GEOFFREY SAYRE-McCORD, Chair
Bernard Boxill, Michael Corrado, Thomas E. Hill Jr., William G. Lycan, Gerald J. Postema, C.D.C. Reeve, Jesse Prinz, Susan Wolf.
Dorit Bar-On, Geoffrey Brennan, Marc Lange, Douglas MacLean, Alan Nelson, Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, Keith Simmons.
Thomas Hofweber, John Roberts.
Joshua Knobe, Ram Neta.
James Lesher, Rebecca Walker.
Jeanette Boxill.
Warren A. Nord.
Edward M. Galligan, Douglas C. Long, Stanley Munsat, Michael D. Resnik, Jay Rosenberg, George Schlesinger, Richard A. Smyth, Robert D. Vance.
The principal goal of the study of philosophy is to enable students to think more clearly, deeply, and appreciatively about themselves and their world. Study of philosophy enhances analytical, critical, and interpretive capacities that are applicable to any subject matter in almost any context. It provides opportunity for self-expression and reflection, for the exchange and focused debate of ideas, and for learning how to come to terms with problems for which there are no easy answers. A good philosophical education also helps to prepare students for responsible and intelligent participation in political and community affairs.
The most important outcome of philosophical study is the ability to engage in thinking that is at once disciplined and imaginatively creative. While such thinking lies at the heart of the philosophical enterprise, it is also needed for success in any complex intellectual or practical endeavor. Philosophy's attention to critical thought, rigorous argument, and articulate expression makes the philosophical curriculum absolutely central to a liberal education and valuable as a basis for further training in a wide variety of pursuits.
Examples of philosophical questions are:
How should we understand truth, existence, validity, fact, value, free will?
What are the principles or presuppositions of science, language, political systems, religious and moral views?
What is the nature of a person, of space and time, of a work of art?
What is the wisdom of the past on these enduring questions (how can we learn from people like Plato and Aristotle, Descartes or Kant)?
Students are encouraged to view philosophy not as a specialized, esoteric discipline, but instead as an activity integral to a liberal arts education, helping students to think more cogently and appreciatively about themselves and their world.
The Department of Philosophy is part of the College of Arts and Sciences. Philosophy may be taken by students in the college as an elective, as a major, as a minor, as a part of a double major, or as part of an interdisciplinary minor in philosophy, politics, and economics; it also may be taken to meet certain General Education requirements as well as the Approaches requirement in Philosophical and Moral Reasoning. PHIL 101, PHIL 110, or PHIL 112 is recommended as a first course for those interested in philosophical issues and their cultural significance and for those who wish to examine a broad range of philosophical topics, problems, or historical figures. Other good starting points are: PHIL 155, which deals with logic and the analysis of argument; PHIL 160, which deals with moral thought and experience; and PHIL 150, which deals with the concepts, methods, and foundations of the biological and physical sciences.
Courses numbered 51-229 have no prerequisites and may, for many, serve as suitable first courses in philosophy. Courses numbered 101-120 are general survey courses. Courses numbered 130-290 are oriented toward particular problems or topics. Courses numbered 210-229 concern the history of philosophy. Courses numbered 300-399 are designed for advanced undergraduates and majors, and carry a prerequisite of one course in philosophy. Courses between 400 and 699 are for advanced undergraduates as well as graduate students.
PHIL 155 is recommended for all students who major or minor in philosophy.
The degree offered is bachelor of arts in philosophy. Also offered are a minor in philosophy and an interdisciplinary minor in philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE).
A major in philosophy requires nine philosophy courses - one course in each of three of the following four areas:
History of philosophy: courses with second digit of 1 or 2
Metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language: courses with second digit of 3 or 4
Logic and philosophy of science: courses with second digit of 5
Value theory: courses with second digit of 6, 7, or 8.
No more than three of the nine courses may be numbered 199 or below.
Within the framework of the major, one can elect a pre-law concentration designed specifically for those planning on pursuing a career in law. Professors Corrado and Postema, both of whom also hold appointments in the School of Law, are available to advise those electing this concentration. Further information is available on the department's Web site at: www.unc.edu/depts/phildept/Pre_law_Program.htm.
A minor in philosophy requires five philosophy courses, including at least one course in each of three of the four areas listed above. No more than three may be from courses numbered 199 or below.
