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Philosophy And Religious Studies Departmental Courses
Spring 2010 Course Descriptions
Philosophy Course
Descriptions
LOWER DIVISION
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PHIL 101
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
(3) An introduction to some fundamental problems of philosophy and
to various proposals for the solution of these problems. GenEd
II.C.1.
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PHIL 102 USING
INFORMATION EFFECTIVELY IN PHILOSOPHY
(3) Information gathering, evaluation, and communication. Develops
critical thinking and problem solving techniques, communication, and
team building skills. GenEd I.B.
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PHIL 105
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION
(3) A study of various religious explanations and organizations of
the cosmos and of human life, drawing on diverse theoretical
methodologies. GenEd II.D.
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PHIL 111 LOGIC
(3) Study of and practice in inductive and deductive reasoning, the
composition of argument and demonstration, and the detection of
formal and informal fallacies. GenEd II.C.1.
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PHIL 201 SOCIAL
AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
(3) A consideration of social and political doctrines from both
Western and non-Western philosophical perspectives. The approach
will be both historical and thematic. Themes will include: the
individual and the state, the male-female dialectic, and attitudes
towards property.
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PHIL 204 RACE,
CLASS, AND GENDER (3) Social and Political Philosophy; contemporary
American ideas of race, class and gender, with a focus on their
interrelatedness. GenEd II.C.3
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PHIL 205 WOMEN
IN WORLD RELIGIONS
(3) Role of women, both human and divine, in the major Asian and
Western religions. GenEd II.D.
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PHIL 206
JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, AND ISLAM (3) History, scriptures, doctrines,
practices, and interactions of three monotheistic religions. GenEd
II.C.3
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PHIL 212 HONORS
COURSE: SPECIAL STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY
(3) Small group discussions and philosophical analysis of selected
works not generally available in other electives. May be repeated
for credit provided a different topic is covered. Prerequisites:
Admission to honors college.
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PHIL 219
INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN PHILOSOPHY (3) Examination of the nature of
Asian thought through a study of English translations of traditional
sources of Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese philosophy. Gened
II.D.
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PHIL 221 ANCIENT
GREEK PHILOSOPHY
(3) The origins of Western philosophical thought will be studied in
the works of the presocratics, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. GenEd
II.C.1.
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PHIL 230
PHILOSOPHY OF LITERATURE (3) The course undertakes philosophical
analysis of literature. A consideration of philosophical
orientations in these works will be undertaken.
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PHIL 251
CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN-AMERICAN THOUGHT (3) A philosophical
examination of the current issues in African-American thought in
such fields as religion, politics, education, economics and
aesthetics. An effort will be made to determine the place and the
role of the contemporary African-American in history. GenEd II.C.3.
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PHIL 253
CONTEMPORARY ETHICAL PROBLEMS
(3) The course will treat the meaning of moral experience and the
moral problems which arise in connection with human sexual
integrity, ownership of property, welfare, violence, civil
disobedience, punishment, war, and truth telling in social relations
and government. GenEd II.B.3.
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PHIL 255
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS (3) Philosophical views on rights of non-human
animals, intervaluation of environment and economics, "deep" vs.
"shallow" environmental ethics, duties to future generations, and
other issues. GenEd II.B.3.
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PHIL 270-279
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES
(3) The course will consider contemporary issues from the uniquely
philosophical perspective to stimulate independent reflection on the
part of the student. May be repeated for credit provided a different
topic is covered.
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UPPER DIVISION
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PHIL 301 [501]
PHILOSOPHIES OF INDIA
(3) Examination of major ideas in the Vedic, Epic, Classical darsana,
and modern periods. Prerequisite: One lower level course in
philosophy or consent of instructor.
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PHIL 302 [502]
PHILOSOPHIES OF CHINA AND JAPAN (3) Examination of some major
philosophical systems through selected writings in translation.
Prerequisite: One lower level course in philosophy or consent of
instructor.
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PHIL 311
SYMBOLIC LOGIC
(3) An introduction to the concepts and methods of symbolic logic.
Translation of arguments from English into symbolic notation;
methods of establishing the validity of arguments by means of
symbolic logic. Discussion of logical notions such as consistency,
logical truth, and the philosophy of logic. Prerequisites: PHIL 111
or consent of instructor.
