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.

• GRS 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
  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • Creativity/Innovation
• GRS PH 801: Ancient Philosophy 1
  An advanced study of works by either Plato or Aristotle.
• GRS PH 810: Topics in Modern Philosophy
  Topics vary.
• GRS PH 812: Kant 2
  
• GRS 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.
• GRS PH 819: Ethics
  An advanced study of ethics.
• GRS PH 820: Contemporary Philosophy
  An advanced study of contemporary philosophy.
• GRS PH 826: Advanced Phenomenology
  
• GRS PH 840: Metaphysics
  Topic for Spring 2022: Metaphysics & Epistemology of Mental Health and Illness. First half of semester covers foundational issues in metaphysics/epistemology (with sources from philosophy of science, psychiatry, disability, and metaphysics). Second half covers (i) agency and (ii) the social world.
• GRS 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.
• GRS PH 854: Seminar in Political Philosophy
  Topic for Spring 2018: Hobbes.
• GRS PH 860: Epistemology
  
• GRS 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.
• GRS PH 871: Philosophy of Science
  The aim of the course is to clarify the credentials and implications of each position (thus provide students a solid ground for participating in wider cultural debates on rationality and relativism), and to have a better understanding of the recent history and current status of philosophy of science (which is part of necessary training for professional philosophers), through a careful examination of the structure of the arguments adopted by each position in dealing with various issues.
• GRS PH 880: Topics in Philosophy I
  Recent work in moral psychology and ethics.
• GRS 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.
• GRS PH 883: Topics in Philosophy
  Topic for Fall 2022: History of Analytic Philosophy. One or more topics from the history of analytic philosophy (roughly Frege through Quine), emphasizing the importance of logic for that tradition
• GRS PH 901: Directed Research on Thesis
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of major professor.
  
• GRS PH 902: Directed Research on Thesis
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of major professor.
  
• GRS PH 905: Directed Study in Problems in Philosophy
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor.