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PHL 100.002 & 003 Introduction to Philosophy
Dr. Benjamin Kozuch
Not open to anyone who has taken PHL 191 (Honors Introduction to Philosophy).
The course offers an introduction to philosophical methodology by way of studying several classic philosophical problems. The problems to be studied will likely include the following: (1) should we be anarchists? Or is there justification for government rule? If so, what type of government is justified? (2) Are there objective facts about right and wrong, or is the moral status of homosexuality or abortion merely a matter of opinion? If there are objective moral facts, then what makes right actions right and wrong actions wrong? (3) Do you have free will, or are your actions all causally determined by your genetic predisposition, biochemistry, and various environmental stimuli? (4) What sort of conscious being are you? Are you a nonphysical substance that inhabits your body? Are you instead identical with your brain? (5) Is there compelling evidence that God exists? Or, does the existence of evil imply that God does not exist?
Prerequisites: None
Requirements (tentative): Four examinations.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 100.005 & 006 Introduction to Philosophy
Dr. Adam Arico
Not open to anyone who has taken PHL 191 (Honors Introduction to Philosophy).
The course offers an introduction to philosophical methodology by way of studying several classic philosophical problems. The problems to be studied will likely include the following: (1) should we be anarchists? Or is there justification for government rule? If so, what type of government is justified? (2) Are there objective facts about right and wrong, or is the moral status of homosexuality or abortion merely a matter of opinion? If there are objective moral facts, then what makes right actions right and wrong actions wrong? (3) Do you have free will, or are your actions all causally determined by your genetic predisposition, biochemistry, and various environmental stimuli? (4) What sort of conscious being are you? Are you a nonphysical substance that inhabits your body? Are you instead identical with your brain? (5) Is there compelling evidence that God exists? Or, does the existence of evil imply that God does not exist?
Prerequisites: None
Requirements (tentative): Four examinations
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation
PHL 100.008 & 009 Introduction to Philosophy
Dr. Mark Pickering
Not open to anyone who has taken PHL 191(Honors Introduction to Philosophy), and open only to freshmen and sophomores.
In this course, you will learn about what philosophy is and how philosophers apply the tools of logic and reason to 2 Philosophical problems. You will explore a variety of issues, including (but not limited to) the question of God’s existence, the relationship between mind and body, and the nature of right and wrong.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements (tentative): four exams
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation
PHL 100.900(D) & 902(M) Introduction to Philosophy
Dr. Torin Alter
Not open to anyone who has taken PHL 191 (Honors Introduction to Philosophy).
This course introduces students to the basic concepts, methods, and problems of philosophy. Students will learn about philosophical approaches to issues such as the existence or nonexistence of God, the relationship between the mind and body, the freedom of the will, and the nature of right and wrong.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements: Seven module exams, comprehensive final. All work is done online.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 104.002 Critical Thinking
Dr. Adam Arico
Thinking critically does not come naturally to most of us; in fact, it is often contrary to our natural inclinations. In this course, we begin by looking at how human cognition typically operates, and why our psychology can often interfere with rational, critical thought. We will explore the basic features of human learning, memory, and reasoning, including common predispositions that often lead us to draw faulty conclusions, to arrive at mistaken judgments, and to make bad decisions. Having identified some of the obstacles to and difficulties in behaving rationally and thinking critically, we will move on to the larger goal of the course: to better understand the structure of arguments and know how to critically assess them. This portion of the course will cover both inductive and deductive reasoning, as well as basic features of arguments, and will instruct you in identifying major fallacies, including ad hominem arguments, straw man arguments, appeal to irrelevant reasons, false dilemmas, etc. (see schedule for class meetings for more topics to be covered). Acquiring these skills will help you both better assess others’ arguments and better construct your own.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements (tentative): (a) three in-class exams; (b) homework and writing assignments (d) a course participation grade.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 106.001 Honors Philosophical Introduction to Deductive Logic
Dr. Chase Wrenn
What is the difference between a good argument and a bad one? This course focuses on tools developed by philosophers and mathematicians for answering that question. In it, you will learn to use analytical methods such as the construction of proofs and countermodels to evaluate arguments. Along the way, you will explore and analyze influential arguments from the history of philosophy, including some concerning questions of value, ethics, and aesthetics. Philosophical arguments examined in this course may include Aquinas’s arguments for the existence of God, Parmenidean arguments that change is impossible, Berkeley’s argument for idealism, Descartes’ Cogito argument, John Stuart Mill’s “proof” of Utilitarianism, Kant’s argument for the Categorical Imperative, Singer’s argument for animal rights, the Stoics’ argument that death is not to be feared, and more. The formal tools used in this class include the notation of sentential and predicate logic (with identity), truth tables, a natural deduction proof system, and the use of semantic countermodels.
