Courses

A survey of traditional problems concerning the existence and nature of God, freedom, justification, morality, etc. Readings from
historical or contemporary philosophers.
Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society
Prof. Georgette Sinkler | MW 11AM
Discussion Sections: F 11AM, 12PM

Human beings are both a product of and a dominant
influence on the physical and biological world we live in.
What can we learn about ourselves by understanding our
relation to the rest of our world? What implications does
this relationship have for how human societies should be
organized? Should human beings care about the earth itself
and the non-human life on it? We will discuss topics like
global warming, human-caused mass extinction, and the
role of disease in human biological and cultural evolution.
Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society
Instructor TBD | Online ASYNCH
Discussion Sections: T 4PM, W 4PM, R 7PM

Practical course designed to improve student
reasoning skills useful for life, college coursework, and
explicitly tested on standardized tests like MCAT, GRE,
LSAT. Emphasis is on developing skill at evaluating,
formulating and presenting arguments.
Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society
Prof. John Whipple | MW 11-11:50AM
Discussion Sections: F 10AM, 11AM

What do designing an electrical circuit, solving a
Sudoku puzzle, and writing a computer program have
in common? They all use the logic for information
encoding and extraction. In this course, we will study
the principles of propositional and first order logic to
understand the concept of logical consequence and
become better reasoners.
Gen. Ed.: Natural World (no lab); fulfills University
Quantitative Reasoning requirement .
Prof. Justin Vlasits | MW 12PM
Discussion Sections: F 9AM, 10AM, 11AM

An introductory survey of topics in political philosophy that
bear on U.S. society. Readings will usually be drawn from
both classical and contemporary sources.
Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society
Instructor TBD | MW 3-4:15PM

There are few certainties in life, but one of them is that it
ends. You, and everyone you have ever met, will one day die.
What does this mean for us? In this course, we take a
philosophical approach to death. We ask questions like: Is
immortality possible? Would immortality be desirable? How
should I feel about my own death? How should I feel about
the death of other people? How should the knowledge that I
will die affect how I live? Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society
Instructor TBD | Online ASYNCH
Discussion Sections: T 4PM, W 4PM, R 7PM
Instructor TBD | Online ASYNCH
Discussion Sections: T 4PM, W 4PM, R 7PM

Moral issues as they arise in medical contexts,
including such topics as abortion, euthanasia,
paternalism, allocation of medical resources, and
psychiatric issues.
Instructor TBD | TR 8-9:15AM

A case-based class exploring strategies and approaches for thinking well about hard ethical questions that
arise in the course of classroom teaching. Topics
include: how to balance fair and consistent standards
with individual accommodation, how to balance
inclusion and equality, should teachers be politically or
morally neutral, and what forms of discipline are
appropriate and when. Although the focus makes the
class particularly suited to those considering a career
in education, the skills developed will help facing all
sorts of moral dilemmas.
Individual and Society and Understanding US Society General
Education credit, as well as the Minor in
Education
Prof. Anthony Laden | MW 12-12:50P

Basic issues concerning knowledge, such as
knowledge of the external world, other minds, scientific
laws, and necessary truths. Prerequisite: One non-logic
course in philosophy; or consent of the instructor.
Instructor TBD | TR 11AM-12:15PM

Almost everyone agrees that we have minds and we have
bodies. What’s less clear is exactly how our minds and
bodies are related. Is there really just one thing with two ways
of describing it? Or, are there two different things that may or
may not interact with each other? In this course, we will look
at a range of answers to questions about the relation
between mind and body. We will then ask whether and how
the nature of conscious experience should impact our answers to questions about the relationship between our minds
and our bodies.
Prof. Daniel Sutherland| MW 9AM
Discussion Sections F 8AM, 9AM

Philosophical issues concerning free will, causation,
action, mind and body, identity over time, God,
universals and particulars. Emphasis varies from term
to term.
Instructor TBD | MW 4:30-5:45PM

The nature of scientific observation, explanation, and
theories; confirmation of laws and theories; the relation
between the physical and social sciences.
Prof. Nick Huggett | TR 11AM-12:15PM

Computing technologies like artificial intelligence (AI)
are dominating headlines. In this course, students will
learn about the philosophical foundations of computing
and AI. The course will primarily explore connections
between computing technologies and philosophical
theories in epistemology and mind, examining questions such as: Do large language models think or understand language? What do deep learning systems tell us
about human cognition? How can we know if computer
simulations are reliable? Is opacity an obstacle to
learning about the world using AI?
Prof. Dasha Pruss | TR 12:30-1:45PM

Philosophers throughout the Islamic world, from the
8th century until today, engaged in sophisticated
debates on a wide range of topics, from logic and
psychology to metaphysics, theology, and politics,
developing novel arguments and theories about
scientific method, the human soul, and the creation of
the world. In this course we will consider how
philosophers in the Islamic world approached these
questions as well as engaged in a series of cultural
exchanges: the translation of Greek philosophy into
Arabic with the help of Syrian Christians, the vibrant
intellectual milieu among Jewish and Muslim authors in
Islamic Spain, the translation of Arabic philosophy into
Latin, and European colonialism.
Prof. Justin Vlasits | MW 9:30-10:45AM

Why has it become so easy to imagine the end of the
world? The rise of the far right, unchecked capitalism,
and escalating climate crises have made Utopian
thinking seem naïve. However, Utopia has played an
important role throughout the history of political
philosophy. This course will survey that history,
investigate how philosophers have imagined alternative
forms of social organization in their times, and weigh
Utopia’s relevance for our own time.
Tobias Garcia Vega | TR 2-3:15PM

This course will explore how we, as inquirers, are embedded in social systems and practices. We will consider how social systems shape how we think, the
questions we ask, the evidence we have access to,
what we attend to, and what we remain ignorant of.
How does power influence these systems, and when is
this a problem? What shortcomings do our knowledge
practices have, and how might we improve them?
Prof. Annette Martin | TR 12:30—1:45PM

Review of predicate logic and of introductory set
theory. The concept of a formal system. Notions of
completeness and soundness.
Prof. Nick Huggett | TR 2-3:15PM

Study of selected philosophers such as Boethius, Avicenna, Aquinas, William Ockham, and selected issues
such as the relationship between faith and reason, the
nature of reason, the nature of human cognition, the
nature of morality.
Prof. Georgette Sinkler | M 1-3:30PM

What makes a society democratic? What does it mean
for the law to rule, and is that different from having the
people rule? Where do rights and equality figure in?
How should a democratic society think about noncitizens? These are not only questions about current
headlines. Political philosophers have been asking and
trying to answer them for a long time. We will read what
they have had to say in the hopes of thinking clearly
about our current moment.
Prof. Anthony Laden| MW 9:30-10:45AM

The course will provide a general introduction to some of the central problems in philosophy. For example, what do we know, and how do we know it? Does a supremely perfect being exist? Do we have free will? What is the nature of morality? Readings will be from classic and contemporary sources.

Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society

Instructor: Prof .Georgette Sinkler

Lecture: MW 11AM

Discussion Sections 11AM, 12AM F

Human beings are both a product of and a dominant influence on the physical and biological world we live in. What can we learn about ourselves by understanding our relation to the rest of our world? What implications does this relationship have for how human societies should be organized? Should human beings care about the earth itself and the non-human life on it? We will discuss topics like global warming, human-caused mass extinction, and the role of disease in human biological and cultural evolution.

Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society

Instructor Michael Guidot | Online ASYNCH
Online Discussion Sections: T 4PM, W 4PM, R 7PM

Practical course designed to improve student reasoning skills useful for life, college coursework, and explicitly tested on standardized tests like MCAT, GRE, LSAT.

Emphasis is on developing skill at evaluating, formulating and presenting arguments.

Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof. John Whipple | MW 11AM
Discussion Sections: F 10AM, 11AM

Instructor: Alex Denley | Online ASYNCH
Online Discussion Sections | T 4PM, W 4PM, R 7PM

What do designing an electrical circuit, solving a Sudoku puzzle, and writing a computer program have in common? They all use logic for information encoding and extraction. In this course, we will study the principles of propositional and first order logic to understand the concept of logical consequence and become better reasoners.

Gen. Ed.: Natural World (No Lab). Satisfies LAS Quantitative Reasoning requirement

Zac Harmon | MW 10AM
Discussion Sections: F 8AM, 9AM, 10AM, 11AM

In this course, we will consider various kinds of love and the issues they raise for our lives. In the first half of the course, we will examine erotic or sexual love. We will also consider expressions of sexuality that occur outside the context of romantic love, like pornography and “casual sex.” We will then move on to consider the unique forms of love involved in friendship, charity & the love of the divine.

Zac Harmon | MW 11AM
Discussion Sections: F 9AM, 10AM, 11AM, 12PM

There are few certainties in life, but one of them is that it
ends. You, and everyone you have ever met, will one day die.

What does this mean for us? In this course, we take a philosophical approach to death. We ask questions like: Is immortality possible? Would immortality be desirable? How should I feel about my own death? How should I feel about the death of other people? How should the knowledge that I will die affect how I live?

Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society
Instructor: Zachary Wellman | Online ASYNCH
Online Discussion Sections: T 4PM, W 4PM, R 7PM

Moral issues as they arise in medical contexts, including such topics as abortion, euthanasia, paternalism, allocation of medical resources, and psychiatric issues.

Instructor: Emma Fieser | TR 8-9:15AM

A case-based class exploring strategies and approach-
es for thinking well about hard ethical questions that arise in the course of classroom teaching. Although the focus makes the class particularly suited to those considering a career in education, the skills developed will help facing all sorts of moral dilemmas.

Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society OR Understanding US Society

Prof. Anthony Laden | MW 11AM
Discussion Sections F 11AM, 12PM

Basic issues concerning knowledge, such as knowledge of the external world, other minds, scientific laws, and necessary truths.

Prof. Georgette Sinkler | MW 1PM
Discussion Sections F 1PM, 2PM

Almost everyone agrees that we have minds and we have bodies. What’s less clear is exactly how our minds and bodies are related. Is there really just one thing with two ways of describing it? Or, are there two different things that may or may not interact with each other? In this course, we will look at a range of answers to questions about the relation between mind and body. We will then ask whether and how the nature of conscious experience should impact our answers to questions about the relationship between our minds and our bodies.

Prof. Rachel Goodman | MW 9AM
Discussion Sections F 8AM, 9AM

Introduction to metaphysics via discussion of selected topics: existence, essence, identity over time, the self, agency, free will.

Prof. Will Small | TR 3:30-4:45PM

The nature of scientific observation, explanation, and theories; confirmation of laws and theories; the relation between the physical and social sciences.

Instructor: Raymond Maung | MW 3-4:15 PM

What is a good life? What is the world like? How does the human world relate to the divine? These fundamental questions occupied the earliest Greek philosophers, from Thales to the Sophists, Socrates, and Plato as well as ancient historians, tragedians, and even doctors. In this course, we will do philosophy with them, focusing on the themes of law (nomos) and nature (phusis).

Prof. Justin Vlasits | TR 9:30-10:45AM

This course will serve as an introduction to two of the most important philosophers of the modern period, David Hume and Immanuel Kant, along with, at the beginning, a brief look at Leibniz. Topics will include skepticism, personal identity, causation, free will, the basis of morality, and the limits of reason.

Prof. Samuel Fleischacker | TR 11AM-12:15PM

Questions about how to live are central to the study of ethics. Similar questions are central to literature. Are works of literature, then, works of ethics? In this course, we’ll investigate what makes a text in philosophical ethics “ethics,” paying close attention to the ways arguments are designed to convince. We’ll then consider if and how various works of literature try to convince. We’ll conclude with a study of the philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch: can a writer working within and between ethics and literature help us clarify both what keeps the two disciplines apart, and what brings them together?

Alex Sarappo | MW 9:30-10:45AM

Things (including people) can change a great deal over time. If things change too much, however, or in the wrong way, we don’t say that they are different but that they no longer exist. What makes the difference between changing and ceasing to exist? Is the answer the same for objects, animals, and people? We will consider these topics by asking questions like: What does it mean to exist? What does it mean to be the same thing at two different times? Can a person change so much they become someone else?

Prof. Marya Schechtman | M 1-3:30PM

In contemporary philosophy much use is made of technical machinery of various sorts. Many topics in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of science, for example, rely on a familiarity with tools from logic, mathematics, probability theory, etc. In this course we will focus on developing a good understanding of these tools.

Prof. Nick Huggett | TR 12:30-1:45PM

The idea that we as human beings do not know as much about the world as we think we do has been expressed in many ways in cultures around the world. But the thinkers of ancient China, Greece, and India went further, developing an entire philosophy around this idea. In this seminar, we will engage in close reading of Zhuangzi, Sextus Empiricus, and Nagarjuna both on their own and in conversation with one another. Our goal is both to understand and to assess different expressions of skepticism, coming to a better appreciation of what can be known about the world.

