See all Philosophy Courses Register in UAccess
Fall 2026 Courses
PHIL 110: Logic and Critical Thinking
- Hybrid: Online lectures with Robert Wardy, Discussion sections on Fridays at either 9am, 10am, 11am with TBD
- MWF 1pm - 1:50pm, Marga Reimer
Students will develop rational thinking skills through a combination of theory and practice. They will discuss good and bad thinking habits, learning to apply the former and to avoid the latter. This class includes an introduction to truth-tables and rules of inference in symbolic logic. The aim is to improve students' capacity for rational reasoning, question widely held beliefs, resist empty rhetoric and propaganda, distinguish relevant from irrelevant considerations, and construct sound arguments. PHIL 110 satisfies the math requirement for some majors. |
PHIL 112: Philosophy at the Movies
- TUTH 5pm - 6:15pm, Joseph Tolliver
| Introduces students to philosophy through the representation in film of some of the questions central to a philosophically informed conception of the universe and one’s place in the world so conceived. Students view and consider selected films through the lens opened by relevant philosophical readings. |
PHIL 130: Sex, Gender & Love: Introduction to Social Philosophy
- Instructor: TBD
- TUTH 9:30am - 10:45am
| What is sex? Is it a mere accident that the English term ‘sex’ refers to both an activity and a system of categorization? How does sex relate to gender and love, and how might the experiences of queer and trans people both complicate and illuminate these connections? What counts as having sex in the first place, and what counts as having good sex? How should we think about pregnancy, sexuality, desire, and love in connection to gender equality? This course surveys these central questions about sex, gender, and love, and in so doing, aims to introduce students to the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of social philosophy. |
PHIL 138: Mind-bending Fiction
- Professors Hannah Kim and Paul Hurh
- MWF 1pm - 1:50pm
How do we know that the world is real and not a dream? Or a simulation created by an artificial intelligence? When we talk to ourselves, who is talking? And who is listening? Does life have a purpose, and if so, what is it? And if not, does it matter? This course explores the deep and enduring questions of human existence through the literature and philosophies that have sought to answer them. Students will be introduced to influential philosophical texts across human history—from Plato and Laozi to Nietzsche and Hofstadter. And they will explore the philosophical questions within them through the philosophical worlds created by literature—through authors such as Octavia Butler, Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges, Ted Chiang and Ursula LeGuin as well as in the speculative worlds of contemporary popular culture. By reading literature together with philosophy, students will learn how to read philosophically, not only classical mind-bending works from across history but also from the contemporary present moment. Students will learn both philosophical and literary disciplinary approaches and will apply them to their own contemporary worlds, producing a signature assignment that explores the philosophy of a fictional work of their own choosing. |
PHIL 150A1: Free Will, Consciousness & The Meaning of Life
- Instructor: TBD
- Meeting MWF 9am - 9:50am
This course examines fundamental questions about our existence and our place in the universe. Questions such as the following will be examined from a philosophical perspective: What, if anything, can we know with certainty? Is the mind the same as the brain, or are we something else? Does free will exist? Is morality objective? What is the meaning of life? We will explore traditional and contemporary debates about these issues while developing clear, methodical reasoning about how we might go about trying to answer them. |
PHIL 150B1: Personal Morality
- MW 11am - 12:15pm; Robert Wardy
- Asynchronous Online; Instructor TBD
This course examines fundamental questions about our existence and our place in the universe. Questions such as the following will be examined from a philosophical perspective: Is the mind the same as the brain, or are we something else? Does free-will exist? What, if anything, can we know with certainty? We will explore traditional and contemporary debates about these issues while developing clear, methodical reasoning about how we might go about trying to answer them. |
PHIL 150C1: Freedom, Equality, and Authority
- MW 12pm - 12:50pm with Hrishikesh Joshi; Friday discussion with TBD at 10am, 11am or 12pm
This course examines fundamental questions about the ethical organization of society and social life. These questions include: What is the basis of the state? What is the nature of social justice? What are our obligations to others around the world? We will aim to develop clear thinking about issues that are of great importance to the contemporary world and that each of us will face as a citizen of a modern democratic state. |
PHIL 160D1: Justice and the Good Life
- MWF 10am - 10:50am with TBD
The goal of the course is to introduce you to some central questions of moral philosophy through the work of four of the most important thinkers in the Western tradition. These questions include the following: What makes for a good life? What moral obligations do we have to others? What reason, if any, do we have to fulfill these obligations? Can you be forced to choose between doing what morality demands and having a good life? And, if so, which should you choose? In discussing questions like these, we’ll be trying to clarify concepts, formulate rigorous arguments, and evaluate these arguments. In other words, we’ll be thinking philosophically about difficult moral questions. The works we will be reading in this course – by Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Mill – all have had a great impact on moral thought in the Western tradition. As a result, many of the ideas you encounter in these works are likely to be familiar to you. And studying these works is an ideal way of deepening your own thinking about moral issues: I urge you to seize this opportunity to do so. We expect you, by the end of the course, to have exercised and improved your abilities to think critically, communicate effectively, use information effectively, and to understand and value differences |