Prerequisite: C- or better in MATH 100, or equivalent. Admission to UA Honors or a 28 ACT.
Requirements: This course is self-paced, but regular class attendance is required until you have completed all the course work. The course is divided into seven modules, and students grades are determined primarily by how many modules they master by the end of the term.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 191.001 Honors Introduction to Philosophy
Dr. Torin Alter
Not open to anyone who has taken PHL 100 (Introduction to Philosophy)
This course introduces students to the basic concepts, methods, and problems of philosophy. Students will learn about philosophical approaches to issues such as the existence or nonexistence of God, the relationship between the mind and body, the freedom of the will, and the nature of right and wrong.
Prerequisite: None
Requirements(tentative): Seven module exams, comprehensive final, regular in-class exercises
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 195.001 Philosophical Introduction to Deductive Logic
Dr. Chase Wrenn
What is the difference between a good argument and a bad one? This course focuses on tools developed by philosophers and mathematicians for answering that question. In it, you will learn to use analytical methods such as the construction of proofs and countermodels to evaluate arguments. Along the way, you will explore and analyze influential arguments from the history of philosophy, including some concerning questions of value, ethics, and aesthetics. Philosophical arguments examined in this course may include Aquinas’s arguments for the existence of God, Parmenidean arguments that change is impossible, Berkeley’s argument for idealism, Descartes’ Cogito argument, John Stuart Mill’s “proof” of Utilitarianism, Kant’s argument for the Categorical Imperative, Singer’s argument for animal rights, the Stoics’ argument that death is not to be feared, and more. The formal tools used in this class include the notation of sentential and predicate logic, truth tables, a natural deduction proofsystem, and the use of semantic countermodels.
Prerequisite: C- or better in MATH 100, or equivalent.
Requirements: This course is self-paced, but regular class attendance is required until you have completed all the course work. The course is divided into six modules, and students grades are determined primarily by how many modules they master by the end of the term.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 195.900(D)/901(M)1 Philosophical Introduction to Deductive Logic
Dr. Chase Wrenn
What is the difference between a good argument and a bad one? This course focuses on tools developed by philosophers and mathematicians for answering that question. In it, you will learn to use analytical methods such as the construction of proofs and countermodels to evaluate arguments. Along the way, you will explore and analyze influential arguments from the history of philosophy, including some concerning questions of value, ethics, and aesthetics. Philosophical arguments examined in this course may include Aquinas’s arguments for the existence of God, Parmenidean arguments that change is impossible, Berkeley’s argument for idealism, Descartes’ Cogito argument, John Stuart Mill’s “proof” of Utilitarianism, Kant’s argument for the Categorical Imperative, Singer’s argument for animal rights, the Stoics’ argument that death is not to be feared, and more. The formal tools used in this class include the notation of sentential and predicate logic, truth tables, a natural deduction proofsystem, and the use of semantic countermodels.
Prerequisite: C- or better in MATH 100, or equivalent.