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PHIL 319
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND VALUES (3) Impact of modern science on
various philosophical issues: science and religion, mind and
computers, time travel, Einstein's relativity, human freedom, the
ethical limits of technology. Prerequisites: one course in
philosophy and two courses in science, or consent of instructor.
GenEd II.A.2.
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PHIL 320
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
(3) Concepts, method and nature of science, including induction and
theory confirmation, probability, explanation, natural laws, space
and time and the objectivity of science. Prerequisite: One course in
either philosophy or science.
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PHIL 321
PHILOSOPHY OF LAW
(3) An examination of the nature and theories of law, the
relationship between law and morality, the nature of legal
obligation, and the notion of justice. Prerequisites: One
lower-division course in philosophy or consent of the instructor.
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PHIL 322 [522]
HELLENISTIC AND MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
(3) The philosophical schools of the Hellenistic and Roman periods,
viz., Stoicism, Epicureanism, Scepticism, and Neo-Platonism and the
two main Christian philosophies of the Middle Ages, viz.,
Augustinianism and Thomism. Prerequisite: One lower-division course
in philosophy.
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PHIL 324 [524]
MODERN PHILOSOPHY
(3) The history of philosophy beginning with Descartes through the
19th century. Prerequisite: One lower-division course in philosophy.
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PHIL 325 [525]
SCHOOLS OF CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY
(3) A survey with varying emphasis on a number of such contemporary
philosophical positions as pragmatism, phenomenology, logical
positivism, the analysts, neo-Aristotelianism, the philosophers of
science, and the existentialists. Prerequisite: One lower-division
course in philosophy
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PHIL 326 [526]
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY
(3) The history of the main currents of American philosophical
thought as exemplified in such writers as Edwards, Emerson, Pierce,
James, Royce, Dewey and Whitehead. Prerequisite: One lower-division
course in philosophy.
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PHIL 327 AFRICAN
PHILOSOPHY
(3) Examination of major ideas and issues in African Systems of
Thought. Prerequisite: One lower-division Philosophy course or
consent of instructor.
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PHIL 331 [531]
CONCEPTS OF WOMAN: AN HISTORICAL APPROACH
(3) Various concepts which philosophers have used to define woman.
An historical survey approach, with readings from Plato, Aquinas,
and others, and ending with Beauvoir. Prerequisite: One
lower-division Philosophy course or consent of instructor.
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PHIL 332
FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY (3) Contemporary methods and problems, including
redefinition of traditional areas of philosophy and creation of new
issues for investigation. Prerequisite: One lower-division
Philosophy course or consent of instructor.
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PHIL 339 [539]
THEORIES OF KNOWLEDGE
(3) An historical and systematic approach to the truth value and
elements of the forms of human knowledge. The theories of major
philosophers will be studied. Prerequisite: One lower-division
course in philosophy.
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PHIL 341 [511]
ETHICS
(3)
Analysis of readings from the principle classical and contemporary
ethical sources, study of the basic moral concepts as found in these
sources; application to contemporary moral concerns. Prerequisite:
One lower-division course in philosophy.
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PHIL 343 [509]
AESTHETICS
(3) An analytical and historical examination of concepts of the
nature of art, beauty, aesthetic value, aesthetic perception, and of
the modes of existence of artifacts. Prerequisite: One
lower-division course in philosophy.
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PHIL 353 [551]
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
(3) Exposition of various approaches to the philosophy of religion
with an analysis of the major issues on which they differ and agree.
Prerequisite: Two previous courses in philosophy or religion. Not
open to those who have completed PHIL 451.
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PHIL 355 [555]
INTERPRETATIONS OF THE BIBLE: NEW TESTAMENT
(3) Major themes of the biblical literature, and of its religious,
philosophical and cultural implications. Prerequisite: One
lower-division course in philosophy or religion.
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PHIL 357 [557]
TOPICS IN COMPARATIVE RELIGION
(3) Study of a number of the world's major religious traditions,
emphasizing specific philosophical and psychological problems
encountered therein. Prerequisite: At least one lower-division
course in philosophy, religion or history.
