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INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC - PHL 201 - MWF 0930-1020 (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Dr. William O. Stephens

Prerequisites:  PHL 107

Course Description:  This course is an introduction to the study of elementary logic. Course objectives include: distinguishing arguments from non-arguments; distinguishing deductive from inductive types of arguments; translating from English into logical notation; determining deductive validity; distinguishing types of inductive reasoning; judging relative inductive strength; identifying formal and informal fallacies; and assessing an argument's overall persuasiveness. We will study categorical logic, the Square of Opposition, Venn diagrams, truth tables, truth-functional (a.k.a. propositional) logic, formal deductions, and linguistic ambiguity.

Required Work: 
	•	Exams #1, #2, #3, and #4 (16 % each)
	•	Exam #5 (13 %)
	•	Final Exam (20 %)
	•	Homework Exercises (3 %)

Texts:	Robert M. Johnson, Fundamentals of Reasoning: A Logic Book, 4th edition (Wadsworth).  ISBN 0-534-56108-X.

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PHILOSOPHY OF SPORT - PHL 317/AMS 317 - Wed 1530-1800 (Fall 2007)

Instructor:  Dr. Randolph M. Feezell

Prerequisites:  PHL 107, and one of the following:  (a) PHL 201, (b) PHL 250, (c) PHL 312, or (d) PHL 320.

Course Description:  Since about 1970 a relatively large and sophisticated body of philosophical writing on sport has emerged.  This course will attempt to investigate the best of this literature.  The topics reflect many of the major branches of philosophy including metaphysics, ethics, social and political philosophy, and aesthetics.  We will look closely at attempts:  to define the nature of sport, play, and game; to show the metaphysical implications of play; to examine such moral issues as sportsmanship, cheating, paternalism, drug-testing, and equality in sports; to offer political analyses of the degradation of sport; to think about the aesthetic aspects of sport.

Required Work:  Three exams; many short (reaction) papers, one longer paper (tentative), one class presentation (tentative).

Text:	Morgan and Meier, Philosophic Inquiry in Sport, 2nd edition

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MORAL PHILOSOPHY - PHL 331 - MWF 1330-1420 (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Dr. Jeffrey P. Hause

Prerequisites: PHL 107, PHL 250.  Certified writing course

Course Description: What counts as an issue in moral philosophy?  Does morality concern itself solely with rights and justice, while all other issues lie outside morality?  Or does it have a wide scope, extending even to our tone of voice or the way we carry ourselves?  Different moral theories will suggest different answers to these questions, and the first part of the course will explore why this is so.  We’ll also consider issues typically neglected in ethics classes and consider why they are typically neglected.  If time permits, we will end with topics in moral psychology (e.g., the nature and role of emotions in morality) or metaethics.

Required Work: To be determined.
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PHILOSOPHY OF THE NATURAL SCIENCES - PHL 334 - TR 1100-1215  (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Dr. Elizabeth F. Cooke

Prerequisites:  PHL 107, and one of the following:  (a) PHL 201, (b) PHL 250, (c) PHL 312, or (d) PHL 320.

Course Description: This course focuses on a phlosophical examination of science, including its theoretical and practical components.  We will address the following key questions: Does science differ from other disciplines?  How do the sciences relate to one another?  For example, should we expect that conclusions in biology cohere with those in physics?  Should we expect conclusions in the physical sciences to cohere with theology?  What is the proper method of science?  Is science strictly an empirical endeavor?  Is there an ethical and political dimension to science?  Is objectivity the proper goal of scientific inquiry?  

Required Work: Class participation, examinations, two papers.

Texts:	To be announced.
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INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM - PHL 353/THL 353 - MWF 1230-1320 (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Dr. Jinmei Yuan

Prerequisites:  PHL 107, and one of the following:  (a) PHL 201, (b) PHL 250, (c) PHL 312, or (d) PHL 320.  Certified writing and global studies course.

Course Description: This course will introduce the origin and development of Buddhism’s basic doctrines and beliefs from historical and philosophical points of view.  We will discuss the contributions from different Buddhist schools, and the changes as Buddhism spread from India through China to Japan.

Three comparisons will be involved in the class.  Firstly, we will compare Theravada Buddhism with Mahayana Buddhism.  This comparison will show us the development of Buddhism’s basic doctrines.  Secondly, we will compare Indian Buddhism with Chinese traditions.  It will clarify why Chinese culture allowed itself to be influenced by Indian ways and Chinese contributions to the Buddhism tradition.  Thirdly, we will compare Chinese Buddhism with Japanese Zen Buddhism.  It will help us to understand how Buddhist teachings are practiced in daily life.  

