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Philosophy Course Descriptions

(PHIL) College-Program: 12-29. Check with department for quarter when these courses are offered. Although there are no formal prerequisites for any philosophy courses, check with the course instructor in each case for recommended prerequisites.

201 PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY (4 credits). Some of the main problems of philosophy such as knowledge, truth, mind, God, perception, freedom. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ). (May not be offered every year.)

202 ETHICS (4 credits). Theories of right and wrong, good and bad, duty, conscience, moral judgment. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ).

203 LOGIC (4 credits). Methods of distinguishing between correct and incorrect reasoning. Special emphasis on deductive reasoning and informal fallacies. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ).

205 AESTHETICS (4 credits). Philosophic problems involved in judgment and experience of beauty and ugliness in nature and art of various kinds. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ).

207 INTRODUCTION TO SYMBOLIC LOGIC (4 credits). Symbolized inferences in logic, including deductive proof, quantification logic and the logic of relations. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ). (May not be offered every year.)

208 HUMAN NATURE (4 credits). Various views of the nature of human beings. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ). (May not be offered every year.)

209 IDEAS ABOUT WOMEN (4 credits). A historical survey of the views of patriarchal and feminist thinkers from Plato to the present. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II , Area VII ).

210 DEATH AND SURVIVAL (4 credits). An examination of the nature of death and the possibility of survival. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ). (May not be offered every year.)

211 CURRENT ISSUES (4 credits). Variable content, the examination of current philosophical issues in the areas of politics, religion, professional ethics, technology, etc. (May not be offered every year.)

212 TOPICS OR PHILOSOPHERS (4 credits). Study of a philosophical subject or movement or a philosopher or group of philosophers, as announced in the schedule. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ). (May not be offered every year.)

215 PHILOSOPHY IN LITERATURE (4 credits). Exploration of a variety of literary texts with an emphasis on the philosophical issues they raise. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ). (May not be offered every year.)

220 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION (4 credits). Various philosophic issues associated with the analysis of human religious beliefs and experience. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ). (May not be offered every year.)

230 PHILOSOPHIES OF NON-VIOLENCE (4 credits). Philosophical foundations of non-violent conflict resolution as they have been articulated in a variety of historical and cultural contexts. Questions regarding moral, political, and religious values, as well as related metaphysical and epistemological issues, will be addressed. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ).

301 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY (4 credits). History of European philosophy from Thales to William of Occam. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ). (May not be offered every year.)

302 MODERN PHILOSOPHY (4 credits). Historical survey of 17th and 18th century European philosophy. (Applies to Liberal Education Area I , Area VII ). (May not be offered every year.)

303 AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY (4 credits). History of American philosophy from Edwards to Santayana. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ). (May not be offered every year.)

304 19TH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY (4 credits). History of European philosophy from Hegel to Nietzsche. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II , Area VII ). (May not be offered every year.)

305 CONTEMPORARY ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY (4 credits). Systematic and critical philosophy in the twentieth century. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ). (May not be offered every year.)

310 ASIAN PHILOSOPHY (4 credits). Historical survey of influential philosophies and philosophers of Asia. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ). (May not be offered every year.)

315 EXISTENTIALISM (4 credits). Selected reading in the works of representative existentialist thinkers. (Applies to Liberal Education Area II ). (May not be offered every year.)

320 MARXIST PHILOSOPHY (4 credits). An in-depth introduction to the philosophical perspective of Marxism as it originally developed and as it has been subsequently interpreted and applied in the latter 19th and 20th centuries. (May not be offered every year.)

325 POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY (4 credits). Various philosophical views on the nature of human society and the state.

350 SEMINAR IN PHILOSOPHY (4 credits). Works of a specific philosopher or school, or of a philosophical problem or movement. (May not be offered every year.)

358 PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE (4 credits). A study of the nature, methods, limits, assumptions, and fundamental concepts of science; concepts such as hypothesis, explanation, law, confirmation, causality, and matter. (May not be offered every year.)