100-Level Philosophy Courses

HPL 111    Philosophy I: Theories of Human Nature   (3-0-3)
This course is intended as a general introduction to the discipline of philosophy through an examination of various attempts throughout history to answer the very fundamental questions, "What does it mean to be human?" Topics discussed include happiness, the soul, virtue, good and evil, and the like. Readings from classical sources include as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Hume, Mill, Nietzsche, Sartre, and others.

HPL 112    Philosophy II: Knowledge, Reality and Nature   (3-0-3)
This course provides an examination of philosophical concepts and ideas that address questions regarding the problem of knowledge (epistemology), methods of reasoning, and the nature of reality (metaphysics). Special attention will be given to applying these topics to an introduction to the philosophy of natural science. Readings include classical sources such as Descartes, Hume, Kant, Hegel, as well as contemporary works.

300,400-Level Philosophy Courses

HPL 315    Great Works of Science and Technology To Darwin   (3-0-3)
This course will examine the works of some of the world's greatest scientific thinkers. We will begin in the ancient world with writings of Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Archimedes, and then continue through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, ending at the threshold of the Scientific Revolution with the great astronomers Copernicus and Kepler. Special attention will be paid to the way these scientists contributed to the body of knowledge known as "natural philosophy."

HPL 316    Great Works of Science and Technology Since Darwin   (3-0-3)
This course is an examination of modern science as portrayed through the writings of many of its greatest figures, from Charles Darwin to the present, including Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman, Stephen Jay Gould, Stephen Hawking, Steven Pinker, and others.

HPL 339    Ethics   (3-0-3)
Discussion and critical analysis of leading moral theories, including utilitarianism, intuitionism, emotivism, and virtue theory. A comparison of virtue ethics versus an ethics of care is also discussed.

HPL 340    Social and Political Philosophy   (3-0-3)
A study of the relation of the individual to society and the state. Major issues to be examined include the nature of freedom, justice and equality, alienation, and political authority. Also includes an analysis of political models such as liberalism, socialism, conservatism, and anarchism, as well as alternative conceptions of democracy.

HPL 345    Introduction to Minority and Group Identity   (3-0-3)
Theories, tactics, goals, and impact of organized minorities and how they relate and transform the American political sphere; groups studied include African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, Indians, and other politically marginalized minorities.

HPL 346    Modern Philosophy   (3-0-3)
Beginning with René Descartes—considered the “father of modern philosophy”—this course will examine the debates between Rationalism and Empiricism throughout the 17-18th centuries. Philosophers studied include Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.

HPL 347    Theories of Knowledge and Reality   (3-0-3)
A comprehensive examination of the disciplines of Epistemology and Metaphysic; topics addressed include being and reality, logic and language, the concept of truth, skepticism, causality, and knowledge. Readings are both historical and contemporary in nature.

HPL 348    Aesthetics   (3-0-3)
An exploration of theories of art and of aesthetic experience. Questions addressed include the following: Are judgments of taste objective? What are the roles of form, expression, and representation in the arts? How is art related to society? What is the nature of creativity in art and science? What is the relationship between creativity and madness? Examples are drawn from the various art forms, including painting, literature, music, dance, and film.

HPL 350    Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
A comprehensive study of Ancient and Medieval philosophers beginning with the Greek Pre-Socratics, through Plato and Aristotle, the post-Aristotelian schools of Epicureanism, Stoicism and Skepticism, through Plotinus, Augustine, and major Medieval thinkers such as Anselm, Avicenna, Averroes, and Thomas Aquinas.

HPL 368    Philosophy of Science   (3-0-3)
An examination of the aims, methods, goals, and practices of science. Questions addressed include the following: What defines a science? What distinguishes science from pseudo-science? Is there such a thing as scientific method? Is there progress in science? What is the relationship between science and “truth?” What role do cultural, sociological, and/or psychological factors play in the practices of science and the scientist? Seminal works by the following philosophers of science are studied: Hempel, Carnap, Duhem, Goodman, Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos, and Feyerabend, as well as contemporary thinkers like Putnam, McMullin, van Fraassen, and Kitcher.

HPL 369    Science and Religion   (3-0-3)
This course investigates the history of the opposition of Science and Religion, beginning with the emergence of philosophy as an alternative to mythology, through the scholastic dominance of the Aristotelian world-view, to the Scientific Revolution, the emergence and acceptance of Evolution and beyond. Special attention will be given to current attempts at reconciling and/or harmonizing these traditionally antithetical disciplines.

HPL 440    Citizenship, Nationality and Ethnicity in Contemporary Global Perspective   (3-0-3)
This course assesses a variety of different conceptions of social, political, and cultural identity in light of the resurgence of nationalism, ethnicity, and the affirmation of cultural difference. Special attention is given to problems regarding citizenship and universal rights, as well as the tension between cultural diversity and global interconnectedness. Readings include classical texts, as well as current writings relevant to the topics at hand.