PHIL 155 (Introduction to Logic) is recommended for all students who major or minor in philosophy.
The PPE minor requires five courses: PHIL 384 (Introduction to PPE), PHIL 484 (Advanced PPE), and three additional courses - one each from philosophy, political science, and economics - selected from the PPE approved listing. Detailed information is available on the program's Web site at: philosophy.unc.edu/ppe/ppe.html.
Those students who have at least a 3.2 grade point average and qualify may take two semesters of courses for honors (PHIL 691H, 692H) during which they prepare and write an honors thesis. Students registered for 691H or 692H will meet periodically as a group, organized by the director of undergraduate studies, to present and discuss their research in progress. Departmental approval is required.
Undergraduate Philosophy Club
This group meets weekly to discuss topics of interest and the work of current faculty members. The club sponsors an Annual Undergraduate Philosophy Symposium. Listserve: philclub@listserv.oit.unc.edu.
Phi Sigma Tau
The Eta Chapter of the international honor society in philosophy is open to students who have completed a minimum of four philosophy courses and have a cumulative 3.2 GPA.
Study Abroad
The Philosophy Department enjoys close relations with a number of departments in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom and is willing and able to work closely with the Study Abroad Office to arrange opportunities for study in these and other countries.
Undergraduate Research
The Philosophy Department offers a colloquium for majors - PHIL 395 (old number 96) and Honors PHIL 396 and 397 (old numbers 100A and 100B) - for students to work closely with faculty on an honors thesis.
Undergraduate Symposium
The Philosophy Club and Phi Sigma Tau coordinate a student conference of selected papers. The one-day conference is set in the format of a professional conference where students have an opportunity to present their research.
Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl
The Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl provides students with a unique opportunity to practice applying the moral theories and argumentation principles learned in their ethics classes. The team sent to the Ethics Bowl competition will be selected from those registered in the course. For more information contact Professor Jan Boxill, Director, Parr Center for Ethics, Caldwell 207A; (919) 962-3317, jmboxill@email.unc.edu.
Career Opportunities
A major in philosophy is an excellent preparation for many careers in which clear thinking and analytical ability are valued. Some majors choose to pursue graduate work in philosophy in preparation for college or university teaching (Ph.D. normally required), but the philosophy major also provides the form of rigorous and systematic intellectual training that is of crucial importance in law, medicine, business, and other fields.
Professor John Roberts, Director of Undergraduate Studies, CB# 3125, 102B Caldwell Hall, (919) 962-3325, johnroberts@email.unc.edu.
For more detailed information including courses and faculty, visit the department's home page: philosophy.unc.edu.
PHIL
051 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Who Was Socrates? (3). Socrates is the quintessential philosopher - a man for all season, a foundational figure of the West.
052 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Reason and Religion at the Dawn of Modern Science (3). Students will read some of the most important philosophical reflections of the 17th and 18th centuries.
053 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Theories in Human Nature (3). Students will explore a variety of issues that arise when human beings begin to reflect on our own natures and will be introduced to main theories that have been developed.
054 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Thinking about Time (3). What is time? Do the past and the future exist, or only the present? Is the "flow of time" an objective feature of reality?
055 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Paradoxes (3). Paradoxes have been a driving force in philosophy since the fourth century B.C. They force us to rethink old ideas and conceptions.
056 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Abortion (3). A general philosophical discussion of the value of life, the evil in death, and the wrongness of killing.
057 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Race and Affirmative Action (3). The course is to get a mature and correct understanding of race, racism, and affirmative action.
058 [006F] First-Year Seminar: From Vengeance to Mercy: Dealing with Evil (3). This course will explore the ethical dimensions of the responses to evil that we have developed over history. Revenge, retribution, reparation; hatred, resentment, forgiveness; punishment, pardon, mercy.
063 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Mind, Brain, and Consciousness (3). What are minds and how are they related to bodies?
065 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Philosophy through Mathematics (3). This seminar introduces several of the central problems in philosophy through reflection on the nature of mathematics.
066 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Ethics: Theoretical and Practical (3). This seminar examines theoretical issues, relativism, utilitarianism, deontological ethics, and virtue ethics.
067 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Issues in a World Society: Sports and Competition (3). This seminar examines ethical issues in sports, including Title IX, gender equity, racism, sexism, cheating, violence, and drug use.
