BSU Catalog Home | Philosophy Program | All-University Courses and Descriptions

Philosophy (PHIL)

Check with department for semester 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.

2220 ETHICS (3 credits) Introduction to the philosophical treatment of selected moral issues; alternative theories of ethical right and wrong, good and bad will also be addressed. Liberal Education Goal Areas 6 & 9

2230 LOGIC (3 credits) Methods of distinguishing between correct and incorrect reasoning. Special emphasis on deductive reasoning and informal fallacies. Liberal Education Goal Area 4

2240 AESTHETICS (3 credits) Philosophical problems involved in judgment and experience of beauty and ugliness in nature and art of various kinds. Liberal Education Goal Area 6 (Might not be offered every year)

2250 HUMAN NATURE (3 credits) Various views of the nature of human beings. Liberal Education Goal Areas 6 & 8 (Might not be offered every year)

2260 WOMEN AND PHILOSOPHY (3 credits) A historical survey of the views of patriarchal and feminist thinkers from Plato to the present. Liberal Education Goal Areas 6 & 8 (Might not be offered every year)

2270 DEATH AND SURVIVAL (3 credits) An examination of the nature of death and the possibility of survival. Liberal Education Goal Areas 6 & 8 (Might not be offered every year)

2280 CURRENT ISSUES (3 credits) Variable content, the examination of current philosophical issues in the areas of politics, religion, professional ethics, technology, etc. (Might not be offered every year)

2290 TOPICS OR PHILOSOPHERS (3 credits) Study of a philosophical subject or movement or a philosopher or group of philosophers, as announced in the schedule. (Might not be offered every year)

2310 PHILOSOPHY IN LITERATURE (3 credits) Exploration of a variety of literary texts with an emphasis on the philosophical issues they raise. Liberal Education Goal Area 6 (Might not be offered every year)

2320 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION (3 credits) Various philosophical issues associated with the analysis of human religious beliefs and experience. Liberal Education Goal Areas 6 & 8 (Might not be offered every year)

2330 PHILOSOPHIES OF NON-VIOLENCE (3 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. Liberal Education Goal Areas 6 & 9 (Might not be offered every year)

2925 PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT: ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS (3 credits) The purpose of this section of People and the Environment is to examine our moral obligations to the environment. No matter how strong these moral obligations may be, the only way to follow through with them is in the political arena. This course is therefore largely devoted to exploring the intersection of environmental ethics and politics. The course explores a number of environmental issues, the theoretical and practical impasses of the environmental movement, and environmental philosophy, as well as the challenge of mitigating global climate change. Liberal Education Goal Area 10

3310 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY (3 credits) History of European philosophy from Thales to William of Occam. Liberal Education Goal Areas 6 & 8 (Might not be offered every year)

3320 MODERN PHILOSOPHY (3 credits) Historical survey of 17th and 18th century European philosophy. Liberal Education Goal Area 6 (Might not be offered every year)

3330 NINETEENTH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY (3 credits) History of European philosophy from Hegel to Nietzsche. Liberal Education Goal Area 6 (Might not be offered every year)

3340 CONTEMPORARY ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY (3 credits) Systematic and critical philosophy in the twentieth century. Liberal Education Goal Areas 6 & 7 (Might not be offered every year)

3350 SYMBOLIC LOGIC (3 credits) Symbolized inferences in logic, including deductive proof, quantification logic and the logic of relations. Liberal Education Goal Area 4 (Might not be offered every year)

3360 ASIAN PHILOSOPHY (3 credits) Historical survey of influential philosophies and philosophers of Asia. Liberal Education Goal Areas 6 & 8 (Might not be offered every year)

3370 EXISTENTIALISM (3 credits) Selected reading in the works of representative existentialist thinkers. Liberal Education Goal Area 6 (Might not be offered every year)

3380 POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY (3 credits) Various philosophical views on the nature of human society and the state. (Might not be offered every year)

3390 MARXIST PHILOSOPHY (3 credits) An in-depth introduction to the philosophical perspective of Marxism as it originally developed and as it has been subsequently interpreted and applied from the latter 19th century to the present. Liberal Education Goal Areas 6 & 8 (Might not be offered every year)

3410 PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE (3 credits) A study of the nature, methods, limits, assumptions, and fundamental concepts of science; concepts such as hypothesis, explanation, law, confirmation, causality, and matter. (Might not be offered every year)

4410 SEMINAR IN PHILOSOPHY (3 credits) Works of a specific philosopher or school, or of a philosophical problem or movement.(Might not be offered every year)