Students may major either in religion or in philosophy but may not combine courses in these two areas for a major. A student may minor in either religion or philosophy.

Philosophy (PHI)

†18-103 INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS. An introduction to issues surrounding moral deliberation, commitment, and choice. Attention will be given to traditional ethical theories, to their implications for moral discussion and decision, and perhaps to related issues such as personal identity and human freedom. (POK-Values Analysis)

†18-113 CONTEMPORARY MORAL PROBLEMS. A study of the value systems expressed and embodied in contemporary social and political structures and practices, and the processes of making ethical judgments and decisions from and in response to these. Typically, the focus will be thematic and vary with each offering, and will often engage the selected issues using interdisciplinary texts and resources. (POK-Values Analysis)

†18-133 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY. An historically informed investigation of key metaphysical, physical, epistemological, political, ethical and aesthetic issues in philosophy. Emphasis will be placed on the connections between different aspects or spheres of philosophical thinking, as well as the connections between philosophical concepts and historical and social practices. (POK-Values Analysis)

18-143 MEDIA AND ETHICS. A survey of value questions arising in conjunction with and portrayed by communications media. Topics may include the discourse practices and influence of the various media upon cultural identity and self-understanding; value assumptions in news selection and programming, advertising, and entertainment media; media portrayal of minorities and gender; violence and the media; propaganda and public relations agendas and the media; and the issues of free speech, free press, and other rights discourses in the media.

†18-203 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. An historical survey of models and theories of education along with contemporary critiques and apologies. The focus will be on analysis of the values, explicit or implicit, in educational structures and practices in order to assist students in gaining proficiency at critically engaging their own education. (POK-Values Analysis)

18-213 FEMINIST POSITIONS. An exploration of the variety of feminist positions within the larger discourse known as “feminism.” Specific focus is given to the sex/gender distinction and the re-thinking of identity in ways that do not silence sexual, gender, racial, ethnic, national or economic differences. The course will also raise the question of theory’s place in feminist political resistance and the possibility of speaking out of non-totalizing feminist positions. Also Feminist Studies 04-213.

18-223 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. An examination of some of the principal philosophical problems involved in the nature of religion. Attention will center on the problem of religious knowledge and its relation to religious affirmation. Also Religion 19-413.

18-233 AESTHETICS. An introduction to the philosophical discourses of the 18th and 19th centuries that attempted to comprehend and grapple with the historical emergence of art-making and art-experience as an apparently unique and separate domain of human understanding, value and practice. We will also discuss various 20th century efforts to clarify and problematize the relationships between art, politics, technology and popular culture.

†18-243 THEORIES OF CLASS. This course will consider both the advent of the concept of class as a key to social analysis, as well as its apparent decline as a meaningful term. Our guiding consideration will be the extent to which class distinctions and structures remain central to the analysis and understanding of society, as well as the way in which class differs from and intersects with social structures of race and gender. Also Feminist Studies 04-273. (POK-Values Analysis)

†18-253 THEORIES OF RACE. An introduction and survey of contemporary race theory, with emphases on intersections with gender, class, nationalism, and imperialism. Specific focus on the ways race has been constructed as a category of identity across various cultures, academic disciplines, and historical periods. Also Feminist Studies 04-253. (POK-Values Analysis)

18-263 PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE. A philosophical exploration of modern science—its history, aims, methods, conceptual underpinnings and implications.

†18-273 BIOMEDICAL ETHICS. An examination of fundamental moral questions arising in contexts of medical treatment, research, and social policy. (POK-Values Analysis)

18-283 LATIN AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY. An introduction to the complex history of Latin American philosophy, including European and indigenous traditions of thought as well as their hybrids. Key issues will be the interpretation and criticism of notions of history and progress, race and ethnicity, colonialism and knowledge production, the philosophical status of indigenous knowledges, and the relation between philosophy and territory.

18-313 METAPHYSICS. Metaphysics is the area of philosophy that traditionally addresses pivotal questions concerning both nature and what is beyond it: being and becoming, space and time, chaos and order, and the number and structures of realities. This course addresses some of the many metaphysical systems that have been proposed and the acquisition and nature of metaphysical knowledge, as well as criticisms of part or all of the metaphysical endeavor.

18-323 PHILOSOPHY OF THE SELF. An exploration of the emergence of this modern concept - the self - and its psychological, anthropological, political, and epistemological contours. Readings may be drawn from a variety of disciplines.