068 First-Year Seminar: Moral Life (3). This course will explore the meaning of basic moral concepts as they are understood in philosophy, science, and art.
076 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Is Free Will an Illusion? (3). This course will examine whether our belief in freedom of action is compatible with the modern picture of ourselves.
077 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Moral Weakness and Conscience (3). Is man's reason a powerful thing: if one had knowledge or belief about something that should be done, would that be enough to position one to do it?
078 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Death as a Problem for Philosophy: Metaphysical and Ethical (3). This course explores both old and new questions regarding death. It will examine the presuppositions and cogency of the classical religious-philosophical conception of death.
079 First-Year Seminar: Words That Bind: The Structure of Constitutions (3). In this seminar we will examine a number of constitutions and try to determine what makes a constitution better or worse, and when it makes sense to borrow constitutional principles from other countries. We will also try our hand at designing a constitution.
085 [006F] First-Year Seminar: Reason, Religion, and Reality in the Copernican Revolution (3). The arguments by which Galileo and his contemporaries defended the Copernican model of the solar system puzzle philosophers even today.
101 [020] Introduction to Philosophy: Main Problems (3). What makes some things right and others wrong, and how can we tell the difference? What can we know about the world? Do we have free will?
110 [024] Introduction to Philosophy: Great Works (3). Philosophy is the love of wisdom. But what is wisdom? And what good does it do us to pursue wisdom? Can it improve our character?
112 [026] Making Sense of Ourselves (3). An examination of some of the most influential attempts to understand human beings, their lives, and their moral and political values. Authors include: Plato, Aristotle, St. Matthew, Nietzsche, Rand.
134 [032] Philosophy of Religion (RELI 126) (3). A philosophical inquiry into the problems of religious experience and belief, as expressed in philosophic, religious, and literary documents from traditional and contemporary sources.
145 [035] Language and Communication (LING 222) (3). How are natural human languages different from other communication systems? How are languages related to the world and the mind?
150 [031] Philosophy of Science (3). What is distinctive about the kind of knowledge called "science"? What is scientific explanation? How are scientific theories related to empirical evidence?
154 [036] Philosophy of the Social Sciences (3). How do social sciences explain human actions? Are there social facts over and above facts about various individuals? Do values enter into social science?
155 [021] Introduction to Mathematical Logic (3). Introduces the theory of deductive reasoning, using a symbolic language to represent and evaluate patterns of reasoning.
157 Logic and Decision Theory (3). A broader discussion of practical reasoning, including inductive and deductive logic, which provides a good introduction to decision and game theory that is important for the social sciences, especially economics.
160 [022] Introduction to Ethics (3). Exploration of different philosophical perspectives about right and wrong, personal character, justice, moral reasoning, and moral conflicts. Readings drawn from classic or contemporary sources. Critical discussion emphasized.
163 [030] Practical Ethics (3). Topics may include: war, medical ethics, media ethics, sexual ethics, business ethics, racism, sexism, capital punishment, and the environment.
164 [039] Morality and Business (3). An examination of business ethics and the types of ethical dilemmas people may face in business practices.
165 [034] Bioethics (3). The ethical basis of issues arising in health care: e.g. patient rights, removing life support, euthanasia, abortion, use of human or animal subjects in experiments, genetic manipulation, cloning.
170 [037] Social Ethics and Political Thought (3). Individual rights, social responsibility, legal authority, civil authority, civil disobedience, war and peace. Readings selected from classical and contemporary writings.
185 [033] Introduction to Aesthetics (3). The nature of art and artworks and their aesthetic appraisal.
210 [056] Ancient Philosophy (3). An examination of the basic writings of the pre-Socratics, Plato, and Aristotle, with a primary focus on ethics and politics. Epicureanism, stoicism, Neoplatonism, and Greek skepticism.
213 [052] Asian Philosophy (3). An examination of some of the philosophical traditions of Asia. Possible topics include Advaita Vedanta, Nyaya-Vaisheshika, Madhyamaka Buddhism, neo-Confucianism, Mohism, and philosophical Taoism.
215 [057] Medieval Philosophy (3). A survey of medieval philosophy from Augustine through Ockham. Topics: God and the world, faith and reason, knowledge and reality, the problem of universals. Additional main authors: Anselm, Aquinas, Duns Scotus.
