Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. 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 458: Crime and Punishment: Philosophical Perspectives
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous PH courses, or consent of instructor. First Year WritingSeminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120)
    This course will explore philosophical questions about the criminal justice system, both in its ideal form and as it exists today. We will examine historical and contemporary writings on punishment, focusing on concepts of punishment, justifications for punishment, preventative detention, the death penalty, and alternatives to punishment. We will also ask how deep historical and contemporary injustices, including institutionalized racism, affect how we should theorize about institutions of punishment, their possible reform, or perhaps even their abolition. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry II.
    • The Individual in Community
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • 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
    An examination of some of the central questions concerning the nature, scope, sources, and structure of knowledge.
  • CAS PH 461: Mathematical Logic
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS MA 293; 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: CAS PH 461; 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: CAS PH 310 and CAS PH 360; 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: CAS PH 310 and CAS PH 360; and one other philosophy course; or consent of instructor.
    The course begins with in-depth study of leading scientific work on the evolution of cognition and culture. Next, we draw on this work as we think about social conflict and social change, especially in the context of American political culture. 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.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS PH 468: Philosophical Problems of Logic and Mathematics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS PH 310 and CAS PH 360; and one other philosophy course; or consent of instructor.
    Selected traditional metaphysical and epistemological problems in the light of modern logic and various studies in the foundations of mathematics, including the nature of the axiomatic method, completeness in logic and mathematics, and the nature of mathematical truth.
  • 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.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Critical Thinking
  • 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 instructor.
    Topic for Fall 2015: Meaning.
  • CAS PH 485: Topics in Philosophy of Value
    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 moral and aesthetic dimensions of society's play with status, wealth, and romance. After exploring contemporary dating apps, social media, and films of James's works, students complete a video, graphic novel, or other form of "new media" criticism. 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
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Creativity/Innovation
  • CAS PH 491: Directed Study
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing, consent of instructor and department, and approval 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 approval 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.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS PH 495: Philosophy and Mysticism: Jewish and Islamic Perspectives
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar; and one course from among the following: Philosophy, 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.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course