Courses
PHIL 100. General Logic (4)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; GE section B4 Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning or MATH 210. Not open to students who have completed PHIL 200. Study of deductive and inductive inferences. Attention to formal and informal fallacies and the relations of logic and language. Emphasis on critical thinking and the attainment of skill in it. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
PHIL 150. Introduction to Philosophical Thought (3)
Prerequisite: Multiple Measures Placement in GE-level writing, or completion of 113A or 114A, or completion of the lower division writing requirement. Introduction to philosophy emphasizing the concepts of knowledge, reality and mind, with attention to such topics as skepticism, dogmatism, common sense, materialism, mind-body dualism, the existence of God and free will. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
PHIL 165. Today’s Moral Issues (3)
Prerequisite: Multiple Measures Placement in GE-level writing, or completion of 113A or 114A, or completion of the lower division writing requirement. Philosophical examination of a range of today’s moral issues, such as abortion, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, the environment, war and world hunger. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.) (IC)
PHIL 170. Philosophy and Popular Culture (3)
In this course, students will examine philosophical themes within popular culture, and will use philosophy to investigate how they relate to popular culture. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
PHIL 180. Human Nature and the Meaning of Life (3)
Examines a variety of theories of human nature. Students in the course will discuss how those theories answer questions like: “What are we? Why are we here; what is the meaning of life?” Students in the course will come to understand these theories, learn to critically examine them, and try to determine what implications the theories have for our conception of ourselves and for our conception of a good or happy or meaningful life. (Available for General Education, E Lifelong Learning.)
PHIL 200. Critical Reasoning (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; GE section B4 Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning or MATH 210. Not open to students who have completed PHIL 100. Examination of the relationship between logic and language. Accelerated introduction to the concepts essential to the identification, analysis and evaluation of arguments, with attention to deduction, induction and common fallacies. Emphasis on the application of these concepts. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
PHIL 201. Ancient Philosophy (3)
Prerequisite: Multiple Measures Placement in GE-level writing, or completion of 113A or 114A, or completion of the lower division writing requirement. Critical examination of selected topics in ancient Western philosophic thought, with attention to the pervasive influence of Plato and Aristotle. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
PHIL 202. Modern Philosophy (3)
Prerequisite: Multiple Measures Placement in GE-level writing, or completion of 113A or 114A, or completion of the lower division writing requirement. Critical examination of topics in modern philosophic thought selected from the writings of such figures as Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume and Kant. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
PHIL 210. Reasoning in the Sciences (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; GE section B4 Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning or MATH 210. Concepts, methods, and limitations involved in the systematic procedures of empirical inquiry in the sciences and in ordinary thought, such as probability, measurement, causal relations, statistical inference, and the concepts of law and theory. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
PHIL 225. Evolutionary Reasoning (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. This course introduces basic concepts and skills of critical reasoning and scientific reasoning in the context of reasoning about evolution. These include argument identification, argument analysis, and argument evaluation. Key ideas in evolutionary thinking are also introduced. This course emphasizes the attainment of skills applied in evolutionary reasoning. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
PHIL 230. Introduction to Formal Logic (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; GE section B4 Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning or MATH 210. Introduction to modern deductive logic, including propositional logic and theory of quantification. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
PHIL 240. Environmental Ethics (3)
Examines the meaning and value of nature and the environment from a variety of ethical perspectives, including feminist and de-colonial perspectives. Questions can include: How should human beings relate to the natural world? How can we build sustainable interactions with the natural world? Do we have moral obligations toward non-human animals and other parts of nature? What do we owe to other beings, including future generations, with respect to the environment? In the face of catastrophic climate change, is it moral to procreate or to eat meat? (Cross-listed with SUST 240.) (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
PHIL 250. Philosophy of Technology (3)
Introduction to the main issues in philosophy of technology, including the nature of technology, the distinction between technology and science, technology and values, the relationship between technology and society, and feminist approaches to the philosophy of technology. Applied issues to be addressed in this course may include: technology and the environment, the digital divide, the ethics of information technology, transhumanism, artificial intelligence, and existential risk. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities or E Lifelong Learning.)
PHIL 296A-Z. Experimental Topics in Philosophy (3-4)
Selected topics in philosophy, with course content to be determined.
PHIL 303. Sexual Ethics (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Examination of some of the moral issues in sexual conduct.
PHIL 305. Business Ethics and Public Policy (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Application of the insights and methods of moral philosophy to a practical examination of contemporary moral problems and normative issues of public policy concerning the conduct and responsibilities of individuals and firms in business and the organization and role of business and economic institutions in society. Regular written assignments are required. (Available for General Education, E Lifelong Learning.)
PHIL 310. Philosophical Problems (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; 3 units of Philosophy. Introduction for upper division students to such central philosophic problems as knowledge, truth, reality and mind. Regular written assignments will be required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
PHIL 313. Philosophy of Film and Literature (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Investigation of philosophical concepts and problems relating to and expressed through film and literature. Regular written assignments will be required.
