Graduate Course Descriptions

The Graduate Catalog can be found here.

400-3 Philosophy of Mind. An investigation of the philosophic issues raised by several competing theories of mind, focusing on the fundamental debate between reductionistic accounts (e.g., central state materialism, identity theories of the physical and mental) and views which reject such proposed reductions. Traditional and contemporary theories will be examined. Designed for students in the life and social sciences with little or no background in philosophy as well as philosophy students.

415-3 Logic of Social Sciences. (Same as Sociology 415.) An examination of the theoretical structure and nature of the social sciences and their epistemological foundations. The relationship of social theory to social criticism; theory and praxis. Historical experience and social objectivity. Social theory as practical knowledge.

420-3 Symbolic Logic. An introduction to first order logic with an emphasis on quantification. Topics include the semantics of the quantifiers, first-order validity, quantifier equivalences, functions, informal proofs, proofs on non-consequence, derivations using a Fitch natural deduction system, translations to and from English, soundness and completeness, the axiomatic method, first order set theory, and mathematical induction. Prerequisite: 320 or consent of the instructor.

441-3 Philosophy of Politics. (Same as Political Science 403.) The theory of political and social foundations; the theory of the state, justice and revolution. Classical and contemporary readings such as: Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Dewey, Adorno and others. Prerequisite: 340 or Philosophy 102 or consent of instructor.

443-3 Philosophy of History. The rise of historical objectivity and the science of history. Classical and modern theories of history. History as the foundation of social knowledge. The critique of history as universal perspective. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

446-3 Feminist Philosophy. (Same as Women’s Studies 456.) (a) Feminist Philosophy – a general survey of feminist theory and philosophical perspectives. (b) Special Topics in Feminist Philosophy – A special area in feminist philosophy explored in depth, such as Feminist Ethics, French Feminism, Feminist Philosophy of Science, etc. (c) Women Philosophers – explores the work of one or more specific women philosophers, for example Hannah Arendt, Simone DeBeauvoir, etc.

460-3 Philosophy of Art. We will examine several important theories that define art by focusing in on only one aspect, for example, imitation, expression, form, institutional setting or even indefinability. What role does imagination play in each of these accounts, and does this tell us something important about how people experience their world?

468-9 (3,3,3) Kant. (a) Theoretical Philosophy; (b) Practical Philosophy (c) Aesthetics, Teleology, and Religion.

469-3 Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy to Augustine. The career of philosophy during the Hellenistic, Roman and Early Medieval Period, especially as a means of personal salvation exploring such figures and movements as: Epicurus, Stoicism, the Middle Academy, Skepticism, Gnosticism, Plotinus, Early Christianity, Augustine and Boethius. Prerequisite: 304 or consent of instructor.

470-6 (3,3) Greek Philosophy. (a) Plato. A general survey of the Platonic dialogues from the Socratic period through the middle, with some selections from the Late period. Such Dialogues will be emphasized as: Protagoras, Gorgias, Euthydemus, Charmides, Meno, Phaedo, Symposium, Republic, Phaedrus, Sophist and Timaeus. (b) Aristotle. A general survey of the Aristotelian philosophy including his theory of nature, metaphysics, ethics and political philosophy. Readings will consist of selections from the corpus. Prerequisite: 304 or consent of instructor.

471A-3 History of Medieval Philosophy. An examination of some of the most important figures and themes in medieval philosophical thought. Medieval debates in the area of metaphysics, natural philosophy, epistemology, ethics and politics will be explored in reading the works of such figures as Augustine, Boethius, Abelard Avicenna, Averroes, Maimonides, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Ockham and Nicholas of Cusa. Prerequisite: 304 or consent of instructor.

471B-3 The Medieval Thinker. An examination of the thought of one of the central and most influential figures of the medieval world. Possible subjects of the course are Augustine of Hippo, Al-Ghazali, Moses Maimonides, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Dante Alighieri or William Ockham. Prerequisite: 304 or consent of instructor.

472-6 (3,3) The Rationalists. (a) Descartes. A study of the Philosophy of Rene Descartes, concentrating on his major writings, Meditations, Discourse on the Method, and Principles of Philosophy, as well as his philosophical correspondence. May include study of Descarte’s relation to the later Rationalists. (b) Study of the philosophy of one or more of Spinoza, Leibniz, Arnauld, Malebranche, Wolff. May include study of the relation of these philosophers to Descartes. Prerequisite: 205 or consent of instructor.

473-6 (3,3) The Empiricists. (a) Locke; (b) Hume. Study of the principles of British empiricism as represented by either (a) Locke or (b) Hume. May also include study of Berkeley. Prerequisite: 305 or consent of instructor.

475-3 Topics in Asian Philosophy. Extended examination of one or two major texts, figures or philosophical schools in Asian philosophy. Topics vary; students are advised to consult with the instructor.

476-3 Islamic Philosophy. An understanding of medieval Islamic philosophy and theology focusing on the period of time from Al-Kindi (9th Century) to Averroes (12th Century).