PHIL 202: Introduction to Symbolic Logic
- 7W2 Online with Thony Gillies
In this course we study a formal language, the language of first-order logic (FOL). This language allows one to make mathematically precise the concept of logical consequence; that is, one can say what it means for a sentence in the language of FOL to follow validly from other sentences in that language. The aim of this course is the mastery of the language of FOL, mainly in the execution of proofs in that language. |
PHIL 205: The Ethics and Economics of Wealth Creation
- MWF 10am - 10:50am, Scott Casleton
- MWF 1pm - 1:50pm, Robert Wardy
- 7W2 Online, William Oberdick
We will study the ethics and the economics of such phenomena as market competition, institutions of private and public property, trade restrictions, globalization, and corporate welfare. How do people create wealth? How do societies enable people to create wealth? Are some ways more ethical than others? Why do some societies grow rich while neighboring societies remain poor? People have various ways of creating wealth. Which are ethical and which are not? Why? (PHIL 205 is not an introduction to the principles of Economics and is not a substitute for ECON 200, ECON 201A or ECON201B.) |
PHIL 206: Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
- In Person, MW 12:30pm - 1:45pm with TBD
- Online, 7W2 with
This course is an introduction to the ethics of artificial intelligence and automated information systems. The recent development of transformer models, including large language models like ChatGPT, has brought to the fore urgent questions about how we must understand, classify, and react to artificially intelligent systems. Learners will learn foundational aspects about AI, including what it means for machines to think and best current understanding of machine abilities to emote, create, imagine, and so on. On the basis of this understanding the course will delve into a critical examination of a range of ethical questions raised by recent developments in AI, including issues pertaining to job losses due to automation, privacy, algorithmic bias and discrimination, transparency, self-driving cars and autonomous drones, copyright infringement, attribution of agency. |
PHIL 210: Moral Thinking
- In Person, TUTH 11am - 12:15pm with Guido Pincione
- Online, 7W1 with TBD
| It is important "to do the right thing." But how can anyone tell what "the right thing" is? What makes some actions right and some wrong? This course is an overview of ethics, which is the field of philosophy that examines these questions. We examine three main ways of thinking about ethics: those that focus one the outcomes of actions, those that focus on the nature of the actions themselves, and those that focus on the character of the one who acts. Students will gain a foundational knowledge that will serve as a solid background for more advanced work in ethics, as a resource for thinking about moral issues, and as a piece of general education valuable for understanding practical aspects of human life. |
PHIL 213: Contemporary Moral Problems
- In Person, TUTH 11am - 12:15pm with Michael McKenna
- In Person, MW 2pm - 3:15pm with Hrishikesh Joshi
| This course will examine moral theory and reasoning as applied to issues of current ethical or moral concern, such as: sexual morality, pornography, hate speech, and censorship, drugs and addiction, sexism, racism, and reparation, the ethics of immigration, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, the ethical treatment of animals, abortion, cloning and genetic enhancement, the death penalty, war, terrorism, and torture, world hunger and poverty, the environment, and also consumption and climate change. Our goal will be to challenge and develop your own positions on these matters so that you are better able to speak, think, and write about them cogently and critically. |
PHIL 220: Philosophy of Happiness
- Online, 16-week course with William Oberdick
| Happiness matters to us; and now it is in the news. There are large numbers of self-help books telling us how to be happy. Some nations are planning to measure the happiness of their citizens to find out how it can be increased. There is a huge new field of `happiness studies', and new focus on happiness in positive psychology as well as fields like politics and law. Much of this material is confusing, since often it is not clear what the authors think that happiness is. Is it feeling good? Is it having a positive attitude to the way you are now? Is it having a positive attitude to your life as a whole? Is it having a happy life? Can some people advise others on how to be happy? Philosophers have been engaged with the search for happiness for two thousand years. They have asked what happiness is, and have explored different answers to the question, including some of the answers now being rediscovered in other fields. In this course we will ask what happiness is, and examine critically the major answers to this question. We'll look at the rich philosophical tradition of thinking about happiness, at contemporary answers, and also at some recent work in the social sciences. We'll examine the contributions being made to the ongoing search to find out what happiness is, and how we can live happy lives. Overall course objectives/expected learning outcomes: This course has two primary objectives: - To introduce students to the theoretical nature of the question of the nature of happiness by presenting a representative sample of the primary historical and contemporary literature - To enable students to think and write critically, logically and objectively about the philosophical issues pertaining to happiness. These objectives will be approached through lectures, discussions and writing assignments informed by the assigned readings. Course outcomes will be assessed through substantial writing assignments, some of which will feature opportunities for students to revise their work in light of advice from the professor. |
