Philosophy (PHIL)

PHIL 1000 Philosophy and Human Life — 4 credits

In this course, students are introduced to issues of philosophy as they apply to everyday life. Ways of establishing beliefs about the world and the moral life and the nature and task of philosophic questioning will be explored. This course can serve as students' only study in philosophy, satisfying the liberal arts core requirement, or it can be the basis for further study toward a minor or major in philosophy. Offered every semester. Offered in the College for Women.

PHIL 2020 Introduction to Ethics — 2-5 credits

PHIL 2030 Healthcare Ethics — 2-5 credits

PHIL 2030W Healthcare Ethics — 3 credits

This course is designed to prepare the student to participate as a provider in the ethical challenges of health care. The course includes an examination of topics selected from the current literature of bioethics (abortion, euthanasia, genetics etc.), a presentation of methods for processing ethical dilemmas, and an analysis of the status and role specific to the technical health care deliverer as this relates to decision-making. Practitioner codes of ethics will be examined with specific focus on the role of the informed practitioner in creating a more just society. Offered in the College for Adults.

PHIL 2150 Logic — 4 credits

This course focuses on techniques and applications of contemporary formal logic. Topics include the structures and forms of arguments; identifying arguments and translating them from ordinary language contexts to symbolic forms; validity, invalidity and soundness; deductive techniques for testing arguments; logical consistency; inductive logic and its applications. Offered every year. This course fulfills the mathematics and logical reasoning core requirement. Offered in the College for Women.

PHIL 2200W Ethics — 4 credits

This course involves the examination and evaluation of the major ethical theories of Western philosophical tradition. Contemporary ethical issues will be discussed in light of theories such as virtue ethics, natural law, deontological theory, utilitarianism and feminist ethics. The course is offered every semester. Offered in the College for Women.

PHIL 2400 Philosophy and Women — 4 credits

This course offers an examination of the portrayal of women in Western philosophic tradition and the influence of views on the nature, status and role of women. Readings from women who contributed to the development of philosophic ideas will be included. Representative contemporary issues might include the debate about pornography, violence against women and censorship. The course is offered alternate years. Also offered as WOST 2400. Offered in the College for Women.

PHIL 2440 Biomedical Ethics — 4 credits

This course is an overview of normative ethical theory. It has application to topics in biomedicine, such as the concept of health, the provider-patient relationship, informed consent and refusal of treatment, truth-telling and confidentiality, research involving human subjects, life-sustaining treatment and physician-assisted death, reproductive decisions and technologies, genetic screening and interventions, allocation of scarce resources. Offered every semester. Offered in the College for Women and the College for Adults. Also offered as CRST 2440 and Co-convenes with CRST/PHIL 3400.

PHIL 2994 Topics — 4 credits

The subject matter is announced in the annual schedule of classes. Content varies from year to year but does not duplicate existing courses. Offered in the College for Women.

PHIL 3100 Environmental Ethics — 4 credits

This course is an examination of the relationship of humans to the natural environment. Topics include an overview of philosophic ethics, definitions of nature, comparison of anthropocentric, biocentric and land ethics, ecofeminism and deep ecology, the rights of animals and other living things, and our responsibilities to future generations. Offered in alternate years in the College for Women.

PHIL 3300 Ethics in Communication — 4 credits

This course involves basic principles of ethical decision making and application to ethical problems that arise in verbal and nonverbal communication. Issues discussed include deception and withholding information, persuasion and advertising, freedom of speech and the press, confidentiality and privacy. Offered annually. Offered in the College for Women.

PHIL 3400 Biomedical Ethics — 4 credits

This course is an overview of normative ethical theory. It has application to topics in biomedicine, such as the concept of health, the provider-patient relationship, informed consent and refusal of treatment, truth-telling and confidentiality, research involving human subjects, life-sustaining treatment and physician-assisted death, reproductive decisions and technologies, genetic screening and interventions, allocation of scarce resources. Offered every semester. Offered in the College for Women and the College for Adults. Also offered as CRST 3400.
Recommended: PHIL 2200W. Open to students with no prior work in philosophy, but recommended that students be juniors or seniors.

