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PHL 100.001 & 002 Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Dr. Benjamin Kozuch
The discipline of philosophy aims to answer the hard questions: Does God exist? Could there be an afterlife? Is there such a thing as objective right and wrong? Does a mechanistic physics allow free will? Philosophers have toiled for hundreds of years trying to answer these questions. This course surveys the fruits of their labor, looking at and evaluating the more notable answers offered to these questions. The goal of the course is to help the student form wellfounded opinions as to how she thinks these questions are properly answered.
Prerequisites: None Tentative
Course Requirements: Four exams Core
Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 100.003& 004 Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Dr. Timothy Butzer
Course Description: This course is an introduction to philosophy. In order to introduce you to this discipline and its methodology, I have selected four topics for us to focus on this quarter. The first section of the course will present arguments concerning the existence of God. Next we will discuss the ancient problem of skepticism about the external world. The third part of the course will cover arguments that pertain to the relationship between minds and bodies. Finally, we will examine the nature of personhood and what it takes for a person to persist over time.
Prerequisites: None
Tentative Course Requirements: (a) Four multiple-choice/short-answer examinations. Involvement in the course – attendance, optional homework assignments, participation – will likely count toward extra credit.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 100.005&006 Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Dr. Andrew Ingram
The English philosopher Alfred Whitehead said, “The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.” This course will be based on that generalization. To introduce you to philosophy, we will be reading Plato’s dialogues. The dialogues are fun and easy reading by academic standards. They are written as conversations between Plato’s teacher Socrates and various famous and humble people in Athens. They are full of irony, wit, and beautiful passages. Each of the works we will read is a great piece of literature, and together they will expose you to a range of philosophical topics: What is knowledge and how do we know if we have it? Do we have a reason to do what is just even when it will hurt or endanger us? What does a just government look like? Do we have souls and what happens to us when we die? Continued on next page 2 There is no textbook; we will be studying Plato’s dialogues. This version of PHL 100 will be based on reading (sometimes lengthy) primary texts. If you like literature courses and old books, this is the section of PHL 100 for you. The dialogues are written as conversations between Plato’s teacher Socrates and various famous and humble people in ancient Athens. They are full of irony, wit, and beautiful passages. A good case can be made that Plato is the founder of philosophy in the European world: the English philosopher Alfred Whitehead once said, “The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.” As such, reading Plato makes for an excellent introduction to the perennial philosophical questions: What is knowledge and how do we know if we have it? Do we have a reason to do what is just even when it will hurt or endanger us? What does a good government look like? What happens to us when we die?
Prerequisites: None
Tentative Course Requirements: Three exams and a paper.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 100.007, 008 & 009 Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Trig Johnson
Prerequisites: None
Tentative Course Requirements: Four exams
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 100.900 & 901 Introduction to Philosophy – Online
Instructor: Dr. Torin Alter
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 Course Requirements: Seven module exams, comprehensive final. All work done on-line. Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 104.001 Critical Thinking
Instructor: Dr. Adam Arico
Deciding what to believe is never as easy as it first seems. The number of relevant factors may make choosing well seem almost impossible. This course helps to develop the skills needed to examine critically and systematically everything from the claims of science to claims in the political arena. This course aims to make students aware of their own psychological hurdles to proper reasoning, as well as to hone critical thinking skills generally, paying special attention to identifying and avoiding common psychological biases and logical fallacies. Along the way, we will be considering scientific reasoning, thinking about moral issues, and arguments as they occur in everyday life.
Prerequisites: None
Course Requirements: (a) three in-class exams (plus an optional Final Exam); (b) regular (roughly weekly) quizzes; and (c) homework and in-class writing assignments.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. This course is included in the Philosophy and Medicine specialization and meets requirements for the Jurisprudence Specialized Minor.
PHL 106.001 Honors Introduction to Deductive Logic
Instructor: Dr. Torin Alter
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
Prerequisites: C- or better in MATH 100, or equivalent. Admission to UA Honors or a 28 ACT.
