Please proceed to the Student Link for the most up-to-date information, class locations, and to register for classes. For more detailed descriptions and access to previously offered courses, please proceed to the Academic Bulletin. Course offerings from previous semesters can be found on the sidebar.
Please note that Philosophy offers lecture/discussion style courses, which means that in order to complete your enrollment in this style of course and be eligible to receive credit, you must register for the lecture section AND a discussion section that corresponds by letter. For example, if you register for CAS PH 100 A1, you must also register for CAS PH 100 A2, A3, A4, or A5.
Please also note that GRS (Graduate School of Arts & Sciences) courses are available for students enrolled in graduate programs only, and undergraduate students may only register for GRS courses with special circumstances and approval from the instructor.
CAS – College of Arts & Sciences
CAS PH 100 A1: Introduction to Philosophy
Professor Michaela McSweeney
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:10 AM – 11:00 AM
Introduces the nature of philosophical activity through careful study of major philosophical topics. Topics may include the nature of reality, knowledge, God’s existence, and the significance of human life.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 100 B1: Introduction to Philosophy
Professor Michaela McSweeney
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 12:20 PM – 1:10 PM
Introduces the nature of philosophical activity through careful study of major philosophical topics. Topics may include the nature of reality, knowledge, God’s existence, and the significance of human life.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 110 A1: Great Philosophers
Professor Benjamin Crowe
Tuesday, Thursday 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
An introduction to philosophy through a reading of great figures in western thought. The list may include Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Rousseau, Nietzsche, Russell.
BU Hub: Historical Consciousness, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 150 A1: Introduction to Ethics
Professor Victor Kumar
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
Many of us want to lead meaningful lives. But what is it for a life to be meaningful? What makes some lives better or more meaningful than others? Can life as a whole have some significance or meaning?
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 150 B1: Introduction to Ethics
Professor Daniel Star
Tuesday, Thursday 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
This course focuses on a set of interrelated questions about morality: What is morality? How should I live? What does morality require of us in our daily lives, if it requires anything at all? Is morality universal? Or, is it relative or subjective? What is the relationship between morality and religion? Answering such questions will help us to understand what the most important features of morality are. We will look both at traditional moral theories that attempt to specify what morality requires of us (Utilitarianism, Kantianism, Contractarianism and Virtue Ethics), and at the application of these theories to many specific moral issues.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 150 C1: Introduction to Ethics
Professor Derek Anderson
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 2:30 PM – 3:20 PM
Many of us want to lead meaningful lives. But what is it for a life to be meaningful? What makes some lives better or more meaningful than others? Can life as a whole have some significance or meaning?
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 155 A1: Politics & Philosophy
Professor Susanne Sreedhar
Tuesday, Thursday 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM
What is justice? What are the foundations of property rights, liberty, and equality? Are anarchism and utopianism defensible? This course is an introduction to major themes and questions in political philosophy. It includes a study of classical and modern texts, as well as contemporary political issues.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 160 A1: Reasoning & Argumentation
Professor Derek Anderson
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:10 AM – 11:00 AM
A systematic study of the principles of both deductive and informal reasoning, calculated to enhance students’ actual reasoning skills, with an emphasis on reasoning and argumentation in ordinary discourse. We will emphasize argumentation and criticism in ordinary life and also present formal models of reasoning and argumentation that are widely applicable. Simultaneous training in skills of argument analysis, argument pattern recognition, argument construction, and argument interpretation and creation.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 160 B1: Reasoning & Argumentation
Professor Alisa Bokulich
Tuesday, Thursday 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
A systematic study of the principles of both deductive and informal reasoning, calculated to enhance students’ actual reasoning skills, with an emphasis on reasoning and argumentation in ordinary discourse. We will emphasize argumentation and criticism in ordinary life and also present formal models of reasoning and argumentation that are widely applicable. Simultaneous training in skills of argument analysis, argument pattern recognition, argument construction, and argument interpretation and creation.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 245 A1: The Quest for God and the Good
Professor Diana Lobel
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 1:25 PM – 2:15 PM
Pre-req: WR 120 or equivalent, CS 111. An interactive seminar, investigating the meaning and purpose of human life, the significance of God or an Absolute, the role of contemplation and action in the spiritual quest, relationships between philosophy and religious thought, East and West. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
BU Hub: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings.
