PHIL 100 - Introduction to Philosophy - ACP ~ Saenz

This course introduces students to the discipline of philosophy through some of philosophy's most important questions: Does God exist? Does evil tell against the existence of God? Is the mind immaterial or material? Can a computer be a thinking thing? Can we know that there is an external world? Should we be cultural relativists about morality? What makes a life a meaningful life? In thinking about these questions and their potential answers, students will improve their ability to evaluate and construct arguments all while learning what it is that philosophers do.

Course is identical to PHIL 101 except for the additional writing component. Credit is not given for both PHIL 100 and PHIL 101. Prerequisite: Completion of campus Composition I general education requirement.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Advanced Composition and Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 101 – Introduction to Philosophy ~ Ewing & Rowe

Consideration of some main problems of philosophy concerning, for example, knowledge, God, mind and body, and human freedom. 

Credit is not given for both PHIL 101 and PHIL 100.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil  

PHIL 103 – Logic and Reasoning QR ~ Kerr

We are inundated with attempts to convince us of all sorts of things.  Politicians try to win our vote and advertisers try to persuade us to purchase their products.  What should we believe? Why? How should we respond to arguments?  If someone asks why one holds a particular belief or attitude, one is likely to give reasons for one’s belief or attitude.  Are they good reasons?  Why?  Logic is the study of arguments and reasons, and it provides a method to reflect on and evaluate reasons for beliefs and other attitudes.  It provides one with the tools to critically examine why one holds the beliefs and attitudes that one holds.  When one studies logic, one learns how to dissect arguments and to evaluate whether they are good ones. 

 Learning to reason better can improve one’s abilities to problem solve in numerous fields. Logic has applications in writing, science, mathematics, computers, linguistics, and day-to-day reasoning—including about how to live, act, and feel. It can help one become a more effective citizen, with the open-mindedness needed to consider arguments from different perspectives and achieve more nuanced understandings of difficult issues. Logic can help one learn to communicate one’s ideas better, including their justifications, both orally and in writing—thus making one a more thoughtful and effective contributor to many areas of life.

 Credit is not given for both PHIL 103 and PHIL 102.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil & Quantitative Reasoning II

PHIL 104 – Intro to Ethics-ACP ~ Bojanowski

This course is an asynchronous course with a one live Zoom session per week. The live Zoom session will be recorded so that learners will have access to it even if they have to miss it.

The course is divided into three parts. In the first part, we will explore various ethical questions such as:

· Should we abandon privacy online to defend our national security?

· Do we have a moral obligation to help the famine-stricken in poor countries?

· Is it wrong to eat meat?

· What types of content are we allowed to share on social media?

· Is abortion morally permissible?

· Why is gender stereotyping morally problematic?

· Should people receive high rewards for outstanding performances if these performances depend on people’s natural advantages?

It would be strange if we simply flipped a coin to determine the answer to each of these questions. Instead, we will think carefully about these questions. We will learn to critically assess and evaluate develop good arguments, and provide sound justifications for our answers.

In the second part, we will move from these concrete questions to a more fundamental question: Is there a principle that underlies all our particular ethical judgments, and if so, what is this principle? We will evaluate John Stuart Mill's proposal that all our particular ethical judgments are guided by the principle that we ought to aim at “the greatest happiness of the greatest number.” We will also consider alternative candidates.

The final part of the course will show how ethical principles inform our fundamental political and economic institutions. This will lead us to the question about the nature of distributive justice: How should the benefits and burdens of a good society be distributed?

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Advanced Composition
Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 105 – Intro to Ethics ~ Smith

Some basic questions of ethics, discussed in the light of influential ethical theories and with reference to specific moral problems, such as: what makes an action morally right? are moral standards absolute or relative? what is the relation between personal morality and social morality, and between social morality and law?

Credit is not given for both PHIL 105 and either PHIL 104 or PHIL 106.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 106 - Ethics and Social Policy ~ Lopez Romero

Examination of the moral aspects of social problems, and a survey of ethical principles formulated to validate social policy.

Credit is not given for both PHIL 106 and either PHIL 104 or PHIL 105.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Social & Beh Sci - Soc Sci

PHIL 107 – Intro to Political Philosophy ~ Biondi

This course is structured around three themes in political philosophy: 1) the possibility of political progress, 2) the justification of governmental authority, and 3) the legitimacy of political violence. In addition to considering influential texts on the topics, we will also examine how they are intertwined. Can violence be used in service of political progress? Is governmental authority always founded on illegitimate violence? Can we do history in a way that spurs political progress? While at times the questions will be abstract and theoretical, we will also apply them to concrete contemporary and historical issues. 

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Social & Beh Sci - Soc Sci

PHIL 201 - Philosophy in Literature - The Meaning of Life ~ Ben Moshe

In this course, we will examine the question of the meaning of life through close readings of literary works. Authors include Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Kafka, and Camus (among many others).