Course 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. This course is included in the Mind-Brain concentration and meets requirements for the Jurisprudence Specialized Major and Minor.
PHL 195.001 & 900 Introduction to Deductive Logic
Instructor: Dr. Torin Alter
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.
Prerequisites: C- or better in MATH 100, or equivalent.
Course 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. This course is included in the Mind-Brain concentration and meets requirements for the Jurisprudence Specialized Major and Minor.
PHL 212.001 Early Modern Philosophy
Instructor: Dr. Richard Richards
Course Description: This course will look at the main figures and intellectual developments of the early Modern period of philosophy. We will proceed chronologically, starting with Francis Bacon’s New Organon and Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy and tracing two very different branches of influence, the Rationalist and Empiricist, in the writings of Hobbes, Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Course Requirements: three exams, in-class quizzes Prerequisites: None, but one philosophy course at the 100-level is recommended. Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 223.001 & 002 Medical Ethics
Instructor: Dr. Stuart Rachels
Course Description: 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, 3 rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2016). Schedule: This is a large lecture course that meets three days per week.
Prerequisites: None
Course Requirements: There will be three exams. Students will be required to attend every class meeting.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. This course is required for the Philosophy and Medicine specialization.
PHL 223.900&901 Medical Ethics
Instructor: Dr. Timothy Butzer
Course description: 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.
Prerequisites: None
Tentative course requirements: Exams and class participation
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation.
PHL 240.001 Philosophy and the Law
Instructor: Dr. Andrew Ingram
Course Description: What is law? Does a putative law have to meet moral conditions to be a law? Most readings will be philosophical and pitched at a high level of abstraction, but a few will touch on actual American law.
Prerequisites: None
Course Requirements: TBD
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. This course is included in the Jurisprudence specialization.
PHL 260.001 Mind and Nature
Instructor: Dr. Chase Wrenn
This course is organized around two central philosophical questions. What is the place of the mind in nature? And what is the place of nature in the mind? The first question raises issues about the nature of thought and consciousness and the relationship of our minds to our bodies. Are our minds non-physical spirits, or are they somehow identical with our brains or with things our brains do? The second question raises issues about the our knowledge of the world around us. What qualifies as a good reason to believe something? What’s the difference between what we know and what we have good reason to believe? And how is knowledge possible at all, if we can never rule out every possible sort of error? The course includes a close study of René Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, which tries to give answers to both the framing questions of the course. We then survey more contemporary answers to this question, with a strong emphasis on analyzing arguments.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements: Three or four tests, class participation, reading
Core Curriculum: HU This course is included in the Mind-Brain Specialization.
PHL 281.001 Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion
Instructor: Dr. Trig Johnson
Prerequisites: None
Core Curriculum: None
PHL 292.001 Introduction to Ethics
Instructor: Dr. Stuart Rachels
Course Description: This course will focus on a dozen or so matters of personal and social importance. Topics include abortion, pornography, starvation, affirmative action, gay rights, and the death penalty. We’ll concentrate on the reasons that bear on these issues. Our approach to these issues will serve as a model for critical thinking in general.
Tentative Course Requirements: Grades will be based on four exams. Attendance will be taken each class, and an attendance policy will be enforced.
Prerequisites: None
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. This course is included in the Jurisprudence and Philosophy and Medicine specializations.
PHL 292.002&003 Introduction to Ethics
Instructor: Dr. Holly Kantin
Course Description: 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
Course 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 Introduction to Ethics
Instructor: Dr. Adam Arico
What is the nature of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, ‘good’ and ‘bad’? What are the principles or guidelines for behaving morally? What sort of life should I live, and what sort of person should I be? How do I figure out what to do and which action is morally correct? Introduction to Ethics engages with all of these questions and surveys the various ways that influential philosophers have attempted to answer those questions. The course will introduce students to the fundamental concepts of ethics, as well as the major ethical theories. The course begins by discussing basic metaethical questions about moral realism, moral relativism, and moral skepticism, as well as the relationship (or lack thereof) between religion and morality. In the second portion of the course, students are introduced to the historically-significant ethical theories: Virtue Ethics, Deontology, and Consequentialism. The third portion of the course expounds on the implications of those ethical theories for various contemporary ethical issues—including abortion, animal rights, capital punishment, etc.
