PHILOSOPHY (PHIL)
PHIL 104 - INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Prerequisite: None
This course is designed to introduce students to the discipline of philosophy, particularly as it has been developed in the western tradition from the ancient through contemporary period. Students will consider how the philosophical arguments from various time periods serve as foundational for understanding the value of human achievement and our place in the world. This course satisfies a portion of the AU Core Requirement for the Humanities.
Credit: 3
PHIL 110 - PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATURE
Prerequisite: None
Many fields of inquiry traffic in a conception of some fixed essence of humanity, in which we all share. The idea of there being a human nature serves as a kind of Archimedean point from which we can learn to judge whether particular virtues possessed by this or that society represent the best life for us, given that essential human nature. What makes this a philosophical issue is precisely that there is disagreement among philosophers as to whether or not there is such a constant, and what the possessions of such a notion entails. This course satisfies a portion of the AU Core Requirement for the Humanities.
Credit: 3
PHIL 117 - THOUGHT AND BELIEF
Prerequisite: None
The course will probe specific areas where Western philosophy and the Christian tradition interrelate focusing on various religious topics that have philosophical implications, such as the nature of faith, salvation, the character of God, the problem of evil, and the practice of faith. This course satisfies a portion of the AU Core Requirement for the Humanities.
Credit: 3
PHIL 215 - INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
Prerequisite: None
This course is a substantive study of major classical figures in western moral philosophy, including Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, Mill, and Nietzsche. It deals with the questions: What are the fundamental rules that guide our actions? Can we ever rationally justify moral judgments? What is the relationship between ethics and religion? While this course emphasizes theory, the philosophers' views are explicated with regard to contemporary issues. This course satisfies a portion of the AU Core Requirement for the Humanities.
Credit: 3
PHIL 220 - PRACTICAL THINKING
Prerequisite: None
Examines formal and informal fallacies, symbolic translation, and deductive and non-deductive reasoning as they emerge in everyday practical contexts. The student will learn the basics of argument, master the notions of validity and soundness, and perform some real world proofs to enable him to defend against the persuasive tools used against him daily. Meets Core credit for math/logic.
Credit: 3
PHIL 280 - APPLIED ETHICS
Prerequisite: None
Five-, ten-, or fifteen-week sections which investigate moral philosophy as it manifests itself in practical contexts. The focus is on how to arrive at the best moral reasons for acting within practical parameters which present their own special tasks, vocabularies, and sets of problems. This course satisfies a portion of the AU Core Requirement for the Humanities.
Credit: 1-3
A-SPORTS AND ETHICS
This course is an examination of ethical theory and moral deliberation as applied to the context of sports, specifically youth sports, college athletics, and professional sports.
Credit: 1-3
B-ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
This course is an examination of ethical theory and moral issues as applied to the context of environmentalism. Does nature have inherent world independent of the uses to which it is put by human beings: Do humans have moral duties to animals, plants, or even ecosystems? These and other questions will be critically examined.
Credit: 1-3
D-BIOETHICS
This course is comprised of three-separable, one-credit courses regarding medical ethics. Part I has to do with moral foundations in medicine concerning paternalism, informed consent, and professional responsibilities. Part II deals with medical resource allocation, analysis of social policy from various ethical perspectives, and issues surrounding physician-assisted suicide. Part III focuses on research on humans and various issues in reproductive ethics.
Credit: 1-3
H-APPLIED ETHICS: WORKPLACE ETHICS
This course is an examination of ethical theory and moral issues with particular attention to specific workplace contexts. Includes issues such as the moral foundations of business involving at-will termination policies, workplace speech-codes, privacy issues concerning drug and genetic pre- screening, sexual harassment policies, workplace safety, whistle blowing, intellectual property, bribery, advertising, and moral obligations businesses have to family, community, and the environment.