Requirements: This course is self-paced, but regular class attendance is required until you have completed all the course work. The course is divided into six modules, and students grades are determined primarily by how many modules they master by the end of the term.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. 5
PHL 211.001 Ancient Philosophy
Dr. Seth Bordner
This course will focus on the major themes of ancient Greek philosophy, from the earliest pre-Socratic philosophers, through Plato and Aristotle, to the later Epicureans, Stoics, and Skeptics. We will proceed chronologically and pay special attention to the systematic connections between metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics in each school of thought, as well as the development of later views in light of criticisms of earlier ones. The aim of this course is to provide students a reasonably comprehensive introduction to the main areas of Western analytic philosophy through an examination of some of the earliest systematic philosophies.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements: There will be three exams throughout the course; two mid-term exams and one final exam
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 221.001 Honors Introduction to Ethics
Dr. Stuart Rachels
Open to Honors students only. Not open to anyone who has taken PHL 292 (Introduction to Ethics).
This course will focus on a dozen or so matters of personal and social importance. Topics include abortion, pornography, famine relief, affirmative action, gay rights, and the death penalty. We will concentrate on the reasons that bear on these issues. Our approach to these issues will serve as a model for critical thinking in general. Our main text will be The right thing to do (8th edition)
Prerequisites: None.
Requirements: Grades will be based on four exams. Attendance will be taken each class, and an attendance policy will be enforced.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 223.001 Medical Ethics
This course is an introduction to some of the ethical issues involved in medicine. Topics include: physician-assisted dying; the allocation of organs and other scarce resources; abortion; stem cell research; and patient autonomy. Our main text will be Lewis Vaughn, Bioethics: Principles, Issues, and Cases (Oxford University Press, 2013). 6
Schedule: This is a large lecture course that meets three days per week.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements: There will be three exams. Students will be required to attend every class meeting.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 223.901(D)/902(M) Medical Ethics (Online)
Dr. Timothy Butzer
This class provides an introduction to the philosophical study of applied ethics by way of a discussion of topics related to the practice of medical and biological science. Topics of discussion will include abortion, stem cell research, cloning, the allocation of scarce or limited resources, animal experimentation, and patient autonomy, among others. Along the way, other important topics in moral philosophy will be discussed.
Schedule: Online
Prerequisites: None
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 230.001 Political Philosophy
Dr. Rekha Nath
This course serves as an introduction to central debates in political philosophy. The major questions we explore are the following: How can the coercive authority the government exercises over its citizens be justified? What does justice require in our society today? What role do democracy, freedom, rights and equality play in our understanding of a just society? Through the study of both historical and contemporary texts, we investigate these topics. We also consider how these issues bear upon debates in the contemporary American context concerning the following: restrictions on free speech, participation in the democratic process, the war on drugs, homelessness, education and socioeconomic inequality.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements (tentative): Exams and class participation
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. 7
PHL 243.001 Philosophical Issues in Constitutional Law
Dr. Andrew Ingram
This is a course exploring major issues in the philosophy of constitutional law. Generally constitutional law is concerned with what powers and responsibilities governments have as well as what the limits on those powers might be, including civil rights. In doing so, constitutions guide official determinations of what counts as legally valid within the relevant jurisdiction. Topics might include debates over the proper way to interpret constitutions, whether constitutions must (or should) be written documents, whether they are necessary (or desirable) in a democracy, the relation between principles of legality set forth in constitutions and moral principles (especially the relation between legal rights and moral rights), and the advisability of official bodies tasked with interpreting and applying the constitution such as the Supreme Court.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements (tentative): Exams and class participation
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 260.001 Mind and Nature
Dr. Benjamin Kozuch
Though studied for millennia, consciousness remains a mystery. In this course, we take a critical look at philosophical and scientific attempts to account for the mind and consciousness, giving an emphasis to cognitive neuroscientific approaches. Among the topics covered are the mind-body problem, consciousness research in psychology, and contemporary theories of consciousness. The course starts by tracing the arc of both philosophical and scientific approaches to studying the mind, and culminates with an examination of how these two approaches have recently become entwined in present-day studies of consciousness.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements: TBA
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. This course is part of the Mind-Brain concentration and Philosophy and Medicine specializations.