PHIL 202 - Symbolic Logic ~ Nowakowski

 Introduction to the techniques of formal logic, dealing primarily with truth-functional logic and quantification theory.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Quantitative Reasoning I  

PHIL 203 - Ancient Philosophy ~ Jensen

Introduction to ancient philosophy, concentrating on Plato and Aristotle, dealing with such topics as metaphysics, ethics, and the theory of knowledge.

 Same as CLCV 203.This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 206 - Early Modern Philosophy ~ Weinberg

This course provides an introduction to central themes in several major philosophical figures of the 17^th and 18^th centuries. These centuries came to grips with the theoretical results of the advent of modern science. We will concentrate on epistemological and metaphysical issues in understanding different theoretical answers to the following questions: What is the nature of scientific explanation? What is the underlying nature of reality, and how does that reality cause or explain our everyday experience of the natural world? Our investigations will focus on primary texts of René Descartes, Elisabeth of Bohemia, G.W. Leibniz, George Berkeley, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. 

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 214 - Biomedical Ethics ~ Livengood

Biomedical Ethics (PHIL 214) teaches students to think critically about ethical problems that arise in the fields of medicine and bio-engineering. These typically include topics such as euthanasia, cosmetic surgery, genetic modification, involuntary psychiatric commitment, informed consent, vaccination and other public health initiatives, organ transplantation, non-human animal research, and state provision of healthcare. This semester, the course will focus on ethical, legal, and policy issues related to abortion.​

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 222- Philosophical Foundations of Computer Science ~ Kishida

Introduction to certain ideas and issues at the intersection of computer science and philosophy. Students will focus on foundational questions related to the birth of computer science as a discipline, philosophical issues regarding knowledge and reality that researchers face in the frontiers of contemporary computer science, and current ethical issues related to the uses of machines and computers in society.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 223 - Minds and Machines ~ Scharp

This course provides an introduction to the study of minds and their relationship to physical reality. In particular, it will focus on two topics: (i) the relation between minds and bodies, as well as (ii) recent developments in artificial intelligence. Students will learn about influential historical and contemporary theories of mind, including materialism, idealism, dualism, functionalism, computational theories, and connectionist theories. Additional topics in philosophy of mind might include the nature of belief, desire, emotions, will, reason, intelligence, rationality, attention, and consciousness. In addition, we will cover machine learning algorithms that display intelligent behavior like chatGPT. Students will learn about the kinds of algorithms (supervised, unsupervised, reinforcement, …) and the difference between artificial general intelligence and artificial narrow intelligences. Additional topics covered include how to explain language produced by machine learning algorithms and how to use machine learning algorithms to test philosophical theses about the mind, as in the Bayesian Theory of Mind programme. Finally, we discuss the potential for superintelligence, how to control something that is vastly more intelligent than any group of humans, and the suggestion that value alignment is the key to control.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 250 - Conceptions of Human Nature ~ Durso

Aesthetic Experience and the Human Experience:  

This course will investigate why aesthetic experiences are so tightly intertwined with the human experience and whether it serves any kind of adaptive or cognitive function.  The anthropologist Donald Brown has defined human universals as, “those features of culture, society, language, behavior, and psyche for which there are no known exceptions."  Among his list of human universals is aesthetics.  Broadly speaking, intense perceptual experiences that can evoke a range of emotional and cognitive sensations are a human universal.  From the awe of natural beauty to ritual and object creation, every human civilization ever studied has engaged in some form of aesthetic experience.  In this course, we will not only consider why we have aesthetic experiences from a philosophical perspective, but we will also incorporate scientific theories into our investigations.  In particular, we will consider what evolutionary thinking may say about why we have aesthetic experiences and what function it may serve, along with contributions from neuroscience and embodied cognitive science.  

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 380 - Current Controversies ~ Ethics of War ~ Schwenkler

Philosophical examination of positions taken on some issue of current concern, for example, human sexuality, death and dying, feminism, race, intelligence, war, sociobiology, and environmental ethics.

See Class Schedule for current topics. May be repeated with approval.

PHIL 419/420 - Space, Time, and Matter ~ Weaver

Space, Time, and Matter is an advanced history and philosophy of physics course that aims to: (a) introduce students to the history of both theoretical and experimental physics (more specifically, we will travel from scientific thought before Aristotle all the way to the development of the standard model of particle physics), (b) briefly introduce students to the basic formulae and accompanying (sometimes competing) interpretations of classical Newtonian mechanics, classical electrodynamics, early kinetic theory, thermodynamics, (classical) Boltzmannian statistical mechanics, special relativity, general relativity, the standard LAMBDA-CDM cosmological model, and both non-relativistic and relativistic quantum mechanics, (c) introduce students to debates in the foundations of physics, and (d) give special attention to philosophical debates concerning scientific realism and anti-realism, the relationship between the manifest and scientific images, and the nature of matter, space, time, and spacetime.