18-353 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. An examination of the ways that writers from the pre-Socratics through the 19th century have framed the field of human history as a philosophical object of analysis and the challenges that have been posed to those methods by 20th century thinkers. Attention will focus on whether and how the discipline of philosophy can “think historically.”

18-363 LOGIC AND REASONING. An introduction to the history of western logic, including formal languages and techniques, and the use of informal logic and argument analysis for the evaluation of reasoning. Significant attention will be given to learning the common fallacies of argumentation and applying this knowledge to contemporary public debate, and to exploring the differences between reasonableness and rationality as historically constructed.

18-373 POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. An examination of topics at the intersection of philosophy and politics, including historical and contemporary philosophical defenses and critiques of social and political orders, and analysis of political and social theories and concepts.

18-383 PHILOSOPHY AND LITERATURE. An examination of the philosophical significance of literature and how different modes of figurative and poetic expression confront philosophers with epistemological, metaphysical, and methodological problems and issues that bear on the presuppositions and practices of their own discipline. Such issues may include their historical relation, questions concerning representation and meaning, or the relation of fact and fiction. Also English 10-383.

18-402 READING PHILOSOPHY. A guided effort to focus and improve advanced students’ capacities for engaged, thoughtful, critical and independent reading of philosophical forms of argumentation and analysis. Writing assignments and discussions will be focused on the detailed articulation and understanding of one or two important texts. Prerequisite: Two upper-level philosophy courses.

18-413 HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY: ANCIENT. A survey of Greek philosophy from its inception through Neo-Platonism, emphasizing the unique expositional practices employed by the early Greek thinkers to express philosophical thought and questioning. Topics will range across early epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics and their relation to later philosophy, explored through a selection of primary texts. Prerequisite: Three semester hours of philosophy. Also Classics 07-333.

18-423 HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY: MEDIEVAL/RENAISSANCE. A study of philosophy during the millennium when it was in closest relation to religion, be it Jewish, Muslim, Christian, or pagan. Topics will range across the relation between faith and reason; the existence and nature of God and the soul; magic, prayer, and divination as forms of acquiring knowledge of self, God, and world; and consequent ideas about social order and political systems. Prerequisite: Three semester hours of philosophy.

18-433 HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY: MODERN. An inquiry into some of the principal texts, issues and debates in European philosophy from the 16th to the 18th century, including thinkers such as Montaigne, Galileo, Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Hume and Kant. Topics will range across the emergence of modern science, the rise of epistemology as first philosophy, rationalism, materialism, empiricism, and the construction of secular models of politics. Prerequisite: Three semester hours of philosophy.

18-443 HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY: 19TH CENTURY. An inquiry into the most influential philosophical movements of 19th century Europe, including such authors as Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche. Topics will range across idealism, historicism, materialism, the limits of reason, and the emergence of language as a philosophical problem. Prerequisite: Three semester hours of philosophy.

18-513 HISTORICAL STUDIES. Investigation of a specific figure, period, or movement in the history of philosophy—content will vary from year to year. Intended for students who have taken relevant courses from among 18-413, 423, 433, and 443; but open to others with the permission of the instructor. May be repeated with change in topic.

18-523 CENTRAL TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY. A critical survey of some major area of contemporary philosophical concern—epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, etc. Intended for students who have taken relevant courses from among 18-413, 423, 433, and 443; but open to others with permission of the instructor. May be repeated with change in topic.

18-001, 002, 003, 004 SELECTED TOPICS. May be repeated with change in topic.

18-301, 302, 303, 304 SELECTED TOPICS. Lectures and readings on subjects of special interest. Subjects to be announced. May be repeated with change in topic.

18-903 COLLOQUIUM IN PHILOSOPHY. Intended primarily for majors in Philosophy but open to others with the permission of the instructor. Offered every fall. Prerequisite: 18-402, Reading Philosophy.

18-941, 942, 943, 944 ACADEMIC INTERNSHIP.

18-951, 952, 953, 954 INDEPENDENT STUDY. Readings selected to broaden the student’s acquaintance with areas of philosophy or topics of special interest. May be repeated with changed content.

18-983 HONORS. By invitation only.



