Philosophy

Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Not open to students who have completed PHIL 200. Introduction to the identification, analysis, and evaluation of arguments. Students will learn to critically assess a variety of kinds of arguments, with attention to deduction and induction in real-world critical reasoning. Questions may include: What is an argument? What …

How is our everyday understanding of the world shaped by our encounters with data? How do you calculate a risk? Can numbers lie? This course is a critical assessment of the uses and misuses of numbers in popular media and everyday life. Students will learn how to handle quantitative data visually and creatively and will …

Introduction to some of the main topics and methods of philosophy, with attention to both contemporary and historical texts. Questions may include: What is a self? What does it mean to live a good life? Is right and wrong just a matter of opinion? What is justice? What is freedom? Do we have free will? …

Introduction to the philosophical examination of contemporary ethical issues. Questions may include: When, if ever, should we boycott an institution? Is it OK to eat meat? Are fetuses or artificial intelligences persons? Is genetic enhancement a good idea? What are our responsibilities to the environment? Is there such a thing as a just war? (Available …

Introduction to the philosophical analysis of popular culture, including the examination of philosophical themes in TV shows, music, games, film, or other popular media. Topics might include the moral, aesthetic, and political value of mass culture, or the philosophy of video games, comic books, food, fashion, or street art. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)

Examination of historical and contemporary theories of human nature and the meaning of life, with a view to examining ourselves and our relationship to the surrounding world. Questions might include: Are human beings naturally good or bad? Why are we here? What makes for a good or happy or meaningful life? Is it bad to …

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. …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Critical examination of selected topics in ancient Western philosophical thought, such as ancient conceptions of the soul, virtue, and the good life; Greek and Roman political philosophy; or theories concerning the nature of mind, knowledge, or reality. Readings are drawn from texts, dialogues, and fragments from the …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Critical examination of philosophical writings from the 16th through the 19th centuries. Topics may include theories of knowledge, reality, or human nature; concepts of liberty and personhood; the rights of women; arguments against slavery; the relation between mind and body; and the rights and duties of citizens. …

Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; GE section B4 Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning or MATH 210. Introduction to modern deductive logic, including sentential and first-order logic. Students will learn how to translate from English to symbolic language, and will use truth tables, proofs, and other techniques to determine the validity of arguments and identify other …

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 …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Introduction to the main issues in the philosophy of technology, such as the nature of technology, the distinction between technology and science, the relationship between technology and society, and feminist approaches to the philosophy of technology. Questions may include: What is technology? What factors have shaped technology …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Examination of ethical issues concerning sexuality and sexual conduct. Topics may include consent; pornography and sex work; kink; sexual and dating violence; the ethics of having children; gender and sexuality; monogamy and polyamory; and queer perspectives on sex and sexuality. Students who have taken PHIL 303 will …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Introduction to the main issues in medical ethics, including the critical examination of the concepts of life, death, health, and dis/ability. Topics may include debates over reproduction, medical research, end-of-life decisions, genetics, racial disparities accessing and receiving medical care, and the doctor-patient relationship. (Available for General Education, …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. An introduction to the history and central questions of the philosophy of sport and games. Topics may include the nature of play, games, and sport; the morality of sports, gamesmanship, and athletic enhancement; the relationships among gender, dis/ability, and athleticism; and the relationship between sports and art. …

Selected topics in philosophy, with course content to be determined.

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Examination of private and public economic institutions through the lens of moral philosophy. Emphasis on real-world issues that concern the conduct of individuals and businesses in contemporary society, such as hiring and job discrimination, unionization, exploitation, workplace conditions, automation, corporate responsibility, or the environment. Regular written assignments …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Investigation of philosophical concepts and problems relating to and expressed through film and literature. Questions may include: Why do we care about fictional characters? Do fictional characters exist? What is the relation of author to text? Do films have authors? Do creators’ intentions matter when we interpret …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Introduction to the history of American philosophy, with such emphases as American pragmatism, American transcendentalism, and American Indian and African American thought. Key themes may include the relationship between the individual and community; the meaning and value of nature; pluralism and democracy; the meaning of American identity; …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Addresses philosophical issues central to the life sciences, with particular attention to the social implications of contemporary biological theories. Topics may include the existence of biological laws, the distinction between natural and social kinds, and the relationship between biology and technology. The course also introduces basic concepts …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Philosophical investigation of the nature of science and the ideas and practices used within the sciences. Questions may include: What is (a) science, and how does science differ from other disciplines? How do scientists explain and help us understand the world around us? How do they support …

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 …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Philosophical examination of conceptual problems posed by religious claims. Questions may include: What is religion? What is distinctive about religious experiences like revelation and religious ecstasy? What is faith? Should we be skeptical about someone’s claims to have performed or experienced miracles? What is evil? Is there …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Survey of key movements in Indian philosophy from the Vedic period to the modern era, with attention to relationships among India’s philosophies, history, and culture. Topics may include Hindu, Tantric, Vedic, or Brahminical philosophy, Jainism and Buddhism, or the social and political movements of Gandhi. Regular written …

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.) (WI)