Prof. Justin Vlasits | TR 12:30-145PM

Can morality be derived from reason alone? This class will examine Kant’s moral philosophy in depth, considering its basic principles and view of human motivation, as well as its implications for everyday life, politics and religion. Readings from Kant’s lectures on moral philosophy, his Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, and his writings on politics and religion.

Prof. Samuel Fleischacker | T 3:30-6PM

This course will provide a general introduction to some of the central problems in philosophy. For example, what do we know, and how do we know it? Does a supremely perfect being exist? Do we have free will? What is the nature of morality? Readings will be from classic and contemporary sources.

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof: Georgette Sinkler

TA: TBD

Lecture: MW 10-10:50 AM

Discussion sections: F 9-9:50 AM or 10-10:50 AM

Human beings are both a product of and a dominant influence on the physical and biological world we live in. What can we learn about ourselves by understanding our relation to the rest of our world? What implications does this relationship have for how human societies should be organized? Should human beings care about the earth itself and the non-human life on it? We will discuss topics like global warming, human-caused mass extinction, and the role of disease in human biological and cultural evolution.

Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society

Online Prof: TBD

Online Lecture: ASYNCH

Discussion Sections: T 4-4:50 PM, W 4-4:50 PM, R 7-7:50 PM, F 1-1:50 PM

Practical course designed to improve student reasoning skills useful for life, college coursework, and explicitly tested on standardized tests like MCAT, GRE, LSAT. Emphasis is on developing skill at evaluating, formulating and presenting arguments.

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof.: John Whipple

TA: TBD

Lecture: MW 11-11:50 AM

Discussion sections: F 10-10:50 AM or 11-11:50 AM

Online prof: TBD

Online sections: ASYNCH

Discussion Sections: T 4-4:50 PM, W 4-4:50 PM, R 7-7:50 PM, F 1-1:50 PM

Information is all around you. It is stored in books, on computers, in your brain, etc. Logic is the study of the most basic property of information: that you can put two pieces of information together to make a new piece of information. This process is called inference and it is at the heart of what it means to be a thinker. In logic, we study inference by trying to give precise rules for what makes a good inference. Our goal is to uncover and understand the hidden structure of information. In addition to the intellectual interest that this project has, it also has important practical benefits. In this course you will learn principles of inference that will be useful to you in any activity that requires careful thought. You will improve your ability to make and evaluate arguments, and you will gain a greater understanding of precision in language.

.

Natural World (no lab); fulfills University Quantitative Reasoning requirement

In-person Prof.: Justin Vlasits

In-person TA: TBD

In-person Lecture: MW 12-12:50 PM

In-person Discussion sections: F 11-11:50 AM, 12-12:50 PM, 1-1:50 PM

Online Profs: TBD

Online Lecture: ASYNC

Online Discussion sections SYNCH: T 4-4:50 PM, W 4-4:50 PM, TH 7-7:50 PM, or F 1-1:50 PM

Is the US a democracy? That depends on what a democracy is. In this class, we will try to figure that out, looking at various answers to 3 key questions: What does it mean for “the
people” to “rule”? Who are “the people”? How do they rule? Students will also learn the core building blocks for doing philosophy: identifying, understanding and evaluating claims, concepts and arguments. The class equips students to think well about US politics, government and our role as citizens.

Gen. Ed.: Individual and Society or Understanding US Society

Prof.: Anthony Laden

TA: TBD

Lecture: TR 1-1:50 PM
Discussion Sections: F 12-12:50 PM, 1-1:50 PM

If you place a toilet in a museum, does that make it art? And who cares—why does it matter whether something is art or not? More generally: what is art, and why do we care about it
(if we do)? In this course we will explore these questions and bring the answers we come up with to bear on our experience of actual works of art in Chicago.

Gen. Ed.: Creative Arts

Prof.: Samuel Fleischacker

TA: TBD

Lecture: MW 10–10:50 AM

Discussion Section: F 2–2:50 PM, 3–3:50 PM

Introduction to philosophy through an exploration of the ethical, epistemological, and metaphysical implications of and questions arising from the use of digital technology. Examples may be taken from Big Data, social media and autonomous technology.

Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof.: TBD

Lecture: MW 12–12:50PM

Discussion Section: F 2–2:50PM, 3–3:50PM

There are few certainties in life, but one of them is that it ends. You, and everyone you have ever met, will one day die. What does this mean for us? In this course, we take a philosophical approach to death. We ask questions like: Is immortality possible? Would immortality be desirable? How should I feel about my own death? How should I feel about the death of other people? How should the knowledge that I will die affect how I live?

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof.: TBD

TAs: TBD

Lecture: MW 10-10:50 AM
Discussion Sections: F 10-10:50 AM, 11-11:50 AM, 12-12:50 PM

Online Prof.: TBD

Online Lecture: ASYNCH

Online Discussion sections SYNCH: T 4-4:50 PM, W 4-4:50 PM, TH 7-7:50 PM, or F 1-1:50 PM

Moral issues as they arise in biomedical research and practice and the use of principles from general ethics to address them. Topics may include euthanasia, paternalism, allocation of medical resources, and healthcare disparities. Course Information: Course is offered in both face-to-face and online formats. Check the class schedule for details on specific sections. Note that the online format involves heavy computer usage; computer and internet access are required. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Lecture.

Prof: TBD

Lecture: TTH 8-9:15 AM

We will examine classical as well as contemporary discussions of what it is to know. What do we know? What counts as good evidence, or good reasons, for a claim to know something? Can we know anything? Can we know our selves? Can we know whether there is a God, or any of the other things central to religious belief? What are the proper or best foundations for knowledge? Readings from Descartes, Hume, Kant, Wittgenstein, as well as philosophers of more recent vintage.

Prof.: TBD

Lecture: TR 2–3:15PM

Almost everyone agrees that we have minds and we have bodies. What’s less clear is exactly how our minds and bodies are related. Is there really just one thing with two ways of describing it? Or, are there two different things that may or may not interact with each other? In this course, we will look at a range of answers to questions about the relation between mind and body. We will then ask whether and how the nature of conscious experience should impact our answers to questions about the relationship between our minds and our bodies.