CAS PH 248 A1: Existentialism
Professor Daniel Dahlstrom
Tuesday, Thursday 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM
This course examines how existentialist thinkers grappled with some of the most problematic aspects of the human condition.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 251 A1: Medical Ethics
Staff
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:15 AM – 12:05 PM
This course will survey ethical issues that arise in connection with medicine and emerging biotechnologies. It will examine topics such as the right to healthcare, research on human subjects, euthanasia, abortion, cloning, genetic selection, disabilities, and the biomedical enhancement of human capacities.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 251 B1: Medical Ethics
Staff
Tuesday, Thursday 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
This course will survey ethical issues that arise in connection with medicine and emerging biotechnologies. It will examine topics such as the right to healthcare, research on human subjects, euthanasia, abortion, cloning, genetic selection, disabilities, and the biomedical enhancement of human capacities.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 253: Social Philosophy
Professor Darien Pollock
Tuesday, Thursday 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
Through a reading of some selected texts we will examine modern and contemporary theories of society, concerning its nature and the direction of its evolution. The philosophical and sociological discussions are framed in terms of the complicated relationship between individuals and society, and between civil society and the sovereign power.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 256 A1: Philosophy of Gender & Sexuality
Professor Derek Anderson
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 12:20 PM – 1:10 PM
This course analyzes gender and sexuality from an intersectional perspective. We focus on metaphysics, epistemology, and semantics to understand gender and sexuality as they exist within interlocking systems of oppression including racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, and fatphobia.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, The Individual in Community, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 259 A1: Philosophy of the Arts
Professor Allen Speight
Tuesday, Thursday 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
Is a painting that shreds itself a work of art? Is a forgery? This course will explore philosophical questions across a range of genres and media, including architecture, painting, photography, drama, music and dance. Contemporary and historical readings accompanied by visits to Boston-area arts installations.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Aesthetic Exploration, Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 266 A1: Mind, Brain & Self
Professor Walter Hopp
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:05 AM – 9:55 AM
This course is devoted to exploring the relationships among consciousness, the mind, and the brain, the nature of the self or person, and other related topics. This course will also examine whether and to what extent these issues can be addressed by contemporary natural science.
Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120).
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Writing-Intensive Course, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 300 A1: History of Ancient Philosophy
Professor Allen Speight
Tuesday, Thursday 9:30 AM – 10:45 PM
A survey of ancient Greek philosophy, with an emphasis on Plato and Aristotle. Topics will include: the fundamental nature of reality, how we know anything about it, wisdom, virtue, and human happiness.
Prerequisites: One philosophy course or sophomore standing. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g. WR 100 or WR 120).
BU Hub: Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Legacy.
CAS PH 300 B1: History of Ancient Philosophy
Professor Marc Gasser-Wingate
Tuesday, Thursday 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
A survey of ancient Greek philosophy, with an emphasis on Plato and Aristotle. Topics will include: the fundamental nature of reality, how we know anything about it, wisdom, virtue, and human happiness.
Prerequisites: One philosophy course or sophomore standing. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g. WR 100 or WR 120).
BU Hub: Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Legacy.
CAS PH 300 C1: History of Ancient Philosophy
Staff
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:15 AM – 12:05 PM
A survey of ancient Greek philosophy, with an emphasis on Plato and Aristotle. Topics will include: the fundamental nature of reality, how we know anything about it, wisdom, virtue, and human happiness.
Prerequisites: One philosophy course or sophomore standing. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g. WR 100 or WR 120).
BU Hub: Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Legacy.
CAS PH 310 A1: History of Modern Philosophy
Professor Ben Crowe
Tuesday, Thursday 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
An examination of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy from Descartes to Kant, with emphasis on the nature and extent of knowledge. Readings include Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Berkley, Hume, and Kant.
Prerequisites: One philosophy course or sophomore standing.
BU Hub: Historical Consciousness, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS PH 310 B1: History of Modern Philosophy
Professor Sally Sedgwick
Tuesday, Thursday 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
An examination of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy from Descartes to Kant, with emphasis on the nature and extent of knowledge. Readings include Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Berkley, Hume, and Kant.
Prerequisites: One philosophy course or sophomore standing.
BU Hub: Historical Consciousness, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS PH 350 A1: History of Ethics
Professor Susanne Sreedhar
Tuesday, Thursday 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
Are there fundamental principles for determining the right way to act ethically? How do different eras answer this question? What is the significance of these differences? This course addresses these questions by examining classical ethical texts from different historical traditions.
