Winter 2016 Courses – Philosophy

​PHI 200A: Philosophy of Race and Gender
MW 11-12:15pm, DH 203, Dr. Jennifer Kling
“That’s racist!” “Look, we have a black President—racism just isn’t a problem anymore.” “Ugh, what a sexist pig.” “Well, his intentions were good—give him a break.” “We’re living in a post-racial, post-gender world.” “Look, I’m not a sexist, but I just don’t want to date someone who’s not pretty.”

Our day-to-day lives are filled with these sorts of claims; but what do they mean? Are they true, accurate, or sensible? Are they reasonable or unreasonable, justified or unjustified? What grounds claims like these? This is where philosophy comes in. In this course, we will explore and evaluate a number of important concepts related to race and gender in the United States. Specifically, we will consider competing conceptions of race, racism, gender, and sexism, whether and how reparations for slavery and anti-black racism ought to be made, whether and how gender equality ought to be attained, and whether and how the anti-racism and anti-sexism intellectual and activist movements are interrelated. If we have time, we will explore the role of African-American and feminist art in these contentious debates.

PHI 210: Symbolic Logic
MWF 9-9:50am, DH 206, Dr. Patrick Mayer

PHI 293: Independent Study in Political Philosophy
Dr. Patrick Mayer

PHI 320: Directed Study in Social Ethics
Dr. Jennifer Kling
Ethics is, first and foremost, a branch of practical philosophy. It concerns our everyday actions, our attitudes, our ways of interacting with others and with the world, and our life choices. It is also normative—that is, it is evaluative. We make claims that actions, characters, states of affairs, or even pleasures are good or bad, right or wrong, praiseworthy or blameworthy, just or unjust, fair or unfair. Social ethics, in particular, has to do with the claims we make about societal issues, such as climate change, environmentalism, poverty, racism, sexism, education, politics, and the economy. Is our political system broken? Is our economic system fair? What do we owe to other people? Does our educational system do our children justice? Can we—and should we—do anything about climate change?

In this directed study, we will analyze and consider competing answers to these and other social questions, and will also discuss whether the questions themselves are good ones. Throughout the study, we will be reading both historical and contemporary texts. However, our efforts will not be merely an academic exercise where we will only study what others have thought. Instead, in this study you will be joining in an active and ongoing effort to better understand an imperfect, unjust social world, and how we should act in response to it.