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 652: Ethics of Health Care
  Medicine and health care offer a unique opportunity to explore the nature of humanity and the world and to ask fundamental questions concerning the nature of birth, life, and death, and what it is to be a person. Readings from both classical and contemporary writings in ethics, medicine, law, and public health policy.
• CAS PH 654: Community, Liberty, and Morality
  Challenges to liberalism's belief in the primacy of individual freedom and in governmental neutrality regarding individuals, interests, as offered by conservatism (Burke, Scruton), communitarianism (MacIntyre), feminism (Gilligan), and advocates of a "liberal" theory of the public good (Glaston).
• CAS PH 660: Epistemology
  An examination of some of the central questions concerning the nature, scope, sources, and structure of knowledge.
• CAS PH 661: Mathematical Logic
  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.
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  • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
• CAS PH 665: Philosophy of Cognitive Science
  We'll read important scientific work in evolutionary theory, psychology, etc. about human cognition. We'll then explore its philosophical implications. For example, we'll use research in cognitive science to think about whether humans are irremediably tribal and sectarian. Scientific Inquiry I and Social Inquiry I are both prerequisites for this course. 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.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
  • Scientific Inquiry II
• CAS PH 672: Philosophy of Biology
  Conceptual problems in biology; unity or pluralism of science; hierarchy theory; biological explanation; evolutionary theory, teleology and causality, statistical explanation; the species problem; mind and the brain; and language in animals and humans.
• 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.
• 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 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 688: Topics in Aesthetics
  Graduate Prerequisites: graduate 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 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 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 901: Directed Research on Thesis
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of major professor. - DIR RES THESIS
• CAS PH 902: Directed Research on Thesis
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of major professor. - DIR RES THESIS
• CAS PH 905: Directed Study in Problems in Philosophy
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - DS PROB OF PHIL
• CAS PH 906: Directed Study in Problems in Philosophy
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - DS PROB OF PHIL
• 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.