Prof.: David Hilbert

TAs: TBD

Lecture: MW 9-9:50 AM
Discussion Sections: F 8-8:50 AM, 9-9:50 AM

Philosophical issues concerning free will, causation, action, mind and body, identity over time, God, universals and particulars. Emphasis varies from term to term.

Instructor: TBD

Lecture: TR 3:30-4:45 PM

Science is our best source of knowledge of the world and how it works, but what is the nature of that knowledge and its reliability? We will address questions like: What is science? What is the scientific method? How reliable is the knowledge granted by science? How do fallible, sometimes irrational scientists generate reliable knowledge?

Prof.: Nick Huggett

TA: TBD

Lecture: TR 11–11:50AM

Discussion Section: F 8–8:50 AM, 9–9:50 AM

We all know that language is not always used simply to tell the truth. But what’s the difference between lying, misleading and simply ‘bullshitting’? How do these relate to persuasion and propaganda? We’ll read a wide range of texts in the philosophy of language to help us understand how language functions as a medium of meaning, and how it can be used to inform, communicate, implicate, manipulate, silence, etc.

Prof.: Rachel Goodman

Lecture: TR 12:30–1:45 PM

The focus of this course will be first-order quantification theory. We will begin by reviewing truth-functional logic, treating it in a somewhat more abstract and rigorous way than in PHIL 102. We will then introduce quantifiers and their use to symbolize English sentences. We will set up a natural deduction system for first-order logic and consider metatheoretical questions that arise about such a system—in particular, its soundness and completeness.

Prof.: Nick Huggett

TA: TBD

Lecture: Online ASYNCH

Discussion Section: R 2–3:15 PM (IN PERSON)

Existentialism is both highly theoretical and deeply and directly aimed at questions about the human condition that arise for all of us. Philosophers working in the Existentialist tradition confront topics like freedom, anxiety, death, and the absurdity of life, seeking both to understand the source of these features of human existence and what they imply about how to live fully and well given our limitations. In this course we will look at a range of Existentialist philosophers, including Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, de Beauvoir, and Camus. The course will also offer an introduction to Phenomenology, a philosophical movement that lays much of the methodological and theoretical groundwork for later Existential thought. The readings in the course can be difficult, but the issues addressed are familiar to everyone. Together we will work through the difficult, theoretical parts of the reading, and critically evaluate the claims about the nature of human life and how it should be lived.

Prof.: Marya Schechtman

Lecture: TR 12:30-1:45 PM

Race-related ideas seem to be at the heart of many discussions in today’s society about personal identity, culture, knowledge, and ethics. In this class, we will confront these ideas head on using the methods and tools of philosophy. We’ll ask questions like: what is race and how is it connected to ethnicity? What is racism? How do race and racism affect my life, affect society? How do different races experience or perceive racism, if at all? We will also evaluate the answers that various philosophers have given to these questions.

Prof.: Ray Maung

Lecture: TR 4:30–5:45 PM

Identification and analysis of ethical challenges specific to computing and artificial intelligence as well as the implications of such technology for important moral concepts such as agency, responsibility, and privacy.

Instructor: TBD

Lecture: MW 9:30–10:45 AM

Writing philosophy papers (and anything else) can be enjoyable if you know what you are doing. This course focuses on the activity of writing—presenting ideas clearly—rather than the surface mechanics of grammar and paragraph construction. It is writing intensive, with almost weekly writing assignments. Students will write a new philosophy paper that explores ideas from work in one of their previous courses, and so this course is best taken AFTER you have already completed a 200 level non-logic philosophy class where you have written a paper that is more than a couple of pages long.

Prof.: Anthony Laden

Lecture: MW 9:30–10:45 AM

Many have thought that being minded involves representing the world, being rational and being conscious. In this class, we look at some central ways that philosophers have understood these aspects of mentality, how they fit into the natural world, and the relationships between them. For example, we will ask: are all minds rational? Are all minds conscious? To what extent are our abilities to reason and represent innate? Is our conscious nature compatible with, and/or explained by, our physical nature?

Prof.: Rachel Goodman

Lecture: R 3:30–6 PM

In contemporary philosophy much use is made of technical machinery of various sorts. Many topics in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of science, for example, rely on a familiarity with tools from logic, mathematics, probability theory, etc. In this course we will focus on developing a good understanding of these tools.

Prof.: Nick Huggett

Lecture: TR 12:30-1:45 PM

Descartes’ metaphysics and epistemology have been enormously influential. Nearly all philosophy students read selections from Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, but
few attain an accurate understanding of what he is attempting to accomplish in this famous text. We will aim to develop a deeper, more nuanced, and more historically
situated understanding of Descartes’ metaphysics and epistemology. Some guiding questions we will consider: does Descartes commit the fallacy of circular reasoning in his
attempt to defeat skepticism? How does Descartes conceive of mind, body, and mind-body union and interaction? What role do rhetorical strategies play in the Meditations? In what sense is Descartes committed to the radical (and seemingly implausible) doctrine of the creation of the eternal truths?

Prof.: John Whipple

Lecture: MW 9:30-10:45 AM

Do the ends always justify the means? Can the prospect of a good outcome (e.g. saving the lives of many) justify, or even require, doing something we’d otherwise consider unethical
(e.g. killing an innocent person)? Yes, according to some philosophers (“consequentialists”). We’ll consider some varieties of, and objections to, consequentialism in order to determine whether it is an acceptable ethical theory.

Prof.: Will Small

Lecture: T 3:30-6 PM

This course will provide a general introduction to some of the central problems in philosophy. For example, what do we know, and how do we know it? Does a supremely perfect being exist? Do we have free will? What is the nature of morality? Readings will be from classic and contemporary sources.

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof: Georgette Sinkler

TA: Charlie Wiland

Lecture: MW 11-11:50 PM

Discussion sections: F 11-12:50 AM or 12-12:50 PM

Human beings are both a product of and a dominant influence on the physical and biological world we live in. What can we learn about ourselves by understanding our relation to the rest of our world? What implications does this relationship have for how human societies should be organized? Should human beings care about the earth itself and the non-human life on it? We will discuss topics like global warming, human-caused mass extinction, and the role of disease in human biological and cultural evolution.

Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society

Online Prof: Taylor Kloha

Online Lecture: ASYNCH

Discussion Sections: T 4-4:50 PM, W 4-4:50 PM, R 7-7:50 PM, F 1-1:50 PM

Practical course designed to improve student reasoning skills useful for life, college coursework, and explicitly tested on standardized tests like MCAT, GRE, LSAT. Emphasis is on developing skill at evaluating, formulating and presenting arguments.

