Courses

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.

• CAS PH 676: Philosophy of the Earth Sciences: From Deep Time to the Anthropocene
  Graduate Prerequisites: at least one philosophy course or one earth & environment course. - 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. Effective Summer 2026, this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Social Inquiry 1.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
  • Scientific Inquiry I
• CAS PH 677: Philosophy of the Social Sciences
  Topics in the philosophy of the social sciences such as the interpretation of human action and the objectivity of social inquiry. Social consideration of alternative theoretic viewpoints such as naturalism and interpretivism. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Social Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
  • Social Inquiry II
• CAS PH 680: Topics in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
  Topic for Fall 2017: Thinking Food & Drink. An examination sparked by Greek literature and philosophy.
• CAS PH 685: 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 687: 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 688: Topics in Aesthetics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: philosophy major or minor and two previously completed philosophy courses. Graduate prerequisites: must be Philosophy PhD student, or have taken two previous philosophy courses at BU. - 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 689: 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.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
• CAS PH 801: Ancient Philosophy 1
  An advanced study of works by either Plato or Aristotle.
• CAS PH 816: Hegel
  A close reading of the Phenomenology of Spirit, with a particular emphasis on its role as the justification of Hegel's standpoint in the Logic, the development of the overall argument, and the famous sections on sense-certainty, the master-slave dialectic, unhappy consciousness, the terror of the French revolution, the critique of Kant's moral philosophy, and the transition to religion. Students are asked to present short presentations on selections from the secondary literature.
• CAS PH 850: Ethics
  Examines the origins of two familiar distinctions (1. the good versus the right; 2. sentiment versus reason). Tries to make sense of the eighteenth century approaches to these issues, as well as the continuity of those approaches with related twentieth and twenty-first century ethical theory.
• CAS PH 860: Epistemology
  EPISTEMOLOGY
• CAS PH 870: Seminar in the Philosophy of Science
  Topic for Fall 2007: Philosophical Foundations of Quantum Theory. An advanced seminar in the philosophy of physics, focusing on quantum theory. Examines the philosophical implications of recent developments in entanglement and quantum information science, such as quantum cryptography, quantum computing, and quantum teleportation.
• CAS PH 880: Topics in Philosophy I
  Recent work in moral psychology and ethics.
• CAS PH 881: Proseminar for First-Year Graduate Students
  Graduate Prerequisites: First-year philosophy PhD student standing. - This seminar is open only to first-year PhD students in philosophy, all of whom are required to enroll. The seminar is designed to help incoming graduate students hone several invaluable philosophical skills, including those needed for effective presentation and defense of one's ideas. Topics vary by semester.
• CAS PH 990: Dissertation Workshop
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Students should be enrolled in the Philosophy PhD program - Intended for Philosophy PhD students working toward a dissertation prospectus or dissertation. Students present their research and discuss each other's research projects.
• CAS PH 991: Directed Research on Dissertation
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of major professor. - DR ON DISSERTA
• CAS PH 993: Philosophy Proseminar 1
  Graduate Prerequisites: graduate standing. - A workshop seminar offering advanced graduate students the opportunity to present and discuss work-in- progress (dissertation chapters, papers for job applications, journal submissions). A serious commitment to regular and continuing attendance is expected.
• CAS PH 994: Philosophy Proseminar 2
  Graduate Prerequisites: (GRSPH993) or consent of instructor. - A continuation of GRS PH 993. A workshop seminar offering advanced graduate students the opportunity to present and discuss work-in-progress (dissertation chapters, papers for job applications, journal submissions). A serious commitment to regular and continuing attendance is expected.
• CAS PO 702: Professional Development for PhD Candidates in Political Science
  For political science PhD students in their second or third year of study and who are preparing for comprehensive exams or are working on a PhD prospectus. Addresses core issues in numerous fields and is taught by members of the GFPS.
• CAS PO 711: Approaches to the Study of American Politics
  Graduate Core Seminar. Introduces students to major theoretical, substantive, and methodological problems in the study of American politics by examining two sets of literature: scholarly debates and discussion of theory and research, and the concrete research of leading Americanists.