PHIL 1330| VIRTUAL WORLDS AND PHILOSOPHY

Prof. Cameron – RPC4D                    Tuesday & Thursday 8:00-8:50+ disc sec                  Wilson 301

In this class we will explore the intersection of philosophy with issues concerning virtual reality (VR), computer simulation, artificial intelligence (AI), etc. We will investigate how traditional philosophical problems can be seen in a new light through the lens of VR and AI, as well as showing how VR and AI can raise new and distinctive philosophical issues. The goal is to show how reflection on modern technologies can help us with ancient philosophical questions as well as showing how philosophy can help us in the development of these new technologies and society’s response to them. We will explore questions such as: Can we know that we are not simulated characters in a simulated world?; What does it mean to say that something is a simulation?; Can a simulated world have moral value?; Can a simulated character be conscious?; How ought we to organize society in response to issues raised by VR and AI, such as deepfakes, AI created content, etc

PHIL 1410 FORMS OF REASONING [3]

Instructor Cetic – NC7NJ                 Tuesday & Thursday 8:00-9:15                                  New Cabell 338

Prof. Anderson – AKD3WB              Tuesday & Thursday 9:30-10:45                                Cocke 115      

Prof. Anderson – AKD3WB              Tuesday & Thursday 12:30-1:45                                Gibson 141

Prof. Anderson – AKD3WB              Tuesday & Thursday 2:00-3:15                                  Gibson 141

A philosophy course with a practical aim: to develop the student's ability to recognize and evaluate arguments. The course will not cover symbolic logic in any detail (for this take PHIL 2420), but will concentrate on actual arguments given in ordinary language. Some time will be spent studying those fallacies, or errors in reasoning, which occur most frequently in discussion and argument. The goal of this course is to give the student a working knowledge of logic which has an application to daily life.

PHIL 1510 KNOWLEDGE AND SOCIETY [3]

Instructor Vincent – WBV4KE                  Monday & Wednesday 3:30-4:45                               Cocke 115

This course is an introduction to contemporary social epistemology. Epistemology is the study of knowledge. But humans don't gain knowledge in isolation. We do so in societies. This course asks how we gain knowledge from society and how that knowledge contributes to society.

For the first part of the course, we look at the question ‘how do we have knowledge in a social world?’ For example, we often confront disagreement with those who are just as informed and thoughtful as us. How are we able to know in the face of such disagreement?

For the second part, we ask what goods knowledge contributes to society. For example, are the goods that science contributes to society due to an aim of acquiring knowledge?

Other topics include relativism, testimony, miracles, epistemic injustice, and the place of knowledge in democracy. This course assumes no prior background in philosophy.

PHIL 1730 INTRODUCTION TO MORAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY [3]

Prof. Adams - NA9FW                      Tuesday & Thursday 9:30-10:15+ disc sec                Minor 125

In this course we apply the tools of philosophy to problems of human life, flourishing, and community. We will see how philosophy helps us ask the biggest questions about existence but also illuminates mundane aspects of everyday life. We will look at issues that humanity has encountered for millennia as well as issues faced only in our modern moment—from what it means to act well to how social media is affecting us. Our focus is on contemporary philosophy rather than a historical overview.

PHIL 1740 ISSUES OF LIFE AND DEATH [3]

Prof. Stangl – RLS5EF                       Monday & Wednesday 2:00-2:50+ disc sec               Minor 125

This course is an exploration, from the point of view of philosophical theory, of a number of ethical problems at the beginning and end of life. Questions to be addressed will include: What is the significance of death and the value of life? Under what conditions, if any, are abortion and euthanasia morally permissible? At what point ought we to discontinue medical treatment of the terminally ill, and who should be empowered to make this decision? Are we under any moral obligation to prevent the death of those threatened by hunger and easily treatable disease?

PHIL 2120 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY: MODERN [3]

This course satisfies the requirement for History of Philosophy: Modern

Prof. Secada – JES2F                         Tuesday & Thursday 9:30-10:15+ disc sec               Gibson 211

This course is a survey of the history of philosophy in the Renaissance and the early modern period. We will pay close attention to some of the metaphysical and epistemological issues arising in the central writings of Suárez, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant, though some other figures including some XIXth-Century philosophers, such as Hegel, will also be discussed in the lectures. Throughout the term, we will read closely the first five of Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy and Leibniz's "First Truths". Students will be required to write a term paper, to submit an earlier draft of it, and to take several quizzes during the term.

