Fall 2009 Course Offerings

Reason and Rhetoric (PHIL 102, 2 credits)

Instructor: Jay Feldman (Two sessions: Aug 24-Oct 16 or Oct 19-Dec 18)

Form and style of argumentative discourse; development of critical thinking and rhetorical skills as students prepare and deliver written and oral presentations; construction, evaluation, and presentation of arguments; identification of arguments and fallacies to improve abilities to organize thoughts, express them clearly and simply, and judge the suitability of material for the audience.

Philosophy of Language (PHIL 443/543, 3 credits)

Instructor: Professor Michael O'Rourke

This course focuses on philosophical inquiry into the nature of language and communication. After an initial foray into linguistic theory, we will devote the first half of the semester to classical treatments of concepts crucial to linguistic semantics, such as meaning, reference, and truth. Authors to be discussed include Frege, Russell, Grice, and Kripke. During the second half of the semester, we will turn our attention to conceptual models of communicative episodes. Among other things, we will attend to the difference between atomistic and holistic accounts of meaning construction in conversation. For graduate students enrolled in 543, the third meeting each week will be at an arranged time to enable a seminar-like experience.

Introductionto Symbolic Logic (PHIL 202, 3 credits)

Instructor: Professor Michael O'Rourke

Logic is the study of reasoning as it is revealed through language. In this course, we learn a new language that makes plain certain fundamental elements of human reasoning. Our purpose in doing this is to build a framework that we can use to assess and construct good arguments. In constructing this framework, we will attend to the formal elements of language — elements that have to do with the form or structure of language as opposed to its content. In particular, we concentrate on the form of sentences in the language, since we can use sets of sentences to represent arguments and patterns of reasoning more generally. This allows us to determine what arguments are good and bad. Though we will often attend to philosophical and practical issues involved in the use of logic in evaluating ordinary, informal arguments (the sort you are liable to come across in politics, science, philosophy, history, and everyday life), our emphasis in this course will be the development of a formal system with rules and conventions. Developing proficiency at using this formal system, aside from being directly useful in philosophy and mathematics should sharpen your innate logical skills.

Professional Ethics: Bioethics (PHIL 361, 3 credits)

Instructor: Jason Johnstone-Yellin

Bioethics is a word coined in the last 40 years to describe social issues at the intersection of biology and questions about right and wrong. Students will study, write, and think about these issues in an historical and scientific context. The course is a unique opportunity to learn key elements of biology and ethical theory that will enable students to make informed judgments about the uses and possible abuses of advances in medicine, scientific research, the environment, and many other interdisciplinary areas.

Introduction to Ethics (PHIL 103, 3 credits)

Instructor: Carl Mickelsen

Ethics is an introductory course in philosophical ethics. The principal focus is to develop an understanding of the major theories and concepts in the history of western moral philosophy. In addition to reading excerpts from several seminal works in moral philosophy, we will consider the application of the moral theories through short novels, movies, and the occasional short stories.

Buddhism (PHIL 307, 3 credits)

Instructor: Jay Feldman

This is an introductory course in Buddhism. In it, we devote some time to the particular schools of Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, but the majority of our time is spent studying what might be called “seed” Buddhism, the main tenets that all Buddhists would ascribe to, regardless of the particular school of Buddhism they follow. Our study will approach Buddhism as philosophy, as religion, and as psychology. We will do so working back and forth between doctrinal and practice perspectives, so that students learn to appreciate Buddhism, not just as a set of theoretical ideas, but rather as a lived human practice. Students completing this course can expect to have a good basic understanding of Buddhist thought and life.

Biblical Judaism (PHIL 302, 3 credits)

Instructor: Professor Janice Anderson

This course focuses on the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and related literature. We focus on key texts such as Genesis and Isaiah, issues such as the problem of evil or the role of women, as well as on methods and theories of interpretation. Students learn how to use important scholarly tools. We also explore some connections to modern Jewish interpretation and practice.

Global Justice (PHIL 367, 3 credits)

Instructor: Professor Justin Jeffrey

This course will apply theoretical frameworks such as those provided by Rawls, Nozick, and others to empirically informed concerns about justice on a global scale. We will examine the facts as best as we understand them regarding the global effects of various kinds of foreign aid, free trade, the "outsourcing" of labor, and other timely global issues. We will additionally attempt to apply various theoretical/philosophical models of justice to such topics.

Introduction to Ethics, Honors (PHIL 103H, 3 credits)

Instructor: Professor Janice Anderson

This course focuses on the history of Western philosophical ethics. Typical philosophers covered include Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Hobbes, Hume, Bentham, Mill, and Kant. We also treat Confucius and Mencius by way of comparison and contrast. Along the way we discuss what the goal of life is, whether we are all equal in our ability to kill one another, whether it is consequences that count rather than motives, whether one has more obligations to one’s mother than to a total stranger, and the like. Course is only open to members of the Honors Program.

Introduction to Ethics (PHIL 103, 3 credits)

Instructor: Jason Johnstone-Yellin

Ethics is an introductory course in philosophical ethics. The principal focus is to develop an understanding of the major theories and concepts in the history of western moral philosophy. In addition to reading excerpts from several seminal works in moral philosophy, we will consider the application of the moral theories through short novels, movies, and the occasional short stories.

History of Ancient Philosophy (PHIL 320, 3 credits)

Instructor: Professor Justin Jeffrey

This course will trace the earliest stirrings of Western Philosophy--from the cryptic verses of Heraclitus--to the more methodologically sophisticated of Plato and Aristotle. all Major figures covered will include Plato, Aristotle, Epiruris, and Epictetus. This course will take the views of these thinkers (and a few others) as philosophically interesting in their own right. We will also work to understand the dramatic philosophical developments during the period, with an eye to both philosophical and social influences.

Environmental Philosophy (PHIL 452/552, EnvS 552, 3 credits)

Instructor: Professor Justin Jeffrey

This is an advanced interdisciplinary course that will study theoretical and pragmatic topics in environmental ethics. Issues covered will include theoretical worries such as Hardin's famous "Tragedy of the Commons," intrinsic value and its application to environmental philosophy, holism, deep ecology, ecofeminism, and pragmatism--a view that questions the genuine value of philosophical debate for advancing an environmentalist agenda.