PHL 292.001 Introduction to Ethics
Dr. Seth Bordner
Not open to anyone who has taken PHL 221 (Honors Introduction to Ethics).
This course is designed to give the students a broad introduction to the field of philosophical ethics. The primary aim is to acquaint students with the basic subject matter of ethics as it is studied within philosophy, a few central authorities and positions, and a feel for how philosophers engage with contemporary ethical issues in light of some of the historical influences on the discipline. We will read a variety of texts ranging from historical works on ethics generally to contemporary works focusing on specific moral issues. The hope is that students will develop an understanding and appreciation of how different ethical theories apply to particular cases, and how they might begin to engage in genuine ethical debates.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements: There will be three exams throughout the course; two mid-term exams and one final exam. In addition, there will be periodic, unannounced quizzes given in class to test your comprehension of the readings. These quizzes will be graded on a High Pass/Low Pass/Fail scale.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. This course is included in the Jurisprudence and Philosophy and Medicine specializations.
PHL 292.002 Introduction to Ethics
Dr. Holly Kantin
Not open to anyone who has taken PHL 221 (Honors Introduction to Ethics).
The purpose of this course is to provide students with a general introduction to philosophical ethics. Students will become familiar with the main issues in ethical theory and learn how different theoretical approaches bear on specific ethical controversies. In the first few sections of the course we will discuss varying answers to the following theoretical questions: Are there moral facts and if so, what grounds these facts? How should we understand and respond to moral disagreements? What makes an action right or wrong? What does it mean to live well and have a good life? In the final section of the course we will discuss several specific ethical controversies including the debate over capital punishment and the ethics of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements: TBA
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. This course is included in the Jurisprudence and Philosophy and Medicine specializations.
PHL 292.004 & 005 Introduction to Ethics
Dr. Timothy Butzer
Not open to anyone who has taken PHL 221 (Honors Introduction to Ethics).
The purpose of this course is to provide students with a general introduction to philosophical ethics. Students will become familiar with the main issues in ethical theory and learn how different theoretical approaches bear on specific ethical controversies. In the first few sections of the course we will discuss varying answers to the following theoretical questions: Are there moral facts and if so, what grounds these facts? How should we understand and respond to moral disagreements? What makes an action right or wrong? What does it mean to live well and have a good life? In the final section of the course we will discuss several specific ethical controversies including the debate over capital punishment and the ethics of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements: TBA
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. This course is included in the Jurisprudence and Philosophy and Medicine specializations.
PHL 292.007 & 008 Introduction to Ethics
Dr. Andrew Ingram
Not open to anyone who has taken PHL 221 (Honors Introduction to Ethics). Course Description: We care not only about how the world actually is, but how it ought to be. We think it is wrong when someone kills, assaults or otherwise harms another without sufficient cause. We think highly of selfless acts that benefit others. In other words, we care about the moral status of our actions. Ethics, or moral philosophy, is the study of morality. Of primary importance in ethics is the question of what makes an act right or wrong. It is this question that will be the focus of this introductory course. We will survey some of the most influential theories of what makes an action morally right or wrong: utilitarianism, deontological ethics, and virtue ethics. In addition, we will also explore whether there are objective moral facts, whether actions are only moral/immoral relative to a culture, the role of religion in morality, and difficult moral issues surrounding world hunger and abortion.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements: TBA
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. This course is included in the Jurisprudence and Philosophy and Medicine specializations.
PHL 360.001 Philosophy of Mind
Dr. Torin Alter
What is the relationship between the mental and the physical? That is the central question in the philosophy of mind, and we will approach it from different angles. We will focus largely on consciousness and its place in nature. Most readings will be from the contemporary literature but some will be historical.
Prerequisites: Two philosophy courses or instructor’s permission. (PHL 260 Mind and Nature is recommended but not required.)
Requirements (tentative): two five-to-ten page papers, regular reading quizzes, and a final.
Core Curriculum: This course carries a W designation, and so writing proficiency within the discipline of philosophy is required for a passing grade in this course.
