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The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

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  • CAS PH 459: Political and Legal Philosophy
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Examination of the individual's responsibilities under law, specifically of the idea that there is a general moral obligation to obey the law, including unjust law, and the contrasting idea of civil disobedience-- the possibility of morally justified resistance to law. Also offered as CAS PO 499.
  • CAS PH 460: Epistemology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH310 & CASPH360) - An examination of some of the central questions concerning the nature, scope, sources, and structure of knowledge.
  • CAS PH 461: Mathematical Logic
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASMA293) or consent of instructor. - The investigation of logical reasoning with mathematical methods. The syntax and semantics of sentential logic and quantificational logic. The unifying Godel Completeness Theorem, and models of theories. A look at the Godel Incompleteness Theorem and its ramifications. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
  • CAS PH 462: Foundations of Mathematics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH461) or consent of instructor. - Axiomatic set theory as a foundation for, and field of, mathematics: Axiom of Choice, the Continuum Hypothesis, and consistency results. Also offered as CAS MA 532.
  • CAS PH 463: Philosophy of Language
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH310 & CASPH360) and one other course in philosophy, or consent of instructor. - Critical survey of the main issues in the philosophy of language and the foundations of linguistics, including the ideas of logical form and the universality of languages as well as the basic ideas of generative grammar, possible-worlds semantics, Wittgenstein, and speech-act theories.
  • CAS PH 465: Philosophy of Cognitive Science
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASPH 310 and CASPH 360 and one other philosophy course; or consent of instructor. - This course focuses on the blurry boundaries between philosophical and scientific study of the mind. Philosophers sometimes appeal to findings from empirical psychology to support views in philosophy of mind and epistemology. To what sorts of philosophical debates are empirical findings about the mind relevant? To what extent should we allow these findings to constrain our philosophical theorizing? Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Scientific Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Scientific Inquiry II
  • CAS PH 468: Philosophical Problems of Logic and Mathematics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASPH 360. - A working through of Godel’s famous 1931 paper on the incompleteness of arithmetic, alongside the proof of Turing’s 1936 proof of the undecidability of logic and Tarski’s analysis of the concept of truth for formalized languages. Warren Goldfarb’s “Notes on Metamathematics” are used alongside the original material. Students learn to carry out techniques of arithmetization of syntax and understand the workings in the context of Godel’s proof, including the formalization of proof, consistency, and other metamathematical notions, and the concept of primitive recursivity.
  • CAS PH 470: Philosophy of Physics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous PH courses, or consent of instructor. - An introductory survey of fascinating problems in contemporary philosophy of physics. The basic ideas and main features of physical theories, which touch upon nature at its most fundamental level and interact most crucially with philosophy in general, are outlined, so that students will have a road map of the central problems in the field. Throughout, the driving theme is the entanglement of a radical revision in our conceptualization of the world (which is forced upon us by the changes in the physical picture of the world due to major developments in modern physics) with central philosophical. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Scientific Inquiry I
  • CAS PH 472: Philosophy of Biology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous PH courses, or consent of instructor. - Conceptual problems in biology; unity or pluralism of science; hierarchy theory; biological explanation; evolutionary theory, teleology and casuality, statistical explanation; the species problem; mind and the brain; and language in animals and humans.
  • CAS PH 476: Philosophy of the Earth Sciences: From Deep Time to the Anthropocene
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous PH courses, or consent of instructor. - Examines philosophical and methodological issues arising in the geosciences, from reconstructing events in deep time, proxy data, and the catastrophism-uniformitarianism debate, to analog and computer simulation modeling, and the Anthropocene debate, drawing examples from geology, archaeology, paleontology, and climate science.
  • CAS PH 484: Topics in Speculative Philosophy
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: any one philosophy course from CAS PH 440-447, or consent of instructo r. - Topic for Fall 2015: Meaning.
  • CAS PH 485: Topics in Philosophy of Value
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH450 OR CASPH451 OR CASPH452 OR CASPH453 OR CASPH454 OR CASP H455 OR CASPH457) any one philosophy course from CAS PH 450-457, or consent of instructo r. - Topics vary from year to year. Topic for Spring 2021: What is happiness' How can we achieve a balanced, healthy, fulfilling life' Classical thinkers such as Aristotle, Plato, Chuang Tzu; Stoic, Confucian, Buddhist, Taoist paths; comparison with contemporary studies of happiness and mindfulness.
  • CAS PH 487: Topics in the Philosophy of Science
    A discussion-based introduction to core issues in the philosophy of science, focusing on the topics of scientific realism, theory change, reductionism, explanation, models, and natural kinds.
  • CAS PH 488: Topics in Aesthetics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: sophomore standing. - Consideration of selected topics in aesthetics, with particular attention to the relationship between aesthetic experience and analytical accounts of the experience; topics include expression, perception, qualities, the good, the ideal, and the sublime.
  • CAS PH 489: Henry James and New Media
    James’s writing exposed the moral and aesthetic dimensions of social status, wealth, and romance. Exploring James’s works and film adaptations of them, as well as contemporaneous philosophy, we address how they anticipate the social media of our time. Students complete a video, graphic novel, or other form of “new media” for a final project. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • CAS PH 491: Directed Study
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing, consent of instructor and department, and a pproval of CAS Academic Advising. - Individual or small group tutorial instruction and directed research on selected topics.
  • CAS PH 492: Directed Study
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing, consent of instructor and department, and a pproval of CAS Academic Advising. - Individual or small group tutorial instruction and directed research on selected topics.
  • CAS PH 493: Meaning, Memory, and History
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing. - Explores central issues in the philosophy of history, from Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche to Collingwood, Popper, and Danto. Topics include: is history a science' If so, what kind' How does it differ from tradition and memory' Does it have a meaning' Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
  • CAS PH 495: Philosophy and Mysticism: Jewish and Islamic Perspectives
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar; and one course from among the following: P hilosophy, Religion, Core Curriculum (CC101 and/or CC102) - A thematic introduction to mysticism and philosophy, with a focus on the dynamics of religious experience. Readings will be drawn from medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy; Sufi mysticism and philosophy; Kabbalah, Sufi poetry, Hebrew poetry from the Golden Age of Muslim Spain. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS PH 496: Topics in Religious Thought
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASWR 120 or equivalent and one course from among the following: Religion, Philosophy, Core Curriculum (CASCC 101 and/or CC 102). - Topic for Spring 2025: Happiness, East and West. What is happiness' How can we achieve a balanced, healthy, fulfilling life' Classical thinkers such as Aristotle, Plato, Chuang Tzu; Stoic, Confucian, Buddhist paths; comparison with contemporary studies on happiness and mindfulness. Effective Spring 2023 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Writing-Intensive Course

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