Same as PHYS 419. See PHYS 419.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Advanced Composition

PHIL 421 - Ethical Theories ~ Biondi

What does a good life look like? How do we go about living well? What is happiness? Ethical theories strive to supply meaningful answers to these questions. This course examines a range of theories and charts their continuities and divergences. Themes include the notion of ‘living in accord with nature’, the status of self or individuality in the good life, and the role of politics in ethics. The course primarily considers Stoicism, Daoism, Buddhism, Land Ethics, Indigenous Ethics, Care Ethics, and Nonviolence. 

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 425 - Philosophy of Mind ~ Schwenkler

Philosophical problems arising in connection with mental phenomena; the relation of mind and body; free will and determinism; our knowledge of other minds; and the self and personal identity.

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours.

Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 426 - Metaphysics ~ Saenz

This class surveys a number of central topics in metaphysics – composition, properties, possibility and necessity, time, being, classification, and freedom. We will use a textbook that offers an introduction to each topic and supplement this with articles that deal with some of the specific issues.

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours.

Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 430 - Theory of Knowledge ~ Livengood

Theory of knowledge (also called “epistemology”) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the proper analysis of “knowledge,” the nature and structure of justification, problems of skepticism, critical evaluation of the sources of knowledge, questions about the aims of belief and inquiry, the nature of rationality, the ethics of belief, and so on. In this course, we will be focusing on the ethics of belief and a long-running (related) debate between evidentialists and pragmatists.

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours.

Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 436 - Philosophy of Law and State ~ Varden

In this course we explore four classical modern theories and two contemporary theories of the relationship between law and the state. In the first part of the course, we will focus on Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan, John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government, Jean-Jacque Rousseau’s The Social Contract and Discourse on the origin and foundations of inequality among men, Immanuel Kant’s Doctrine of Right in The Metaphysics of Morals. In the second part of the course, the focus will be on John Rawls’s Justice as Fairness: A Restatement and Hannah Arendt’s On the Origins of Totalitarianism. With regard to each theory, we will pay special attention to the issues of whether and why we need states at all, what is the nature of the legitimate state, and what is injustice? The course as a whole will familiarize you with some of the most important arguments employed in both historical and contemporary discussions of justice.

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours.

Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 440 - Ethics of Artificial Intelligence ~ Biondi

The development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has generated a range of ethical challenges. This course provides students with an understanding of these challenges along with thinking about how best to respond to them. Students will explore the evolving relationship between AI and employment, including both the ethical considerations raised by job displacement and the changing nature of work. Other topics include the pervasive issue of bias in AI algorithms, ethical implications of data collection and surveillance, and the moral status of AI systems. Students will learn about a broader range of risks that AI can pose to human values, especially when algorithms are poorly aligned with human values. The course also considers existential risk: how should we think about the possibility of AI bringing about the end of humanity?

PHIL 442 - The AI Revolution ~ Scharp

We are in the midst of what many have called an “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Revolution.” This revolution is comparable in scope and impact to other major transformations in human history—like the industrial revolution, the agricultural revolution, and the axial revolution). The AI revolution has begun to bring about profound changes in how we understand ourselves and function in the world.  It is impossible to understand this what is happening during this fundamental transformation in human life without a close examination of the nature of human minds, the nature of computation and artificial intelligence, and the complex and rapidly evolving relationships between them. With this background understanding in mind, students will be able to understand better just how and why recent developments in AI have begun to challenge a host of traditional concepts and ways of thinking, while presenting a variety of novel and pressing ethical, social, interpretive, conceptual, technological, and existential questions.

The purpose of this course is to provide students with that background and understanding. To that end, section one—Human Minds—delves into the essence of human thought, feeling, consciousness, and morality. Section two—Artificial Minds—focuses on the historical development of AI, in its different computational forms, and offers critical discussions of AI’s ability to replicate human mental processes. Section three—The AI Revolution—then builds on these discussions to examine the transformative effects of AI on society in a broad range of spheres, ranging from AI authorship to deep fakes, deception, algorithmic bias, the replacement of human labor and expertise, and the future shape of a new and emerging human condition. Through this layered process, which builds in stages, students will develop the nuanced and rigorous understandings of AI needed to function thoughtfully and lead in an era where AI is becoming not just a tool to some ends but also a fundamental component of strategic innovation and decision-making, with both novel opportunities and risks, in many sectors of human life.

Designed to foster a critical understanding of AI’s capabilities and limitations, this course seeks to equip students with the knowledge needed to navigate and shape the future of AI in their respective industries. Through a combination of expert-led presentations, interactive discussions, and case studies, participants will emerge with a forward-looking perspective on AI as a pivotal force in the modern world while understanding and knowing how to mitigate its risks.

PHIL 477 - Philosophy of Psychology ~ Livengood

Philosophy of Psychology (PHIL 477) covers a large range of issues having to do with the study of cognition, mental representation, perception, consciousness, adaptive behavior, and the methods used to investigate psychological phenomena. In this course, we will be concerned with several interrelated foundational, conceptual, and methodological issues in psychology, including the goals of psychology, the significance of measurement, nativism and the relative importance of nature and nurture, the relationship between psychology and neuroscience, the nature of (psychological) mechanism, the use and misuse of probability and statistics in studying human cognition, and the replication crisis. We will use research on intelligence as a running example.