477-3 Indian Philosophy. An examination of several major traditions and texts of Indian philosophy, such as Vedanta, Nyaya, the Upanishads, the Bhagava Gita, and contemporary political philosophy, with an emphasis on their social and historical contexts.

478-3 Buddhist Philosophy. An examination of several major philosophical traditions or figures in Buddhism, such as Madhyamika, Zen, Mind-Only, and the Kyoto school, with an emphasis on their social and historical contexts.

479-3 Chinese Philosophy. An examination of several major traditions of Chinese philosophy, such as Confucianism, Taoism, Neoconfucianism, Mohism, and Maoism, with an emphasis on their social and historical contexts.

480-3 History of Analytic Philosophy. An introduction to the works of several major 20th century philosophers in the analytic tradition, including several of the following: Frege, Russell, Moore, Wittgenstein (early and later), members of the Vienna Circle, Ayer, Ryle, Quine, Putnam, Davidson. Includes discussion of challenges to the tradition that have developed within it.

482-3 Recent European Philosophy. Philosophical trends in Europe from the end of the 19th Century to the present. Phenomenology, existentialism, the new Marxism, structuralism and other developments. Language, history, culture and politics.

486-3 Early American Philosophy. From the Colonial Era to the Eve of World War I. This course will trace the transplantation of European philosophy to the New World and watch its unique process of development. Movements such as Puritanism, the theory of the American Revolution, the philosophical basis of the Constitution, transcendentalism, idealism, Darwinism and pragmatism and such figures as: Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Josiah Royce, Charles Sanders Peirce and William James.

487-3 Recent American Philosophy. From World War I to the present. The major American philosophers of the 20th Century, covering such issues as naturalism, emergentism, process philosophy, logical analysis and neopragmatism. Figures include: John Dewey, George Herbert Mead, George Santayana, Alfred N. Whitehead, C. I. Lewis, W. O. Quine and Richard Rorty.

490-1 to 8 Special Problems. Hours and credits to be arranged. Courses for qualified students who need to pursue certain topics further than regularly titled courses permit. Special topics announced from time to time. Students are invited to suggest topics. Prerequisite: consent of department.

500-3 Metaphysics. Recent writers and current problems in metaphysics.

501-3 Philosophy of Religion. Analysis of a problem in philosophical theology or the phenomenology of religion or of the work of a particular thinker.

505-3 Theology and Philosophy. Topics taken from the exchanges between theology and philosophy in the modern period: natural theology and atheism, the metaphysics of being and God, ethics of reason and faith, secular and salvation history, politics and liberation theology, reason and faith in cross-cultural contexts, hermeneutics and epistemology. Prerequisite: preparation in theology and philosophy; consent of the instructor.

520-3 Philosophy of Logic. Topics in logic, with emphasis on issues in the philosophy of logic such as the status of modal logics and three-valued logics.

530-3 Theory of Knowledge. An examination of 20th Century trends in epistemology, including one or more of the following: foundationalism versus coherentism; skepticism and contemporary responses to it; the possibility of a prior knowledge.

542-3 Political and Legal Philosophy. Relations of law, morality, and politics, and consideration of problems and issues in philosophy of law.

545-3 Ethics. An examination of the fundamental assumptions underlying twentieth century British and American moral theory. Special attention is given to recent attempts to develop a psychologically realistic moral philosophy that avoids both moral absolutism and extreme forms of relativism.

551-1 Introduction to Teaching and the Profession. Introduction to the methodology and ethics of teaching philosophy; supervision of teaching assistants. Prerequisite: assistantship contract.

552-1 Teaching Practicum. Ongoing supervision of teaching assistants and discussion of pedagogical, ethical and professional issues. Prerequisite: 551.

553-1 Supervision of Teaching for Graduate Assistants. Instruction in the methods of teaching philosophy and direct supervision of course teaching. Prerequisite: 551.

560-3 Aesthetics. Selected topics or writings.

562-3 Philosophy of Human Communication. (See Speech Communication 562.)

563-3 Philosophy of Nietzsche. A reading of Nietzsche's works and critical discussion of his major themes in light of their historical and contemporary reception.

564-3 Frankfurt School Critical Theory, An examination of the conceptual foundations and historico-philosophical theories of the Institute for Social Research School, known as critical theory, covering one or more of the major first- and second-generation thinkers: Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse, Habermas.

565-3 Continental Feminist Philosophy, An examination of major figures and problems in continental feminism, focusing on metaphysical, ethical, political, and aesthetic theories in the works of Beauvoir, Kristeva, Irigaray, Butler, and Kofman. (same as WMST. 565) per Dr. Schedler.

566-3 Psychoanalysis, An examination of psychoanalytic theory in the context of continental philosophy, studying the foundation of psychoanalysis and major developments since Freud, including French psychoanalytic theory, the British School, and developments in American psychoanalysis.

570-3 American Idealism. One or more American idealists. Recent seminars have been devoted to the thought of Brand Blanshard and Peter A. Bertocci.

573-3 American Realism. An examination of selected works of representatives in the realist tradition of American philosophy. (a) New Realism. (b) Critical Realism. (c) Scientific Realism. (d) Post Realism.