PHIL 317. History of American Philosophy (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. An introduction to the history of American philosophy with an emphasis on American pragmatism and its intellectual precursors, especially in Native- and African-American thought. Key themes include the relationship between the individual and community, pluralism and democracy, economic and social freedom, and the pragmatic conception of truth and meaning, with an emphasis on how diverse philosophies of resistance and social critique have shaped American institutions and ideals. Attention is also paid to the contemporary landscape of American political philosophy. (Available for General Education, C3 American History, Institutions and Ideals.)
PHIL 325. Philosophy and Biology (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. The course addresses philosophical issues central to biological sciences, including the creation/evolution debate and other social implications of contemporary biological theories. It also introduces basic concepts in philosophy of science, such as demarcation, scientific explanation and the scientific method, which are necessary for examining the above issues. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
PHIL 330. Philosophy of Science (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Analysis of the concepts reality, knowledge, mind and theory that attempts to answer the question: What is the character of the scientific picture of human beings and nature? (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
PHIL 333. American Indian Philosophy (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. A survey of American Indian philosophy from issues arising out of oral traditions, to early colonial Indigenous impacts on American democracy and pragmatism, to recent work on knowledge, value, and being as well as applied issues such as sovereignty and the environment. (Cross-listed with AIS 333.) (Available for General Education, F Comparative Cultural Studies.)
PHIL 337. Philosophy of Religion (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Examination of the conceptual problems religious claims pose and arguments regarding knowledge of God, evil, miracles, death and survival, religious experience, religion and morals, faith and reason. Regular written assignments will be required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities or E Lifelong Learning.)
PHIL 343. Indian Philosophy (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Survey of Indian philosophy from the Vedic period to the modern era, with attention to relationships between India’s philosophies, history and culture. (Available for General Education, F Comparative Cultural Studies.)
PHIL 344. Chinese Philosophy (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Survey of Chinese philosophy from Confucius to the People’s Republic, with attention to relationships between China’s philosophies, history and culture. Regular written assignments required. (Available for General Education, F Comparative Cultural Studies.)
PHIL 348. Philosophy and Feminism (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Philosophical analysis of the concept woman in contemporary U.S. culture and other central concepts in feminist thought, including the nature of oppression, equality and justice, and relationships between sex, gender and sexuality. A critical study of philosophical issues in feminism. Regular written assignments will be required. (Available for General Education, F Comparative Cultural Studies.)
PHIL 349. Contemporary Social and Political Issues (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Philosophical examination of the concepts, values and arguments relevant to understanding and evaluating practical social and political issues central to current public debates concerning such matters as civil and political rights, social and economic inequality, the environment, biotechnology, economic policy and global trade, and the national defense. Regular written assignments will be required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.) (IC)
PHIL 350. Epistemology (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; 3 units of Philosophy. An investigation into ways of acquiring knowledge and into traditional epistemological problems. Attention will be given to major positions, such as empiricism and rationalism, foundationalism and coherentism, and skepticism, and to theories of knowledge, such as reliabilism and contextualism. Regular written assignments will be required.
PHIL 352. Metaphysics (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; 3 units of Philosophy. An examination of traditional and contemporary views concerning major issues in metaphysics, such as continued existence through change, universals and particulars, realism, causation, necessity and possibility, possible worlds and time and space. Regular written assignments will be required.
PHIL 353. Existentialism (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Study of representative works of the major existentialists, with the aim of discovering the fundamental tenets of existentialism. Emphasis placed on existentialism’s influence on and relevance to contemporary thought. Regular written assignments will be required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
PHIL 354. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Widely acknowledged as forefathers of existentialist philosophy, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche are among the most important figures of 19th-century European thought. This course takes a close look at their lives and writings, comparing their views on issues of central importance to both thinkers. Questions addressed in this course may include: What is the role of the individual in society? What does it mean to lead a meaningful life? What is the relation between science and religion? Is there such a thing as objective truth? (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
PHIL 355. Philosophy of Mind (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; 3 units of Philosophy. An examination of traditional and contemporary views concerning the mind, such as the nature of consciousness and intentionality, the prospects and limitations of artificial intelligence and psychological explanation, the nature of mental causation, and the relationship between mind and body. Regular written assignments will be required.
PHIL 360. Ethical Theory (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; 3 units of Philosophy. A survey of classical and contemporary theoretical approaches to moral philosophy. Covers such theories as utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, ethical relativism and divine command. Regular written assignments will be required.
PHIL 365. Social and Political Philosophy (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; 3 units of Philosophy. A survey of classical and contemporary theoretical approaches in social and political philosophy. Covers such theories as anarchy, absolutism, liberalism, libertarianism, communism, communitarianism and socialism, as well as topics concerning justice, liberty, equality, pluralism and democracy. Regular written assignments will be required.