Same as PSYC 477. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours.

Prerequisite: Two courses in philosophy or two courses in psychology or consent of instructor.

PHIL 499 -Capstone Seminar - Kant's and Arendt's Political Philosophy ~ Varden

This course focuses on two major works of Immanuel Kant—the Doctrine of Right in The Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Judgment—and two works of Hannah Arendt— The Human Condition and Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy. Arendt was deeply inspired by Kant as she developed her political ideas, and especially by his Critique of Judgment. Unfortunately, however, Arendt died before she wrote the last part of Lectures, where she was going to show us how to use Kant’s Critique of Judgment to develop an Arendtian political theory. In comparing Kant and Arendt’s political philosophies, one main question we will address throughout this course is how a Kant- and Arendt-inspired political philosopher today—what we can call a “Karendtian” political philosopher—can draw upon from both as they develop their own political philosophies.

3 undergraduate hours. No graduate credit. Prerequisite: PHIL 202, PHIL 203, PHIL 206, PHIL 222, PHIL 223. Restricted to Philosophy and CS + Philosophy majors with Senior Standing. Philosophy majors (and CS + Philosophy majors matriculated before Fall 2020) are required to have PHIL 202 (or equivalent), PHIL 203, and PHIL 206. CS + Philosophy majors (matriculated after Fall 2020) are required to have PHIL 202 (or equivalent), PHIL 222, and PHIL 223.

PHIL 499 -Capstone Seminar - Critical Philosophy and Its History ~ Weinberg

Critical philosophy can be seen as a form of philosophy that undertakes to illuminate the conceptual or structural elements, generally of power, that are often determining for our political, social, economic, and scientific theories yet are not readily evident on the face of them. It is a kind of philosophical critique of theory itself. Mostly, this form of critique has centered on political and social theories. In this course, we will look more broadly to other areas of inquiry. We will begin with what many think is the beginning of critical theory with Marx’s critique of the structures of power inherent in economic, class, and ideological systems. We will then consider the nature of conceptual critique with Michel Foucault’s illumination of the underlying structures of power in social concepts and meanings, which will be followed by Paul Feyerabend's critique of the development of scientific theories and of the structures underlying the rejection of one theory and the adoption of another. We will also consider a feminist critique focusing on the ontology of gender with works by Catherine MacKinnon, Sally Haslanger, and Rae Langton.  Given enough time, we might also consider a philosophical critique of environmental or ecological theory.

3 undergraduate hours. No graduate credit. Prerequisite: PHIL 202, PHIL 203, PHIL 206, PHIL 222, PHIL 223. Restricted to Philosophy and CS + Philosophy majors with Senior Standing. Philosophy majors (and CS + Philosophy majors matriculated before Fall 2020) are required to have PHIL 202 (or equivalent), PHIL 203, and PHIL 206. CS + Philosophy majors (matriculated after Fall 2020) are required to have PHIL 202 (or equivalent), PHIL 222, and PHIL 223.

PHIL 513 - Seminar on Philosophy of Logic ~ Kishida

Selected topics in contemporary logical theory.

Approved for letter and S/U grading. May be repeated. Letter grading applies when offered for 4 hours of credit. For Stage 3 Philosophy PhD students this course is approved for S/U grading when offered for 2 hours of credit. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor for non-philosophy graduate students.

PHIL 517 - Seminar Philosophy of Science - The Probability Map of the Universe ~ Weaver

The Fall 2024 iteration of PHIL 517 will explore the modern foundations of statistical mechanics. More specifically, we will study and evaluate the recent articulations and defenses of a project known as the Mentaculus (proposed by David Z. Albert and Barry Loewer). The Mentaculus vision is thought to provide a plausible version of Humeanism, a reductionist theory of causation, a reduction of the arrow of time to the arrow of entropic increase, a resolution of the arrow of time problem, a defensible Mill-Ramsey-Lewis best systems account of laws, a theory of fine-tuning and/or initial conditions, a theory of probability, and other substantive philosophical and scientific theses.

Approved for letter and S/U grading. May be repeated. Letter grading applies when offered for 4 hours of credit. For Stage 3 Philosophy PhD students this course is approved for S/U grading when offered for 2 hours of credit. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor for non-philosophy graduate students.

PHIL 521 - Seminar Contemporary Problems - Resisting Reality ~ Kerr

In Resisting Reality, Sally Haslanger argues that “philosophical analysis has a potential for unmasking ideology, not simply articulating it.” This seminar interrogates ideologies of race, gender, sex, and love through an engagement in what Haslanger calls conceptual analysis, examining how such concepts are engineered, how their purpose shapes their meaning, and asking what we might want them to mean. Course coordinates with two weeks of intensive workshops with George A. Miller visiting scholar, Jordan Pascoe, on gender, sex, and love – we draw on contemporary and historical philosophical frameworks to tease out the project of ideological concept engineering and re-engineering. We begin with an analysis of the “invention” of the concept of race in the philosophical system of Immanuel Kant, and explore the re-engineering of the race concept in response to scientific, historical, and conceptual revolutions, from the Haitian revolution to postbellum labor practices to the construction of disaster in the American imaginary. In the second half of the seminar, we turn to the contemporary project of conceptual re-engineering, following Haslanger’s insight that “we should begin by asking what, if anything, we want [our concepts] to be.” By engaging contemporary reimaginings of the concepts related to sex, love, and gender, we explore the possibilities and limits of re-engineering concepts in the name of liberation and justice.  Instructor permission is required to register for the course by emailing Professor Alison Duncan Kerr at adkerr@illinois.edu.