220 [058] Modern Philosophy: Descartes to Hume (3). Prerequisite, one course in philosophy. The writings of Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Leibniz, and Hume on such questions as: Can we know that the things we see and touch are real and not a dream?
224 [064] Existential Philosophy (3). A study of European philosophers such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Jaspers, Sartre, Gadamer, Habermas, and/or Foucault.
228 [059] American Philosophy (3). An exploration of the distinctively American approaches to philosophy from Jonathan Edwards to the present.
229 [065] 20th-Century Philosophy (3). Prerequisite, one course other than PHIL 155. An introductory survey of British and continental philosophy in the 20th century.
230 [038] Experience and Reality (3). Is your mind different from your brain? Is time travel possible? What are cause and effect? What makes you today and yesterday the same person?
266 [047] Ethics of Sports (3). A conceptual and theoretical analysis of the moral significance of sport, concentrating on issues such as racism, sexism, gender equity, violence, and drug use.
272 [042] The Ethics of Peace, War, and Defense (POLI 272, PWAD 272) (3). The legitimacy of states; just war theory; pacifism; the ethics of revolution; terrorism; problems of war in an age of weapons of mass destruction; the moral conditions of peace.
273 [066] Social and Economic Justice (3). This course will focus on justice and the common good, applying theoretical justifications to contemporary social and economic issues. Readings will include classical and contemporary literature on the nature of justice and rights.
274 [055] African-American Political Philosophy (AFAM 274) (3). Race, identity, discrimination, multiculturalism, affirmative action and slave reparations in the writings of Walker, Delany, Douglass, Cooper, DuBois, King, and Malcolm X.
275 [046] Moral and Philosophical Issues of Gender in Society (WMST 275) (3). A survey of feminist perspectives on topics such as the meaning of oppression, sexism and racism, sex roles and stereotypes, ideals of female beauty, women in the workplace, pornography, rape.
280 [041] Morality and Law (3). Explores the best work in legal philosophy on such questions as: What is law? Does it serve justice or undermine it? Can punishment be justified? When is a person responsible?
285 [045] Moral and Philosophical Issues in Education (3). A critical examination of the moral and philosophical issues in education: What does it mean to be well educated? What is a liberal education?
330 [075] Metaphysics (3). An examination of general theories of the nature of reality. What kinds of things exist? What are space, time, and causation? Are abstract entities (such as numbers) real?
335 [073] Theory of Knowledge (3). What is knowledge and how does it relate to belief, justification, and truth? What makes beliefs reasonable or irrational? Can skepticism be defeated?
340 [076] Philosophy of Mind (3). The mind-body problem, the nature of thinking, the puzzles of consciousness, and the qualitative character of felt experience.
345 [074] Reference and Meaning (3). How does a noise or a mark on paper refer to something, or have a meaning?
351 [082] Philosophy of Physics (3). Prerequisite, one course in philosophy or permission of instructor. Topics may include the nature of space and time, the ontological status of fields and energy, or causation and locality in quantum physics.
352 [083] Philosophy of Biology (3). Prerequisite, one course in philosophy or in a biological science. Philosophical issues raised by biological theories, which may include the logical structure of evolutionary theory, fitness, taxonomy, the notion of a living thing, reductionism, evolutionary explanations, or teleology.
353 [077] Philosophy of Cognitive Science (3). Philosophical questions raised by linguistics, computer science, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. Topics may include the innateness of language, artificial intelligence, and the neural correlates of consciousness.
356 [071] Topics in Mathematical Logic (3). Prerequisite, PHIL 155 or permission of instructor. Topics may include the predicate calculus with identity and the metalogic of formal systems, modal logic, decision theory, alternative logics, probability, and induction.
357 Induction, Probability, and Confirmation (3). Current accounts of evidence and observation, the confirmation of scientific theories, the logic of inductive reasoning, and the metaphysics and epistemology of chance.
360 [070] History of Ethics (3). Major developments in the history of moral philosophy, from Plato to Nietzsche. PHIL 160 recommended.
362 [072] Contemporary Ethical Theory (3). Questions include: Is there moral truth? Is there a distinction between facts and values?
364 [067] Ethics and Economics (PLCY 364) (3). Prerequisite, one course in ethics (PHIL 160, 163, or 170) or one course in economics. Issues at the intersection of ethics and economics, including: value; the relation between values and preferences; rationality; the relevance to economics of rights, justice, and the value of human life.
