Philosophy Courses
Survey of the main topics of philosophy, which may include God, souls, free will, the nature of right and wrong, just government, truth, and knowledge. Offered in the fall and spring semesters.
Introduction to the concepts and methods used to identify, construct, and assess arguments as they appear in editorials, articles, ordinary speech, etc.
In this course, students will learn how to apply the tools of formal logic to philosophical and everyday reasoning. Students will learn to use formal tools of sentential and predicate logic, such as constructing proofs and countermodels, in order to evaluate a variety of arguments. The class will also consider influential arguments from both the history of philosophy and the contemporary literature—arguments that concern such topics as ethics, knowledge, and identity.
What makes a good life? Why should we live one way rather than another? Is there a purpose to life? These are questions that we must all confront whether or not we explicitly think about them or approach them philosophically. One way to approach them philosophically is by thinking about the meaning of life: is there a meaning, and if so, what is that meaning and what is its source? In this class students will analyze questions about meaning, and then learn about and analyze the different ways of answering these questions. Students will look at ancient answers to these questions about meaning, then turn to some western and non-western religious answers, and then how agnostics, atheists, nihilists and existentialists have responded. Students will also look at the views of those who think we can find meaning in the natural world around us. Finally students will look at how science can inform our answers to questions about meaning, in particular through psychology, the brain sciences and evolutionary framework, and how technology may change the way we find or create meaning.
Survey of the main topics of philosophy, which may include God, souls, free will, the nature of right and wrong, just government, truth, and knowledge. Restricted to UA Honors students.
In this course, students will learn how to apply the tools of formal logic to philosophical and everyday reasoning. Students will also learn to use formal tools of sentential and predicate logic, such as constructing proofs and countermodels, in order to evaluate a variety of arguments. This class will also consider influential arguments from both the history of philosophy and the contemporary literature—arguments that concern such topics as ethics, knowledge, and identity.
This course provides an introduction to some of the most important philosophical ideas, texts, and figures of Ancient Greece and Rome. We will read and discuss a selection of philosophical masterpieces, many of which are literary masterpieces as well, and have exercised an unparalleled influence on the subsequent course of Western Philosophy. Authors to be discussed may include Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, Stoics, and Skeptics, as well as some earlier pre-Socratic thinkers. We will be considering the views of these authors on a number of issues, many of which continue to be influential today. These may include their views on ethics, politics, psychology, epistemology, physics, metaphysics, rhetoric, and philosophical method.
This course will look at the main figures and intellectual developments of the early Modern period of philosophy. We will proceed chronologically, starting with Descartes's seminal Meditations on First Philosophy and tracing two very different branches of influence from there to what are often called the Rationalist and Empiricist schools. Other figures of note will be Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.
Few have had a more profound impact on a discipline than Plato has had on philosophy. The purpose of this class is gain a better understanding of Plato’s philosophical thought and writings. Students will read a selection of dialogues from the early, middle, and late period of Plato’s philosophical career. Special attention will be paid to each dialogue in its own right, but students will also consider the development of Plato’s thought across dialogues. Topics to be discussed may include life and death, the soul, the nature of reality, knowledge, virtue and happiness, rhetoric and persuasion, love, law, and political expertise. This course requires no prior courses in philosophy, and should be of equal interest to students who intend to pursue other majors.
This course is designed to give the students a broad introduction to the field of philosophical ethics. The primary aim is to acquaint students with the basic subject matter of ethics as it is studied within philosophy, a few central authorities and positions, and a feel for how philosophers engage with contemporary ethical issues in light of some of the historical influences on the discipline. We will read a variety of texts ranging from historical works on ethics generally to contemporary works focusing on specific moral issues. The hope is that students will develop an understanding and appreciation of how different ethical theories apply to particular cases, and how they might begin to engage in genuine ethical debates. Restricted to UA Honors students.
This class provides an introduction to the philosophical study of applied ethics by way of a discussion of topics related to the practice of medical and biological science. Topics of discussion will include abortion, stem cell research, cloning, the allocation of scarce or limited resources, animal experimentation, and patient autonomy, among others. Along the way, other important topics in moral philosophy will be discussed.