Approved for letter and S/U grading. May be repeated. Letter grading applies when offered for 4 hours of credit. For Stage 3 Philosophy PhD students this course is approved for S/U grading when offered for 2 hours of credit. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor for non-philosophy graduate students.

PHIL 100 - Introduction to Philosophy - ACP ~ Saenz

This course introduces students to the discipline of philosophy through some of philosophy's most important questions: Does God exist? Is the existence of evil compatible with the existence of God? Is the mind immaterial or material? Can a computer be a thinking thing? Do we know that there is an external world? What makes an action right or wrong? Should we be cultural relativists about morality? In thinking about these questions and their potential answers, students will, among other things, improve their ability to evaluate and construct arguments all while learning what it is that philosophers do.

Course is identical to PHIL 101 except for the additional writing component. Credit is not given for both PHIL 100 and PHIL 101. Prerequisite: Completion of campus Composition I general education requirement.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Advanced Composition and Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 101 – Introduction to Philosophy ~ Durso

Consideration of some main problems of philosophy concerning, for example, knowledge, God, mind and body, and human freedom.

Credit is not given for both PHIL 101 and PHIL 100.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil  

PHIL 102 – Logic and Reasoning ~ Louzon

Practical study of logical reasoning; techniques for analyzing and criticizing arguments, including dialectic, rhetoric, visualization of arguments, as well as elements of formal logic, induction, and scientific reasoning, with emphasis on assessing the logical coherence of what we read and write.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 103 – Logic and Reasoning QR ~ Kerr

We are inundated with attempts to convince us of all sorts of things.  Politicians try to win our vote and advertisers try to persuade us to purchase their products.  What should we believe? Why? How should we respond to arguments?  If someone asks why one holds a particular belief or attitude, one is likely to give reasons for one’s belief or attitude.  Are they good reasons?  Why?  Logic is the study of arguments and reasons, and it provides a method to reflect on and evaluate reasons for beliefs and other attitudes.  It provides one with the tools to critically examine why one holds the beliefs and attitudes that one holds.  When one studies logic, one learns how to dissect arguments and to evaluate whether they are good ones. 

 Learning to reason better can improve one’s abilities to problem solve in numerous fields. Logic has applications in writing, science, mathematics, computers, linguistics, and day-to-day reasoning—including about how to live, act, and feel. It can help one become a more effective citizen, with the open-mindedness needed to consider arguments from different perspectives and achieve more nuanced understandings of difficult issues. Logic can help one learn to communicate one’s ideas better, including their justifications, both orally and in writing—thus making one a more thoughtful and effective contributor to many areas of life.

Credit is not given for both PHIL 103 and PHIL 102.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil & Quantitative Reasoning II

PHIL 104 – Intro to Ethics-ACP* ~ Bojanowski 

Consider the following dialogue: Anton: “Murder is wrong because I don’t like it.” Bert: “That’s false, for I like it.” If the disagreement between Anton and Bert brings out what moral disagreement essentially comes down to, murder would be at best like sweet red wine; disliked by most people but liked by others. There would be nothing objectively wrong with murder. In this course we will see why this account of ethical judgments is fundamentally flawed. Moral judgments are very different from culinary judgments of taste. This will become transparent when we look at some of the most controversial contemporary ethical issues: Should we abandon privacy online in light of our national security? Do we have a moral obligation to help the famine stricken in poor countries? Is it wrong to eat meat? What types of contents are we allowed to share on social media? Is abortion morally permissible? Should people receive high rewards for outstanding performances if these performances depend on their natural advantages? Giving an answer to each of these questions is difficult. Yet it would be inappropriate to simply flip a coin. Instead, we need to come up with a justification for our answer. As humans we can give and ask for reasons and make our actions dependent on them. These reasons can track more than simply our individual preferences. But what exactly do moral reasons track? What do we mean when we judge that an action is morally permissible or impermissible? What do we mean when we judge that a person’s character is good or evil? Is there a fundamental principle that underlies all our moral judgments? What does our life look like if it is governed by this fundamental moral principle? Is livening a morally good life compatible with living a happy life? We are going to engage with these questions by reading some of the philosophical classics (Aristotle, Hume and Kant) as well as contemporary readings.  

Course is identical to PHIL 105 except for the additional writing component. Credit is not given for both PHIL 104 and either PHIL 105 or PHIL 106. Prerequisite: Completion of campus Composition I general education requirement.

