Philosophy and Religion

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered Fall 2008)

An introduction to philosophy as disciplined inquiry about fundamental features of the world; powers and limits of mind as a way of knowing; and puzzles posed by living and living well. Attention to contemporary and classic texts selected from the history of philosophy.

1 Course

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered 2009-2010)

An introductory course in philosophy through examination of contemporary moral and legal controversies, such as abortion, censorship, freedom of religion, equality, and civil disobedience, among others. Attention to classic and contemporary philosophic texts, relevant legal materials, and fundamental features of law and of morality. Practical Reasoning (PR).

1 Course

Offered: Typically annually (offered Fall 2008 and Spring 2009, as an exception)

A course about principles and applications of correct canons of reasoning. Focus on identifying, evaluating, and constructing arguments using a variety of techniques. Practical Reasoning (PR).

1 Course

Prerequisites: Determined by instructor

Offered: Typically as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course designed to meet the particular interests of student and faculty. Topics vary from year to year. See course description in the "Schedule of Classes."

1/2 to 1 Course

Prerequisite: GSTR 210

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered Spring 2009)

An examination of Greek, Roman, and Christian thinking about law, justice, and political community, including works by Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Thomas Aquinas, among others. Western History Perspective and Practical Reasoning (PR).

1 Course

Prerequisite: GSTR 210 or sophomore standing

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered 2009-2010)

A philosophic examination of moral and philosophic issues involving the nature of law and rights, theories of just and unjust war, views of state sovereignty, and the international community. Thematic focus on legal and moral questions about uses of force in humanitarian interventions to address violations of human rights. Attention to classic and contemporary philosophic texts, relevant legal documents, and some basic structures of state and international order. Practical Reasoning (PR) and World Culture (Western) component of the International Perspective.

1 Course

Prerequisite: GSTR 210

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered 2009-2010)

An examination of some distinctive ways of thinking about law, freedom, and the state since the Reformation, including the social contract views of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, utilitarianism, Marx, 19th-century historicism, and 20th-century pragmatism. Western History Perspective and Practical Reasoning (PR).

1 Course

Prerequisite: GSTR 210 or sophomore standing

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered Fall 2008)

An exploration of various topics in the philosophy of science. Possible topics include the nature of science and the scientific method, the implications of the results of contemporary natural sciences for humanity's place in the universe, and ethical questions that arise out of the scientific method and its results.

1 Course

Prerequisite: GSTR 210 or sophomore standing

Offered: Typically annually (next offered Spring 2009)

An examination of distinctive religious and philosophic ways of thinking about good, duty, virtue, and the nature of ethics. Attention to selected works of Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, Kant, John Stuart Mill, and others. Practical Reasoning (PR).

1 Course

Prerequisite: GSTR 210

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered 2009-2010)

An exploration of topics in the philosophy of religion. Possible topics include arguments for and against the existence of God, the nature and attributes of a divine being, and the nature of faith and religious experience.

1 Course

Prerequisite: Completion or waiver of MAT 012

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered 2009-2010)

A study of deductive systems, including sentential and predicate logic. Attention to syntax, semantics, and derivations in formal languages. Practical Reasoning (PR).

1 Course

Prerequisite: GSTR 210

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered term yet to be determined)

An introduction to fundamental issues about the nature of human choice, the conditions of moral responsibility, and relationships between the two, including philosophic investigations of causation and determinism, whether only humans are able to act other than they do, and the scope of moral responsibility. Attention to classic texts and contemporary philosophic research, writing, and rigorous thinking about the metaphysics of free will and responsibility.

1 Course

Prerequisite: GSTR 210 or sophomore standing

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered 2009-2010)

A course on philosophically informed thinking about the environment. Course explores ways of thinking about the environment, humanity, and other species, focusing on a few environmental problems illustrating fundamental puzzles about the biological sciences, about our responsibilities for nature and for future generations, and about the basis for valuing things human and non-human, living and inanimate. Practical Reasoning (PR).

1 Course

Prerequisite: GSTR 210 or sophomore standing

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered term yet to be determined)

An exploration of selected topics in applied and professional ethics, which may include issues in medicine, law, and business, as well as privacy, confidentiality, and other aspects of being a professional. May be repeated for credit, provided topics differ. Practical Reasoning (PR).

