Master of Arts (M.A.) Major in Applied Philosophy and Ethics (Non-thesis Option)

PHIL 5100. Practicum in Teaching Philosophy.

This course orients Instructional Assistants to the principles of teaching philosophy responsibly. Topics include grades, evaluation of written work, classroom management, academic values, and teaching style. This course is required for all new Instructional Assistants in Philosophy. This course does not earn graduate degree credit. Repeatable with different emphasis.

PHIL 5101. Responsible Conduct of Research and Research Ethics.

In this course students will examine issues, concepts, and cases in research ethics and the responsible conduct of research. Designed to meet NSF and NIH requirements for training, topics will include research integrity, conflicts of interest, authorship, peer review, human and animal experimentation, mentorship, data, and values in science. This course does not earn graduate degree credit.

PHIL 5199B. Thesis.

This course represents a student’s continuing thesis enrollment. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.

PHIL 5299B. Thesis.

This course represents a student’s continuing thesis enrollment. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.

PHIL 5301. Applied Philosophy.

Practical application of methods and teaching of philosophy to such major areas of human experience as religion, science, morality, politics, art, or literature. The study of one or more of these areas will demonstrate how philosophy contributes to the identification of issues as well as their resolution.

PHIL 5302. Dialogue.

Study of literature about the nature, purpose, and significance of dialogue along with active participation in the dialogues of the Department of Philosophy’s Dialogue Series.

PHIL 5303. Philosophy of Technology.

Study of philosophical and ethical dimensions of technology including the nature of technology and technological progress, the relation of humans to the technological environment, whether technology is value-laden, and the social character of technology.

PHIL 5304. Philosophy of Language.

This course will examine the nature, structure, and uses of language and its role in conceptualizing and attempting to solve perennial philosophical problems. Features of language such as meaning, reference, truth, verification, and speech acts will be investigated and applied to issues of metaphysics and ontology, epistemology, and theory construction.

PHIL 5305. Philosophical Writing.

The course focuses on theoretical and methodological foundation necessary for producing philosophical works suitable for submission to conferences or journals. Students will analyze the standards for and engage in the process of developing papers for professional presentation.

PHIL 5306. Foundation Studies.

Foundation Studies in Philosophy.

PHIL 5314. American Philosophy.

This course is an examination of contributions of Americans to perennial philosophical issues, including the tradition of American Pragmatism.

PHIL 5320. History of Ethics.

This course is a survey of major ethical theories in the Western philosophical tradition.

PHIL 5322. Professional Ethics.

Study of major topics in business and professional ethics, including what a profession is, whether it differs from business, and what is involved with moral education, social responsibilities, and ethical standards of professional and business people.

PHIL 5323. Environmental Ethics.

Study of ethical issues associated with the environment including the nature, use, preservation, and restoration of the environment.

PHIL 5324. Meaning of Life.

Investigation of major theories of the meaning of life in Western and Eastern philosophies.

PHIL 5325. Philosophy of Sex and Love.

Critical examination of major philosophical theories on sex and love from ancient to modern times.

PHIL 5326. Philosophy and Sport.

An examination of the philosophical issues that arise in sport. Topics include the social significance of sport, amateurism, the ethics of competition, the meaning of violence within sports, and other related issues. (MULT).

PHIL 5327. Medical Ethics and Bio-ethics.

Study of ethical issues, dilemmas, codes of conduct, and social responsibilities of health care professionals and bio-researchers.

PHIL 5328. Major Work or Theme in Ethics.

This course examines in detail a single significant work, theme or issue in ethics. May be repeated with a different focus.

PHIL 5329. Food Ethics.

Eating raises hard moral questions. This course explores those question as well as potential answers. Standard topics include the nature of the food system, global hunger, food justice, consumer ethics, industrial agriculture and its alternatives, the plight of workers, overconsumption, and public health.

PHIL 5331. Philosophy of Law.

This course is a systematic study of the nature and function of law and of such problems as the relation of law to morality, and the justification of punishment. Additional topics include the nature of legal reasoning and interpretation, theories of law, and salient features of legal systems.

PHIL 5332. Social and Political Philosophy.

In this course students engage in an intensive examination of issues in political and social philosophy, including democracy, civil disobedience, anarchism, totalitarianism, and the nature of the state. Participants develop knowledge of major theories, concepts, and methodologies in social and political philosophy.

PHIL 5333. Feminist Theory.

This course serves as an in-depth introduction to the various theoretical frameworks that have and continue to inform scholarship in feminism. Participants explore differences and commonalities between distinct feminist theoretical traditions (liberal feminism, Marxist feminism, post-structuralism, psychoanalysis, queer theory) and learn to critically engage accounts of identity, difference, social movement, globalization, nationalism, and social change.

PHIL 5334. Philosophy of Economics.

This course serves as an in-depth introduction to the various theoretical frameworks that have and continue to inform scholarship in philosophy of economics. Participants explore differences and commonalities between distinct theoretical traditions (including liberal, Marxist, post-structuralist, positivist, neo-liberal, institutionalist, rational choice) and learn to critically examine the nature of economic phenomena and the possibilities of knowledge in economics. Participants also learn to appraise, including ethical appraisal of economic outcomes, institutions, and processes.