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof.: John Whipple

TA: Tom Herzberg

Lecture: MW 11-11:50 AM

Discussion sections: F 10-10:50 AM or 11-11:50 AM

Online prof: Joshua Williams

Online sections: ASYNCH

Information is all around you. It is stored in books, on computers, in your brain, etc. Logic is the study of the most basic property of information: that you can put two pieces of information together to make a new piece of information. This process is called inference and it is at the heart of what it means to be a thinker. In logic, we study inference by trying to give precise rules for what makes a good inference. Our goal is to uncover and understand the hidden structure of information. In addition to the intellectual interest that this project has, it also has important practical benefits. In this course you will learn principles of inference that will be useful to you in any activity that requires careful thought. You will improve your ability to make and evaluate arguments, and you will gain a greater understanding of precision in language.

.

Natural World (no lab); fulfills University Quantitative Reasoning requirement

In-person Prof.: Aidan Gray

In-person TA: Alex Sarappo

In-person Lecture: MW 10-10:50 PM

In-person Discussion sections: F 8-8:50 AM, 9-9:50 AM, 10-10:50 AM, 11-11:50 AM

Online Profs: Emma Fieser, Bertin Ortega-Polito

Online Lecture: ASYNC

Online Discussion sections SYNCH: T 4-4:50 PM, W 4-4:50 PM, TH 7-7:50 PM, or F 1-1:50 PM

This course is an introduction to philosophy through an investigation of the following questions: Who am I? What does it mean to be human? How am I different from other humans? What is the source of my identity, and is it something I can control? We will think about these questions philosophically, addressing them through philosophical texts from Ancient Greece to the present. Our goal is not just to learn how philosophers past and present have approached these issues, but also to begin to think philosophically ourselves.

Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof.: Will Small

TA: Xingfei Zheng

Lecture: TR 2-2:50 PM
Discussion Sections: F 1-1:50 PM, 2-2:50 PM

There are few certainties in life, but one of them is that it ends. You, and everyone you have ever met, will one day die. What does this mean for us? In this course, we take a philosophical approach to death. We ask questions like: Is immortality possible? Would immortality be desirable? How should I feel about my own death? How should I feel about the death of other people? How should the knowledge that I will die affect how I live?

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof.: Daniel Sutherland

TAs: Sam Bysh, Akshita Tripathi

Lecture: MW 11-11:50 AM
Discussion Sections: F 11-11:50 AM, 12-12:50PM, 1-1:50PM, 2-2:50PM

Online Prof.: Zachary Welman

Online Lecture: ASYNCH

Online Discussion sections SYNCH: T 4-4:50 PM, W 4-4:50 PM, TH 7-7:50 PM, or F 1-1:50 PM

Moral issues as they arise in biomedical research and practice and the use of principles from general ethics to address them. Topics may include euthanasia, paternalism, allocation of medical resources, and healthcare disparities. Course Information: Course is offered in both face-to-face and online formats. Check the class schedule for details on specific sections. Note that the online format involves heavy computer usage; computer and internet access are required. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Lecture.

Prof: Hannah Martens

Lecture: TTH 8-9:15 AM

We will examine classical as well as contemporary discussions of what it is to know. What do we know? What counts as good evidence, or good reasons, for a claim to know something? Can we know anything? Can we know our selves? Can we know whether there is a God, or any of the other things central to religious belief? What are the proper or best foundations for knowledge? Readings from Descartes, Hume, Kant, Wittgenstein, as well as philosophers of more recent vintage.

Prof.: Sam Fleischacker

TA: Jake Spinella

Lecture: MW 2-2:50 PM
Discussion Sections: F 1-1:50PM, 2-2:50PM

Almost everyone agrees that we have minds and we have bodies. What’s less clear is exactly how our minds and bodies are related. Is there really just one thing with two ways of describing it? Or, are there two different things that may or may not interact with each other? In this course, we will look at a range of answers to questions about the relation between mind and body. We will then ask whether and how the nature of conscious experience should impact our answers to questions about the relationship between our minds and our bodies.

Prof.: Rachel Goodman

TAs: Tobias Garcia-Vega, Eric Anderson

Lecture: MW 9-9:50 AM
Discussion Sections: F 8-8:50 AM, 9-9:50 AM

Philosophical issues concerning free will, causation, action, mind and body, identity over time, God, universals and particulars. Emphasis varies from term to term.

Instructor: Tyler Sproule

Lecture: TR 3:30-4:45 PM

The nature of scientific observation, explanation, and theories; confirmation of laws and theories; the relation between the physical and social sciences.

Instructor: Raymond Maung

Lecture: MWF 1-1:50 PM

This course will introduce Aristotle’s philosophy by examining his conceptions of what it is to be a human being and of what it is to live a good human life. We will consider questions such as: What is a rational animal? What does a rational animal need—and need to do—in order to flourish? What is the relationship between thought and action? What role do non-rational sources of motivation play in the life of a rational animal? What is a virtue, and why are virtues worth having? How do we become good? We will read selections from several works by Aristotle (and his Stoic successors), but our focus will be on his De Anima (‘On the Soul’) and Nicomachean Ethics.

Prof.: Will Small

Lecture: TR 11-12:15 PM

Existentialism is both highly theoretical and deeply and directly aimed at questions about the human condition that arise for all of us. Philosophers working in the Existentialist tradition confront topics like freedom, anxiety, death, and the absurdity of life, seeking both to understand the source of these features of human existence and what they imply about how to live fully and well given our limitations. In this course we will look at a range of Existentialist philosophers, including Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, de Beauvoir, and Camus. The course will also offer an introduction to Phenomenology, a philosophical movement that lays much of the methodological and theoretical groundwork for later Existential thought. The readings in the course can be difficult, but the issues addressed are familiar to everyone. Together we will work through the difficult, theoretical parts of the reading, and critically evaluate the claims about the nature of human life and how it should be lived.

Prof.: Marya Schechtman

Lecture: TR 12:30-1:45 PM

Why do we have female birth control, but no male birth control? What does it mean to say that gender is “socially constructed”? Can words really be oppressive? In this course we will touch on these and other questions as we review key debates in feminist philosophy, with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of both gender and gendered forms of injustice.