574-3 Levinas. This course will be devoted to a detailed and systematic study of one of Levinas’s major works, Totality and Infinity. In addition explicating to Levinas’s original insights concerning the “Other” and “Infinity,” we will discuss the various phenomenological currents running throughout this work. But to give a more complete picture of this work, and to gain access to some of Levinas’s distinctions, we will also show how some of his notions are rooted in Jewish Intellectual history.

575-33 (3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3) Contemporary Continental Philosophy. (a) Husserl. Constitutes an in-troduction to phenomenology as it was practice by the originator of the modern movement. Special attention to the role of the transcendental reduction and other methodological issues. Consideration given to the influence that Husserl has had upon subsequent developments in phenomenology. (b) Heidegger. Concentrates on the specific development of Heideggerian phenomenology as evidenced in his early writings and transformed in his later. Special attention to the problems of time, ontology, language and the project of the destruction of the history of metaphysics. (c) Sartre. Focuses on the contribution phenomenology and existentialism made by the leading synthesizer of these two movements. Special attention to problems of imagination, affectivity, dialectic and ontology, as well as social and political questions. (d) Merleau-Ponty. Concentrates on Merleau-Ponty’s work in extending phenemenology into the region of lived and embodied experience. Special attention to the problem of embodiment, the question of lived time and lived space, as well as issues of the theory of signs and language. (e) Ricoeur. Concentrates on the analysis of selective texts of Paul Riceour from his early philosophy of the will to his later writings on metaphor and time: Symbolism of Evil, On Metaphor, Time and Narrative. (f) Foucault. An analysis of the relationship between power and knowledge in Discipline and Punish and The History of Truth. (g) Derrida. Examines texts from On Grammatology to Truth in Painting, Course focuses upon epistemological and metaphysical consequences of deconstruction. (h) Lyotard. Main interest of the course is the epistemological and ethical consequences of the debate about post-modernism in Knowledge and the Postmodern Condition and The Differend. (i) Adorno. An examination of history, language, ethics and politics in the major writings of Theodor Adorno: The Negative Dialectic and Aesthetic Theory. (j) Habermas. An examination of the foundations of universal pragmatics in The Theory of Communicative Action and related ear-lier texts. (k) Kri. An examination of subjectivity, language, history, art, ethics, and politics in the major writings of Julia Kristeva; Revolution in Poetic Language, Black Sun, Strangers to Ourselves, and related texts.

577-12 (3,3,3,3) Classical American Philosophy. (a) Peirce. A focused study of various aspects of Peirce’s philosophy such as his pragmatism and semiotics. (b) James. A critical examination of James’ pragmatism, radical empiricism and pluralism. (c) Dewey. An examination of such themes in Dewey’s philosophy as the influence of Darwin, nature and experience, aesthetics, technology and democracy. (d) Mead. A critical examination of Mead’s theories regarding the social self and social life.

578-3 Husserl, A careful and systematic reading of Husserl’s major works or treatment of important themes throughout his writings, such as, the problem of evidence, perception and rationality, time-consciousness, phenomenology of association, or the lifeworld.

580-3 The Pre-Socratics. The emergence of Greek philosophy in the sixth century B.C., the Milesians, Heraclitus and the Pythagoreans; the Eleatic movement and Parmenides, and the critical systems of Empedocles, Anaxagoras, and atomism; concluding with a discussion of the Sophistic movement and Socrates. Epic, lyric and dramatic literature of the period may be examined as well as philosophical writings.

581-3 Plato. Through study of selected dialogues and reconstruction of Plato’s system as a whole. Discussions and reports.

582-3 Aristotle. Intensive reading on several texts, analyzing selected portions of Aristotle’s thought.

583-3 Merleau-Ponty, This course will focus on a major work by Merleau-Ponty (such as the Phenomenology of Perception), or will develop a major theme (perception, aesthetics, politics) in his thought by consulting several of his works.

584-3 Levinas, This course will be devoted to a detailed and systematic study of one of Levina’s major works, such as Totality and Infinity or Otherwise than Being, or to a survey of key elements of his thought contained in his many important essays.

587-3 Kant.

588-3 Hegel.

589-3 Scheler, This course is devoted to a systematic reading of Scheler’s works that concern any one of the many dimensions of his thought, for example, the nature of “person,” ethics and value theory, the philosophy of religion, the sociology of knowledge, or politics.

590-1 to 6 General Graduate Seminar. Selected topics or problems in philosophy.

591-1 to 16 Readings in Philosophy. Supervised readings for qualified students. Prerequisite: students must have written permission from the graduate director to register for more than six hours at each level.

599-2 to 6 Thesis. Minimum of four hours to be counted towards a Master’s degree.

600-3 to 32 (1 to 16 per semester) Dissertation.

601-1 per semester Continuing Enrollment. For those graduate students who have not finished their degree programs and who are in the process of working on their dissertation, thesis, or research paper. The student must have completed a minimum of 24 hours of dissertation research, or the minimum thesis, or research hours before being eligible to register for this course. Concurrent enrollment in any other course is not permitted. Graded S/U or DEF only.