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PHIL 361 [561]
ETHICS OF MEDICINE AND THE LIFE SCIENCES
(3) A search for guidelines in such moral problems as abortion, the
care of the dying, organ transplants, informed consent in therapy
and experimentation, adequate health care and its just distribution,
control of human behavior by drugs, surgery, etc., test-tube
reproduction, population control, genetic engineering and
counseling. Prerequisite: One lower-division course in philosophy or
consent of instructor.
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PHIL 371 [563]
BUSINESS ETHICS
(3) Economics is one of the "moral sciences" in so far as it deals
with an important sphere of human activity which intends a good.
This course will institute a philosophical reflection on economic
ideas as they appear in the three main categories of opinion, viz.,
conservative, liberal, and radical. Attention will be drawn to the
epistemological, ethical and metaphysical presuppositions of these
traditions. Prerequisite: A lower-division course in philosophy or
consent of instructor.
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PHIL 380-389
[580-589] PHILOSOPHICAL TOPICS
(3) Courses offered under this title will be of variable content.
Topics of traditional philosophical interest or of philosophical
problems in other areas of knowledge or of contemporary interest
will be offered. Prerequisite: One lower-division course in
philosophy.
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PHIL 413 [513]
PHENOMENOLOGY
(3) An examination of phenomenology as both a philosophical method
and philosophical position. Themes to be considered include
consciousness, the body, time and the experience of others. Primary
course readings in the works of Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre,
Merleau-Ponty. Prerequisite: Two previous courses in philosophy.
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PHIL 417 [517]
EXISTENTIALISM
(3) Some of the major existentialist philosophers will be studied,
e.g., Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Beauvoir. The
philosophical themes of transcendence, the absurd, estrangement and
anxiety will be considered. Prerequisite: Two previous courses in
philosophy.
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PHIL 440-449
[540-549] PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS
(3) The study of a major philosophical system or position, classical
or modern, and of its important proponents. Prerequisite: Two
previous courses in philosophy.
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PHIL 460-469
WRITING SEMINAR IN PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES
(3) The course concentrates on a specific issue or thinker within
the philosophical tradition and on developing the skills necessary
to do quality written work in the discipline. Possible topics
include: Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, Concepts of Space and Time,
Dimensions of Freedom. Prerequisites: ENGL 102 and two courses in
philosophy.
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PHIL 470-479
[570-579] PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS
(3) A consideration of one of the perennial interests of philosophy.
Prerequisite: Two previous courses in philosophy.
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PHIL 495
RESEARCH TUTORIAL IN PHILOSOPHY (3) Directed readings and research
leading to a thesis paper under one or more members of the
Department. Prerequisites: Senior majors in Philosophy or senior
non-majors, submission in advance of an outline of proposed
research, permission of proposed director and department chair.
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Religious Studies Course Descriptions
RLST 105 Introduction
to the Study of Religion (3)
Survey of world
religious traditions informed by comparative, historical and
phenomenological methodologies. GenEd II.D.
RLST 205 Women In World
Religions (3)
Role of women, both
human and divine, in the major Asian and Western religions. GenEd II.D.
RLST 206 Judaism,
Christianity and Islam (3)
History, scriptures,
doctrines, practices and interactions of three monotheistic religions.
GenEd II.C.3.
RLST 270 Topics In Religious Studies (3)
Introduction to diverse topics in the study of religion. May be repeated for maximum of six credits
provided a different topic is covered.
RLST 355 (555)
Introduction to the New Testament (3)
Study of the literature,
history, sociology and theology of the early Christian movement focusing
on canonical and noncanonical materials . Prerequisite: one
lower-level course in philosophy or religious studies.
RLST 357 (557) Topics
in Comparative Religion (3)
Exploration of
culturally diverse religious traditions in terms of a specified theme,
topic or problem. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum
of 6 credits. Prerequisite: one lower-level course in
philosophy , religious studies or history . Prerequisite: One
lower-level course in philosophy, religious studies, or history.
RLST 370 (502) Advanced Topics in Religious Studies (3)
Examination of diverse topics in the study of religion. May be repeated for a maximum of six credits provided a different topic is covered.
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For descriptions of these courses,
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