Prof.: Annette Martín

Lecture: TR 2-3:15 PM

Human beings, like all other living things, are the product of evolutionary processes that have shaped our bodies and also our psychology and with it the way we interact with other human beings. Although both features are found in other living things, cooperative behavior and cultural learning play a bigger role in human behavior than for most other organisms and underlay much of what we consider uniquely human. The course will be focused on exploration of the application of evolutionary ideas to understanding aspects of human culture and human behavior and the philosophical consequences of those ideas. After an introduction to evolutionary theory the course will be focused on two main themes: (1) the implications of evolutionary thinking for understanding human social behavior and the implications for ethics of these accounts; (2) evolutionary understanding of communication including language.

Prof.: Dave Hilbert

Lecture: TR 11-12:15 PM

In contemporary philosophy much use is made of technical machinery of various sorts. Many topics in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of science, for example, rely on a familiarity with tools from logic, mathematics, probability theory, etc. In this course we will focus on developing a good understanding of these tools.

Prof.: Nick Huggett

Lecture: TR 12:30-1:45 PM

The problem of evil is one of the most formidable challenges facing traditional theism. How could a God that is all knowing, all-powerful, and completely good allow events like earthquakes and pandemics to occur that kill hundreds of thousands of people? How could such a God allow thousands of children to die every day from starvation and fail to prevent atrocities like the Holocaust? In this course we will study different historical treatments of the problem of evil, with a focus on two figures from the modern period: Pierre Bayle, and G. W. Leibniz. We will also try to discern the extent to which particular figures’ approaches to the problem of evil are grounded in their broader epistemological and metaphysical commitments.

Prof.: John Whipple

Lecture: MW 9:30-10:45 AM

What makes inequality unjust? Is it always unjust? And what do we mean by “equality” anyway? Should we even be thinking about equality when we think about justice? We will start off with Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origins of Inequality, and then move on to a variety of relatively contemporary authors. We’ll also look at some empirical studies, especially from the world of education.

Prof.: Anthony Laden

Lecture: T 3:30-6 PM

This course will provide a general introduction to some of the central problems in philosophy. For example, what do we know, and how do we know it? Does a supremely perfect being exist? Do we have free will? What is the nature of morality? Readings will be from classic and contemporary sources.

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof: Georgette Sinkler

TA: Tom Hertzberg

Lecture: MW 12-12:50 PM

Discussion sections: F 12-12:50 PM or 1-1:50 PM

Critical thinking will enable you to better understand, evaluate, and defend the beliefs that make up your worldview, as well as the competing beliefs offered by others. We will learn how to analyze, evaluate and criticize arguments. We will then apply these skills to various forms of reasoning offered in academic & non-academic contexts. These are the skills you need to do well in college and to ace tests like the MCAT & GRE.

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

In-person: Prof. John Whipple

In-person TA: Xingfei Zheng

In-person Lecture: MW 11-11:50 AM

In-person Discussion sections: F 10-10:50 AM or 11-11:50 AM

Online: Prof. : Joshua Williams

Lecture: ASYNC

Online Discussion section: T 4-4:50 PM W 4-4:50 PM TH 1-1:50 PM F 1-1:50 PM

Information is all around you. It is stored in books, on computers, in the rings of a tree, in your brain. Logic is the study of the most basic property of information: that you can put pieces of information together to make a new piece of information. This process is called inference and it is at the heart of what it means to be a thinker. In logic, we study inference by establishing precise rules for what makes a good inference. In this course you will learn principles of inference that will be useful to you in any activity that requires thought. You will improve your ability to make and evaluate arguments, and you will gain a greater appreciation for precision in language.

Gen.Ed.: Natural World (No Lab); also fulfils LAS Quantitative Reasoning requirement

In-person Prof.: Daniel Sutherland

In-person TA: Eric Anderson, Zach Welman

In-person Lecture: MW 12-12:50 PM

In-person Discussion sections: F 9-9:50 AM, 10-10:50 AM, 11-11:50 AM, 12-12:50 PM

Online Prof. Taylor Kloha

Online Lecture: ASYNC

Online Discussion sections SYNCH: T 4-4:50, W 4-4:50, TH 1-1:50, or F 1-1:50

Is the US a democracy? That depends on what a democracy is. In this class, we will try to figure that out, looking at various answers to 3 key questions: What does it mean for “the people” to “rule”? Who are “the people”? How do they rule? Students will also learn the core building blocks for doing philosophy: identifying, understanding and evaluating claims, concepts and arguments.

Gen. Ed.: Individual & Society or Understanding US Society

Prof.: Anthony Laden

TA: Sam Bysh

Lecture: MW 11-11:50 AM

Discussion sections: F 11-11:50 AM, 12-12:50 PM

What does it mean to love someone? Are romantic relationships more valuable than friendships? What is the relationship between sex and romantic love? Is sexual objectification always wrong? This course will examine these and related philosophical questions about love and sex.

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof.: Annette Martin

TA: Raymond Maung, Charlie Wiland

Lecture: MW 2-2:50 PM

Discussion sections: F 9-9:50 AM, 10-10:50 AM, 12-12:50 PM, 1-1:50 PM

There are few certainties in life, but one of them is that it ends. You, and everyone you have ever met, will one day die. What does this mean for us? In this course, we take a philosophical approach to death. We ask questions like: Is immortality possible? Would immortality be desirable? How should I feel about my own death? How should I feel about the death of other people? How should the knowledge that I will die affect how I live?

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Online Prof.: Emma Fieser, Bertin Ortega Polito

Online Lecture: ASYNCH

Online Discussion section: T 4-4:50 PM, W 4-4:50 PM, TH 1-1:50 PM or 7-7:50 PM, F 1-1:50 PM

Moral issues as they arise in biomedical research and practice and the use of principles from general ethics to address them. Topics may include euthanasia, paternalism, allocation of medical resources, and healthcare disparities. Course Information: Course is offered in both face-to-face and online formats. Check the class schedule for details on specific sections. Note that the online format involves heavy computer usage; computer and internet access are required. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Lecture.

Prof: Hannah Martens

Lecture: TTH 8-9:15 AM

Basic issues concerning knowledge, such as knowledge of the external world, other minds, scientific laws, and necessary truths. Course Information: Prerequisite(s): One non-logic course in philosophy; or consent of the instructor. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Lecture.

