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2021–2022

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Academics > Catalog > 2021–2022 > Courses of Instruction > PHIL

Philosophy

Professor Cummiskey (chair); Associate Professors Ashwell and Stark; Assistant Professors Dacey and Schofield; Lecturer Diehl

The philosophy department encourages all Bates students to take a philosophy course and to consider a philosophy major, minor, or General Education concentration (four courses in philosophy). Students new to philosophy are encouraged to start off with 200-level courses that focus on particular problems of philosophical interest. Topics addressed in these courses include the nature of morality, the justification of law, the place of mind in a physical world, the nature of perception, the justification of our beliefs, the possibility of knowledge, the social construction of race and gender, the understanding of the self, the understanding of space and time, the possible existence of god, the nature and possibility of truth, the purpose and proper understanding of language, and the nature of emotions as well as the point and value of philosophical inquiry itself. Although critical reading, thinking, and writing skills are developed in all philosophy classes, PHIL 195 (Introduction to Logic) provides a more focused study of proper reason that is beneficial to majors and nonmajors alike.

More information on the benefits and opportunities open to philosophy majors is outlined at “Why study philosophy?” on the department website (bates.edu/philosophy/).

Major Requirements

Students who major in philosophy are expected to complete eleven courses in the field. Eight of the eleven courses must meet the distribution requirements indicated below. Students are urged to take the courses listed in 1) and 2) below as soon as possible after they decide to major in philosophy. The philosophy faculty has structured these requirements to allow students the flexibility to plan their own programs within the constraints of a broad philosophical education. Philosophy courses offered in the Short Term count toward the eleven required courses. First-year seminars taught by philosophy faculty count toward the eleven required courses. In addition, students may, with departmental approval, fulfill one of the eleven courses with a course from another related field. Study-abroad courses and transfer courses may satisfy major or minor requirements with the approval of the department chair. Students arrange their programs in consultation with their departmental advisor. Those considering graduate or professional school are encouraged to consult with their advisor in order to design an appropriate course of study.

1) Logic.
PHIL 195. Introduction to Logic.

2) History of Philosophy. The following two:
CM/PL 271. Ancient Philosophy.
PHIL 272. Philosophy in the Modern Era (1600-1800).

3) Ethics and Political Philosophy (the good, the right, and community). One of the following:
PHIL 213. Biomedical Ethics.
ES/PL 214. Environmental Ethics.
PHIL 233. Making Moral Minds: Nature, Nurture, and the Sources of Morality.
PHIL 255. Human Nature, Politics, and Morals.
PHIL 256. Moral Philosophy.
PHIL 257. Moral Luck and Social Identity.
PHIL 258. Philosophy of Law.
PHIL 268. Capitalism and Its Critics.

4) Metaphysics and Epistemology (being, meaning, knowledge). One of the following:
PHIL 210. Philosophy of Cognitive Science.
PHIL 211. Philosophy of Science.
PHIL 235. Philosophy of Mind.
PHIL 236. Theory of Knowledge.
PHIL 245. Metaphysics.

5) Seminars.
Two courses at the 300 level.

6) Senior Thesis.
PHIL 457 or PHIL 458. Double majors may select to complete only one thesis or capstone in their other major, provided it satisfies the Bates General Education W3 requirement. Students who are not undertaking a philosophy thesis still are required to complete the eleven courses for the major.

Pass/Fail Grading Option

Pass/fail grading may be elected for one course applied toward the major.

Minor

The minor in philosophy consists of six courses. A coherent program for each student's minor is designed in accordance with program guidelines and in consultation with a member of the philosophy faculty who is chosen or appointed as the student's departmental advisor for the minor. The minor may include one first-year seminar and up to two Short Term courses in philosophy.

Pass/Fail Grading Option

Pass/fail grading may be elected for only one course applied toward the minor.