	Dr. Shannon Winnubst Dr. Elaine Craddock Dr. Laura Hobgood-Oster Dr. Philip Hopkins Dr. Michael Bray Dr. Alejandro de Acosta Philosophy Courses Religion Courses Photos Return to Main		view current course offerings only Students may major either in religion or in philosophy but may not combine courses in these two areas for a major. A student may minor in either religion or philosophy. Philosophy (PHI) †18-103 INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS. An introduction to issues surrounding moral deliberation, commitment, and choice. Attention will be given to traditional ethical theories, to their implications for moral discussion and decision, and perhaps to related issues such as personal identity and human freedom. (POK-Values Analysis) †18-113 CONTEMPORARY MORAL PROBLEMS. A study of the value systems expressed and embodied in contemporary social and political structures and practices, and the processes of making ethical judgments and decisions from and in response to these. Typically, the focus will be thematic and vary with each offering, and will often engage the selected issues using interdisciplinary texts and resources. (POK-Values Analysis) †18-133 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY. An historically informed investigation of key metaphysical, physical, epistemological, political, ethical and aesthetic issues in philosophy. Emphasis will be placed on the connections between different aspects or spheres of philosophical thinking, as well as the connections between philosophical concepts and historical and social practices. (POK-Values Analysis) 18-143 MEDIA AND ETHICS. A survey of value questions arising in conjunction with and portrayed by communications media. Topics may include the discourse practices and influence of the various media upon cultural identity and self-understanding; value assumptions in news selection and programming, advertising, and entertainment media; media portrayal of minorities and gender; violence and the media; propaganda and public relations agendas and the media; and the issues of free speech, free press, and other rights discourses in the media. †18-203 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. An historical survey of models and theories of education along with contemporary critiques and apologies. The focus will be on analysis of the values, explicit or implicit, in educational structures and practices in order to assist students in gaining proficiency at critically engaging their own education. (POK-Values Analysis) 18-213 FEMINIST POSITIONS. An exploration of the variety of feminist positions within the larger discourse known as “feminism.” Specific focus is given to the sex/gender distinction and the re-thinking of identity in ways that do not silence sexual, gender, racial, ethnic, national or economic differences. The course will also raise the question of theory’s place in feminist political resistance and the possibility of speaking out of non-totalizing feminist positions. Also Feminist Studies 04-213. 18-223 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. An examination of some of the principal philosophical problems involved in the nature of religion. Attention will center on the problem of religious knowledge and its relation to religious affirmation. Also Religion 19-413. 18-233 AESTHETICS. An introduction to the philosophical discourses of the 18th and 19th centuries that attempted to comprehend and grapple with the historical emergence of art-making and art-experience as an apparently unique and separate domain of human understanding, value and practice. We will also discuss various 20th century efforts to clarify and problematize the relationships between art, politics, technology and popular culture. †18-243 THEORIES OF CLASS. This course will consider both the advent of the concept of class as a key to social analysis, as well as its apparent decline as a meaningful term. Our guiding consideration will be the extent to which class distinctions and structures remain central to the analysis and understanding of society, as well as the way in which class differs from and intersects with social structures of race and gender. Also Feminist Studies 04-273. (POK-Values Analysis) †18-253 THEORIES OF RACE. An introduction and survey of contemporary race theory, with emphases on intersections with gender, class, nationalism, and imperialism. Specific focus on the ways race has been constructed as a category of identity across various cultures, academic disciplines, and historical periods. Also Feminist Studies 04-253. (POK-Values Analysis) 18-263 PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE. A philosophical exploration of modern science—its history, aims, methods, conceptual underpinnings and implications. †18-273 BIOMEDICAL ETHICS. An examination of fundamental moral questions arising in contexts of medical treatment, research, and social policy. (POK-Values Analysis) 18-283 LATIN AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY. An introduction to the complex history of Latin American philosophy, including European and indigenous traditions of thought as well as their hybrids. Key issues will be the interpretation and criticism of notions of history and progress, race and ethnicity, colonialism and knowledge production, the philosophical status of indigenous knowledges, and the relation between philosophy and territory. 18-313 METAPHYSICS. Metaphysics is the area of philosophy that traditionally addresses pivotal questions concerning both nature and what is beyond it: being and becoming, space and time, chaos and order, and the number and structures of realities. This course addresses some of the many metaphysical systems that have been proposed and the acquisition and nature of metaphysical knowledge, as well as criticisms of part or all of the metaphysical endeavor. 