This course serves as an introduction to central debates in political philosophy. The major questions we explore are the following: How can the coercive authority the government exercises over its citizens be justified? What does justice require in our society today? What role do democracy, freedom, rights and equality play in our understanding of a just society? Through the study of both historical and contemporary texts, we investigate these topics. We also consider how these issues bear upon debates in the contemporary American context concerning the following: restrictions on free speech, participation in the democratic process, the war on drugs, homelessness, education and socioeconomic inequality.
Should we have a government at all? What justifies the government in telling you what to do? What powers does a legitimate government exercise over citizens? What does a just society look like? These are some of the central questions of political philosophy. In this course, we seek to answer these questions using the tools of philosophical investigation. We consider different viewpoints and theories on the value of democracy, freedom, rights, and economic justice. This course serves as an introduction to central debates in political philosophy, and no prior exposure to the subject is presumed.
How should we live together? In this course, we seek to answer this question through moral assessment of the institutional rules and cultural norms that shape our interaction with others and the world around us. We specifically consider issues in the following two categories: I. Markets & consumption. In the modern-day economy, we must grapple with important issues concerning the responsibilities of individual consumers and corporations, what goods may be legitimately bought and sold in a free market, and how economic transactions between nations should be structured to count as fair. II. Violence. One of the features thought to make the state distinctive is that it has a monopoly over the legitimate use of force. Given this power, we will examine the legitimate use of violence by the government. Is the death penalty justified? Is the use of torture permissible under any circumstances? How should it deal with terrorists as opposed to traditional combatants in war?.
This class is an introduction to and survey of philosophical issues in the law, focusing on issues in general jurisprudence such as the nature of law and its relation to morality, the grounds of the legitimacy of legal authority, and the sources of legal normativity and validity. There may also be some discussion of issues in specific jurisprudence such as the value of written constitutions and their interpretations, the nature of extent of legal responsibility, and questions about the authority of non-elected judges. At least one prior course in philosophy is strongly recommended.
This is a course exploring major issues in the philosophy of constitutional law. Generally constitutional law is concerned with what powers and responsibilities governments have as well as what the limits on those powers might be, including civil rights. In doing so, constitutions guide official determinations of what counts as legally valid within the relevant jurisdiction. Topics might include debates over the proper way to interpret constitutions, whether constitutions must (or should) be written documents, whether they are necessary (or desirable) in a democracy, the relation between principles of legality set forth in constitutions and moral principles (especially the relation between legal rights and moral rights), and the advisability of official bodies tasked with interpreting and applying the constitution such as the Supreme Court.
This course will examine some of the major themes in the burgeoning field of philosophy of sport, paying special attention to a number of important ethical issues. We will look at the nature of sports (and games more generally), sportsmanship and fairness, the role of officials, gender equity, racism, and issues surrounding the use of performance-enhancing drugs. This course is reading intensive. Prior exposure to philosophy is welcome but not required.
This course is framed around two questions. First, what is the place of the mind in nature? Second, what is the place of nature in the mind? The first question is a form of mind/problem, which concerns the relationship between mental phenomena such as consciousness and the physical world. The second question is a part of the epistemology, the philosophy of knowledge, and concerns the nature and scope of human knowledge.
Recent results in psychology and neuroscience have relevance to perennial topics in philosophy such as free will, rationality, ethics, and religion. Additionally, the philosophical knowledge accumulated over aeons on these topics continue to inform psychological and neuroscientific research into these areas. This class surveys the give and take between these fields that has occurred over the last few decades, with a keen eye to seeing how the cognitive sciences have helped further the debate over some of these often ancient philosophical issues.
Though studied for millennia, consciousness remains a mystery. This course takes a critical look at philosophical and scientific attempts to account for the mind and consciousness, giving an emphasis to cognitive neuroscientific approaches. The course traces the arc of both philosophical and scientific approaches to studying the mind, and culminates with an examination of how these two approaches have recently become entwined in present-day studies of consciousness. Among the topics covered are the mind-body problem, consciousness research in psychology, and contemporary theories of consciousness.
Topics may include proofs for the existence of God, the nature of reality, free will and determinism, personal identity, and the nature of time.