Required Work:  Four reading reports, three essays (two short ones and one final), one oral presentation, two exams (one midterm and one final), and two unexpected quizzes.  

Texts:	W.M. Theodore DeBary, The Buddhist Tradition in India, China & Japan, The Modern Library
	Walpola Sri Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, Grove Press, Inc.
	Kenneth K. Chen, Buddhism in China, Princeton University Press
	Alan Watts, The Way of Zen, Vintage Books
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HISTORY OF CLASSICAL GREEK PHILOSOPHY - PHL/CNE 370 - MWF 1130-1220 (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Dr. William O. Stephens

Prerequisites:  PHL 107, and one of the following:  (a) PHL 201, (b) PHL 250, (c) PHL 312, or (d) PHL 320.

Course Description: Through the close and careful examination of the original texts we will study the richness and complexities of ancient Greek philosophy during the "Classical" period (7th to 4th century BCE). Beginning with the Presocratics, whose extant texts are sadly fragmentary, we will trace the development of recognizably philosophical, that is, rational, non-superstitious, scientific thinking about the world-order (cosmos), nature (physis), soul (psyche), and reason (logos) through the Sophists of the Greek Enlightenment period and Socrates, as he is portrayed in Plato's dialogues. The central figures of the course will be Plato and Aristotle. We will read four of the earlier Platonic dialogues and all of the Republic, which may be the greatest, most influential masterpiece of Western civilization. We will then investigate Aristotle's ingenious and extensive system of thought. Aristotelian ideas profoundly shaped Medieval philosophy, theology, logic, and the natural sciences for centuries. Consequently, any decent understanding of our cultural heritage, the history of ideas, of science, of religion, and, of course, the history of Western philosophy, must necessarily begin with a study of the history of Classical Greek philosophy. 

Required Work:  
	Presocratics exam (10%)
	Plato exam #1 (10%)
	Plato paper (1750-2100 words) (15%)
	Plato exam #2 (10%)
	Aristotle exam #1 (10%)
	Aristotle paper (1750-2100 words) (15%)
	Aristotle exam #2 during final exam period (14%)
	Participation (14%).

Texts:	Readings in Ancient Greek Philosohy from Thales to Aristotle, ed. By Cohen, Curd & Reeve (Hackett, 3rd ed., 2005)
	William O. Stephens, How to Write Philosophy Papers ($4 at the Philosophy Department)

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SCIENCE AND RELIGION - PHL/THL/SPR 420 - TR 0930-1045 (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Dr. Eugene E. Selk

Prerequisites:PHL 250 or THL 250; Senior standing.  Meets Senior Perspective requirement (Core A).  Certified writing course.  
Required Work: Three exams and three papers.

Texts:	John Haught, Responses to 101 Questions on God & Evolution (Paulist)
	Ian Barbour, Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues (HarperSanFrancisco)
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LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY, AND ECONOMICS: CRITICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF COMMERCIAL LIFE - PHL/SRP/ENG 435 - Mon 1530-1800 (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Dr. Fidel Fajardo-Acosta

Prerequisites:  PHL 250 or THL 250; Senior standing.  Meets Senior Perspective requirement (Core A)
  
Required Work: Emphasizing ethical approaches to the analysis of human ways of making a living, this course examines the representation economic phenomena in selected literary and philosophical texts from antiquity to the present.  Giving special attention to critical representations of commercial life, the course undertakes a characterization of its underlying social forms as well as the specification of how these ethically consequential forms tie in with problems of poverty, unequal distributions of wealth and income, overconsumption, depletion of natural resources, conflict and social instability.

Texts:	Patrick Murray, Reflections on Commercial Life: An Anthology of Classic Texts from Plato to the Present
		(Routledge), ISBN 0-415-91196-6
	Charles Dickens, Hard Times (W.W. Norton/Norton Critical Edition), ISBN 0-393-95900-7
	John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (Penguin/Viking Critical Library), ISBN 9-14-024775-0
	SRP 435 Course Pack (containing a variety of readings not included in the anthology)
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BIOMEDICAL ETHICS: PHILOSOPHICAL AND THEOLOGICAL APPROACHES - PHL/SRP/HAP/THL 457 - Section A - Mon 1530-1800 (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Dr. Judith L. Kissell

Prerequisites:  PHL 250 or THL 250; Senior standing.  Meets Senior Perspective requirement (Core A).  Certified writing course.  
Course Description: This course will include a general introduction to bioethics theory, principles and language.  It will then focus on areas of growing interest in the field–that may include, but are not limited to, medical research, commercialization of medicine, care for patients who are marginalized by age, illness, poverty, language, ethnicity, etc.  The seminar will also include analysis of art and/or literature as they relate to healing/suffering–insights into the personal side of illness essential to the ethical and compassionate delivery of healthcare.

