300-Level Courses
- PHL 300: Symbolic Logic (3)
- Prerequisite: PHL 101 or equivalent.
- Full and intensive treatment of the logic of truth functions and predicates aimed at developing facility in formal inference and at understanding the logic of natural languages. Topics include normal forms, multivariate quantification with identity, relations, and the logic of singular terms.
- PHL 301: Philosophy of Religion (same as REL 301) (3)
- Prerequisite: One philosophy course other than PHL 101, PHL 102, or PHL 300, or permission of the instructor; PHL 258 is recommended but not required.
- Advanced study of such topics in religion as concepts of God and religion, ritual, atheism, the problem of evil, the nature of religious language, traditional proofs of God, the concept of faith, mysticism, the concept of miracle, and the relation between theism and morality.
- PHL 304: Ethical Theory (3)
- Prerequisite: PHL 200, PHL 202, or PHL 204.
- A deeper study of ethics, exploring such topics as moral relativism, excuses and moral responsibility, the free will problem, and questions concerning moral character (e.g., the nature of courage, humility, pride, compassion, jealously, etc.)
- PHL 305: Philosophical Logic (3)
- Prerequisite: PHL 101 or permission of the instructor.
- Consideration of alternatives to classical logic, such as free logic and modal logic, and applications.
- PHL 306: Oriental Thought (3)
- Prerequisite: One philosophy course or permission of the instructor.
- Introduction to Chinese and Indian philosophy, including Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism, Taoism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
- PHL 310: Theories of Justice (3)
- Prerequisite: One course in philosophy other than PHL 101, PHL 102, or PHL 300, or permission of the instructor; PHL 200, PHL 210, or PHL 261 is recommended but not required.
- Advanced study of prominent theories of distributive justice (including those of Rawls and Nozick) and the implications of these theories for such social problems as the distribution of healthcare, wage compensation, and funding public goods.
- PHL 336: History of Philosophy-Special Topic (3)
- Prerequisite: At least one philosophy course other than PHL 101, PHL 102, or PHL 300, or permission of the instructor.
- Study of a particular philosopher of philosophical movement.
- PHL 350: Contemporary Philosophy (3)
- Prerequisite: At least two philosophy courses.
- Analytic philosophy in the 20th century. Topics may include linguistic analysis, logical atomism, logical positivism, ordinary language philosophy, existentialism, and phenomenology.
- PHL 352: Metaphysics (3)
- Prerequisite: At least one philosophy course other than PHL 101, PHL 102, or PHL 300, or permission of the instructor; PHL 250 is recommended but not required.
- Advanced study of such traditional metaphysical problems as personal identity, the mind-body-problem, action theory, free will, universals, the nature of space and time, creation, causation, and purpose.
- PHL 354: Philosophy of Mind (3)
- Prerequisite: At least one philosophy course other than PHL 101, PHL 102, PHL 103 (honors logic), or PHL 300, or permission of the instructor; PHL 252 is recommended but not required.
- Study of the philosophical problems surrounding the nature of mind and its relation to the world. Topics may include physicalism, reductionism and the unity of science, the content of mental states, cognitive psychology, and the role of mind in psychological explanation.
- PHL 355: Mind, Language, & Reality (3)
- Prerequisite: PHL 101 or PHL 103 and one other philosophy course, or permission of the instructor.
- Study of meaning and its connection to metaphysics and epistemology. Topics may include theories of reference, applications of those theories to arguments in the philosophy of mind, the nature of language, speech-act theory, theories of translations and interpretation, and theories of truth.
- PHL 380: Special Studies in Philosophy (3)
- Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
- Studies of selected philosophers, philosophical movements, or philosophical issues. Recent versions of 380 have focused on Philosophy of Language, Truth, Free Will and Responsibility, Plato, Consciousness, and Moral Realism.