Philosophy

• CAS PH 100: Introduction to Philosophy
  Introduction to the nature of philosophical activity through a careful study of selected great works such as Plato's Apology, Descartes' Meditations, Lao Tze's Tao Te Ching, Pascal's Pensées, and Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS PH 110: Great Philosophers
  A comparative introduction to the life and thought of six preeminent philosophers from classical times in both the Western and Eastern traditions. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS PH 150: Introduction to Ethics
  Who ought we to be, what ought we to do, what ought we to strive for? Examination of our obligations to ourselves, to other humans, and to the natural world in light of ethical theory and contemporary problems. Readings from a wide range of texts in philosophical ethics. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS PH 155: Politics and Philosophy
  What is justice? Is the free market fair? May economic and political liberties be divorced? What makes government legitimate? Are anarchism and utopianism defensible? Classic and contemporary readings--see the philosophy department website for details. No prerequisites; carries CAS humanities division credit.
• CAS PH 159: Philosophy and Film
  An introduction to philosophy via reflecting on philosophical issues connected with film as a medium. Topics include general aesthetics, representation, emotion and narrative, genre, fictionalism, and whether film can be immoral. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS PH 160: Reasoning and Argumentation
  A systematic study of the principles of both deductive and informal reasoning, calculated to enhance students' actual reasoning skills, with an emphasis on reasoning and argumentation in ordinary discourse. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS PH 170: Philosophy of Science and Pseudoscience
  Critical examination of various paranormal phenomena -ESP, psychokinesis, dowsing-from a scientific point of view. Analysis of the scientific status of disciplines such as astrology and acupuncture. Consideration of such topics as alternative explanations, criteria for distinguishing science from pseudoscience.
• CAS PH 223: Philosophy of Sport
  A philosophical investigation of sport. Questions include: What is sport? What is play? Is competition morally defensible? Should athletes take performance-enhancing drugs? Should women compete against men? Is sport beautiful? Readings from contemporary and classical philosophers.
• CAS PH 234: Wealth, Ethics, and Liberty
  Examines such issues as whether or not the pursuit of wealth is morally corrupt; what "distributive justice" is; whether a market society leads to alienation, objectification, social division; and the fundamental arguments for and against the free market.
• CAS PH 241: Philosophy of Personality
  Consideration of the nature and problems of self-understanding and self-realization. Psychological and philosophical perspectives on pattern, growth, and maturity in personality. Particular attention to philosophical issues associated with the place of emotion in the healthy personality; rationality, freedom, and responsibilty.
• CAS PH 242: Philosophy of Human Nature
  Consideration of ways in which questions about human nature have received philosophical formulation through analysis of such concepts as depth, courage, authority, intensity, possibility, transcendence, tradition, adventure, unity, sex, struggle, and peace. Discussion of past and recent work in philosophical anthropology.
• CAS PH 244: How Are We To Live? Ethics in Action
  An exploration of topics in practical ethics, such as poverty, the right to healthcare, killing in medicine, killing in war, capital punishment, the treatment of non-human animals, and the biomedical enhancement of human capacities and human nature.
• CAS PH 245: Philosophy and Religion
  Introduction to religious thought, exploring the aims of human life, the place of God in the good life, and the role of contemplation and action in the spiritual quest. Readings from Plato, Aristotle, Bible, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Augustine, Maimonides, Ghazzali.
• CAS PH 247: Introduction to Chinese Philosophy
  An introduction to the Chinese philosophical tradition, including a study of classical Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Mohism, Legalism, and modern developments.
• CAS PH 248: Existentialism
  Analysis of existentialism as a movement or orientation in contemporary philosophy. Topics include contingency and the grounds for belief and value; depth, superficiality, and the intense life; commitment and open-mindedness; tragedy and the healthy self; boredom, anxiety, and adventure; and existentialism as a philosophy of the possible.
• CAS PH 251: Medical Ethics
  A survey of moral philosophical issues that arise in connection with medicine and emerging biotechnologies. Examination of topics such as the right to healthcare, research ethics, euthanasia, abortion, concepts of death and disease, and assisted reproductive technologies.
• CAS PH 253: Social Philosophy
  A survey of philosophical and sociological analyses of modern Western society, including Rousseau, Marx, Weber, and a number of contemporary writers.
• CAS PH 254: Political Philosophy
  Examination of some classic texts of modern political philosophy in Europe: of Hobbes, Kant, Marx, and Carl Schmitt. Discussion focuses on the concept of "liberalism" and its criticism, in the context of the intellectual landscape of the time as well as some more recent interpretations.
• CAS PH 256: Philosophy of Gender and Sexuality
  An analysis of the notions of gender and sexuality, with readings from Plato, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Sartre, Levinas, Scruton, Bloom. Questions include: are gender and sexuality natural, or are they social constructions? How are they related to love and desire?
• CAS PH 258: Philosophy and Literature
  Examines how literature and philosophy tell us and show us how it is, through an analysis of the sorts of demands they place upon reason, experience, and language. Writers include William James, Henry James, Wallace Stevens, and T. S. Eliot.

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