*This course satisfies the Advanced Composition General Education Requirement*

PHIL 105 – Intro to Ethics ~ Carlson

What does it mean to do the right thing, and how do we know what that is? Why care about it in the first place? In this class, we will explore how the most popular ethical theories, from utilitarianism to deontology, attempt to answer these questions. We will also challenge our own preconceptions and intuitions by looking at specific philosophical debates surrounding controversial issues such as abortion, criminal punishment, and more.

Credit is not given for both PHIL 105 and either PHIL 104 or PHIL 106.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 106 - Ethics and Social Policy ~ Jensen

Examination of the moral aspects of social problems, and a survey of ethical principles formulated to validate social policy.

Credit is not given for both PHIL 106 and either PHIL 104 or PHIL 105.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Social & Beh Sci - Soc Sci

PHIL 107 – Intro to Political Philosophy ~ Savonius-Wroth

 Is there an alternative to our existing politics? This course begins with a remarkable challenge to immoral politics: we begin with Thomas More’s Utopia of 1516, a classic work which has entered our culture so deeply that its title has become an accepted term for dreams of a better future. Then we trace the later evolution of political philosophy: we study the development of the divide between republicanism and liberalism. Finally we return to More’s challenge and reconsider the relationships between politics and morality, and politics and economy. Should moral principles guide political action—and if so, which principles? Can principles be abandoned in the name of political or economic necessity? Is it always wrong for leaders to lie? Throughout the course, we will be reading short selections from works by major thinkers.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Social & Beh Sci - Soc Sci

PHIL 201 - Philosophy in Literature ~ Rowe

Consideration of the philosophical themes implicit in a variety of important literary works, both classical and modern; may include such authors as Sophocles, Shakespeare, Goethe, Dostoevsky, and Sartre.

PHIL 202 - Symbolic Logic ~ Lee

This course serves as an introduction to the formalization and evaluation of (deductive) arguments. The ability to evaluate arguments and understand the logical connections between statements is an important skill with broad applications. To cultivate this skill, we will study two basic 'artificial' languages: truth-functional logic (or sentential logic) and first-order logic (predicate logic). You will learn how to translate English sentences into sentences in these languages, and how to test arguments for validity using the tools provided by these languages.    

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Quantitative Reasoning I  

PHIL 203 - Ancient Philosophy ~ Biondi 

This course is a study of Ancient Greek philosophy. We investigate Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle both to understand their ethics, metaphysics, and epistemologies and also to establish a context for understanding the Cynic and Stoic traditions. Some themes include a) the nature of the individual and its relationship to society; b) how to obtain knowledge, including self-knowledge, knowledge of the natural world, and knowledge of justice; and c) the relationship between philosophical inquiry and the good life.

 Same as CLCV 203.This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 206 - Early Modern Philosophy ~ Biondi

This course provides an introduction to central themes in several major philosophical figures of the 17^th and 18^th centuries.  We will concentrate on epistemological and metaphysical issues about the underlying nature of the natural world and how we know it, including the scientific turn to explanation as mechanistic explanation and relatedly of the nature of causation.  We will also consider the nature of what exists and whether it is material, immaterial, or both, and the problems with each view, with particular emphasis on how to explain the interaction of the mind and the body.  The overarching theme of this course is an investigation into the limits of human understanding in our explanations of the natural world as undertaken in primary texts of Descartes, Hobbes, Cavendish, Spinoza, Conway, and Leibniz.  

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 222- Philosophical Foundations of Computer Science ~ Lee

This course provides an introduction to some of the ideas and issues at the intersection of computer science and philosophy. We will focus on foundational questions related to computer science, discuss why philosophers should engage with certain concepts in computer science, explore philosophical issues regarding knowledge and reality that computer scientists might encounter, and contemplate some ethical concerns associated with the rise of artificial intelligence.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 223 - Minds and Machines ~ Scharp

This course provides an introduction to the study of minds and their relationship to physical reality. In particular, it will focus on two topics: (i) the relation between minds and bodies, as well as (ii) recent developments in artificial intelligence. Students will learn about influential historical and contemporary theories of mind, including materialism, idealism, dualism, functionalism, computational theories, and connectionist theories. Additional topics in philosophy of mind might include the nature of belief, desire, emotions, will, reason, intelligence, rationality, attention, and consciousness. In addition, we will cover machine learning algorithms that display intelligent behavior like chatGPT. Students will learn about the kinds of algorithms (supervised, unsupervised, reinforcement, …) and the difference between artificial general intelligence and artificial narrow intelligences. Additional topics covered include how to explain language produced by machine learning algorithms and how to use machine learning algorithms to test philosophical theses about the mind, as in the Bayesian Theory of Mind programme. Finally, we discuss the potential for superintelligence, how to control something that is vastly more intelligent than any group of humans, and the suggestion that value alignment is the key to control.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 250 - Conceptions of Human Nature ~ Vanderbeek

Comparative examination of important historical and contemporary conceptions of human nature.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Humanities - Hist & Phil

PHIL 307 - Elements of Semantics & Pragmatics ~ Lasersohn 

Introduction to the theory of meaning for natural language, including techniques for the description of lexical meaning, compositional determination of phrase and sentence meaning, and pragmatic effects on interpretation in context. 