PHL 366.001 Metaphysics
Dr. H.S. Hestevold
Course Description: The course offers for the advanced philosophy student rigorous study of classic problems in metaphysics, which will likely include the following:
- Objects. Objects apparently persist through time, but they undergo various changes. Sculptors transform hunks of clay into busts, chefs heat cool black skillets until they are red hot, and an aging car may undergo a gradual (but complete) replacement of parts. Do objects survive such changes? Are the “original” furnishings on display at Monticello identical with the furnishings that Jefferson used?
- Persons. Just as cars undergo replacements of parts, your body has undergone replacements of cells. Have you persisted through time if your body has undergone such replacements? Are you today identical with the person to whom your mother gave birth on your birthday? If not, then when did the person to whom your mother gave birth cease to exist? If Alzheimer’s gradually strips Simpson of most of her memories and alters her personality, will it be Simpson who dies with Alzheimer’s?
- Actions. Is all human behavior causally determined by antecedent conditions? If so, does this preclude the possibility that humans act freely? Is there good reason to believe that humans can act freely? Or that they can’t? If humans can act freely, then what does acting freely involve?
- Time and Space. (a) Most believe that time is dynamic — that objects and events undergo passage from the future to the present, and into the past. Some philosophers and physicists have argued argue time is static — that persons and events are “frozen” across time. Does time flow, or is it static? (b) Is time travel possible? (c) Do objects occupy regions of space, or is there no such thing as space?
Prerequisites: At least two philosophy courses
Requirements (tentative): (a) Two philosophical essays of at least five substantial, double-spaced pages [50%] and (b) three multiple-choice/short-answer examinations [50%]
Curriculum: This course carries a W designation.
PHL 423.001 Advanced Medical Ethics
Dr. Holly Kantin
This course provides an in-depth examination of some of the central ethical issues encountered by physicians and other medical professionals. Students will acquire breadth in the field of medical ethics as well as engage in an in-depth examination of specific issues. Possible topics include the physician-patient relationship, the role of physicians and other medical professionals, end-of-life decision-making (advance directives, do not resuscitate orders, palliative care, the definition of death), beginning of life decisionmaking (genetic counseling and prenatal screening), and the ethics of clinical research, and bias and unequal treatment in healthcare practice. The course is specifically aimed at students who are considering a career in healthcare but will be of interest to anyone who has a special interest in biomedical ethics .
Prerequisites: None, although previous coursework in ethics will be helpful.
Curriculum: This course carries a W designation.
PHL 440.001 Seminar on Law
Dr. Mark Pickering
This is a course covering a specialized advanced topic in specific jurisprudence. Specific jurisprudence deals with issues relevant to one area of law or legal system. Example topics are issues in criminal punishment, debates over the proper way to interpret the U.S. Constitution, and the dilemmas of privacy law. The Professor will determine the specific topic each semester the course is offered. It requires writing proficiency in philosophy in order to pass and requires students to draft sustained philosophical arguments. Is criminal punishment justified? If so, how? We will consider historical and contemporary arguments. We will consider retributivist, consequentialist, and mixed theories.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements: Two midterm exams and a final; attendance and class participation expected.
Curriculum: This course carries a W designation.
PHL 489.001 Philosophy of Medicine
Dr. Richard Richards
It is difficult to overstate the significance of medicine, in that it affects each of us from birth through death; or the complexity of medicine, in that it involves scientific, conceptual, economic, ethical and philosophical issues. We will here look at three of these issues from a philosophical standpoint: 1) the ways that we conceptualize health and disease; 2) the patterns of reasoning associated with medical thinking; 3) the challenge posed by evolution to how we think about medicine, health and disease. Writing proficiency within this discipline is required for a passing grade in this course.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements: A midterm exam and a final exam, each worth 20% of the final grade. Makeup exams will be allowed for official university events, or in the case of illness or extreme circumstances, and at the discretion of the instructor.
Curriculum: This course carries a W designation.