PHIL 233: Philosophy of Religion
- MWF, 10am - 10:50am, Seth Sowalskie
| Religion is a subject of much controversy. On the one hand, adherents of religion claim that their religious beliefs and religious identity constitute a key part of who they are as a person. Many believe that religion gives them purpose in life or reveals what is true about our reality. On the other hand, religious belief is questioned (and at times derided) by many in contemporary society. Many believe that contemporary society has supplanted the need for religion, and that our experience suggests that God is not real. In this course, we will approach religion from a philosophical standpoint, seeking to evaluate both sides of this debate. In the first block of the course, we will explore the concept of God and what attributes have been typically ascribed to God. In the second block of the course, we will critically evaluate some major arguments for the existence of God. In the third block of the course, we will critically evaluate some major arguments against the existence of God. Finally, in the fourth block of the course, we will evaluate pragmatic reasons for belief and the rationality of faith. |
PHIL 241: Consciousness and Cognition
- TUTH 2pm - 3:15pm, Joseph Tolliver
- Fully Online, 16-week, Instructor: TBD
| This course covers some of the central aspects of the philosophical foundations of cognitive science, and ongoing philosophical and scientific debates about those foundations. Course topics may include: the mind-body problem; the relationship between psychological and biological sciences; the mystery of subjective experience; emotions; innateness; rationality (and irrationality); nonhuman minds; artificial intelligence; and moral cognition. The course is strongly interdisciplinary, drawing on both scientific and philosophical sources. |
PHIL 250: The Social Contract
- MW 12:30pm - 1:45pm with Scott Casleton
This course focuses on the idea of the social contract as it has evolved from the seventeenth century to contemporary philosophy. Can government or principles of justice be justified in terms of a pact that all rational individuals would accept in a "state of nature" or an "original position"? What would be the terms of the agreement? We will read selections from, among others, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, David Gauthier, Robert Nozick, and John Rawls. |
PHIL 260: Ancient Philosophy
- TUTH 2pm - 3:15pm, Mariana Noe
| The purpose of this course is to introduce you to some of the most influential theories in Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy. We start the course by reading Aristotle’s selection of “reputable opinions” and reflecting on his—and our—way of building a “philosophical canon.” Afterward, we study the fragments of four early Greek philosophers: Thales of Miletus, Heraclitus of Ephesus, Xenophanes of Colophon, and Parmenides of Elea. We also take some time to explore Parmenides’ influence on the Ancient Greek atomists Leucippus and Democritus. We then read some works by the so-called “sophists” Protagoras and Gorgias, and reflect on the differences and similarities between rhetoric and philosophy. The following philosopher we encounter is Plato. We start by carefully studying one complete Platonic dialogue, the Meno, since the experience of reading a dialogue from beginning to end is—I think—uniquely rich. Other discussions require more time to be fully comprehended, so we read only selections from his Republic and Phaedo. After Plato, we devote a few weeks to his famous student: Aristotle. We study selections from his practical sciences (Nicomachean Ethics, Politics) and his theoretical sciences (Metaphysics) in order to map how they interact with each other. We dedicate the last part of the course to the three most famous schools in Hellenistic times: the Epicureans, the Skeptics, and the Stoics. We read both Greek and Roman authors in these traditions, in order to flag how each culture gave a special spin to the same philosophy. |
PHIL 263: From Hegel to Nietzsche: 19th Century Philosophy
- Online, 16-week course, Instructor TBD
| Survey of influential 19th century philosophers, including Hegel, Marx, J. S. Mill, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. Their views on the individual and society, and human nature. |
PHIL 310C: Introduction to the Science of Consciousness
- Live Online, Wednesday 3pm - 5:40pm with Justin Riddle
PHIL 321: Medical Ethics
| This course surveys various ethical issues that arise in relation to medicine and healthcare. Issues covered may include (among others) abortion, assisted suicide, doctor-patient confidentiality, informed consent, medical paternalism, bias in medicine, allocation of scarce medical resources, vaccine mandates, and inequity in healthcare access and outcomes. Students will craft and evaluate ethical arguments about these issues from the perspective of a well-informed philosopher. |
PHIL 322: Business Ethics
| This course is designed to teach students about normative ethics in the context of the workplace and the business world. We will discuss ethical questions concerning corporate responsibility, preferential hiring and affirmative action, advertising practices, corporate whistleblowing, and environmental responsibility. |
PHIL 323: Environmental Ethics
| We will investigate and seriously consider how and why we should live as morally responsible members of an ecological community. Students will explore philosophical responses to questions such as: What makes something natural? What value is there to non-human entities? What obligations do we have to each other regarding the environment? Students will investigate social scientific responses to questions such as: How should wilderness be preserved? How should we respond to climate change? How should water resources be allocated? Students will build connections between and reconcile philosophical and social scientific approaches to issues of environmental concern. |
PHIL 324: Law and Morality
| Exploration of classic and contemporary philosophical issues about law and morality. Topics covered will vary but may include, among others, the limits of social interference with individual liberty, legal paternalism and physician-assisted suicide, legal moralism, freedom of speech and expression, legal punishment and capital punishment, and civil disobedience. |
PHIL 345: Philosophical Perspectives on Mental Disorder: From Anxiety to Depression
| In this course, we will be focusing on a variety of issues concerning the existence and nature of mental disorder. These issues are naturally formulated as questions and may include the following: What exactly is mental disorder? How does it differ from brain disorder? Does mental disorder even exist? (Some theorists, including psychiatrists, have denied this.) What are some paradigm (clear-cut) cases of mental disorder? Might there be ‘borderline’ case as well, such as profound grief or psychopathy? If borderline cases do exist, what does this suggest about the nature of mental disorder and of mental phenomena more generally? What can reflection on mental disorder tell us about free will and responsibility, the distinction between appearance and reality, the nature of the self or soul? What can such reflection tell us about the distinction between the irrationality associated with mental disorder and the irrationality we think of as mere ‘foolishness’? What can we learn about human nature by reflecting on what makes all of us vulnerable to mental disorder? |
PHIL 347: Neuroethics
| This course introduces students to neuroethics a burgeoning field in philosophy conducting research in the intersection of neuroscience and ethics. In this course, we'll be asking what ethical questions neuroscience raises and what ethical questions it helps to answer. Students will encounter questions and issue such as the nature of free will, ethical implications of brain manipulation, the relation between moral responsibility and mental disorder, the ethics of moral enhancement, the nature of moral judgement, feminist critique of neuroethical research, the challenges of motivated reasoning, the ethics of brain reading, among others. |
PHIL 401A/501A: Symbolic Logic
PHIL 433/533: Aesthetics
PHIL 434/534: Social and Political Philosophy
- Instructor: Allen Buchanan
- Meeting: Monday, 9am - 11:30am
| This course will undertake a close analysis of only two texts: Henry Sidgwick’s METHODS OF ETHICS and Stephen Darwall’s MORAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Darwall makes a plausible case that Sedgwick’s work was the culmination of the most fruitful developments in Moral Philosophy in the 19th Century. His book nicely contextualizes Sidgwick’s METHODS OF ETHICS and also provides an account of what is most important in it. |
PHIL 438: Philosophy of Law
- Instructor: David Clark
- Meeting: MWF, 2pm - 2:50pm
| This course explores important philosophical questions about the law. The topics explored may include (but are not limited to): the nature of law and the determination of legal content, evidence, criminalization, natural rights, causation, fault/negligence, and judicial interpretation. Students will engage with these topics in a mix of lecture and discussion, and in their reading of classic and contemporary texts in philosophy and legal theory. |
PHIL 463/563: Philosophy of Language
- Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays from 11am - 11:50am with Marga Reimer
PHIL 470: Greek Philosophy
- Instructor: Mariana Noé
- Asynchronous 16-week course Brand New
PHIL 596B: Metaphysics Seminar
- Tuesdays from 3:30pm - 6:00pm with Michael McKenna
| Topic: Metaphysics of Free Will |
PHIL 596F: Social and Political Philosophy Seminar
- Mondays from 3:30pm - 6:00pm with Thomas Christiano
| Topic: Philosophical problems of Democracy |
PHIL 596Y: Research and Professionalization Seminar
- Wednesdays from 3:30pm - 6:00pm with Jonathan Weinberg
The purpose of this course is to train you in the methods and techniques of professional analytic philosophy. These skills include
We will focus on a small number of key papers in the analytic tradition of the last century or so, including both some targets selected by the professor and also others in close consultation with the enrolled students. We will read them to assess them philosophically, of course, but we will do so with a particular eye towards the metaphilosophical skills outlined above. The course will be taught in seminar form, conducted mostly in terms of student presentations and class discussion. |
PHIL 696A: Advanced Topics in Philosophy Seminar
- Thursdays from 3:30pm - 6:00pm with Guido Pincione
| We will examine the role of coercion in the analysis of legal systems (for example, in the works of Hans Kelsen, H. L. A. Hart, Alf Ross, and Joseph Raz), as a prelude to considering the relevance of such analyses for normative debates about coercion and liberty (for instance, in the work of Robert Nozick and G. A. Cohen). |