PHIL 2500-001 PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE [3]

Prof. Fox – CTF9G                             Monday & Wednesday 2:00-3:15                                  Warner 113     

It is easy to take for granted what humans can accomplish with language. With language use we can describe and better come to know about the world. We can express ourselves, share core values, and be better able to understand each other. Through language use we also do things and change things, including languages themselves. We define, argue, and translate from completely different languages. Accomplishments abound! In this course, we will revel in some of these accomplishments, and through close study of theories in the philosophy of language that seek to understand, analyze, and explain some of these accomplishments. Large-scale questions will include: how are we able to refer? What are the relationships between words/phrases and what they are able to mean when they are used? What roles do language users play in those relationships? More broadly, what is linguistic meaning? We will approach these and other questions with both theoretical interest and an eye to the practices we share of using language in the world.

PHIL 2500 PHILOSOPHY OF MORAL RESPONSIBILITY [3]

Prof. Payton – MRT4RJ                     Tuesday & Thursday 9:30-10:15+ disc sec                Nau 211               

In this course we will take up philosophical questions about moral responsibility and blame: what is blame and how is it related to moral responsibility? What does it take to be blameworthy for something? We will also look at questions about blamerworthiness, or what it takes to be in a position to hold another person or institution accountable.

PHIL 2640 RATIONAL CHOICE AND HAPPINESS [3]

Prof. Barnes – EJB5R                         Tuesday & Thursday 8:00-8:50+ disc sec                  Clark 107                   

In this class, we will examine philosophical puzzles about our ability to make rational choices that affect or determine our own happiness. How can we rationally decide to undergo a significant experience - such as having a child or moving to a new country - when have no way of knowing what that experience will be like? How can we rationally choose to make decisions about our future (such as what career path to follow or where to live), since who we will become in the future is in part determined by those choices? These kinds of questions will be the focus of the class.

PHIL 2660 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION [3]

Prerequisites: Instructor Permission - First and Second Years only.

Prof. Merricks – TDB8N                    Monday & Wednesday 10:00-10:50                            Warner 104                   

This course will examine a number of different topics that have been of perennial interest to philosophers of religion and philosophical theologians. These topics include arguments for and against God's existence, the problem of evil, the relationship between human freedom and divine foreknowledge, and how to think about personal immortality and the nature of the human person.

PHIL 2780 ANCIENT POLITICAL THOUGHT [3]

Prof. Lomasky – LEL3F                       Monday & Wednesday 5:00-5:50+ disc sec            Wilson 301

It isn’t possible to study politics adequately without looking to the great Greek political philosophers. For one thing, the word politics is Greek in origin. For another thing, democracy is born in Greece. For yet another . . . well, take the class and find out. If you do you will read several works by Plato, including a big chunk of Republic. You will also study Aristotle’s Politics and Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian Wars. We will aim for a maximum of discussion to accompany lectures. I’ll ask you to write two or three short-to-medium length papers and in the fullness of time to take a final exam. There will also be occasional pop quizzes

PHIL 3140 HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY [3]

This course satisfies the requirement for History of Philosophy: Ancient or Medieval

Prof. Secada                                        Tuesday & Thursday 8:00-9:15                                  New Cabell 032

In this course, we will closely read three medieval philosophical masterpieces:  Anselm of Canterbury’s Proslogion, the Treatise on God from Thomas Aquinas’s Summa of Theology, and John Duns Scotus’s On the First Principle. Students will also be required to read Augustine’s Confessions and a general survey of the history of philosophy during this period, for both of which there will be several reading controls during term. Weekly sessions will be wholly devoted to close textual analysis. Students will also be required to write a term paper.

PHIL 3180 NIETZSCHE [3]       

Prof. Langsam – HLL6Y                    Tuesday & Thursday 5:00-6:15                                  Cocke 115

Nietzsche, Nietzsche, and even more Nietzsche on life, truth, philosophy, art, morality, nihilism, values and their creation, will to power, eternal recurrence, and a lot of other good stuff.  Readings will include The Birth of Tragedy, The Gay Science, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals, Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, and others

PHIL 3310 METAPHYSICS [3]

Instructor Permission Required

This Course satisfies the Second Writing Requirement

Prof. Merricks – TDM8N                   Monday & Wednesday 2:00-3:15                               Cocke 115      

This survey course will examine a variety of issues central to contemporary analytic metaphysics. We shall consider, among other things, possibility and necessity, identity over time, and personal identity. This course is meant for third and fourth year philosophy majors only.

