as transcendentalism, pragmatism, or naturalism.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5393 German Idealism
Prerequisites: PHIL 3113 or 3213.
Description: Selected major works of post-Kantian German Philosophy, such as the nature of a philosophical system, identity, and self-consciousness.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5423 Topics In Ethical Theory
Prerequisites: PHIL 3413.
Description: Central problems in ethical theory, such as ethical realism/anti-realism, motivational internalism/externalism, and problems within specific normative systems.Written Description.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5433 Topics In Philosophy Of Law
Prerequisites: PHIL 3843.
Description: In-depth examination of selected topics in philosophy of law, such as punishment, jurisprudence, and principles of legislation. Seminar format.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5443 Topics In Biomedical Ethics
Prerequisites: PHIL 3833.
Description: In-depth examination of selected topics in biomedical ethics, such as implications of the Human Genome Project, ethics of human reproduction, and research ethics. Emphasis on contemporary philosophical thought. Seminar format.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5453 Topics in Professional Ethics
Description: In-depth study of ethical issues faced by business and engineering professionals (e.g., social effects of advertising, environmental impact of professional practice, product safety and consumer protection, whistleblowing and confidentiality).
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5510 Research Topics in Philosophy
Prerequisites: Consent of graduate adviser or department head.
Description: Individual research on topics related to the student's interests and/or thesis topic(s). Offered for variable credit, X=1-3 credit hours, maximum of 10 credit hours.
Credit hours: 1-3
Contact hours: Contact: 1-3 Other: 1-3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Independent Study
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5543 Philosophy Of Language
Prerequisites: PHIL 5003 or consent of instructor.
Description: A survey of the development of the philosophy of language, including works of philosophers such as Frege, Wittgenstein, Russell, Strawson, Searle, Donnellan, Grice, and Kripke. May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 4543.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5553 Contemporary Ethical Theory
Prerequisites: PHIL 3413 or consent of instructor.
Description: Debate in ethical theory since Moore. The naturalistic fallacy, intuitionism, and value realism. May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 4553.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5610 Philosophical Issues in Education
Description: Contemporary issues in educational theory and practice. The relation of education to political thought, religion, public law and culture. Offered for variable credit, 1-3 credit hours, maximum of 3 credit hours.
Credit hours: 1-3
Contact hours: Contact: 1-3 Other: 1-3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Independent Study
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5910 Research Problems in Philosophy
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and department head.
Description: Individual or group research on specific philosophical problems. Offered for variable credit, 1-3 credit hours, maximum of 10 credit hours.
Credit hours: 1-3
Contact hours: Contact: 1-3 Other: 1-3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Independent Study
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5943 Indian Philosophy
Prerequisites: PHIL 3943 or consent of instructor.
Description: Study of texts and themes in two main traditions of Indian Philosophy: Hinduism and Buddhism. How these schools present the fundamental nature and knowledge of reality, human existence, the divine, and enlightenment. May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 4943.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5953 East Asian Philosophy
Prerequisites: PHIL 3943 or consent of instructor.
Description: Study of texts and themes in the Chinese and Japanese traditions: Confucianism, Daoism and Zen. How these schools present the fundamental nature and knowledge of reality, human existence, community and enlightenment. May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 4953.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy
PHIL 5983 Knowledge and Reality
Prerequisites: 12 credit hours of philosophy.
Description: This course surveys topics in epistemology, a branch of philosophy that asks the following types of questions. What can we know? How do we come to know it? What value does knowing have for our lives? We will also survey questions in metaphysics, a branch of philosophy that explores the nature of reality. For example, are properties like redness just as real as things like tables and chairs? What is a person? What does contemporary science say about what the world is made up of? May not be used for degree credit with PHIL 4983.
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: Lecture: 3 Contact: 3
Levels: Graduate
Schedule types: Lecture
Department/School: Philosophy