Courses Archive
Spring 2026 Course Descriptions
PHIL 1410 FORMS OF REASONING [3]
Prof. Harrell – Monday & Wednesday 9:00-9:50+ disc sec Gibson 211
This course covers the basics of logic and argumentation. Any time someone wants to rationally convince you of something, they must give you an argument. And every argument has a logical structure. Some of these structures are strong, while others are weak. In this class, you’ll learn not only how to recognize the difference but further how to prove it. No background in any formal discipline is required, and the course does not cover symbolic logic in detail (for this take PHIL 2420). The course provides the general skills necessary to precisely identify, reconstruct, and evaluate arguments, with emphasis on applying these skills to everyday life.
PHIL 1510-001 THE POLITICS OF HOME [3]
Inst. Kietzerow – FEM5HY Tuesday & Thursday 8:00-9:15 Cabell 338
PHIL 1510-002 THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS [3]
Inst. Yucheng – YNJ3AV Tuesday & Thursday 5:00-6:15 Cabell 332
This course surveys classic thought experiments in contemporary philosophy, including the trolley problem, brain in a vat, Mary’s room, the teletransport paradox, and the doomsday argument. Engaging with these thought experiments will help us explore questions such as: Can we kill one person to save many? How can we tell if the world around us is real? Do others besides me have minds? Could we survive death by uploading our consciousness to a computer? Is it possible to prove that the end of the world is near?
PHIL 1730 INTRODUCTION TO MORAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY [3]
Prof. MacKenzie – DFS8ZY Tuesday & Thursday 8:30-9:20+ disc sec Monroe 110
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 2060 PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS IN LAW [3]
Prof. Adams – NA9FW Monday & Wednesday 9:00-9:50+ disc sec Clark 108
Do we have a duty to obey the law? The law thinks so, and breaking the law is often severely punished. But as citizens we often also think law is bad, mistaken, unjust, and that we should disobey the law or even overthrow the government. More specific questions also arise when we accept the rule of law. What sorts of actions should be criminalized and what sorts of punishments are justified? Why do our mental states matter to the law? What is an attempt, and how can we regulate failures? What processes should we use when making legal judgments? What is the relation between law and morality? Law and politics? In this course, we will look at these and similar philosophical problems for life under law.
PHIL 2120 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY: MODERN [3]
This course satisfies the requirement for History of Philosophy: Modern
Prof. Secada – JES2F Tuesday & Thursday 2:00-2:50+ 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 2350 MINDS, MACHINES, AND PERSON [3]
Prof. Irving – ZCI7C Monday & Wednesday 2:00-2:50+ disc sec Wilson 301
This course surveys foundational issues in the philosophy of cognitive science and mind. Part 1 asks the fundamental question, what is a mind? Are minds brains? Computers? Organisms? Do minds extend into the body and environment? We'll approach these questions by considering what it would take to make a machine with a mind (that is, to make genuine artificial intelligence). Part 2 turns to the problem of personal identity over time. Once you were a kid, now you are an adult, and one day you'll grow old. What (if anything) makes you the same person throughout these stages of your life? The course is suitable for both philosophers and cognitive science majors and does not presume any previous background in either discipline. It’s therefore an ideal introduction to cognitive science for philosophy majors, and to philosophy for cognitive science majors.
PHIL 2500-100 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE [3]
Prof. Adams – NA9FW Monday & Wednesday 2:00-2:50+ disc sec Clark 108
Sometimes people publicly break the law in order to object to the law or ruling regime and ultimately to change them. This social practice of civil disobedience raises a variety of philosophical questions that we will investigate. What is the practice and how is it distinct from other practices like legal protest or crime? When can breaking the law be justified? What new forms is it taking? And how can we understand it as part of democracy?
PHIL 2500-200 JUSTICE AND HEALTHCARE [3]
Prof. Bernstein – Tuesday & Thursday 12:30-1:20+ disc sec Gibson 211
This course explores foundational questions at the intersection of economics, bioethics, and political philosophy. Such questions include (but are not limited to): Should healthcare be treated like any other market commodity, or does it have a special moral status that justifies different treatment? What do competing theories of justice—such as liberal egalitarianism or libertarianism—imply about the government’s responsibilities in organizing and financing healthcare? What is the just way to allocate scarce medical resources—such as livers or ventilators? When is it permissible for the state to restrict individual liberty in order to protect public health?