Credit: 1-3
PHIL 309 - SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Prerequisite: PHIL 104, 110, 117, or 215 recommended
This course is the philosophical study of people in societies with particular attention to the abstract claims they have on each other in the form of individual rights, duties, and privileges, and their demands for equality, justice, and freedom. The course addresses the overlap between political and moral duties and obligations, how moral themes are translated into political rights, and how social categories of concern often conflict with their political articulation. Meets Core credit for humanities. May be repeated for credit as topics change.
Credit: 3
PHIL 311 - HISTORY OF ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
Prerequisite: PHIL 104, 110, 117, or 215 recommended
An historical overview of the Greek, Roman and medieval philosophers, with special emphasis upon Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas.
Credit: 3
PHIL 312 - HISTORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY
Prerequisite: PHIL 104, 205, 208, 210, 215, or 217 recommended
This course is a study of influential Western philosophers from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment including Descartes, Hume, and Kant. Issues raised include empiricism and rationalism, human freedom, the nature and existence of God, skepticism, conceptual meaning, and the philosophy of mind. Offered on a two-year cycle.
Credit: 3
PHIL 313 - HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY
Prerequisite: PHIL 104, 110, 117, or 215 recommended
A study of recent Western philosophy, including but not limited to, phenomenology, existentialism, pragmatism, analytic, and post-modern philosophy.
Credit: 3
PHIL 314 - HISTORY OF 19th CENTURY PHILOSOPHY
Prerequisite: PHIL 104, 110, 117, or 215 recommended
A study of major 19th century philosophical movements and figures, roughly covering the time period between Kant and Husserl, including Hegel and German idealism, historicism, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Marx, and neo-Kantianism.
Credit: 3
PHIL 317 - PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Prerequisite: PHIL 104, 110, 117, or 215 recommended
Philosophy of religion is the critical examination of basic religious beliefs and concepts. Its focus is to philosophically consider the claims that people make about religion, e.g., about the nature of God, and assess the conceptual grounds upon which these claims stand. The course evaluates the facts and theories available for and against certain religious claims, facts and theories that are available to any rational person, whether religious or not. The usual topic for this course will be making sense of the concept of God. Other topics may be offered on occasion. This course satisfies a portion of the AU Core Requirement for the Humanities.
Credit: 3
PHIL 318 - PHILOSOPHY OF ART
Prerequisite: PHIL 104, 110, 117, or 215 recommended
This course is a study of the basic philosophical problems, issues, and questions with respect to the understanding, interpretation, and evaluation of art and beauty. Topics of discussion include the nature and definition of art; the possibility of aesthetic judgment; the nature of expression and representation in the arts; the connections between art and ethics and politics; and the nature of aesthetic value. This course satisfies a portion of the AU Core Requirement for the Humanities.
Credit: 3
PHIL 320 - SYMBOLIC LOGIC
Prerequisite: PHIL 220 recommended
This course is a more advanced offering of techniques in logical analysis. Students will focus on constructing deductive arguments, engage in symbolic translation, recognize formal argument forms, do truth-table analysis, conduct proofs, and employ sentential and quantificational logics. Meets Core credit for math/logic.
Credit: 3
PHIL 330 - PHILOSOPHICAL READINGS
Prerequisite: PHIL 104, 110, 117, or 215 recommended
Philosophical readings courses are to be thought of as a series of great works which when taken together form a sustained whole. The course will conduct its inquiry in complete works which cross time periods and traditions within philosophy. This course satisfies a portion of the AU Core Requirement for the Humanities. May be repeated for credit as topics change.
Credit: 3
PHIL 350 - SCIENCE AS A CULTURAL FORCE
Prerequisite: See CHEM 350 for course information
Credit: 3
PHIL 450 - GREAT PHILOSOPHERS
Prerequisite: PHIL 104, 110, 117, or 215 recommended
This course evaluates the thinking of a single major theoretical figure across a series of original texts addressing different subjects, but usually including combinations of that thinker's views on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics. The course shows how thinker's views often form an organic whole unified across texts and time periods in their lives, and how ideas develop from earlier to later views, or in response to personal or world events. This course satisfies a portion of the AU Core Requirement for the Humanities. May be repeated for credit as topics change.
Credit: 3