Prof: Georgette Sinkler

Lecture: TTH 3:30-4:45 PM

Theories and methods of scientific psychology: modes of explaining the structure of theories, the nature of mental states; implications of commonsense conceptions of the mind. Course Information: Prerequisite(s): One non-logic course in philosophy; or junior or senior standing in the physical, biological, or social sciences; or consent of the instructor. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Lecture.
Section information text:
Almost everyone agrees that we have minds and we have bodies. What’s less clear is exactly how our minds and bodies are related. Is there really just one thing with two ways of describing it? Or are there two very different things and how do they interact? We will also focus on questions concerning the senses from both a scientific and a philosophical perspective.

Prof.: Daniel Sutherland

TA: Tobias Garcia-Vega, Akshita Tripathi

Lecture: MW 9-9:50 AM

Discussion section: F 8-8:50 AM, 9-9:50 AM

Philosophical issues concerning free will, causation, action, mind and body, identity over time, God, universals and particulars. Emphasis varies from term to term. Course Information: Prerequisite(s): One course in philosophy or consent of the instructor. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Lecture-Discussion.

Prof.: Tyler Sproule

Lecture: MW 3:00-4:15 PM

The nature of scientific observation, explanation, and theories; confirmation of laws and theories; the relation between the physical and social sciences. Course Information: Prerequisite(s): One non-logic course in philosophy; or junior or senior standing in the physical, biological, or social sciences; or consent of the instructor. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Lecture.

Prof.: Jake Spinella

Lecture: TTH 2-3:15 PM

Philosophical issues concerning meaning, the relationship between language and thought, how language is to be distinguished from other forms of communication, and how truth relates to meaning. Course Information: 3 hours. Recommended background: One non-logic course in philosophy. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Lecture and one Discussion.

Prof.: Cody Hatfield-Myers

Lecture: TTH 11-12:15 PM

Representation of English sentences using quantifiers and identity; quantificational natural deduction; interpretations. Optional topics include naive set theory; axiomatic systems; theory of descriptions; metatheory. Course Information: Prerequisite(s): Grade of B or better in PHIL 102. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Lecture.
Section information text:
The focus of this course will be first-order quantification theory. We will begin by reviewing truth-functional logic, treating it in a somewhat more abstract and rigorous way than in PHIL 102. We will then introduce quantifiers and their use to symbolize English sentences. We will set up a natural deduction system for first-order logic and consider meta-theoretical questions that arise about such a system—in particular, its soundness and completeness. Prerequisite: Grade of B or better in PHIL 102.

Prof.: Nick Huggett

Lecture: TTH 12:30-1:45 PM

Introduction to Descartes and some of his successors in the early modern period. Course Information: Prerequisite(s): One non-logic course in philosophy; or consent of the instructor. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Lecture.
Section information text:
Introduction to Descartes and some of his successors in the early modern period. Prerequisite(s): One non-logic course in philosophy; or consent of the instructor.

Prof.: John Whipple

Lecture: MW 9:30-10:45 AM

Survey of major topics in ethical theory and political philosophy. Emphasis varies. Course Information: 3 hours. May be repeated if topics vary. Approval to repeat course granted by the department. Prerequisite(s): One non-logic course in philosophy; or consent of the instructor. Recommended background: PHIL 103 or PHIL 109 or PHIL 112 or PHIL 116. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Lecture.
Section information text:
How should we treat animals? May we eat them? Use them in scientific experiments? And what do we mean by “animals,” anyway? How should we understand what they are alongside what we are? We will consider various philosophical responses to these and related questions, as well as treatments of the issues in literature and film.

Prof.: Alex Sarappo

Lecture: MW 4:30-5:45 PM

Intensive treatment of one or more topics, such as free will, personal identity, causation, existence, substance and attribute, the nature of the mind. Course Information: 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite(s): One non-logic 200-level course in philosophy; or consent of the instructor. Recommended background: PHIL 102.
Section information text:
What is the difference between those events in a person’s history that manifest agency and those that she merely undergoes? When and why are we accountable/ responsible for our actions? When and how do factors like coercion, deception, and ignorance reduce or remove autonomy and/or accountability? Do autonomous agency and moral responsibility require “freedom of the will”? Are they compatible with what science teaches us about the universe and about ourselves?

Prof.: Will Small

Lecture: T 3:30-6 PM

Ludwig Wittgenstein was one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th Century. His later philosophy is notoriously difficult to interpret. Though its topics are of central concern to “analytic” philosophy, it is written in seemingly loosely connected, often cryptic, remarks. In this course we will closely examine the later Wittgenstein’s contributions to the philosophy of language. We will explore his rejection of the “Augustinian” picture of language, his introduction of the idea of a “language game,” his argument that there could not be a “private language,” his discussion of the nature of “rule-following,” and his discussion of certainty and scepticism. In addition to reading primary texts, and commentaries on them, we look at the work of contemporary philosophers who have picked up Wittgensteinian themes and problems.

Prof.: Aidan Gray

Lecture: TTH 2-3:15 PM

Selected topics in ethics. Course Information: 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated up to 1 time(s) with approval. Approval to repeat course granted by the department. Prerequisite(s): One 200-level course in philosophy or consent of the instructor. Recommended background: Credit in a course in moral, social, or political philosophy.
Section information text:
This course will first consider ways in which Western philosophers have reacted to and/or been impacted by colonialism, since 1500 – whether speaking up against it or subtly or not so subtly building colonialist attitudes into their moral and political views – then turn to examine the notion of colonialism itself and ask how it should be defined. Readings from Francesco de Vitoria, John Locke, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Charles Mills, and others.

Prof.: Samuel Fleischaker

Lecture: TH 3:30-6 PM

This course will provide a general introduction to some of the central problems in philosophy. For example, what do we know, and how do we know it? Does a supremely perfect being exist? Do we have free will? What is the nature of morality? Readings will be from classic and contemporary sources.

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof: Georgette Sinkler | MW 12-12:50 PM

Discussion sections: F 11-11:50 AM or 12-12:50 PM

Critical thinking will enable you to better understand, evaluate, and defend the beliefs that make up your worldview, as well as the competing beliefs offered by others. We will learn how to analyze, evaluate and criticize arguments. We will then apply these skills to various forms of reasoning offered in academic & non-academic contexts. These are the skills you need to do well in college and to ace tests like the MCAT & GRE.