PHIL 2510 TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN VALUES [3]
Prof. Harrell – Tuesday & Thursday 8:00-9:15 Cabell 383
Philosophy can be characterized as a discipline of questions, and many of the most important questions are probably some of the same questions you have asked yourself: What do I value? How should I live? In this course, we will be concerned with these questions, particularly about technology.
One might ask many different questions about a given piece of technology: Will it be effective? Can it be put into practice? What effects will it have? Stepping back, though, more basic questions remain that are often not adequately addressed: Is this good? Who or what is it good for? How do we decide whether one way of doing something is better than another or better than doing nothing at all?
You will learn what many talented and well-respected philosophers say about these questions, but the class is designed to get you doing philosophy, not just learning about it. The course will develop some knowledge of the history and methods of philosophy, but the real point is to get you asking important questions, reasoning clearly and capably, and sharpening your critical thinking skills—developing abilities, in other words, that will make a difference in your life long after specific content details have faded from memory.
PHIL 2660 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION [3]
Prerequisites: Instructor Permission - First and Second Years only.
Prof. Merricks – TDB8N Monday & Wednesday 10:00-10:50+ disc sec Gibson 211
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 3160 18th CENTURY PHILOSOPHY [3]
This course satisfies History area requirements.
Prof. Secada – JES2F Tuesday & Thursday 8:00-9:15 Cabell 058
The over-arching theme of the course is reason, the great preoccupation of 18th century philosophers. What is reason? How powerful is it? For instance, can reason guide our beliefs? Can reason show us how to achieve happiness? Does reason ground our worth as human beings? And who has reason? All human beings? Human beings and other animals? Or just some human beings?
More specific questions include: Am I essentially a rational being, or something else as well? Is there an immaterial mind, or is the mind just the body? What happens after we die? What does human freedom consist in? What does happiness consist in? Can we be happy without being free, or without being rational, or without being virtuous?
How should we structure our society to ensure happiness, freedom, and/or virtue? How should we educate our children to create happy, free, rational, and/or virtuous adults? And again, whose happiness, etc. are we talking about?
In this course, we’ll look at a wide range of philosophers. Some names will probably be familiar to most of you: for instance, John Locke and David Hume. Some are less familiar: for instance, Ottobah Cugoano and Mary Shepherd. This will help us see that there is a wider range of people doing philosophy in early modern Europe than
Instructor Permission Required
This Course satisfies the Second Writing Requirement
Prof. Merricks – TDM8N Monday & Wednesday 2:00-3:15 Cabell 383
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. Irving – ZCI7C Monday & Wednesday 5:00-6:15 Cocke 115
PHIL 3500 SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY [3]
Prof. Payton – MRT4RJ Tuesday & Thursday 11:00-12:15 Drama 217
This course surveys central questions and debates in Social Philosophy. What is it for something to be social, rather than natural or biological? What is it for something to be socially constructed, and are socially constructed things “real”? And do these issues matter to larger questions about how we treat each other, and the ways we organize ourselves in society? This course will address these questions through specific topics including (but not limited to) arguments regarding the nature of sex, sexuality, gender, and race.
PHIL 3520 JUSTICE, LAW, AND MORALITY [3]
Prof. Brewer – TMB2N Tuesday & Thursday 9:30-10:45 Monroe 116
In this course, we will look at contemporary liberal conceptions of justice and at criticisms of liberalism leveled by communitarians, libertarians, Marxists, utilitarians and feminists. One central aim of the class will be to determine what sense, if any, can be made of the liberal ideal of neutrality. In order to give substance to the sometimes abstract disputes between liberals and their critics, we will examine Supreme Court rulings on a variety of issues, including freedom of speech, campaign finance regulation, school prayer, pornography, abortion, and marriage and divorce law.
