Course List
An examination of the standards of sound argumentation, both inductive and deductive, including argument structure, classical categorical logic, modern truth-functional logic, informal fallacies, and the role of language in argumentation. Typically offered in the fall.
PHI 200: Special Topics
Can cover a wide range of philosophical topics, including, but not limited to, Philosophy and Film, Philosophy of Race and Gender, the Ethics of Technology, Death and Dying, and Environmental Ethics. The course focus is dependent on the instructor.
PHI 201: Introduction to Philosophy
An introduction to the major areas of philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, with an emphasis on philosophical problems relating to human existence. Typically offered in the fall.
PHI 210: Symbolic Logic
A thorough treatment of sentential and predicate logic, including translations, truth tables, proofs, truth trees, logical paradoxes, and other philosophical issues relating to logic. Typically offered in the winter.
​PHI 220: Introduction to Ethics
An introduction to the major philosophical theories of ethics, including those of Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, and Mill, with some application of these theories to contemporary moral problems. Typically offered in the fall.
PHI 260: Introduction to Political Philosophy
A historical introduction to issues concerning the nature of the state, the proper extent of state power, the duties owed by citizens to the state and to other citizens, and the appropriate goals of state activity. Potential sources include Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx. Typically offered in the spring.
PHI 320: Social Ethics
An application of the major philosophical theories of ethics to contemporary moral problems, especially those problems which confront us on the societal level. Typically offered in the winter.
PHI 340: Ancient Philosophy
An examination of the philosophical writings of Plato and Aristotle, including some treatment of the pre-Socratic philosophers. Typically offered in the winter.
PHI 341: Modern Philosophy
An examination of the philosophical writings of Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Typically offered in the winter.
PHI 342: Medieval Philosophy
An examination of the philosophical writings from the Western intellectual tradition from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Scientific Revolution. Potential sources include Boethius, Augustine, St. Anselm, duns Scotus, St. Thomas Aquinas, and William of Ockham. A focus will be on issues in metaphysics and philosophy of religion. Typically offered in the fall.
PHI 361: Philosophy of Religion
An examination of various philosophical issues relating to religion, including the existence and attributes of God, the relationship between faith and reason, the problem of evil, the nature of religious discourse, and miracles. Typically offered in the fall.
PHI 362: Social and Political Philosophy
An examination of the writings of various social and political philosophers, focusing on the foundations of the state, law, rights, justice, equality, and the common good. Typically offered in the winter.
PHI 364: Philosophy of Science
A historical or topical examination of epistemological and metaphysical issues that arise in thinking about science. Topics that will be covered include the nature of science, scientific explanation, scientific laws and theories, theoretical concepts, and reductionism – all with special reference to the natural sciences. Prerequisite: PHI 110 and ENG 102. Typically offered in the winter.
PHI 365: Knowledge and Reality
A historical or topical examination of issues in metaphysics and epistemology generally. Guiding questions in epistemology may include: what is knowledge? Is knowledge possible? Does scientific inquiry yield knowledge, and, if so, how? Guiding questions in metaphysics may include: does God exist? What is time? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? Prerequisite: PHI 210 and ENG 102. Typically offered in the fall.
PHI 495: Senior Thesis