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

In-person: Prof. John Whipple | MW 11-11:50 AM

Discussion sections: F 11-11:50 AM or 12-12:50 PM

Online: Prof. TBD | Lecture ASYNC

Discussion section: SYNCH [times arranged Week 1]

Information is all around you. It is stored in books, on computers, in the rings of a tree, in your brain. Logic is the study of the most basic property of information: that you can put pieces of information together to make a new piece of information. This process is called inference and it is at the heart of what it means to be a thinker. In logic, we study inference by establishing precise rules for what makes a good inference. In this course you will learn principles of inference that will be useful to you in any activity that requires thought. You will improve your ability to make and evaluate arguments, and you will gain a greater appreciation for precision in language.

Gen.Ed.: Natural World (No Lab); also fulfils LAS Quantitative Reasoning requirement

In-person: Prof. Justin Vlasits | MW 10-10:50 AM

Discussion sects: F 10-10:50, 11-11:50, 12-12:50 or 1-1:50

Online Lecture: ASYNC

Discussion sections SYNCH: T 10-10:50, 11-11:50, 4—-4:50; W 4-4:50; R 1-1:50; or F 1-1:50

Surveys attempts to answer central questions of ethics: What acts are right? What things are good? How do we know this?

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof: TBD | MWF 11-11:50 AM

Introduction to the fundamental problems in understanding art; the historical background; the concept of the aesthetic; theories of art; intentionalistic criticism; metaphor; symbolism; expression; theories of evaluation.

Gen.Ed.: Creative Arts

Prof: TBD | MWF 2-2:50 PM

What is freedom, and why do we value it? Do we have free will? What limitations on individual freedom by society are legitimate? What is a free society?

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof. Sam Fleischacker | MW 12-12:50 PM

Discussion sections: F 12-12:50 PM or 1-1:50 PM

What is it to love someone as a lover rather than a parent, sibling, or friend? What is the nature of sexual desire; how does it relate to love, to sexual activity and sexual pleasure? Among the topics discussed are sexual intercourse, transgender identity, homosexuality, prostitution, pornography, incest, and rape.

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Prof: Maria Mejia | MW 2-2:50 PM

Discussion sections: F 1-1:50 PM or 2-2:50 PM

There are few certainties in life, but one of them is that it ends. You, and everyone you have ever met, will one day die. What does this mean for us? In this course, we take a philosophical approach to death. We ask questions like: Is immortality possible? Would immortality be desirable? How should I feel about my own death? How should I feel about the death of other people? How should the knowledge that I will die affect how I live?

Gen.Ed.: Individual & Society

Online: Prof. TBD | Lecture ASYNC

Discussion sections SYNCH: [times arranged Week 1]

Moral issues as they arise in medical contexts, including such topics as abortion, euthanasia, paternalism, allocation of medical resources, and psychiatric issues.

Prof: TBD | TR8-9:15 AM

Basic issues concerning knowledge, such as knowledge of the external world, other minds, scientific laws, and necessary truths.

Prof. TBD | TR 2-3:15 PM

Philosophy and psychology both ask questions about the nature and function of the mind. Increasingly, these two forms of inquiry have interacted and informed each other in fruitful ways. We will study some of the ways in which philosophical and scientific of the mind constrain and support one another in our attempts to understand the mind and behavior. Topics will include consciousness, rationality, moral motivation, mind-body interactions, and the history of brain science.

Prof. Marya Schechtman | MW 9-9:50 AM

Discussion Sections: F 8-8:50 AM or 9-9:50 AM

Metaphysics is the study of the most fundamental questions about the way things are. We will investigate issues of possibility, necessity, essence, and possible worlds. We ask questions like: Is it possible for a mathematical truth to be false? Could I have been a penguin? What are the essential properties of ordinary individuals such as people, cats, trees, and tables?

Professor TBD | TR 3:30-4:45 PM

It is often claimed that science is our best source of knowledge of the world and how it works. It is also often claimed that science is able to supply that knowledge of the world because it operates in accordance with a unique method. We will evaluate and examine these claims, addressing questions like: What is science? What is the scientific method? How reliable is the knowledge generated by science? How do fallible, sometimes irrational scientists generate reliable knowledge?

Prof. David Hilbert | MW 1-1:50

Discussion sections: F 10-10:50 AM, 11-11:50 AM

What is a good life? What is the world like? How does the human world relate to the divine? These fundamental questions occupied the earliest Greek philosophers, from Thales to the Sophists, Socrates, and Plato. Focusing on the themes of law (nomos) and nature (phusis), we won’t just learn what these philosophers thought; we will question them, argue with them, and develop our own answers to these timeless questions. We will read the original texts in translation of these early Greek philosophers, as well as ancient historians, tragedians, and even doctors!

Professor Justin Vlasits | MWF 12-12:50

In the Islamic Golden Age (800-1400 CE), philosophers such as al-Farabi, Avicenna, al-Ghazali, and Averroes made enormous contributions to every aspect of philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and philosophical theology. But philosophy in the Islamic world did not end with Averroes. It continued to flourish in Muslim Eastern countries, in particular Persia and India, with the works of such philosophers as Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra. In the contemporary era, drawing on their rich tradition, Muslim philosophers such as Muhammad Iqbal, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Amina Wadud continue to tackle social, philosophical, and theological issues in the Islamic world. In this course, we will discuss the works of Muslim philosophers from the Golden Age to the present day.

Prof. Hashem Morvarid | MW 4:30-5:45 PM

Kant, one of the most important and influential philosophers in the Western tradition, developed his philosophy in reaction to both the empiricist and rationalist traditions and against the larger background of the scientific revolution.  We will place his philosophy in historical context by first looking closely at some of his predecessors, including Cavendish, Leibniz, and especially Locke.  That will put us in a position to understand Kant’s revolutionary approach to philosophy toward the end of the course.

Prof. Daniel Sutherland | TR 12:30-1:45 PM

Is knowing how to do something (e.g. how to drive stick) simply a matter of knowing facts about it? Or does it require having the ability to do it? What is the relationship between know-how and skill? In what sense is know-how a kind of practical knowledge? And how can we acquire it?

Prof. Will Small | R 3:30-6 PM

The course will provide an overview of philosophy as it was practiced during the Middle Ages in the Latin-speaking West. The work of authors such as Augustine, Aquinas, Ockham, and Kilvington will be explored on topics ranging from the nature of change to compatibility of reason and religion.

Prof Georgette Sinkler | MW 9:30-10:45 AM

The idea that we should always promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people has been probably the most popular nonreligious moral system in the world, for the past 200 years. We will explore both its advantages and its (many) problems in this class. Readings from Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Aldous Huxley, Bernard Williams and John Rawls.

Prof. Sam Fleischacker | T 3:30-6 PM