PHIL 3330 PHILOSOPHY OF MIND [3]

This Course satisfies the Second Writing Requirement

Prof. Ott – WO5N                              Monday & Wednesday 2:00-3:15                               New Cabell 032           

What is the nature of the mind and why do we find its nature so puzzling? We shall critically examine various theories about the nature of the mind; we shall also discuss the nature of particular kinds of mental states and events, such as beliefs, desires, feelings, sensory experiences, and others. We shall be especially concerned with the relations between the mind and the body, and, more generally, between the mental and the physical. Most of the readings will be by contemporary philosophers.

PHIL 3400 INTRODUCTION TO NON-CLASSICAL LOGIC [3]

Prerequisites: PHIL 2420

Prof. Cameron – RPC4D                    Tuesday & Thursday 11:00-12:15                              Monroe 116

An introduction to systems of non-classical logic, including both extensions and revisions to classical logic. We will look at logical systems that extend classical logic to deal with the phenomena of possibility & time. We will look at logics that revise classical logic to allow for sentences which are neither true nor false, or sentences which can be both. We will show how these departures from classical logic can shed light on various philosophical questions.

PHIL 3500 EXISTENTIALISM [3]

Prof. Harris – DCN7XU                    Tuesday & Thursday 12:30-1:45                                Warner 113    

This course covers existentialist concerns such as the human condition, the purpose of life, and authenticity.

PHIL 3640 POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY [3]

Prof. Adams – NA9FW                      Monday & Wednesday 2:00-3:15                              Warner 110     

The point of this class is to learn how to think well about political institutions and social structures more broadly. The perennial questions of political philosophy, such as justice, fairness, and in general living well together, can only be asked and even potentially answered within a framework of social life. Our readings are mostly contemporary analytic political philosophy. The course is designed to hone the philosophical skills of careful reading and clear writing.

PHIL 3800 FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY [3]

Prof. Barnes – EJB5R                         Tuesday & Thursday 11:00-12:15                              Cocke 115

In this class, we’ll look at ways in which issues of gender can interact with traditional philosophical topics. We’ll discuss gendered dimensions to our understanding of some central issues in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language, and social and political philosophy.

PHIL 4020 SEMINAR FOR MAJORS – REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE [3]

Prof. Payton – MRT4RJ                     Tuesday & Thursday 9:30-10:15                                Shannon House 119

This is an advanced, discussion-based seminar for Philosophy majors, focused on philosophical issues related to abortion and reproductive healthcare in the US. In connection with these topics, we will address questions about the nature and moral significance of personhood; rights; religious arguments for and against abortion; as well as questions about the relationships between race, class, and gender, as these things interact with access to reproductive healthcare.

PHIL 5540 WHY BE MORAL? [3]

Prof. Lomasky – LEL3F                     Wednesday 1:00-3:30                                     Cocke 108

Although the rationality of acting to advance one's own interests, well-being, or purposes appears to be unproblematic, the same cannot be said for acting on the basis of ethical considerations that mandate acting to secure the good of others (or to satisfy some deontic principle). Indeed, the two seemingly are in tension with each other. To do what morality demands will, at least on occasion, require one to forgo some good for oneself that might otherwise have been enjoyed. If that is so, then ethically-motivated action isn't merely different from the pursuit of rational self-interest but contrary to it. How, we might well ask, can one have reason to do what is contra-rational? In this seminar we will look at central works by Aristotle, Hobbes, Kant, Mill, and Henry Sidgwick to explore and evaluate their ideas concerning the connection between conventional morality and the enlightened pursuit of rational self interest. Requirements include regular participation, writing several (4?) short discussion papers and a term paper.

PHIL 5570 METAPHYSICS OF RACE [3]

Department Permission Required

Prof. Harris – DCN7XU                    Thursday 3:30-6:00                                         Cocke 108

This course covers contemporary arguments in the metaphysics of race: realism, deflationism, eliminativism, and constructionism.