Prerequisites: One philosophy course or sophomore standing.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 360 A1: Symbolic Logic
Professor Juliet Floyd
Tuesday, Thursday 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
A survey of the concepts and principles of symbolic logic: valid and invalid arguments, logical relations of statements and their basis in structural features of statements, analysis of the logical structure of complex statements of ordinary discourse, and the use of a symbolic language to display logical structure and to facilitate methods for assessing the logical structure of arguments. We cover the analysis of reasoning with truth-functions (“and”, “or”, “not”, “if … then”) and with quantifiers (“all”, “some”), attending to formal languages and axiomatic systems for logical deduction. Throughout, we aim to clearly and systematically display both the theory underlying the norms of valid reasoning and their applications to particular problems of argumentation. The course is an introduction to first-order quantificational logic, a key tool underlying work in foundations of mathematics, philosophy of language and mind, philosophy of science and parts of syntax and semantics. It is largely mathematical and formal in character, but lectures situate these structures within the context of questions raised in contemporary philosophy of language and mind.
Prerequisites: One philosophy course or sophomore standing.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Quantitative Reasoning I, and Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 419 A1: Nietzsche
Professor Paul Katsafanas
Tuesday, Thursday 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
An intensive study of Nietzsche’s philosophical thought. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings.
Prerequisites: Two philosophy courses, or consent of instructor.
CAS PH 422 A1: Analytic Philosophy
Staff
Tuesday, Thursday, 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
A survey of the basic works of twentieth-century analytical philosophy.
Prerequisites: Two philosophy courses, or consent of instructor.
CAS PH 424 A1: Wittgenstein
Professor Juliet Floyd
Tuesday 3:30 PM – 6:15 PM
An intensive (line by line) study of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations.
Prerequisites: CAS PH 310 and two other philosophy courses, or consent of instructor.
CAS PH 452 A1: Ethics of Health Care
Professor Rachell Powell
Thursday 3:30 PM – 6:15 PM
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.
Prerequisites: CAS PH 350 and two other philosophy courses, or consent of instructor (PH 150 and PH 251 are recommended).
CAS PH 456 A1: Topics in Philosophy and Religion
Professor David DeCosimo
Tueday, 5:45 PM – 8:30 PM
Why are we here? Alongside philosophers and religious thinkers, this course explores different versions of this question. Why are we here reading and talking? Why are we at BU? Why are we here at all? Does life have some meaning?
BU Hub: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Critical Thinking.
CAS PH 461 A1: Mathematical Logic
Professor Akihior Kanamori
Tuesday, Thursday 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM
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.
Prerequisites: CAS MA 293 or consent of instructor.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings.
CAS PH 463 A1: Philosophy of Language
Professor Darien Pollock
Tuesday, Thursday 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
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.
Prerequisites: CAS PH 310 & CAS PH 360 and one other course in philosophy, or consent of instructor.
CAS PH 465 A1: Philosophy of Cognitive Science
Professor Victor Kumar
Monday 2:30 PM – 5:15 PM
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.
BU Hub: Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Scientific Inquiry II, Critical Thinking.
Prerequisites: CAS PH 310 & CAS PH 360 and one other course in philosophy, or consent of instructor.
CAS PH 484 A1: Topics in Speculative Philosophy
Professor Walter Hopp
Wednesday 6:30 PM – 9:15 PM
Prerequisites: Any one philosophy course from CAS PH 440-447, or consent of instructor.
CAS PH 488 A1: Contemporary Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Photography
Professor Daniel Star
Tuesday, Thursday 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
In the first part of this course, we will focus on recent philosophical work in aesthetics, with an emphasis on issues that overlap with ethics (concerning, for example, parallels between aesthetic realism and moral realism, similarities and differences between practical and aesthetic reasons and goods, and whether immoral features of some art may make it worse from an aesthetic point of view). In the second part of the course, we will focus on recent work in the philosophy of photography. Here we will consider the general question of what makes some photography art, as well as discuss, in some detail, the ethics of photography.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing.
CAS PH 495 A1: Philosophy and Mysticism: Jewish and Islamic Perspectives
Professor Diana Lobel
Tuesday, Thursday 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
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.
BU Hub: Writing- Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings.
Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar; and one course from among the following: Philosophy, Religion, Core Curriculum (CC101 and/or CC102).
