COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
PHILOSOPHY
(PHI)
2013 Basic Philosophical Problems
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
Introduction to philosophy through general problems in metaphysics, epistemology,
ethics, political philosophy, and philosophy of religion; emphasis on the writings
of philosophers of various historical periods, especially as these doctrines apply
to contemporary problems. [TCCN: PHIL 1301.]
2023 Introduction to Ancient Philosophy
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
Introduction to ancient philosophy through the study of Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus,
and others; emphasis on the Greek contribution to the moral and political ideas
of the Western world. [TCCN: PHIL 2316.]
2033 Introduction to Modern Philosophy
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
Introduction to modern philosophy from the Renaissance to the present through
the study of Descartes, Locke, Hume, Leibniz, Kant, Kierkegaard, and others; emphasis
on the relations of philosophy to the development of modern science, the social
and political history of the Western world, and humankind's attempt to achieve
a satisfactory worldview. [TCCN: PHIL 2317.]
2043 Introductory Logic
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
Study of the principles of valid argument definition, deductive and inductive
inference, and fallacies. [TCCN: PHIL 2303.]
2123 Moral Issues in Contemporary America
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
Examination of ethical issues facing American society, with emphasis on medical,
social, and business ethics.
3013 Philosophy of Religion
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
Examination of traditional religious beliefs and such concepts as faith and knowledge,
mysticism and theology, the existence and nature of God, and the relation of religion
to experience and social life.
3033 Philosophy of Science
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
Examination of major issues in the philosophical foundations of the natural and
social sciences, including scientific explanation, laws and theories, probability
and induction, and the relation of scientific inquiry to the Western philosophical
tradition.
3053 Philosophy of Art
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
Examination of major philosophical theories of art, beauty, and aesthetic judgment,
with emphasis on such problems as form and structure, communication in art, and
meaning in aesthetic judgment.
3073 Asian Philosophy
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
Examination of the philosophical and religious traditions of the East, with emphasis
on various schools such as Vedanta, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.
3213 Ethics
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
Examination of ethical theory and of the nature and scope of ethical discourse,
with emphasis on the concepts of good, human happiness, self-realization, virtue,
duty, responsibility, and the means-ends relationship; reading will include selected
classical and contemporary texts.
3223 Approaches to Knowledge and Reality
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
Examination of the interrelations between the theory of knowledge and theory of
reality, with emphasis on the nature and scope of human knowledge, sensation and
understanding, truth and error, change and causality, possibility and actuality,
and meaning and existence. Reading will include selected classical and contemporary
texts.
3343 Issues and Movements in Twentieth-Century Philosophy
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite:. Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
Sustained study of recent works focusing on one or more specific issues or movements,
such as philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, epistemology, political philosophy,
theoretical or applied ethics, phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, or
postmodernism. May be repeated when topics vary.
4013 Studies in Individual Philosophers
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
Examination of the works of an individual philosopher or of several philosophers
studied in relationship to one another. May be repeated for credit when topics
vary.
4113 Contemporary Analytic Philosophy
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
An in-depth examination of the major trends in the development of the Anglo-American
philosophical tradition during the twentieth century, including the early analysts,
the development of logical positivism, and the emergence of nonformal linguistic
analysis.
4123 Contemporary Continental Philosophy
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite:.Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
A sustained treatment of the major trends in twentieth-century European philosophy,
including movements such as phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, and postmodernism;
emphasis on historical development.
4333 Philosophy of Language
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Completion of Core Curriculum rhetoric requirement.
A critical examination of traditional problems dealing with the nature and function
of language. Representative issues include analyticity, reference, proper names,
metaphorical meaning, and speech-act theory.
4911-3 Independent Study
1-3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Permission in writing (form available) of the
instructor, the student's advisor, the Department Chair, and the Dean of the college
in which the course is offered.
Independent reading, research, discussion, and/or writing under the direction
of a faculty member. May be repeated for credit, but not more than 6 semester
credit hours of independent study, regardless of discipline, will apply to a bachelor's
degree.
4953 Special Studies in Philosophy
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
Organized course offering the opportunity for specialized study not normally or
not often available as part of the regular course offerings. Special Studies may
be repeated for credit when topics vary, but not more than 6 semester credit hours,
regardless of discipline, will apply to a bachelor's degree.
4991-3 Honors Thesis
1-3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor and Department Scholarship
and Honors Committee.
Supervised research and preparation of an Honors Thesis for the purpose of earning
Philosophy Honors.