Same as LING 307. See LING 307.

PHIL 380 - Current Controversies 1 ~ Computation and Humanity’s Future ~ Levinstein

In “Computation and Humanity’s Future,” we traverse the intersection of computer science and philosophy to examine the potential implications of advanced computation on the course of human evolution and society. With a primary focus on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and AI alignment, this course explores how our accelerating technological capabilities might redefine the world we inhabit.

Understanding AGI—AI systems that possess the capability to understand, learn, and apply knowledge across a breadth of tasks at least as adeptly as a human—lies at the heart of this exploration. How do we align these potent entities with human values, ensuring their actions result in outcomes beneficial to us?

The course grapples with the inherent complexity and inscrutability of deep learning systems. How can we comprehend and direct systems when their operations elude human understanding? This question invites us to ponder the nature of agency in a world where machines could potentially outpace human cognition.

By looking into the ramifications of AI in policy and governance, the course engages with the societal consequences of rapidly advancing computational capabilities. We also delve into philosophical underpinnings that inform our approach towards AI, including decision theory and moral philosophy.

See Class Schedule for current topics. May be repeated with approval.

PHIL 380 - Current Controversies 2 ~ Sex and Sex ~ Kerr

In “Sex and Sex”, we will explore the intricate philosophical distinctions between sex and gender, as well as an in-depth examination of the nature of sexual activity. Central to our inquiry is a focus on embracing a multitude of diverse perspectives. We delve into the rich tapestry of varying viewpoints regarding sex, gender identity, and sexual activity, recognizing and appreciating the complexities that underlie these concepts. In addition, we critically engage with both historical and contemporary issues at the intersections of gender, sexuality, and technology, enabling students to navigate the evolving landscape of human sexuality. Through rigorous analysis and critique of various philosophical positions, we delve into the ethics of sexual activity, encouraging students to develop a well-rounded understanding of the moral dimensions surrounding this topic. Moreover, this course fosters an environment where students can engage in thoughtful and respectful discussions on controversial and sensitive subjects related to sex, gender, and sexual activity.

See Class Schedule for current topics. May be repeated with approval.

PHIL 411 - 19th Century Philosophy ~ Leland

The 19^th century is a particularly dynamic and influential period in the history of Western philosophy.  Prominent philosophical movements of the 20^th and 21^st centuries – including existentialism, Marxism, phenomenology, and analytic philosophy – originated in the 19^th century.  This course offers an advanced introduction to some of the most important philosophical writings of this period, including works by Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche, among others.  

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 414 - Major Recent Philosophers ~ Schwenkler

We will read a series of papers by G. E. M. (Elizabeth) Anscombe, a student of Ludwig Wittgenstein who was one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century. The texts will range over metaphysics, the philosophy of mind, ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, and the philosophy of religion.

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. May be repeated with approval, if topics vary. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 421 - Ethical Theories ~ Biondi

What does a good life look like? How do we go about living well? Ethical theories strive to supply meaningful answers to these questions. This course examines a range of theories and charts their continuities and divergences. Themes include the notion of ‘living in accord with nature’, the status of self or individuality in the good life, and the role of politics in ethics. We consider Ancient Greek Ethics, Daoism, Buddhism, Indigenous Ethics, Environmental Ethics, and Care Ethics.

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 422 - Recent Developments in Ethics ~ Biondi

Specifically titled: The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence 

The ethical questions presented by Artificial Intelligence touch all areas of life. New technologies challenge assumptions in law, politics, art, journalism, economics, conceptions of human nature, and ethical theory itself. This course pairs philosophy with science fiction and current events to examine three sets of questions about the ethics of AI. First, how does intelligent technology change our understanding of automation, the future of work, and the economy generally? What moral questions does the direction of automation present us today? Second, we consider AI as an existential risk. How should we think about the possibility of AI bringing about the end of humanity? Third, we examine the moral status of AI and other technologies. Should AI be given rights? Does this question push us to reexamine our expectations from a moral theory?

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours.  Prerequisite: One course in ethics.

PHIL 424 - Philosophy of Religion ~ Saenz

This course covers issues having to do with what we mean by 'God', whether God exists, whether we can know that God exists, attributes of God, the relationship between religious belief and science, and alternative conceptions of God.

Same as REL 424. 3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 426 - Metaphysics ~ Weaver

The Spring 2024 iteration of PHIL 426 Metaphysics will be an exploration and discussion of the key ideas and debates in contemporary analytic metaphysics including: metaphysical realism about abstract objects, nominalism, fictionalism about abstract objects, the nature of concrete particulars, the existence and nature of propositions, modality, spacetime, laws of nature, causation, persistence, and anti-realism. Assigned readings will come from two sources: (a) a contemporary introduction by a leading metaphysician, and (b) a collection of classic and current (highly influential) papers on each topic.