Required Work: Some combination of presentation on bioethics topic; research paper; reflection papers on readings; book and book report; case presentation; literature presentation; critique of article and project with marginalized population.  

Texts:	Readings from medical ethics and health care journals.
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BIOMEDICAL ETHICS: PHILOSOPHICAL AND THEOLOGICAL APPROACHES - PHL/SRP/HAP/THL 457 - Section N - Wed 1800-2030 (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Dr. Jerold J. Abrams

Prerequisites:  PHL 250 or THL 250; Senior standing.  Meets Senior Perspective requirement (Core A).  Certified writing course.  
Course Description: In addition to ethical theory, and several basic issues of bioethics, we will place a primary emphasis on the ethics and politics of genetic engineering.  These technologies include: (1) Stem Cell Therapies, (2) Cloning, (3) Somatic Gene Therapy, (4) Germline Genetic Engineering (two forms: therapeutic and enhancement based), (5) Cyborg technologies (these fuse cybernetic technologies with organic living matter).  And, in addition to these forms, we will also pay specific attention to the next revolution in genetic engineering, which is occurring precisely at the interface of genetics and robotics, namely, (6) Posthumanism (or Transhumanism, Extropianism), which entails transforming the very human form.  Also, this is a writing intensive course, and very extensive research and writing will be required.

Required Work: To be announced.

Texts:	To be announced.

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MARXISM - PHL/PLS 459 - MWF 1030-1120 (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Dr. J. Patrick Murray

Prerequisites:  PHL 107, and one of the following:  (a) PHL 201, (b) PHL 250, (c) PHL 312, or (d) PHL 320.

Course Description: The first, and principal, business of this course will be the study of Karl Marx.  We will examine his critiques of religion, philosophy, and political economy, and we will seek to understand how these several strands cohere in Marx’s critique of capitalist society.  We will also explore one or two yet-to-be determined representatives of the “Western Marxist” tradition, e.g. Antonio Gramsci, Herbert Marcuse, Henri Lefebvre, Jurgen Habermas, and Jean Baudrillard. 

Required Work:  A major paper (15-20 pages) will be required, and there will be a mid-term and a final–both essay exams in class.  The final will not be comprehensive.

Texts:	Karl Marx, Karl Marx: Selected Writings (ed. By Lawrence H. Simon)
	Karl Marx, Capital, Volume I (Penguin edition)
	One or two texts from the “Western Marxist” tradition

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A MAJOR PHILOSOPHER: WITTGENSTEIN, THE PHILOSOPHER AS POET - PHL 481 - TR 1400-1515 (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Dr. Michael A. Brown 

Prerequisites:  PHL 107, and one of the following:  (a) PHL 201, (b) PHL 250, (c) PHL 312, or (d) PHL 320.

Course Description: This course is in effect an introduction to the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, who is widely thought to be one of the three or four most important (and interesting) philosophers of the twentieth century.  His work has influenced not only fellow philosophers, but poets, film-makers, architects, psychologists, mathematicians, musicians, theologians, and even the occasional comedian.  In fact his influence has been so significant and widespread that arguably the contemporary intellectual world cannot be fully appreciated without first appreciating his work to some degree.

At one point Wittgenstein said that philosophy really ought to be done as a sort of poetry.  Among other things, by saying that he was invoking his own distinction between what can be expressed propositionally, on the one hand, and both un-illuminating nonsense (or gibberish) and illuminating nonsense, on the other.  In light of that distinction, we will consider carefully certain key parts of his early Tractatus-Logico Philosophicus, as well as equally key parts of his later Philosophical Investigations.  Wittgenstein himself thought that any adequate treatment of his work would involve reading those two books at roughly the same time.

Required Work:   To be announced.

Texts:	To be announced.

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DIRECTED INDEPENDENT READINGS - PHL 493

A student may arrange a readings course with an instructor of his or her choice.  Written approval of the instructor must be obtained prior to early registration.  This written approval is submitted with early registration forms.  The topic of the course would ordinarily be a subject not covered in one of the regularly offered courses.

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DIRECTED INDEPENDENT STUDY - PHL 495

A student may arrange a study course with an instructor of his or her choice.  Written approval of the instructor must be obtained prior to early registration.  This written approval is submitted with early registration forms.  The topic of the course would ordinarily be a subject not covered in one of the regularly offered courses.