HPL 442    Logic   (3-0-3)
An examination of the methods and techniques of formal logic, including the history of the discipline from Aristotle through Leibniz, Frege, Russell, Quine, and others.

HPL 443    The Philosophy of Language   (3-0-3)
A close study of problems having to do with meaning and reference, truth, sense, and intention, as well as communicability. Special attention is given to both the power, as well as limits of language. Readings taken from the works of Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Dummett, Quine, Haack, and others.

HPL 444    Philosophy of Mind   (3-0-3)
A philosophical examination of the mind and mental functioning. Some questions addressed include the following: Can we know what it is like to be a bat? Could it be that everyone (other than oneself) is a robot? What is the relationship between mind and brain? Can computers think? Readings include the work of Nagel, Wittgenstein, and Freud, among others.

HPL 445    History of Philosophy
A consideration of the historical development of the western philosophical tradition, beginning with the pre-Socratics, up and through contemporary thinkers. The course will examine the recurrence of perennial problems in the history of intellectual thought.

HPL 447    Nineteenth Century Philosophy   (3-0-3)
A study of major thinkers and movements in the nineteenth century including Kant, Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Mill, James, and Freud. Issues discussed will include the nature of scientific knowledge, political and moral right, and the emergence of psychological theory.

HPL 448    Contemporary Philosophy   (3-0-3)
A comprehensive examination of 20th and 21st century thinkers including Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Sartre, Dewey, Wittgenstein, Gadamer, Habermas, Ayer, and Quine, as well as more current thinkers in both the Analytic and Continental traditions.

HPL 449    Philosophy of Law   (3-0-3)
Questions discussed include: What is the basis for the authority of the law? What are the competing theories of crime and punishment? What are the grounds of legal rights and duties? What are the relations among justice, liberty, and equality in the law? This course will also consider such current legal issues as the insanity defense, the death penalty, the rights of unborn children, regulation of the Internet, and affirmative action.

HPL 450    International Ethics   (3-0-3)
This course will focus on some of the new ethical issues that face social and political actors in the current period of globalization. This will include an examination of the various arguments that seek to establish and broaden international legal and constitutional frameworks. Special attention is given to the following themes: the nature and extent of human rights,; distributive justice,; economic development, and preservation of the environment.

HPL 455    Ethical Issues in Science and Technology   (3-0-3)
This course provides a critical examination of the problems that arise from the increasing advance of science and technology and their impact on our life and culture. Some of the topics addressed include the responsibility of scientists and technologists, scientific fraud, the uses and abuses of nuclear energy, environmental pollution, and the preservation of natural resources—just to name a few. Special attention is given to the increasing popular method of “green construction” and sustainability.

HPL 458    Computability and Logic   (3-0-3)
This course will examine the theory, history, and philosophical significance of the algorithm, as well as some of the conceptual and practical issues that arise from the translation of natural language to computer language.

HPL 459    The Philosophy of Social Science
This course examines the conceptual foundations of such disciplines as economics, sociology, anthropology, and political science. Readings include excerpts from Smith, Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Winch, among others.

HPL 460    Philosophy and Feminism   (3-0-3)
This course is a general introduction to both the history and present concerns of feminist philosophy. Readings include classic essays of feminist thought by Wollstonecraft, Mill, Engels, and others as well as contemporary writings in philosophy and feminism. This course serves as a foundation for a minor in Gender Studies. No prior courses in philosophy are required.

HPL 461    American Philosophy
An examination of the work of the American Pragmatists. Readings from the works of James, Pierce, Dewey, Rorty, Putnam, and West, among others.

HPL 462    Eastern Philosophy

HPL 463    Existentialism   (3-0-3)
This course examines the popular philosophical movement known as “Existentialism.” In addition to reading such seminal thinkers as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, and Camus, attention will be given to works outside the rubric of philosophy proper, including literature and cinema.

HPL 468    Women Philosophers of the Twentieth Century   (3-0-3)
This course follows the work of the following Edith Stein, Simone Weil, Iris Murdoch, Simone de Beauvoir, Hannah Ardent, and Ayn Rand. These are all seminal thinkers who began their philosophical work in the first half of the twentieth century and went on to influence the course of intellectual thought for a generation to come. And yet, more often than not, these women tend to be omitted from the traditional canon of twentieth-century philosophy. One goal of this course is to consider why that is the case. If time permits, works by more contemporary thinkers like Nussbaum and Haack will be examined.

HPL 495    Seminar in Philosophy   (3-0-3)
The Seminar in Philosophy is intended to provide students with an in-depth examination of the work of either one specific philosopher (or pair of philosophers), or a particular work in the history of philosophy that has had a profound impact on the development of intellectual thought. Special attention will be given to how the philosopher or work in question influenced work outside philosophy.