Philosophy News

Spring 2027 Philosophy Courses

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Living Well Online

How should one live in the digital age? What is the internet doing to attention, education, relationships, and politics? The course pursues answers through studying classic texts in the philosophy of technology.

An open book on a table in the library.

Philosophy of Literature: The Meaning of Life

Examine key issues surrounding the meaning of life via close readings of literary works by Camus, Dostoevsky, Kafka, Tolstoy, among many others. Explore themes that encompass subjective versus objective meaning, God, suffering, death, freedom, identity and alienation, happiness and morality, the present, culture, intimate others, and, finally, the course of a life.

A statue of Plato.

Intro to Political Philosophy

Engage with selections from core texts and questions in political philosophy, tracing the philosophical tradition from Ancient Greece and the works of Plato and Aristotle to modern thinkers such as Hannah Arendt and John Rawls.

A decorative illustration of the mind.

Philosophy of Mind

What is the relation between the mind and the body? Do we have free will? What makes you "you"? These are some of the questions we will investigate together in this class. This course is a survey of topics in the philosophy of mind and consciousness, theories of personal identity, and theories of free will.

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Philosophy of Statistics

Consider philosophical issues related to statistics and statistical machinery. Reflect on the nature of the discipline of statistics, the notion of evidential support, the relationship between statistics and the problem of induction, and more.

Computer

Earn a certificate in the ethics of artificial intelligence

Employers are actively seeking employees who have experience grappling with the risks and ethical questions of artificial intelligence. The Ethics of AI Certificate teaches students the core skills and knowledge they need to understand how to mitigate the risks of artificial intelligence while harnessing its benefits.

Upcoming events

Krupa Patel
Alumni Spotlight

Krupa Patel (JD/PhD at Harvard)

Krupa Patel is a JD/PhD student at Harvard University. She graduated from Illinois in 2016 and is interested in ethics and political philosophy. 
Benjamin Levinstein
Faculty Spotlight

Ben Levinstein

Ben Levinstein is an assistant professor at the University of Illinois, who specializes in formal epistemology, decision theory, philosophy of science, and—increasingly—in the ethics and philosophy of artificial intelligence.