PHIL 380. Aesthetics (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; 3 units of Philosophy. An examination of issues in aesthetics, such as the nature of art, the paradox of fiction, the role of censorship, the idea of ineffability, the concepts of beauty and genius, and the relationship of art to morality, cognition, aesthetic experience and theory.
PHIL 396A-Z. Selected Topics in Philosophy (3-4)
Selected topics in philosophy, with course content to be determined.
PHIL 401. Advanced Ancient Philosophy (3)
Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy, including PHIL 201. Recommended Preparatory: PHIL 350, PHIL 352, PHIL 355, PHIL 360, or PHIL 365. A detailed study of selected works by Ancient philosophers, with an emphasis on Plato and Aristotle.
PHIL 402. Advanced Modern Philosophy (3)
Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy, including PHIL 202; Recommended Preparatory: PHIL 350, PHIL 352, PHIL 355, PHIL 360, or PHIL 365. A detailed study of selected works by modern philosophers from Descartes to Mill.
PHIL 403. Contemporary Philosophy (3)
Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy, including PHIL 350, PHIL 352, PHIL 355, PHIL 360, or PHIL 365. An examination of selected contemporary philosophical writings.
PHIL 406. Philosophy of Sex, Gender, Sexuality (3)
Prerequisites: PHIL 303 or PHIL 348, or QS 301 or QS 302. An examination of issues in philosophy of sex, gender or sexuality, with emphasis on non-normative sex, gender or sexuality.
PHIL 425. Seminar in Philosophy of Biology (3)
Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy, including PHIL 325, PHIL 330, PHIL 350 or PHIL 355. An advanced study of key concepts and issues in philosophy of biology, including adaptation, complexity and self-organization, fitness, function, species, unit of selection and evolutionary development. Examination of the nature of biological sciences and its relation to other sciences and theories. Regular writing assignments required.
PHIL 431. Philosophical Topics in Logic (3)
Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy, including PHIL 230. Recommended Preparatory: PHIL 350, PHIL 352, PHIL 355, PHIL 360, or PHIL 365. An examination of philosophical issues in logic, such as the nature of and choices between logical systems and the relation of logic to traditional philosophical issues.
PHIL 439. Phenomenology (3)
Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy, including PHIL 350, PHIL 352 or PHIL 355. A study of the phenomenological approach to such issues as the nature of consciousness, the role of intentionality and meaning in experience, and our experiential relations to others and the world around us. The focus will usually be on one or more historically significant phenomenologists, such as Husserl, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, Sartre.
PHIL 445. Philosophy of Language (3)
Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy including PHIL 350, PHIL 352 or PHIL 355. An examination of selected topics concerning the nature of language, such as sense and reference, theories of meaning, pragmatics and speech acts, meaning skepticism, the analytic/synthetic distinction and metaphor.
PHIL 446. Advanced Social and Political Philosophy (3)
Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy, including PHIL 360 or PHIL 365. An advanced analysis and evaluation of selected topics in social and political philosophy, such as the nature of justice, equality, liberty, political rights and the law.
PHIL 450. Advanced Epistemology and Metaphysics (3)
Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy, including PHIL 350, PHIL 352 or PHIL 355. An advanced study of selected topics in epistemology, such as internalism and externalism, rationalism and empiricism, theories of knowledge and skepticism.
PHIL 452. Advanced Metaphysics (3)
Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy, including PHIL 350, PHIL 352 or PHIL 355. An advanced study of selected topics in metaphysics, such as continued existence through change, universal and particular, realism, causation, necessity and possibility, possible worlds and time and space.
PHIL 455. Advanced Philosophy of Mind (3)
Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy including PHIL 350, PHIL 352 or PHIL 355. Recommended Preparatory: PHIL 355. An advanced study of selected topics concerning the mind and its relations to reality, such as the nature of consciousness, intentionality, mental causation, psychological explanation, artificial intelligence and the mind/body problem.
PHIL 460. Advanced Ethical Theory (3)
Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy, including PHIL 360 or PHIL 365. An investigation of advanced topics in ethical theory, such as moral responsibility, justice, human rights, intrinsic values and the justification of punishment.
PHIL 495. Advanced Philosophy of the Sciences (3)
Prerequisite: 6 units of Philosophy, including PHIL 330, PHIL 350, PHIL 352 or PHIL 355. An advanced study of one or more key issues in the philosophy of science or philosophical issues in the special sciences, such as explanation, causality, laws and theories, theory evaluation, realism and anti-realism, and relations between the physical and social sciences.
PHIL 496A-Z. Selected Topics in Philosophy (3-4)
Selected topics in philosophy, with course content to be determined.
PHIL 497. Senior Research Seminar (3)
Preparatory: Senior standing; At least 21 units in Philosophy courses. Extended research project on a topic of the student’s choice. Collaborative learning is required. Team projects are encouraged. Focus is on formulating a thesis and pursuing appropriate means of developing it in a research project. Class meetings focus on research methodologies and on students discussion of their projects.
PHIL 499A-C. Independent Study (1-3)
Course may be repeated for credit.