PHILOSOPHY
CRN |
12042 |
Distribution |
A |
Course No. |
PHIL 103 |
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Title |
History of Philosophy |
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Professor |
Garry Hagberg |
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Schedule |
Tu Th 3:00 pm - 4:20 pm OLIN 202 |
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.
CRN |
12266 |
Distribution |
A |
Course No. |
PHIL 220 |
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Title |
Introduction to the Philosophy of Science |
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Professor |
Orit Gwirceman |
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Schedule |
Wed Fri 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm LC 208 |
This is a survey of the 20th century views concerning the nature of science and scientific knowledge. We will examine different views of what demarcates the natural sciences of Physics, Astronomy and Biology from other enterprises such as Astrology and Creationism. We will also examine the different views as to what makes scientific knowledge so special, and what is the nature of scientific progress in light of the history of the evolution (or revolution) of scientific theories. Furthermore we will look into some criticisms of the presupposition that science is indeed this special intellectual enterprise that aims at (and succeeds in) providing us with this special knowledge of the material world. Though no preliminary knowledge of any specific scientific theory is required, the will to familiarize oneself with some of the major events in the history of science is expected.
CRN |
12267 |
Distribution |
A |
Course No. |
PHIL 232 |
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Title |
Epistemology |
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Professor |
Orit Gwirceman |
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Schedule |
Wed Fri 11:30 am - 12:50 pm OLIN 205 |
Can we know anything? What is the difference between a belief (or an opinion) and knowledge? This course is meant to introduce you to the analysis of human knowledge. We will examine different theories as to what counts as knowledge; these theories might provide different answers to either the first or the second question. The readings will include the works of some of the major thinkers of our time, including some current critics of the analytic tradition.
CRN |
12335 |
Distribution |
A |
Course No. |
PHIL 237 |
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Title |
Symbolic Logic |
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Professor |
Robert Martin |
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Schedule |
Mon Wed 10:00 am - 11:20 am HEG 300 |
An introduction to modern logic, this course covers sentential and predicate logic (also known as propositional logic and quantification theory, respectively). The emphases are on skill in producing formal derivations and clarity on the relation between formal derivations and natural language argumentation. The course will also contain an introduction to formal semantics, including the proof of completeness for
first-order logic.
CRN |
12043 |
Distribution |
A |
Course No. |
PHIL 256 |
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Title |
Environmental Ethics |
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Professor |
Daniel Berthold-Bond |
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Schedule |
Mon Wed 10:00 am - 11:20 am OLIN 201 |
Cross-listed: CRES, History and Philosophy of Science
The course will explore a variety of ethical issues surrounding the relation of human beings to their environment. We will look at several far-reaching critiques of the anthropocentric character of traditional moral paradigms by deep ecologists, ecofeminists, social ecologists, ecotheologians, and others who argue in different ways for fundamentally new accounts of the moral standing of nature and the ethical duties of humans to non-human creatures and things. While we will concentrate on contemporary authors and debates, we will begin by looking at the precedents and origins of the contemporary scene in such nineteenth-century writers as Henry Salt, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and E. P. Evans, and early twentieth-century writers like Aldo Leopold, Joseph Wood Krutch, and Rachel Carson. Throughout our discussion of opposing theoretical constructs, we will give attention to the implications for social policy, legal practice, and political action.
CRN |
12044 |
Distribution |
A |
Course No. |
PHIL 350 |
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Title |
Pragmatism |
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Professor |
Garry Hagberg |
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Schedule |
Fr 10:30 am - 12:50 pm OLIN 201 |
A detailed examination of the content and methods of a number of classic works of American philosophy, emphasizing issues in epistemology. Authors include Peirce, William James, Royce, Dewey, Santayana, Mead, and more recent writers. The philosophical movements discussed include transcendentalism, pragmatism, empiricism, and realism. The investigation of these works will involve problems in the philosophy of religion, ethics, aesthetics, the philosophy of language, the philosophy of education, and social and political philosophy.
CRN |
12045 |
Distribution |
A |
Course No. |
PHIL 399 |
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Title |
Kierkegaard |
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Professor |
Daniel Berthold-Bond |
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Schedule |
Mon 1:30 pm - 3:50 pm ASP 302 |
An examination of a variety of Soren Kierkegaard's aesthetic, psychological, and theological texts. Investigated are the portrait of the aesthetic, ethical, and religious dimensions of existence; the critique of systematic philosophical discourse; the existentialist psychology of inwardness; the religious categories of absurdity, paradox, and offense; and the nature of language and authorship. Readings are from Either/Or, Repetition, Fear and Trembling, The Sickness Unto Death, Concluding Unscientific Postscript, Training in Christianity, and Attack Upon Christendom.
Prerequisite: previous courses in philosophy or religion.