see also: CLAS 210 Skepticism, Dogmatism, & Mysticism

An introduction to the problems, methods, and scope of philosophical inquiry. Among the philosophical questions to be discussed are those associated with morality, the law, the nature of mind, and the limits of knowledge. Philosophers to be read include Plato, Descartes, David Hume, William James, A. J. Ayer, Sartre, C. S. Lewis, and Lon Fuller.

of related interest: French Studies

A critical examination of the work of some major figures in the history of philosophy, emphasizing historical continuities and developments in the subject. Authors include Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Nietzsche, and Russell.

This is a course in informal logic. We will examine the functions of language and reasoning as they occur in everyday discourse. Beginning with an analysis of the structure of a wide variety of informal fallacies, we will turn to an investigation of how these fallacies are employed for such purposes as persuasion, deception, and indoctrination. Examples will be taken from the news media, advertising, and educational textbooks.

An introduction to some key issues in three of the main areas of Western philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology and value theory. Readings in each area will be drawn from the classical and modern traditions: for example, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, and Bertrand Russell. In all cases we will attempt to see the connections between the traditional problems of philosophy and the concerns of our own lives.

Cross-listed: Integrated Arts

We will critically investigate a wide range of theories and problems in the philosophy of art, emphasizing issues of artistic meaning. Among the topics to be discussed are whether there exists an aesthetic experience unique to the art world; the nature of representation and mimetic theories of art; the role of expression in artistic definition and criticism; formalism and the form/content distinction; the logic of aesthetic evaluation and its relation to ethical argument; and subjectivity and objectivity in aesthetic perception. We will examine both classical and contemporary theories as they apply to questions arising out of architecture, dance, drama, film, literature, music, painting, and photography.

An analysis of the concept of mind, including such topics as knowledge of other minds, criteria of personal identity, theories of human action, and the relationship between consciousness and brain processes.

Cross-listed: French Studies, German Studies

An examination of the ethical theories of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus, and Heidegger. The course will explore the extent to which these thinkers shared basic convictions about the nature of the human condition and the foundations of moral value. Special consideration will be given to the existentialist tendency toward ethical relativism. First-year students may take this course. Prerequisite: a previous course in philosophy or permission of the instructor.

Cross-listed: German Studies

An introduction to one of the classic texts of Western philosophy, Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Prerequisite: a previous course in philosophy and permission of the instructor.

Cross-listed: German Studies

The major emphasis of the reading will be on Nietzsche's ethical and metaethical viewpoints. However, issues of metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophical psychology will also be involved as we discuss such notions as perspectivism, the overman, eternal return, and the will-to-power.