368 [068] Environmental Ethics (ENST 368) (3). The meaning of environmental values and their relation to other values; the ethical status of animals, species, wilderness, and ecosystems; the built environment; environmental justice; ecofeminism; obligations to future generations.
370 [078] Political Philosophy (3). Advanced discussion of competing philosophical approaches to questions of justice, authority, freedom, rights, and the like, including libertarianism, liberalism, communitarianism, Marxism, and feminism.
384 [084] Introduction to Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (ECON 384, POLI 384) (3). Prerequisites, permission of instructor, PHIL 170 or POLI 276, and one course in economics. This interdisciplinary gateway course provides an introduction to subjects and quantitative techniques used to analyze problems in philosophy, political science, and economics.
390 [080] Seminar in Selected Topics (3). Intensive exploration and discussion of selected topics in philosophy.
396 [099] Directed Readings (3). See the director of undergraduate studies of the department.
397 [096] Colloquium for Philosophy Majors (3). Students will present papers on selected topics for critical discussion. Recommended for philosophy majors in their junior year.
411 [151] Aristotle (3). An examination of some representative works of Aristotle, with reference to common emphases and basic problems, together with an analysis of their philosophic content.
412 [150] Plato (3). An examination of some representative works in the context of contemporary scholarship.
415 [152] Topics in Medieval Philosophy (3). An intensive study of some medieval philosophical author (e.g., Aquinas, Scotus, or Ockham) or topic (e.g., arguments for the existence of God, universals, knowledge of individuals).
421 [153] Rationalism (3). An examination of the view of the rationalist philosophers (Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz) that reasoning can give us knowledge of the world and of our place in it.
422 [154] Empiricism (3). An examination of the view of the empiricist philosophers (Locke, Berkeley, and Hume) that the only way to gain knowledge of the world is by means of the senses.
423 [155] Kant (3). An intensive introduction to Kant's accounts of space, time, concepts, perception, substance, causation, and the thinking self through a careful study of his masterwork, The Critique of Pure Reason.
427 [156] Hegel (3). In-depth study of Hegel's systematic philosophy emphasizing its roots in Kant's critical philosophy. Primary focus on Phenomenology of Spirit, supplemented by selections from the Encyclopedia and Philosophy of Right.
428 [159] History of American Philosophy (3). Transcendentalists, pragmatists, Quine, Rorty, and others.
432 [114] The Beginnings of Analytic Philosophy (3). Prerequisites, two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155 or permission of instructor. Frege, Russell, Moore, and Wittgenstein among other are considered.
433 [116] Current Issues in Analytic Philosophy (3). Prerequisites, two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155 or permission of instructor. Recent work in epistemology and metaphysics.
440 [117] Philosophy of Mind (3). Prerequisites, two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155 (PHIL 340 recommended) or permission of instructor. An examination of dualism, behaviorism, the identity theory, and forms of functionalism with special focus on the problems of mental aboutness.
445 [110] Philosophy of Language (LING 410) (3). Prerequisites, two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155 (PHIL 345 recommended) or permission of instructor. How does language represent? Does it mirror the structure of the world? Does it reflect the structure of the mind?
450 [108] Philosophy of Natural Sciences (3). Concept formation, verifiability, law, explanation, the role of logic and mathematics in the sciences, and other topics.
451 [122] Philosophy of Physics (3). Topics may include the nature of space and time, the ontological status of fields and energy, or causation and locality in quantum physics.
452 [123] Philosophy of Biology (3). The logical structure of evolutionary theory, fitness, taxonomy, the notion of a living thing, reductionism, evolutionary explanations, teleology.
453 [109] Philosophy of Psychology (3). Topics may include reasoning, the relationship between language and thought, concepts, moral cognition, and emotions.
454 [107] Philosophy, History, and the Social Sciences (3). The nature of historical explanation, structural and functional explanation, the weighing of historical testimony, the concept of meaning, normative judgments and predictions in the social sciences.
455 [101] Symbolic Logic (LING 455) (3). Introduction for graduates and advanced undergraduates not taking the PHIL 155-PHIL 356 sequence.
456 [111] Advanced Symbolic Logic (3). Prerequisite, PHIL 455 or permission of instructor. Presupposes propositional and quantificational logic as a basis of further deductive development with special attention to selected topics: alternative systems, modal and deontic logic, inductive logic, the grammar of formalized languages, paradoxes, and foundations of mathematics.