This course offers introductory-level study of a special philosophical topic that is not a part of the Department's regular course offerings.
In this course, we will be introduced to some of the most fundamental concerns about art: What is distinctive, if anything, about the experience of artworks? Why do we identify anything as a work of art? How do we, or should we interpret an artwork? On what grounds can we criticize an artwork?.
Introduction to competing views of how one ought to live, designed to promote the development of a reasoned view of one’s own. May include such topics as ethical relativism, the nature of justice and of rights, and the relationship of law and morality.
This is a survey course in environmental ethics. Students will be introduced to philosophical debates on a range of contemporary environmental issues. Centrally, we will consider how traditional ethical reasoning, which focuses on humans, can be extended to analysis of the natural world. We will examine conceptual and normative issues concerning biodiversity, sustainability, animal welfare, climate change, and population growth. We will also take up questions such as the following: What is owed to future generations and to distant others? How should we balance the goals of environmental protection and economic development? What does it mean to be an ethical consumer?.
“Doing business” is something that permeates our lives. As customers, employees, employers, business owners, and simply as members of a community, we stand in important business relevant relations to others, for which it is appropriate to ask questions about the ethical status of our actions. Are we acting in ethically appropriate ways? To answer this we need to know what principles should govern our actions and what justifies those principles. In this course we will look at case studies in light of standard philosophical theories about what constitutes and justifies normative ethical principles and action.
This course number is for students who are receiving course credit for working as TAs for philosophy classes. Ordinarily, students working as TAs for classes are responsible for taking roll, proctoring and grading tests, and, most importantly, providing tutorial assistance to the students. Specific duties might vary depending on the needs of the class.
This class explores the moral status of legality and the legal status of morality, the status of unjust laws, and the role of moral judgments of lawmakers. Is a good law one that does good? What is the relation between morality and legal validity? Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
This class gives you the reasoning skills you need to enter law school and those you need while in law school and beyond. While learning analytical and logical reasoning skills as well as legal research and argument-writing skills, the course covers topics such as problems with rule following and vagueness, the nature and authority of precedent, statutory interpretation, judicial decisions and burdens of proof.
Advanced study of such traditional metaphysical problems as personal identity, the mind-body problem, action theory, free will, universals, the nature of space and time, creation, causation, and purpose. Must have taken at least two philosophy courses prior to this course. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
Advanced study of such topics in religion as concepts of God and religion, ritual, atheism, the problem of evil, the nature of religious language, traditional proofs of God, the concept of faith, mysticism, the concept of miracle, and the relation between theism and morality. At least two previous philosophy courses required. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
The “Darwinian Revolution” – the acceptance and development of evolutionary theory - is one of the most significant intellectual events in recent human history. It is significant partly because it has changed the way we understand the world, and the processes that operate within it. But it is also significant for the philosophical issues it raises about scientific method, conceptions of human nature, biodiversity, knowledge, ethics and the arts. This course will examine these philosophical issues raised by the Darwinian revolution. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
The arts are seemingly found in all human cultures. Why is this so? Is art deeply embedded in what we might call “human nature”? Philosophers have long thought about the arts in terms of human nature. More recently, there are proposals that we can think about the arts “naturalistically” in terms of what the biological and human sciences tell us about human nature, and the very human tendencies to make and appreciate art of all kinds. This naturalistic turn requires philosophical thinking first about how we should conceive art; second, how we can interpret and evaluate art, and third, how it functions in a variety of cultural and environmental contexts. We will be looking first at some classical theories of art and human nature, then at some naturalistic/scientific theories of art. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course. Regardless of examination grades, an average essay grade below a “D-” guarantees a course grade of F. Instructor is willing and able to teach writing skills as needed to assist students in meeting the writing requirements of the course. As is appropriate for courses with the W designation, students are expected to produce “coherent, logical, and carefully edited prose” that demonstrates “higher-level critical thinking skills, such as analysis and synthesis. Your writing will be assessed according the following criteria: Organization Clarity of Exposition Accuracy of Exposition Use of Language (precision and concision) Strength of Reasoning Consistent with the University policy, students enrolled in this course must submit an electronic copy of their first essay to Turnitin.com through Blackboard Learn.