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Critical study of issues and central concepts in feminist philosophy, such as the nature of oppression, intersectionality, equality and justice, liberation, resistance, and the relationships among sex, gender, and sexuality. Questions may include: How do cultural norms and values affect our understandings of sex and gender? How …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Philosophical examination of one or more issues of current public debate. Topics might include social and economic inequality, biotechnology, environmental justice, housing and homelessness, trans rights, or the abolition of prisons and police. Regular written assignments will be required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.) (IC) (WI)

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Examination of key issues, positions, and controversies in the philosophical study of knowledge, such as the nature of belief; the reliability of the senses; refutations of skepticism; or the concept of epistemic injustice. Questions may include: What does it mean to know? What is the relationship between …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Philosophical examination of key issues concerning the nature and meaning of existence, such as personal identity; the reality of sex and gender; the existence of external reality; the existence of multiverses; or the reality of numbers and ideas. Attention is paid to both traditional and contemporary views, …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Study of philosophical and literary works of the major existentialist thinkers of the 19th and 20th centuries, with the aim of discovering the fundamental tenets of existentialism. Questions might include: What is the meaning of human existence? Is there such a thing as human nature? What is …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Study of 19th century European philosophy through analysis of the lives and writings of Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. Compares their views on issues of central importance to both thinkers, such as: What is the role of the individual in society? What does it mean to lead …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Examination of traditional and contemporary views concerning the mind and its relation to the brain, body, and world. Addresses issues and controversies in the field, such as the nature of consciousness; the prospects and limitations of artificial intelligence; the nature of mental causation; or the problem of …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Survey of classical and contemporary theoretical approaches to moral philosophy. Covers major philosophical frameworks for the evaluation of human conduct, such as utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, ethical relativism, or the ethics of care, and addresses topics such as the meaning of virtue, vice, and the good life; …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Covers classical and contemporary theoretical approaches in the philosophical study of human social and political organization, addressing topics such as taxation, reparations, immigration, private property, voting, secession, or war. Questions may include: What is justice? Is governmental power legitimate? What is freedom? Does freedom require a certain …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Examination of key issues in the philosophical study of art and design, such as the nature of art and aesthetic experience, the concepts of beauty and ugliness, the relationship of art to morality, and the place of aesthetics in everyday life. Questions may include: What is art? …

Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. An overview of philosophical questions arising from the analysis and evaluation of concepts and theories connected with law, including the nature of judicial reasoning and the relationship between law and society. Addresses major theories in normative jurisprudence, including legal formalism, legal realism, legal positivism, Natural Law theory, …

Selected topics in philosophy, with course content to be determined.

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.

Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy. Detailed study of one or more significant works of modern philosophy, such as Descartes’ Meditations or Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, or advanced examination of a key issue or concept in modern thought, such as the relation of reason and the emotions, the rights and duties of citizens, or early …

Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy, including PHIL 350, PHIL 352, PHIL 355, PHIL 360, or PHIL 365. An examination of selected contemporary philosophical writings.

Prerequisite: PHIL 260 or PHIL 348 or QS 301 or QS 302. Advanced examination of one or more issues in the philosophy of sex, gender, or sexuality, with emphasis on non-normative sex, gender, or sexuality. Topics may include trans philosophy, intersectionality, queer bioethics, gender performativity, the social construction of sex, or the ethics of kink.

Prerequisites: 6 units of coursework in philosophy. Overview of Continental Philosophy, including its roots in 19th-century thought. Emphasis on key methods and movements in the history of Continental thought, such as existentialism, phenomenology, deconstruction, Critical Theory, postmodernism, post-structuralism, de-colonial thought, Black philosophy, or French feminism. Key figures may include: G.W.F. Hegel, Karl Marx, Theodor Adorno, …

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 …

Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy. Advanced introduction to phenomenology, which seeks to describe conscious experience from the first-person perspective. Topics may include the qualitative character of experience, the nature of consciousness, how conscious experiences can be meaningful, and the relationship between scientific and phenomenological descriptions of perception and the body. The focus will usually be …

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.

Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy. Advanced analysis and evaluation of one or more selected topics in social and political philosophy, such as embodiment, property rights, reparations, racial capitalism, taxation, distributive justice, or political epistemology.

Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy. Advanced study of one or more selected topics in epistemology, such as epistemic disagreement, theories of knowledge and skepticism, the epistemology of perception, or the nature of epistemic injustice. The course may also focus on a specific epistemological framework or knowledge tradition, such as Buddhist epistemology, feminist or decolonial epistemology, …

Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy. Advanced study of one or more selected topics in metaphysics, such as the nature of time, the metaphysics of sex and gender, or freedom of the will.

Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy. Advanced study of one or more selected topics concerning the mind and its relations to reality, such as the nature of consciousness, mental causation, embodied and extended cognition, or the language of thought.

Prerequisites: 6 units of Philosophy. Investigation of advanced topics in ethical theory, such as animal ethics, civility, moral responsibility, or the justification of punishment. The course may also focus on a specific ethical or metaethical framework, such as the ethics of care, Confucian ethics, emotivism, or moral realism.

Selected topics in philosophy, with course content to be determined.

Preparatory: Senior standing and least 21 units of Philosophy courses. Extended research project on a topic of the student’s choice. Team projects are encouraged. Focus is on formulating a thesis and pursuing appropriate means of developing it in a research project in philosophy. Class meetings focus on research methodologies and on students’ discussion of their …

Course may be repeated for credit.