18-323 PHILOSOPHY OF THE SELF. An exploration of the emergence of this modern concept - the self - and its psychological, anthropological, political, and epistemological contours. Readings may be drawn from a variety of disciplines. 18-353 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. An examination of the ways that writers from the pre-Socratics through the 19th century have framed the field of human history as a philosophical object of analysis and the challenges that have been posed to those methods by 20th century thinkers. Attention will focus on whether and how the discipline of philosophy can “think historically.” 18-363 LOGIC AND REASONING. An introduction to the history of western logic, including formal languages and techniques, and the use of informal logic and argument analysis for the evaluation of reasoning. Significant attention will be given to learning the common fallacies of argumentation and applying this knowledge to contemporary public debate, and to exploring the differences between reasonableness and rationality as historically constructed. 18-373 POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. An examination of topics at the intersection of philosophy and politics, including historical and contemporary philosophical defenses and critiques of social and political orders, and analysis of political and social theories and concepts. 18-383 PHILOSOPHY AND LITERATURE. An examination of the philosophical significance of literature and how different modes of figurative and poetic expression confront philosophers with epistemological, metaphysical, and methodological problems and issues that bear on the presuppositions and practices of their own discipline. Such issues may include their historical relation, questions concerning representation and meaning, or the relation of fact and fiction. Also English 10-383. 18-402 READING PHILOSOPHY. A guided effort to focus and improve advanced students’ capacities for engaged, thoughtful, critical and independent reading of philosophical forms of argumentation and analysis. Writing assignments and discussions will be focused on the detailed articulation and understanding of one or two important texts. Prerequisite: Two upper-level philosophy courses. 18-413 HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY: ANCIENT. A survey of Greek philosophy from its inception through Neo-Platonism, emphasizing the unique expositional practices employed by the early Greek thinkers to express philosophical thought and questioning. Topics will range across early epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics and their relation to later philosophy, explored through a selection of primary texts. Prerequisite: Three semester hours of philosophy. Also Classics 07-333. 18-423 HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY: MEDIEVAL/RENAISSANCE. A study of philosophy during the millennium when it was in closest relation to religion, be it Jewish, Muslim, Christian, or pagan. Topics will range across the relation between faith and reason; the existence and nature of God and the soul; magic, prayer, and divination as forms of acquiring knowledge of self, God, and world; and consequent ideas about social order and political systems. Prerequisite: Three semester hours of philosophy. 18-433 HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY: MODERN. An inquiry into some of the principal texts, issues and debates in European philosophy from the 16th to the 18th century, including thinkers such as Montaigne, Galileo, Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Hume and Kant. Topics will range across the emergence of modern science, the rise of epistemology as first philosophy, rationalism, materialism, empiricism, and the construction of secular models of politics. Prerequisite: Three semester hours of philosophy. 18-443 HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY: 19TH CENTURY. An inquiry into the most influential philosophical movements of 19th century Europe, including such authors as Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche. Topics will range across idealism, historicism, materialism, the limits of reason, and the emergence of language as a philosophical problem. Prerequisite: Three semester hours of philosophy. 18-513 HISTORICAL STUDIES. Investigation of a specific figure, period, or movement in the history of philosophy—content will vary from year to year. Intended for students who have taken relevant courses from among 18-413, 423, 433, and 443; but open to others with the permission of the instructor. May be repeated with change in topic. 18-523 CENTRAL TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY. A critical survey of some major area of contemporary philosophical concern—epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, etc. Intended for students who have taken relevant courses from among 18-413, 423, 433, and 443; but open to others with permission of the instructor. May be repeated with change in topic. 18-001, 002, 003, 004 SELECTED TOPICS. May be repeated with change in topic. 18-301, 302, 303, 304 SELECTED TOPICS. Lectures and readings on subjects of special interest. Subjects to be announced. May be repeated with change in topic. 18-903 COLLOQUIUM IN PHILOSOPHY. Intended primarily for majors in Philosophy but open to others with the permission of the instructor. Offered every fall. Prerequisite: 18-402, Reading Philosophy. 18-941, 942, 943, 944 ACADEMIC INTERNSHIP. 18-951, 952, 953, 954 INDEPENDENT STUDY. Readings selected to broaden the student’s acquaintance with areas of philosophy or topics of special interest. May be repeated with changed content. 18-983 HONORS. By invitation only.