This course offers advanced study of a special philosophical topic or movement that is not a part of the Department's regular course offerings.
With an emphasis on philosophical writing, this seminar offers advanced study of a special philosophical topic that is not a part of the Department's regular course offerings. Prerequisite: successful completion of at least two PHL courses. PHL 392 may be repeated up to 12 hours. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
Advanced study of a particular philosopher or philosophical movement or problem in the history of philosophy. Must have taken at least two previous philosophy courses or permission of instructor. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
This course is an opportunity to do self-directed study and writing in an approved topic.
Due to advances in psychopharmacology and brain imaging, scenarios resembling those of science fiction may soon be upon us: Medications that enhance our memory, cognitive abilities, or happiness could be widely available in the near future, and advances in neuroimaging promise to allow the detection of lying, mental illness, or even level of intelligence. Technologies like these bring a host of ethical questions in their wake, ones pertaining to privacy, justice, and authenticity to self. Issues such as these are what compose the field of Neuroethics, and will be what we look at in this class. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
This course provides an in-depth examination of some of the central ethical issues encountered by physicians and other medical professionals. Students will acquire breadth in the field of medical ethics as well as engage in an in-depth examination of specific issues. Possible topics include: The physician-patient relationship, the role of physicians and other medical professionals, end-of-life decision-making (advance directives, do not resuscitate orders, palliative care, the definition of death), beginning of life decision-making (genetic counseling and prenatal screening), and the ethics of clinical research, and bias and unequal treatment in healthcare practice. The course is specifically aimed at students who are considering a career in healthcare but will be of interest to anyone who has a special interest in biomedical ethics. This course carries a W designation. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
Usually science and ethics are taken to be about different things: science is concerned with the facts - how things are; ethics is concerned with value - how things should be. But science has increasingly come to study ethics itself: the grounds and foundation of our ethical thinking and practices in evolution, moral psychology, social psychology and human behavioral ecology. While many philosophers think these scientific investigations of human ethics cannot tell us how we should live, what we should do and what is morally good or bad, others think we can use science to inform our ethics, in part by uncovering our biases and correcting our errors in how we think about ethical questions and topics. In this class we will begin with traditional approaches to ethics based on reason, intuition and faith, then turn to challenges to these approaches based on evolutionary thinking, psychology and human ecology. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
In this course we will study philosophical issues concerning oppression. Students will take up questions about how we should understand social categories such as race and gender: for instance, what does it mean to belong to a certain race, or to be a man or woman? Students will consider the nature and explore the hallmarks of oppression. In particular, significant attention will be devoted to three specific forms of oppression: racism, sexism, and sizism. The class will also consider questions of responsibility—such as whether victims of oppression have a responsibility to resist the oppressive circumstances they face—and questions concerning what forms of civil disobedience might be justified to combat oppression, and on what basis. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
This is a course covering a specialized advanced topic in specific jurisprudence. Specific jurisprudence deals with issues relevant to one area of law or legal system. Example topics are issues in criminal punishment, debates over the proper way to interpret the U.S. Constitution, and the dilemmas of privacy law. The Professor will determine the specific topic each semester the course is offered. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
As the “ticking time bomb” hypothetical typically goes, you are an intelligence agent or law enforcement officer who has detained the one terrorist with knowledge of how to prevent a large-scale attack. One may contort the hypothetical to make it as heart-rending as possible, but the ultimate question is whether you should torture the detainee in such an extreme scenario. These scenarios raise pressing practical and philosophical questions, but they need not be so extreme. This course examines the central legal and philosophical issues relating to national security, including terrorism, torture, the ethics of intelligence, the national security uses and risks of artificial intelligence, and the balance between security and liberty.
This course explores philosophical issues concerning international law. Students consider the circumstances under which violence may be legitimately used in the international arena. Students also consider ethical dimensions of international rules about refugees and border control, ecological and health issues, as well as property rights to territory and natural resources. Along the way, we engage with debates about the status of international law—examining, for instance, which agents, if any, have the authority to make and to enforce international laws.
This course explores the central philosophical issues raised in constitutional law, including constitutional structure, separation of powers, representation, the rule of law, principles of legislation, and judicial review and interpretation. The course also examines how these issues become manifest in actual cases, in the context of both government powers and civil liberties.