CAS PH 496 A1: Topics in Religious Thought
Professor Malcolm David Eckel
Tuesday 3:30 PM – 6:15 PM
Topic for Fall 2023: Buddhism as Philosophy. An exploration of the major problems of Indian Buddhist thought, with special attention to theories of knowledge and rationality, ethics, metaphysics, and the philosophy of mind. The course studies the arguments Buddhist philosophers used to defend their views against their critics. It also considers what we can learn from them philosophically today.
BU Hub: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings.
Prerequisites: CAS WR 120 or equivalent and one course from among the following: Religion, Philosophy, Core Curriculum (CC 101 and/or CC 102).
GRS – GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES
GRS PH 619 A1: Nietzsche
Professor Paul Katsafanas
Tuesday, Thursday, 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
An intensive study of Nietzsche’s philosophical thought.
GRS PH 622 A1: Analytic Philosophy
Staff
Tuesday, Thursday, 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
A survey of the basic works of twentieth-century analytical philosophy.
GRS PH 633 A1: Symbolic Logic
Professor Juliet Floyd
Tuesday, Thursday 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
A survey of the concepts and principles of symbolic logic: valid and invalid arguments, logical relations of statements and their basis in structural features of statements, analysis of the logical structure of complex statements of ordinary discourse, and the use of a symbolic language to display logical structure and to facilitate methods for assessing the logical structure of arguments. We cover the analysis of reasoning with truth-functions.
GRS PH 652 A1: Ethics of Health Care
Professor Rachell Powell
Thursday, 3:30 PM – 6:15 PM
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.
GRS PH 656 A1: Topics in Philosophy and Religion
Professor David DeCosimo
Tuesday, 5:45 PM – 8:30 PM
Why are we here? Alongside philosophers and religious thinkers, this course explores different versions of this question. Why are we here reading and talking? Why are we at BU? Why are we here at all? Does life have some meaning?
GRS PH 661 A1: Mathematical Logic
Professor Akihiro Kanamori
Tuesday, Thursday 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM
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.
GRS PH 663 A1: Philosophy of Language
Professor Darien Pollock
Tuesday, Thursday 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
The most representative problem areas in contemporary philosophy of language are discussed, criticized, and put into a new perspective. They include Frege’s sense-reference theory, quantification and anaphora, theory of truth, the semantics of intentional and epistemic concepts, strategic aspects of language use, identification and individuation, metaphor, demonstratives and indexical, discourse and dialogue theory, and selected language disturbances (dyslexia, autism).
GRS PH 665 A1: Philosophy of Cognitive Science
Professor Victor Kumar
Monday 2:30 PM – 5:15 PM
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.
GRS PH 684 A1: Topics in Speculative Philosophy
Professor Walter Hopp
Wednesday 6:30 PM – 9:15 PM
GRS PH 688 A1: Contemporary Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Photography
Professor Daniel Star
Tuesday, Thursday 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
In the first part of this course, we will focus on recent philosophical work in aesthetics, with an emphasis on issues that overlap with ethics (concerning, for example, parallels between aesthetic realism and moral realism, similarities and differences between practical and aesthetic reasons and goods, and whether immoral features of some art may make it worse from an aesthetic point of view). In the second part of the course, we will focus on recent work in the philosophy of photography. Here we will consider the general question of what makes some photography art, as well as discuss, in some detail, the ethics of photography.
GRS PH 820 A1: Contemporary Philosophy
Professor Samia Hesni
Monday 2:30 PM – 5:15 PM
An advanced study of contemporary philosophy.
GRS PH 880 A1: Topics in Philosophy I: Moral Psychology and Ethics
Professor Paul Katsafanas
Thursday 3:30 PM – 6:15 PM
Recent work in moral psychology and ethics.
GRS PH 881 A1: Proseminar for First-Year Graduate Students
Professor Daniel Dahlstrom
Thursday 3:30 PM – 6:15 PM
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 990 A1: Dissertation Workshop
Professor Marc Gasser-Wingate
Tuesday 12:30 PM – 3:15 PM
Intended for the Philosophy Ph.D. students working towards a dissertation prospectus or dissertation. Students present their research and discuss each other’s research projects.
GRS PH 993 A1: Philosophy Pro Seminar I
Professor Michaela McSweeney
Monday 2:30 PM – 5:15 PM
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.