Courses

Examines the moral status of nonhuman animals, and its implications for the common use of animals as food and experimental subjects for humans. Prereq., 12 hours of PHIL coursework completed. Recommended prereq., PHIL 3100. PHIL 4120 and 5120 are the same course. Prerequisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

Studies philosophical approaches to social and political issues such as abortion, bioethics, environmental preservation, human rights, and reverse discrimination. Gives attention to strengths and weaknesses of philosophical treatments of these issues. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours. Prerequisites: Restricted to Philosophy graduate students only.

Philosophical examination of several different approaches to environmental problems: economic, juridical, political, and ecological. Discusses specific environmental problems, focusing on their moral dimensions, e.g., wilderness preservation, animal rights, and land use and urban planning. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours. Same as ENVS 5240.

Deals with topics in the area of philosophy and public policy and is often interdisciplinary in focus. Topics vary from one semester to another. May be repeated up to 7 total credit hours. Prerequisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

Covers a selection of the following problems: the analysis of knowledge, theories of justification, skepticism, perceptual knowledge, theories of sense experience, other minds, knowledge of the past, the problem of induction, theories of justification, and a priori knowledge. Prerequisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

Same as PHIL 4400. Prerequisites: Restricted to Philosophy graduate students only.

Same as PHIL 4450 and PHYS 5450. Prerequisites: Restricted to Philosophy graduate students only.

Examines issues in four related areas: probability theory (e.g. the interpretation of probability, the raven paradox, and the principle of indifference), decision theory (e.g., the Newcomb problem, the toxin puzzle, and Pascal's wager), game theory (e.g., Prisoner's dilemma, tragedy of the commons, and Schelling points), and social choice theory (e.g., Arrow's theorem). Familiarity with symbolic logic is strongly recommended. Prereq., 12 hours of PHIL coursework completed. Recommended prereq., PHIL 2440. PHIL 4470 and 5470 are the same course. Prerequisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

Considers topics in the semantics of natural language not normally covered in first courses in philosophy of language. These include: natural deduction and sequent calculi for conditional logic; interpretation as logical inference; Lambek calculus and applicative categorial grammar; applications such as generalized coordination, plurals, higher-order intensional logic, generics, focus, and event-based semantics. Recommended prereq., PHIL 5490.

Studies topics falling under philosophy of religion, such as proofs for God's existence, religious language, mysticism, psychology of religion, modern theological movements, miracles, and study of individual theologians. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.

Variety of new courses at the 5000 level. See current departmental announcements for specific content. Maybe repeated up to 6 total credit hours. Prerequisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.

Intensive study of selected topics in ethical theory.