PHIL 3450 Faith and Doubt — 4 credits

This course involves examination and evaluation of traditional philosophic arguments for and against the existence of God. It includes discussion of the foundations and implications of claims regarding the possible immortality of the human person, the problem innocent suffering poses to any claim for the benevolence of the universe and the question of miracles. Offered alternate years in the College for Women.

PHIL 3650 Philosophy and Film — 4 credits

This course covers issues of knowledge and reality as they arise in film, such as what it means to know, what counts as certainty, what sort of being a human being is, and what it means to know another person. Offered in alternate years. Offered in the College for Women.
Recommended: PHIL 1000.

PHIL 3720 Philosophic Themes in Literature — 4 credits

This course offers an examination of philosophic issues, such as the meaning of life, suffering, the relationship between language and reality, and the question of human freedom, as they arise in literary texts. It involves discussion of the connections between literature and philosophy and the kinds of truth offered by each. Offered in alternate years in the College for Women.
Recommended: PHIL 1000.

PHIL 3820 Philosophy of Psychology — 4 credits

Philosophy offers a lens into the discipline of psychology that lets students ask important questions about psychology. Are people innately good or evil? Are people who are neurodiverse ill, or just different? Do we really have free will? Are lawbreakers responsible for their actions? How can our minds be purely physical? Or aren’t they? Do non-human animals think and feel like humans? What’s the ethics of all this: How do we properly respect neurodiverse individuals, people who break laws, non-human animals? Professors will vary the questions asked and discussed in each offering of this course. Be in touch with the professor teaching the section for details. Also offered as PSYC. Offered in the College for Women.
Recommended: One course in psychology, one course in philosophy.

PHIL 3900 Feminist Philosophy — 4 credits

This course involves the exploration of feminist contributions in the traditional philosophical inquiries of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, as well as questions unique to feminist thought. Students will explore the social conception of the self, social constructions of knowledge, the objectivity and subjectivity debates, standpoint epistemologies, and the philosophic implications of multiple differences, including race, class, sexuality. Also offered as CRST 3900 and WOST 3900. Offered annually. Offered in the College for Women.

PHIL 3994 Topics — 4 credits

The subject matter of the course is announced in the annual schedule of classes. Content varies from year to year but does not duplicate existing courses. Offered in the College for Women.

PHIL 4684 Directed Study — 4 credits

Directed study is provided for students whose unusual circumstances prohibit taking a regularly scheduled course but who need the material of that course to satisfy a requirement. Availability of this faculty-directed learning experience depends on faculty time and may be limited in any given term and restricted to certain courses.
Prerequisites: Faculty, department chair and dean approval.

PHIL 4850W Senior Seminar: Humanities Capstone — 4 credits

The primary goal of this course is for students to develop a capstone project, which they will complete by the end of the semester. To support students on their projects, there will be weekly meetings focusing on different steps of the writing and project development process. Students will also be expected to present their work as part of a symposium near the end of the semester. This course is a writing-intensive course and is open to majors in selected fields in the Humanities. Offered in the College for Women. Co-convenes with ENGL4860W, HIST4850W and SPAN 4860W.

PHIL 4952 Independent Study — 2 credits

Independent study may be arranged with a faculty member. Also offered in the College for Adults.
Prerequisites: Instructor and department chair permission.

PHIL 4953 Independent Study — 3 credits

Independent study may be arranged with a faculty member. Also offered in the College for Adults.
Prerequisites: Instructor and department chair permission.

PHIL 4954 Independent Study — 4 credits

Independent study may be arranged with a faculty member. Also offered in the College for Adults.
Prerequisites: Instructor and department chair permission.

PHIL 4994 Topics — 4 credits

The subject matter of the course is announced in the annual schedule of classes. Content varies from year to year but does not duplicate existing courses. Offered in the College for Women.