Courses
PHIL 195. Introduction to Logic.
An investigation of the nature of valid reasoning, coupled with training in the skills of critical thinking. Close attention is paid to the analysis of ordinary arguments. Enrollment limited to 39 per section. Normally offered every year. [QF] L. Ashwell.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 210. Philosophy of Cognitive Science.
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of the mind, including psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, computer science, and philosophy as its core. This course examines the conceptual foundations of cognitive science, and different approaches to integrating findings and perspectives from across disciplines into a coherent understanding of the mind. Students also consider issues in the philosophy of science, the nature of mind, self, agency, and implicit bias. Prerequisite(s): one course in philosophy, psychology, or neuroscience. Enrollment limited to 29. [AC] M. Dacey.
ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

PHIL 211. Philosophy of Science.
Science has become our model for what counts as knowledge. This course examines that model and discusses how far its claims are justified in light of the nature and history of science. Topics include scientific explanation, scientific reasoning, the role of values in science, social construction and objectivity, scientific progress, similarities and differences among scientific fields, and science’s relations to society and to other views of the world. Readings include traditional and contemporary work in the philosophy of science. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. [AC] M. Dacey.
ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

PHIL 213. Biomedical Ethics.
Rapid changes in the biological sciences and medical technology have thoroughly transformed the practice of medicine. The added complexity and power of medicine has, in turn, revolutionized the responsibilities and duties that accompany the medical professions. This course explores the values and norms governing medical practice; the rights and responsibilities of health care providers and patients; the ethics of organ transplants and the determination of death; the justification for euthanasia; and problems of access, allocation, and rationing of health care services. In addition to Western bioethics, this course typically includes Confucian, Buddhist, and Islamic approaches to bioethics. Not open to students who have received credit for FYS 362 or PHIL s26. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] D. Cummiskey.
ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

ES/PL 214. Environmental Ethics.
What do we owe to nonhuman animals? How ought we treat plants and other nonsentient organisms? Are ecosystems appropriate objects of moral concern? This course focuses on moral issues that arise as a result of human interaction with the environment. Students discuss mainstream Western philosophers as well as challenges from the point of view of indigenous cultures, Buddhism, and ecofeminism. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. [AC] P. Schofield.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 233. Making Moral Minds: Nature, Nurture, and the Sources of Morality.
This course examines the origins and mechanisms of moral judgment and decision making. How much is our moral cognition shaped by culture as opposed to evolved nature? How much is it shared with nonhuman animals? What motivates us and drives our evaluations? What weaknesses, limitations, and biases might we face? In addressing these questions, students read from classic philosophical texts, recent philosophical publications, research in psychology, and popular science writing. Along the way, they attempt to glean practical lessons for how we think about ourselves, our decisions, and our moral community. Not open to students who have received credit for FYS 503. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. [AC] M. Dacey.
ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

PHIL 235. Philosophy of Mind.
Our minds are simultaneously the most intimately familiar things imaginable and the most mysterious. We live every minute in and with our minds, and we only experience the world through them (perhaps, we even are our minds), and yet we may not know them as well as we think. Despite recent progress in the sciences of the mind, it even remains difficult to place the mind in the physical universe. In light of these puzzles, this course asks: How should we relate to our minds and their operations? How do our thoughts and experiences connect to the external world? How could a conscious, first-person perspective arise in a physical universe? Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. [AC] M. Dacey.
ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)

