Fall 2025 Philosophy Courses

Fall 2025 Philosophy Courses

Every semester, our department offers multiple sections of:

PHIL 100 (Introduction to Philosophy),

PHIL 102 (Ethics and Community Engagement),

PHIL 105 (Happiness and Meaning in Life), and

PHIL 106 (Logic).

In the fall of 2025, we are also offering the following 200-level and 300-level courses. (For more information, see NEST.)

PHIL 200 Ethical Reasoning

Tiger Roholt
M 11:00–1:45
CRN

Description: What is the difference between actions that are ethical (moral) and actions that are unethical (immoral)? In this course, while exploring core ethical theories, we will focus on how each theory directs us to reason in order to determine which actions are ethical. We will examine theories such as utilitarianism, Kantianism, virtue ethics, social contract theory, and care ethics. We will apply what we learn to help us to think more clearly about issues such as civil disobedience, honesty, free speech, justice, equality, abortion, helping those in need, volunteering, famine, friendship, assisted suicide, eating meat, war, and punishment. (This course satisfies a Value Theory requirement in the philosophy major.)

PHIL 270 Philosophy of Mind

Jon Morgan
T 2:00–4:45
CRN

Mental states are puzzling. On the one hand, it’s as obvious as anything that we undergo them. On the other hand, we also live in a world that seems to be entirely physical, and so it seems that mental states must be physical states of some sort. But just what sort of physical states could they be? Are they electrochemical states of our brain? Or are they more like computational states—‘software’ that runs on the ‘hardware’ of our brains? If not, what could they be? And, moreover, what is the relationship between our mental states and physical states in the external world? Do we directly perceive the physical world? If not, how could we know anything about it? In this course, we explore possible answers to these and related philosophical questions about the nature of mental states and their place in the physical world. (This course satisfies a Knowledge and Reality requirement in the philosophy major.)

Phil 288 Introduction to Cognitive Science

• PHIL 288-01 MW 10-11:25 (Lauren Covey)
• PHIL 288-02 T/Th 8-9:25 (David Sorensen)
• PHIL 288-03 T/Th 10-11:25 (David Sorensen)

Description: An introduction to the multidisciplinary field of cognitive science. Topics include: the mind-body problem, thought as computation and the computer model of the mind, the role of representation in mental activity. Emphasis will be upon the methodological approaches found in artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, cognitive anthropology, cognitive neuroscience, linguistics, and philosophy.

(This course serves as an Elective in the philosophy major, satisfies the 288 requirement in the Cognitive Science minor, and counts toward the philosophy minor. Each class is cross-listed under PHIL, LNGN, and PSYC; there is no difference between those sub-sections.)

PHIL 290 Environmental Ethics

Daniel Richmond
W 8:00–10:45
CRN

Description: This course introduces the field of environmental ethics and the scope and extent of human responsibility and stewardship for the environment. This includes, but is not limited to responsibility to an international community, future generations, and not simply one’s biotic responsibility towards animals, plants, and other living creatures and their supportive systems. These issues are discussed in the context of canonical ethical theories, such as deontology, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and more contemporary approaches to the environment found in ethics of care and feminist ethics. To this end, the course will begin by addressing the more basic, critical tools needed for reading texts with an eye on the philosophical nature of their writings, as well as covering the essential historical and contemporary contexts and arguments of ethics and morality in general. As the course progresses, these tools will benefit our readings and discussions as we address such complex topics as the historical conception of “nature;” the natural or human-endowed rights of living entities; humanity’s necessary reliance and impact upon the environment in the forms of food, land, and other resources, as well as the possible practical applications of environmental ethics. (This course satisfies a Value Theory requirement in the philosophy major.)

PHIL 293 Truth

Zenon Marko
T/Th 5:20–6:45
CRN

Description: This course considers the concept of truth from a philosophical perspective. We will consider historical and contemporary definitions and debates about truth, its nature, and its relevance to human belief, knowledge, culture, and life. The course will cover the major theories of truth, including the correspondence, coherence, pragmatist, deflationary, and minimalist theories. We will consider the role of truth in different philosophical domains—epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and even aesthetics—as well as its role in other human fields and domains, from science to everyday life. Readings will be taken from influential historical and contemporary authors. Via readings, lectures, in-class discussions, and assignments, the course will address the central questions about truth: What is truth? Why does truth matter? Is truth objective or subjective? Is truth absolute or relative? Do we have access to the truth? What are criteria of truth? How do different fields define and utilize the concept of truth? Do we live in a post-truth age? Could we live without a concept of truth? (This course satisfies a Knowledge and Reality requirement in the philosophy major.)

PHIL 395 Education in the Enlightenment

Meghan Robison
W 11:00-1:45
CRN

Description: Enlightenment thinkers declared that human beings are born free and championed an idea of natural liberty, yet infants enter the world dependent on others for survival. How, then, can liberty be natural? If children require guidance to develop and learn, at what point—if ever—does their subjection give way to genuine freedom? These questions were central to Enlightenment debates about education. Philosophers such as John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Mary Wollstonecraft saw childhood as a crucial period in human life not only for individuals but also for society. Their writings on education were more than practical guides—they were explorations of what liberty, equality, as well as intellectual and moral development, require and entail. This course will challenge you to think critically about freedom, authority, and the way education shapes who you become. (This course satisfies the History requirement in the philosophy major.)

PHIL 397 Ways of Doing Philosophy: Dialectic

Turner Roth
T/TH 10:00-11:25
CRN

Description: Dialectical thinking is one of the oldest forms of philosophical method. Dialektikē, the “art of debate,” has its origin in the ancient Greek world, where Socrates developed the art of conversing with others so as to arrive at the truth. His student, Plato, would go on to further develop this form of questioning within his dialogues. In this course, we will trace the development and transformations of the dialectic as a method of investigating opinions, discovering contradictions, and navigating oppositions both in thought and in the world. The dialectical art is a method of liberation from illusion and error, but in what this consists has changed throughout the history of philosophy. Beginning with Plato’s conception of dialectics espoused in the Republic, we will move to Aristotle’s critique of Plato and reformulation of dialectical reasoning in his Topics. We will then jump forward in time to Kant’s understanding of dialectics as a means of criticizing metaphysical illusions in his Critique of Pure Reason. Next, we turn to Hegel, who revolutionized dialectical thinking as a total process of transformation through contradiction in his Phenomenology of Spirit. Following this, we will take up Marx’s critique of Hegel and his reformulation of dialectics as a historical and materialist critique of class society. Finally, we will conclude with Sartre’s existentialist recasting of dialectics in his Critique of Dialectical Reason. (This course satisfies a Traditions requirement in the philosophy major.)