PHIL 5340. Philosophical Logic.

The course is an examination of the conceptual frameworks of and philosophical challenges to classical and alternative logics. Special attention will be paid to the use of the logics within metaphysics, the axiomatic method as used in logic and mathematics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and meta-ethics.

PHIL 5351. Philosophy of Education.

Study of major philosophical theories on nature, value, and purpose of education.

PHIL 5355. Philosophy of Science.

An examination of some of the fundamental concepts in science, including relevant evidence, induction, explanation, and commitments when accepting a scientific theory.

PHIL 5356. Philosophy of Knowledge.

The course will consist of a close examination of topics in the philosophical theory of knowledge, such as skepticism, defining knowledge, the nature of justification, perception, and truth.

PHIL 5360A. Ethics and Dementia.

This course provides an opportunity to examine ethical challenges posed by dementia for those with dementia, family members, caregivers, healthcare systems, policy makers, and others. Participants will critically explore ethics and dementia in clinical, social/cultural, everyday life, policy, end-of-life, and individual perspectives.

PHIL 5360B. Moral Psychology.

This seminar provides an introduction to the major theories, issues, and research relevant to the field of moral psychology. Drawing from a variety of fields—philosophy, social psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and evolutionary theory—we will investigate what morality is, how it develops, and how it functions in society.

PHIL 5360C. Philosophy, Nonviolence, Sustainability, and Social Change.

In this course students will study themes and concepts related to nonviolence, sustainability, and social change. Participants will critically examine the works of thinkers such as Thoreau, Addams, Tolstoy, Gandhi, King, and Chavez. (MULT).

PHIL 5360F. Biopolitics, Governmentality, and Ungovernability.

This course is an introduction to (1) biopolitics, or the government of life, (2) governmentality. or the frameworks, modalities, and mechanisms of governance, and (3) ungovernability, or the limits of and resistances to governance.

PHIL 5361A. Philosophy of Biology.

In this course students will explore foundational questions in biology concerning the justification of biological theories, methods and concepts. Possible topics include concepts of fitness, units of selection, adaptationism, species, phylogenetic inference, homology, developmental systems, neuroscience, behavioral evolution, cooperation, altruism, evolutionary psychology, evolutionary ethics, cultural evolution, and race and gender.

PHIL 5361B. Philosophy of the Human Sciences.

This course is a survey of current debates about the structure, nature, role, methodologies, scope, and aim of the human sciences.

PHIL 5361C. Philosophy of Emotion.

In this course students examine the understandings of emotions as developed in the history of philosophy, including topics such as somatic theories, cognitive theories, and philosophical accounts of feelings, mood, and other affective experiences.

PHIL 5361D. Philosophy of Mind.

In this course, students analyze both historical and contemporary philosophical attempts to explain the mind.

PHIL 5361E. Philosophy and Ethics in Virtual Reality.

In this course, students investigate philosophical and ethical issues in virtual reality.

PHIL 5361F. Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data.

In this course, students will explore ethical dimensions of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data.

PHIL 5362A. Analytic Philosophy.

Students in this course will examine major thinkers, works, theories, and problems of analytic philosophy. Topics will include the philosophy of language, logic, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, metaethics, and philosophical methodology.

PHIL 5362B. 19th Century Philosophy.

This course offers a detailed introduction to central figures of 19th-century European philosophy such as Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche in the context of their responses to the Enlightenment, the condition of modernity, the growth of democracy, nationalism, capitalism, Darwin, secularization, and the critical project of Kant.

PHIL 5363A. Philosophy and Science Fiction.

In this seminar students will examine intersections between philosophy and science fiction around topics such as the nature of reality, the existence and nature of the divine, the limits of human knowledge, the meaning of free will, the notions of personhood, the nature of morality, and the meaning of life.

PHIL 5372. Latin American Philosophy.

Students in this course study ancient Latin American thought, including Mayan, Aztec, Toltec, and Incan; pre- and post- conquest Latin American philosophy; contemporary Latin American philosophy; and the thinking of Latin Americans in the U.S.

PHIL 5373. Themes in Africana Philosophy.

In this course students will examine philosophy and philosophical practice as it emerges from the historical experiences of African Americans and the African Diaspora. Participants in the course will evaluate how the African-American philosophical tradition alters conventional philosophical accounts of subjectivity, knowledge, time, language, history, embodiment, memory, and justice. (MULT).

PHIL 5388. Problems in Philosophy.

Independent study open to students on individual or small group basis. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.

PHIL 5395. Internship in Applied Philosophy.

Structured practical experience in applied philosophy at a private or public setting. Supervision will be provided both by a member of the graduate faculty and by a key individual in the workplace. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.

PHIL 5399A. Thesis.

This course represents a student’s initial thesis enrollment. No thesis credit is awarded until student has completed the thesis on PHIL 5399B.

PHIL 5399B. Thesis.

This course represents a student’s continuing thesis enrollment. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.

PHIL 5599B. Thesis.

This course represents a student’s continuing thesis enrollment. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.

PHIL 5999B. Thesis.

This course represents a student’s continuing thesis enrollment. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.