1 Course

Prerequisite: GSTR 210

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered Short Term 2009)

An introduction to the philosophy of mind, examining such questions as whether there could be consciousness after bodily death, whether the mind is anything "over and above" the brain and central nervous system, whether a human-built machine could ever think or be conscious. Attention to classic texts and contemporary philosophic research, writing, and rigorous thinking about the nature of mind and thought.

1 Course

Prerequisites: Determined by instructor

Offered: Typically as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course designed to meet the particular interests of student and faculty. Topics vary from year to year. See course description in the "Schedule of Classes."

1/2 to 1 Course

Prerequisite: One PHI course

Offered: Typically annually (next offered Fall 2008)

An examination of philosophy in ancient Greece and the Roman world--texts, ideas, and figures. Emphasis will be placed on the works of Plato and Aristotle. Western History Perspective.

1 Course

Prerequisite: One PHI course

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered Spring 2009)

An examination of European philosophy in the 17th and 18th centuries. Emphasis on the epistemological and metaphysical views of Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Locke.

1 Course

Prerequisite: One PHI course

Offered: Typically alternate years (next offered 2009-2010)

An examination of selected philosophic topics, themes, or movements in 19th- and 20th-century European and American philosophy, such as German idealism, American pragmatism, philosophy as analysis, phenomenology and existentialism, and post-modernism. May be repeated for credit, provided topics differ.

1 Course

Prerequisite: One 300-level PHI course or permission of instructor

Offered: Typically annually (next offered Spring 2009)

Advanced study in a philosophic area, with an emphasis on careful reading of primary texts. Specific topic and prerequisites announced in the Schedule of Classes prior to registration.

1 Course

Prerequisites: Determined by instructor

Offered: Typically as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course designed to meet the particular interests of student and faculty. Topics vary from year to year. See course description in the "Schedule of Classes."

1/2 to 1 Course

Prerequisite: Sophomore or junior standing for 390; senior standing for 490

Offered: Typically as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course initiated, directed, and organized by the student. All such courses are to be supported by a faculty sponsor, second reader, academic adviser, Department Chairperson, and possibly others. Course proposals must meet the approval of the Coordinator of Advising (the Academic Program Council liaison). Will be registered by the Office of Academic Services as 390/490A if approved to meet the Active Learning Experience (ALE) or as 390/490B if approved as non-ALE.

1 Course

Prerequisite: Sophomore or junior standing for 390; senior standing for 490

Offered: Typically as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course initiated, directed, and organized by the student. All such courses are to be supported by a faculty sponsor, second reader, academic adviser, Department Chairperson, and possibly others. Course proposals must meet the approval of the Coordinator of Advising (the Academic Program Council liaison). Will be registered by the Office of Academic Services as 390/490A if approved to meet the Active Learning Experience (ALE) or as 390/490B if approved as non-ALE.

1 Course

Prerequisite: Sophomore, junior, or senior standing

Offered: Typically every term

An experiential learning experience individually designed for students with a special academic interest requiring integration of classroom learning with practical experience. Includes on-campus seminars with academic sponsors, as well as non-classroom experience. One to three course credits in one 14-week term or one course credit in Short Term may be taken in Internships. Requires the approval of two faculty sponsors and the Program assumes the responsibility for determining credit allowance. The Coordinator of Internships gives final approval for Internship proposals. This course may be used to meet the Active Learning Experience (ALE) requirement. NOTE: To count as a CFS Internship, the primary sponsor must be a full-time member of the CFS faculty. The CFS Department has imposed specific expectations for Internships within this Department. Please check with the Department Chairperson for additional information.

1 to 3 Courses

Prerequisite: Sophomore or junior standing for 397; senior standing for 497

Offered: Typically as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course initiated, directed, and organized by two or more students who have a similar interest in the topic proposed. All such courses are to be supported by a faculty sponsor, second reader, academic adviser, Program Director, and possibly others. Course proposals must meet the approval of the Coordinator of Advising (the Academic Program Council liaison). Will be registered by the Office of Academic Services as 397/497A if approved to meet the Active Learning Experience (ALE) or as 397/497B if approved as non-ALE.