PHIL 3640 POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY [3]
Prof. Motchoulski – AAM5JM Tuesday & Thursday 12:30-1:45 Cocke 115
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 3720 CONTEMPORARY ETHICS [3]
Prof. MacKenzie – DFS8ZY Tuesday & Thursday 2:00-3:15 Monroe 134
This course will give you an opportunity to read some of the ‘greatest hits’ from normative ethics in the 20th (and beginning of the 21st) century. We’ll begin by looking at some of the ‘anti-theoretical’ challenges to Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics that spearheaded the resurgence of virtue ethics. We'll then examine the 'relational turn' in contemporary ethics, looking at how the relationships that we share with others shape our moral obligations. From there, we’ll move on to questions about moral responsibility and the appropriateness of guilt and blame. Throughout the course, we’ll be asking questions like: what should a moral theory give us? What are the limits of morality? What attitudes, behaviors, and actions are morally assessable? And what role should morality, and moral philosophy, play in our daily lives?
PHIL 3730 ANCIENT ETHICAL THEORY [3]
Prof. McCready-Flora – ICM5H Monday & Wednesday 5:00-6:15 Cabell 058
This course introduces students, through close reading of primary source translations, to major figures and themes of ethical theory in Ancient Greece and Rome. Authors to include: Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Porphyry and Sextus Empiricus. Topics to Include: moral and intellectual virtue; happiness; the social preconditions of human goodness; the nature and possibility of the good life; whether the good life requires moral virtue or its opposite; the nature and possibility of ethical knowledge; how humans should live together; how humans should treat other animals. At no point will our readings overlap with any concurrent Plato and Aristotle course: students may profitably enroll in both.
GRADUATE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Department Permission Required for all Philosophy Graduate Courses
PHIL 5540 LOVE, RESPECT, AND THE VALUE OF HUMAN BEINGS [3]
Prof. Brewer – TMB2N Tuesday & Thursday 2:00-3:15 Cocke 108
Respect and love both bring the value of other human beings into view, yet they yield very different pictures of this value. These pictures, in turn, yield very different visions of how we are called to relate to our fellow human beings. In this seminar we will be comparing and contrasting these ethical visions. Readings are likely to be drawn from such thinkers as T. M. Scanlon, Christine Korsgaad, Stephen Darwall, Iris Murdoch, Peter Strawson, Stanley Cavell, Raimond Gaita, Martha Nussbaum and R. M. Adams.
PHIL 5580 SELF-KNOWLEDGE [3]
Prof. Secada – JES2F Tuesday & Thursday 12:30-1:45 Cocke 108
The seminar examines answers to the question “who am I?” offered in Plato's Phaedrus, Augustine's Confessions, Anselm's Proslogion, Therese of Avila's Inner Castle, and Descartes' Meditations. Our focus will be on their normative or ethical dimension (that is, their bearing on the question “how should I live?”). Requirements are class presentations and a term paper.
PHIL 7540 SEMINAR ON ETHICS TOPIC: ANCIENT ETHICS [3]
Prof. McCready-Flora – ICM5H Wednesday 1:00-3:30 Cocke 108
This course introduces students to figures and themes of ethical theory in the ancient world. Syllabus always includes Plato and/or Aristotle alongside Chinese thinkers (Mencius, Mozi), Indian Philosophers (e.g. Nagarjuna), and post-Aristotelian schools (Episcureans, Stoics, Skeptics). Enrolled graduate students are assigned additional scholarly reading and must complete a 5000-word research paper.
PHIL 7560 REPARATIONS AND HISTORICAL INJUSTICE [3]
Prof. Motchoulski – AAM5JM Thursday 3:30-6:00 Cocke 108
How, if at all, does injustice in the relatively distant past affect what persons alive today ought to do? This course will study contemporary work on the topic of historical injustice, focusing on the grounds for duties to provide reparations for historical injustice. We will engage with arguments for and against prominent accounts of reparative duties, such as views that propose to ground those duties in considerations of harm, property and inheritance, or social structural relationships. Along the way, we will have forays into closely related metaphysical issues, such as the non-identity problem and the nature of historical truth.
Prof. LoLordo - AL4H Monday 3:30-6:00 Cocke 108
TBD
PHIL 9700 DISSERTATION SEMINAR [3]
Prof. Payton – MRT4RJ Tuesday 3:30-6:00 Cocke 108
This non-credit course is taught every spring. It combines discussions of t he central aspects of professional life with multiple opportunities for students to present and receive peer feedback on their work-in-progress. It is mandatory for all third-year students in residence, and optional for others.