Prerequisites: None
Course Requirements: Attendance and participation are not required but are strongly encouraged. There will usually be a group work/discussion period during each class. There will be three in-class exams; one (optional) final exam; quizzes; and writing assignments.
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. This course is included in the Jurisprudence and Philosophy and Medicine specializations.
PHL 292.005 & 006 Introduction to Ethics
Instructor: Dr. Mark Pickering
In this course, we will examine questions like the following. Is morality relative or absolute? Are values derivable from facts or independent of them? Does morality depend on religion? Are consequences the sole determinant of an action’s moral worth? Is virtue or character central to ethics, or is it merely ancillary? Prerequisites: None Course
Requirements: TBD
Core Curriculum: This course carries an HU designation. This course is included in the Jurisprudence and Philosophy and Medicine specializations.
PHL 349.001: Legal Reasoning
Instructor: Dr. Mark Pickering
This course covers the kinds of reasoning peculiar to the law from a philosophical perspective. Understanding these concepts is important not only to aspiring lawyers, but also to anyone wishing to understand, evaluate, and challenge the claims lawyers, judges, and legislators make. Topics may include rules, precedent, authority, analogy, the common law, legal realism, statutory interpretation, judicial opinions, and burdens of proof.
Prerequisites: a B in at least one other PHL class.
Tentative course requirement: TBD
Core Curriculum: None. This course is included in the Jurisprudence specialization.
PHL 370.001: Epistemology – Seminar
Instructor: Dr. Chase Wrenn
Epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge. This course will focus on questions about what knowledge is, and the question whether there are forms of understanding other than knowledge. Our central text will be Catherine Elgin’s recent book, True Enough, which argues that we understand the world largely by accepting things that are not only untrue, but that we know to be untrue. In addition to Elgin’s book, we’ll read several articles and chapters from other books relevant to Elgin’s discussion, and meeting with Prof. Elgin herself when she visits as part of the Philosophy Today series near the end of the term. Prerequisites: PHL 195 or PHL 106; two other Philosophy classes at any level. Course Requirements: Three papers; class participation; one Saturday field trip; reading Core Curriculum: W continued on next page 8 This course is included in the Mind-Brain concentration.
PHL 392.001: Neuroethics – Special Topics
Instructor: Dr. Benjamin Kozuch
Consciousness is one of the last great mysteries. Recent years have seen the use of neuroscientific methods to try to understand consciousness, in hopes that this approach succeeds where others failed. This course surveys and analyzes current neuroscientific and philosophical approaches to studying consciousness, the goal being to integrate the two as much as possible. Topics covered include: the relationship between visual consciousness and bodily action; whether higher-order thought is necessary for consciousness; the use of brain lesions in consciousness research; the relationship between attention and consciousness.
Prerequisites: None.
Course Requirements: None.
Core Curriculum: This course carries a W designation. This course is part of the Philosophy and Medicine specialization.
PHL 490.001: Experimental Philosophy – Special Topics
Instructor: Dr. Adam Arico
Course description: Experimental Philosophy is the relatively recent movement in Western Analytic Philosophy that supplements traditional philosophical methodology with quantitative measures and methodologies borrowed from other sciences (sociology, psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, etc.). The course will look at specific examples of how this empirical approach has been deployed by philosophers and psychologists in order to advance our understanding of philosophical issues and topics. These topics include: ethics and moral psychology, consciousness, free will, personal identity, epistemology, and causation. We will also discuss the arguments and controversy surrounding the movement of experimental philosophy and consider what role (if any) experimental study should have in our philosophical investigations.
Prerequisites: At least two philosophy courses.
Course Requirements: TBD
Core Curriculum: None.