457 [190] Set Theory and Logic (3). Prerequisite, PHIL 455 or permission of instructor. Natural and real numbers. Infinite cardinal and ordinal numbers. Alternative axiom systems and their consistency problems.
459 [106] Philosophy of Mathematics (3). Prerequisite, PHIL 455 or permission of instructor. Philosophical problems concerning logic and the foundation of mathematics.
460 [102] Selected Topics in the History of Moral Philosophy (3). Prerequisites, two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155 (PHIL 360 recommended) or permission of instructor. Examination of classic texts of Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Hobbes, Butler, Hume, Kant, and Mill. Selections may vary from year to year.
462 [112] Contemporary Moral Philosophy (3). Prerequisites, two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155 (PHIL 362 recommended) or permission of instructor. Fact and value, reason and morality, the nature of morality.
463 [120] Contemporary Moral and Social Problems (3). Prerequisites, two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155 or permission of instructor. A detailed examination of one or more of the following contemporary issues: environmental ethics, animal rights, abortion, euthanasia, pornography, racism, sexism, public versus private morality.
465 [175] Justice in Health Care (3). Prerequisite, one course in philosophy or permission of instructor; medical students welcome. The course will focus on the question of how scarce health care resources ought to be distributed in order to meet the demands of justice.
468 [168] Risk and Society (3). Prerequisites, PHIL 155 and one other course or permission of instructor. The course examines attitudes toward risk and how they affect our preferences for different public policies in the areas of environmental protection, technology regulation, and workplace and product safety.
470 [105] Political Philosophy from Hobbes to Rousseau (3). Prerequisites, two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155 (PHIL 170 or PHIL 370 recommended) or permission of instructor. Explores the foundations of justice and authority in the idea of contract or covenant, the nature of law, rights, liberty, and democracy in the work of Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Rousseau.
471 [104] Hegel, Marx, and the Philosophical Critique of Society (3). An examination of central issues in social and political philosophy as they figure in the work of Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and others.
473 [160] American Political Philosophy (3). Prerequisites, junior/senior status and one course in the Philosophy Department other than PHIL 155. The issue of unity and diversity in America is analyzed through the writings of Jefferson, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, Calhoun, MacKinnon, DuBois, and Rawls.
475 [165] Philosophical Issues in Gender, Race, and Class (WMST 475) (3). Prerequisite, PHIL 275, WMST 101, or permission of instructor. Examines in greater depth and complexity one or more of the issues addressed in PHIL 275; investigating issues of gender, race, and class within the dominant theories of philosophy.
476 [130] Recent Developments in Political Philosophy (3). Prerequisites, two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155 (PHIL 370 recommended) or permission of instructor. Investigation of major contemporary contributors (Rawls, Nozick, Dworkin, Cohen, Waldron, Arrow) to philosophical debate concerning justice, equality, liberty, democracy, public reason, or rights versus community.
480 [113] Philosophy of Law (3). An exploration of whether and under what conditions the state has the right to control crime by punishment of past crimes and preventive detention to prevent future crimes.
482 [142] Philosophy and Literature (CMPL 482) (3). Philosophical readings of literary texts, including novels, plays, and poems.
485 [103] Philosophy of Art (3). Competing theories of art and art criticism. The relationship between art and emotional expression, the formal character of art, and standards of taste.
494 [158] Existentialism and Phenomenology (3). A study of one or two major systematic works by Sartre, Heidegger, or Merleau-Ponty.
495 [178] Health Care, Science, and Philosophy (3). Interdisciplinary course to develop critical thinking capacities through philosophical study of the nature of scientific presuppositions and concepts, including events, causality, and determinism, with specific application to health care issues.
691H [100A] Courses for Honors (3). Prerequisite, senior honors major. See the director of undergraduate studies of the department.
692H [100B] Courses for Honors (3). Prerequisite, senior honors major. See the director of undergraduate studies of the department.
698 Philosophy, Politics and Economics II: Capstone Course (ECON 698, POLI 698) (3). Prerequisites, permission of instructor and PHIL 384. This capstone course advances PHIL 384, focusing on the theoretical and philosophical issues, such as the analysis of rights or distributive justice and the institutional implications of moral forms.