1 Course

Prerequisite: Sophomore or junior standing for 397; senior standing for 497

Offered: Typically as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course initiated, directed, and organized by two or more students who have a similar interest in the topic proposed. All such courses are to be supported by a faculty sponsor, second reader, academic adviser, Program Director, and possibly others. Course proposals must meet the approval of the Coordinator of Advising (the Academic Program Council liaison). Will be registered by the Office of Academic Services as 397/497A if approved to meet the Active Learning Experience (ALE) or as 397/497B if approved as non-ALE.

1 Course

Prerequisites: Will vary, but always will include permission of instructor

Offered: Typically on a limited basis as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course organized and directed by faculty and approved by the Department Chairperson to meet the particular interests and/or needs of specific students.

1 Course

Prerequisite: PHI 380

Offered: Typically annually (next offered Spring 2009)

Advanced study in a philosophic area, with an emphasis on careful reading of primary texts. Specific topic and prerequisites announced in the Schedule of Classes prior to registration.

1 Course

Prerequisites: Determined by instructor

Offered: Typically as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course designed to meet the particular interests of student and faculty. Topics vary from year to year. See course description in the "Schedule of Classes."

1/2 to 1 Course

Prerequisite: Sophomore or junior standing for 390; senior standing for 490

Offered: Typically as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course initiated, directed, and organized by the student. All such courses are to be supported by a faculty sponsor, second reader, academic adviser, Department Chairperson, and possibly others. Course proposals must meet the approval of the Coordinator of Advising (the Academic Program Council liaison). Will be registered by the Office of Academic Services as 390/490A if approved to meet the Active Learning Experience (ALE) or as 390/490B if approved as non-ALE.

1 Course

Prerequisite: Sophomore or junior standing for 390; senior standing for 490

Offered: Typically as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course initiated, directed, and organized by the student. All such courses are to be supported by a faculty sponsor, second reader, academic adviser, Department Chairperson, and possibly others. Course proposals must meet the approval of the Coordinator of Advising (the Academic Program Council liaison). Will be registered by the Office of Academic Services as 390/490A if approved to meet the Active Learning Experience (ALE) or as 390/490B if approved as non-ALE.

1 Course

Prerequisite: Sophomore, junior, or senior standing

Offered: Typically every term

An experiential learning experience individually designed for students with a special academic interest requiring integration of classroom learning with practical experience. Includes on-campus seminars with academic sponsors, as well as non-classroom experience. One to three course credits in one 14-week term or one course credit in Short Term may be taken in Internships. Requires the approval of two faculty sponsors and the Program assumes the responsibility for determining credit allowance. The Coordinator of Internships gives final approval for Internship proposals. This course may be used to meet the Active Learning Experience (ALE) requirement. NOTE: To count as a CFS Internship, the primary sponsor must be a full-time member of the CFS faculty. The CFS Department has imposed specific expectations for Internships within this Department. Please check with the Department Chairperson for additional information.

1 to 3 Courses

Prerequisite: Sophomore or junior standing for 397; senior standing for 497

Offered: Typically as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course initiated, directed, and organized by two or more students who have a similar interest in the topic proposed. All such courses are to be supported by a faculty sponsor, second reader, academic adviser, Program Director, and possibly others. Course proposals must meet the approval of the Coordinator of Advising (the Academic Program Council liaison). Will be registered by the Office of Academic Services as 397/497A if approved to meet the Active Learning Experience (ALE) or as 397/497B if approved as non-ALE.

1 Course

Prerequisite: Sophomore or junior standing for 397; senior standing for 497

Offered: Typically as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course initiated, directed, and organized by two or more students who have a similar interest in the topic proposed. All such courses are to be supported by a faculty sponsor, second reader, academic adviser, Program Director, and possibly others. Course proposals must meet the approval of the Coordinator of Advising (the Academic Program Council liaison). Will be registered by the Office of Academic Services as 397/497A if approved to meet the Active Learning Experience (ALE) or as 397/497B if approved as non-ALE.

1 Course

Prerequisites: Will vary, but always will include permission of instructor

Offered: Typically on a limited basis as student interest and faculty availability allow

A course organized and directed by faculty and approved by the Department Chairperson to meet the particular interests and/or needs of specific students.

1 Course