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 430 - Theory of Knowledge ~ Leland

This course is an advanced introduction to central questions, concepts, and issues in contemporary epistemology.  Reading and discussing influential articles, we will examine topics, such as the following: the nature of knowledge and justification, skepticism, a priori knowledge, the ethics of belief, disagreement, testimony, and epistemic injustice, among others. 

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 443 - Phenomenology ~ Byrne

What is the meaning of our experience? What is consciousness? How should we understand ourselves and the world that we live in? Increasingly, such questions have been tossed aside by philosophers and philosophy. Thinkers today often engage in abstractions, thought experiments, or formal variable manipulations, which have little to do with what matters to us in our lives. This course, in contrast, impels students to return to examine the everyday world of experience. In this class, we will be introduced to the phenomenological method and we will together employ that method to uncover the frequently overlooked enigmatic and rich nature of conscious experience.

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 454 - Advanced Symbolic Logic ~ Kishida

Completeness, compactness, and Lowenheim-Skolem theorems for first-order logic; incompleteness and undecidability of formal systems; and additional material on proof theory, model theory, or axiomatic set theory as time permits.

3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: PHIL 202 or consent of instructor.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: Quantitative Reasoning II

PHIL 471 - Contemporary Phil of Science ~ Weaver

The Spring 2024 iteration of PHIL 471 Philosophy of Science will be an exploration of the history and foundations of modern cosmology. Starting with the advent of general relativity and relativistic cosmology, the course will survey the early relativistic cosmological models, the key observations that motivated and constrained the space of plausible models including the discovery of the CMBR (inter alia). It will study the development of the standard hot big bang model, the development of the now standard LAMDA-CDM model and so also the inflationary paradigm, dark matter, dark energy, and the various problems of cosmology that come with the standard model (e.g., the initial low entropy problem, the cosmological constant problem, the flatness problem, the cosmological horizons problem, various fine-tuning problems, the anisotropy problem, the missing baryon problem). We will also study various foundational issues (e.g., the existence and nature of singularities, problems of probability measures in cosmology, unique problems of underdetermination in cosmology, the nature of anthropic reasoning, the arrow of time, theories of initial conditions, and philosophical issues surrounding multiverse hypotheses).

3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One course in philosophy.

PHIL 499 -Capstone Seminar ~ Leland

This course uses philosophical tools to make sense of a range of important phenomena in contemporary American politics and political discourse.  We will use recent work in social and political philosophy, epistemology, and philosophy of language to better understand things like political disagreement, polarization, “fake news,” conspiracy theories, truth-defective speech (e.g. lies, misleading assertions, and “bullshit” in the technical sense), hate speech, code words and “dog whistles,” and identity-expressive discourse, among others. 

3 undergraduate hours. No graduate credit. Prerequisite: PHIL 202, PHIL 203, PHIL 206, PHIL 222, PHIL 223. Restricted to Philosophy and CS + Philosophy majors with Senior Standing. Philosophy majors (and CS + Philosophy majors matriculated before Fall 2020) are required to have PHIL 202 (or equivalent), PHIL 203, and PHIL 206. CS + Philosophy majors (matriculated after Fall 2020) are required to have PHIL 202 (or equivalent), PHIL 222, and PHIL 223.

PHIL 499 -Capstone Seminar ~ Bojanowski

Capstone course required for all philosophy majors. Students will explore in depth a specific topic either in the history of philosophy or in contemporary practical or theoretical philosophy and will write a substantial original essay appropriate for a senior thesis. Topics will differ by section and semester.

3 undergraduate hours. No graduate credit. Prerequisite: PHIL 202, PHIL 203, PHIL 206, PHIL 222, PHIL 223. Restricted to Philosophy and CS + Philosophy majors with Senior Standing. Philosophy majors (and CS + Philosophy majors matriculated before Fall 2020) are required to have PHIL 202 (or equivalent), PHIL 203, and PHIL 206. CS + Philosophy majors (matriculated after Fall 2020) are required to have PHIL 202 (or equivalent), PHIL 222, and PHIL 223.

PHIL 511 - Seminar Ethical Theory ~ Ben Moshe

What is Conscience?

In this seminar, we will examine the nature of conscience and its normative authority. We will commence by discussing some historical views of conscience--primarily those of Kant, Smith, Nietzsche, and Freud--before moving on to contemporary debates. Among other things, we will discuss conscientious objection in medicine.

Approved for letter and S/U grading. May be repeated. Letter grading applies when offered for 4 hours of credit. For Stage 3 Philosophy PhD students this course is approved for S/U grading when offered for 2 hours of credit. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor for non-philosophy graduate students.

PHIL 513 - Seminar on Philosophy of Logic ~ Livengood

Selected topics in contemporary logical theory.

Approved for letter and S/U grading. May be repeated. Letter grading applies when offered for 4 hours of credit. For Stage 3 Philosophy PhD students this course is approved for S/U grading when offered for 2 hours of credit. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor for non-philosophy graduate students.