This course examines the central philosophical problems that arise within the law of policing. Topics include police authority, legitimacy, and the problem of political obligation; the relationship between police discretion and the rule of law; human dignity and brutality in policing; and special problems in laws governing entrapment, the police's use of informants, and the police's use of surveillance and emerging technology.
This is a course covering a specialized advanced topic in general jurisprudence. General jurisprudence deals with issues relevant to law as a whole. Example topics are issues in legal authority, interpretation and rule following, and legal validity. The Professor will determine the specific topic each semester the course is offered. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
What is the relationship between the mental and the physical? That is the central question in the philosophy of mind, and we will approach it from different angles. We will focus largely on consciousness and its place in nature. Most readings will be from the contemporary literature but some will be historical. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course. Two philosophy courses or instructor’s permission. PHL 260 Mind and Nature is recommended but not required.
Consciousness is one of the last great mysteries. Recent years have seen the use of neuroscientific methods to try to understand consciousness, in hopes that this approach succeeds where others failed. This course surveys and analyzes current neuroscientific and philosophical approaches to studying consciousness, the goal being to integrate the two as much as possible. Topics covered include: the relationship between visual consciousness and bodily action; whether higher-order thought is necessary for consciousness; the use of brain lesions in consciousness research; the relationship between attention and consciousness. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
This course concerns the nature of linguistic reference, meaning, and their connection to metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind. Students will study classic works by Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, Saul Kripke, and others. Students will also study more recent works by David Chalmers, Amie Thomasson, Jennifer Saul, and others.
This course surveys issues in the philosophical study of knowledge. Typical questions addressed include: What is the nature of knowledge? What are the limits of what we can know? When is a belief justified? What can science tell us about the nature of knowledge or rational thought?.
Uncertainty is a fundamental and unavoidable feature of daily life. Agents must reason and act in an uncertain world. In order to do so intelligently, they need to deal with and reason about this uncertainty. This course discusses modeling and reasoning about uncertainty, going from purely qualitative notions (an event is either possible or it is not) to quantitative notions such as probability (an event has probability .8). Students will learn different rules for making decisions under ignorance, given uncertainty, and in competition with others. Moreover, students will focus on how to think about group decisions and social theory.
Science serves an important role in society, from satisfying our interest in the nature of reality to informing technological advancements and public policy. This course will cover some of the main topics in philosophy of science: the demarcation of science and pseudoscience, scientific methods, the nature of evidence, scientific progress, scientific realism and antirealism, and the role of values in science.
This class will explore a variety of philosophical questions concerning mental health, mental illness, and how we should think about mental health in the context of medical practice more generally. Topics covered may include: Ontology and classification: What makes an illness mental as opposed to physical? When does a mental problem qualify as pathological (and so, get classified as an “illness”) and what are the implications of classifying something as an illness with respect to how we think about and treat it? Research on mental illness: What special challenges arise in studying mental illness? Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
It is difficult to overstate the significance of medicine, in that it affects each of us from birth through death; or the complexity of medicine, in that it involves scientific, conceptual, economic, ethical and philosophical issues. We will here look at three of these issues from a philosophical standpoint: 1) the ways that we conceptualize health and disease; 2) the relation between medicine and science, and the patterns of reasoning associated with medical thinking; 3) the challenge posed by evolution to how we think about medicine, health and disease. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
This course offers advanced study of a philosophical topic or movement that is not a part of the Department's regular course offerings. At least two previous philosophy courses or permission from instructor required.
With an emphasis on philosophical writing, this advanced seminar offers study of a special philosophical topic that is not a part of the Department's regular course offerings. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course. Prerequisite: successful completion of at least two PHL courses. PHL 492 may be repeated up to 12 hours.
This course concerns the nature of meaning and its connection to metaphysics and epistemology. Students will study classic works by Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, Saul Kripke, and others. Students will also study more recent work in philosophical semantics and its application to arguments in the philosophy of mind. This course concerns the nature of linguistic reference, meaning, and their connection to metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind. Students will also study more recent works by David Chalmers, Amie Thomasson, Jennifer Saul, and others.