PHIL 236. Theory of Knowledge.
Is knowledge possible, and if so, how? The course investigates how we can know the ordinary things we take ourselves to know. Students are introduced to major philosophical theories concerning when our thoughts about ourselves and the world are rationally justified. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. [AC] L. Ashwell.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 245. Metaphysics.
This course introduces students to some of the central issues in metaphysics. Questions considered may include: Which kinds of things exist? What is one saying when one says that something "exists"? What does it mean to say that something causes something else? What is one saying when one says that something might possibly be other than it is? What does it mean to say that something is the same identical thing at one time that it is at another? Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. [AC] L. Ashwell.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 255. Human Nature, Politics, and Morals.
What is the essence of human nature? How does human nature inform our understanding of the difference between right and wrong? Which political institutions are appropriate for creatures like us? This course considers answers to these questions offered by philosophers throughout history as well as contemporary attempts to address these questions from a post-Darwinian perspective. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. [AC] P. Schofield.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 256. Moral Philosophy.
An introduction to moral theory and moral principles, including egoism, utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, and virtue theory. The course considers whether morality is a matter of custom, convention, or individual preference, and asks how we can determine what is morally right and what is morally wrong. Topics include the relationship between morality and religion, the ethics of patriotism and cosmopolitanism, the nature of justice, race and justice, Confucian conceptions of self-cultivation, Buddhist virtue ethics, and finding meaning in life. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. [AC] D. Cummiskey.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 257. Moral Luck and Social Identity.
Our lives are deeply subject to luck. This course provides an introduction to philosophical analysis and the moral philosophies of Aristotle and Kant. The course also considers social luck: luck in one’s identity and how that identity is regarded by one’s culture. The course focuses on racism, with particular attention to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany and slavery in the United States. Students examine ongoing white supremacy in the United States and consider racism as a kind of social and moral luck. Topics also may include moral responsibility for implicit bias, the nature of evil, and responsibility and reparations for slavery. Not open to students who have received credit for FYS 288 or PHIL s22. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29 per section. [AC] S. Stark.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 258. Philosophy of Law.
What is law? What are the relationships among law, justice, and morality? What is the nature of judicial reasoning? Particular legal issues include the nature and status of liberty rights, the legitimacy of restrictions on speech and expression, and the justification of incarceration and the death penalty. Readings include contemporary legal theory, case studies, and court decisions. Not open to students who have received credit for FYS 258. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] D. Cummiskey.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PL/RE 260. Philosophy of Religion.
A consideration of major issues that arise in philosophical reflection upon religion. Particular issues are selected from among such topics as the nature of faith, the possibility of justifying religious beliefs, the nature and validity of religious experience, the relation of religion and science, and the problem of evil. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GS/PL 262. Feminist Philosophy.
What is gender? What is race? What is oppression? What does it mean to experience discrimination or oppression? Feminist philosophy uses philosophical methods to think carefully about gender, the way gender intersects with other identities, the lives of historically marginalized voices, and the concepts employed in feminist political movements and similar social movements such as those centered around race, class, sexual identity and orientation, and disability. Additional areas of study may include science and society; gender and science; sex and sexuality; reproduction; family; gender in popular culture; and the body and appearance. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] S. Stark, L. Ashwell.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 268. Capitalism and Its Critics.
Some consider a capitalist economy an environment ideally conducive to human flourishing, while others consider it a significant threat. Debates over the merits of capitalism have raged among philosophers for generations. This course considers some of capitalism's most able defenders, as well as some of its most incisive critics. The course also examines some hybrid views, which attempt to harness capitalism's capacity for good, while mitigating its ability to harm. Enrollment limited to 29. [AC] P. Schofield.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

CM/PL 271. Ancient Philosophy.
This course examines the ancient philosophical views and questions especially, but not solely, from the Western tradition. Philosophers discussed may include the Pythagoreans, the Atomists, Socrates, Aristotle, the Stoics, and the Epicureans. The course also may include study of the works of Theano, Hypatia, and Aspasia of Miletus — three of the first women recognized as philosophers in the Western tradition. The course also may include the study of the ancient Chinese philosopher, Confucius. Ancient philosophy is considered in its historical and social context, with indications of how ideas were developed in later centuries, up to the present, including both positive and negative influences of these ideas. Not open to students who have received credit for CMS 271 or PHIL 271. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] S. Stark.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 272. Philosophy in the Modern Era (1600-1800).
In this course students discuss problems surrounding knowledge, mind, reality, and reason as they developed from the birth of modern philosophy until their culmination in Kant. The course considers thinkers such as René Descartes, Princess Elisabeth, Margaret Cavendish, John Locke, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. It also takes up non-Western thinkers from the period who are interested in related issues. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. [AC] P. Schofield.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 310. Buddhist Philosophy.
This course explores Buddhist philosophy with a special emphasis on moral and political philosophy. Philosophical topics include the Four Noble Truths, the doctrine of impermanence and codependent arising, the doctrine of no-self, and the concept of emptiness. The relationships among Buddhist philosophy, insight meditation, and moral virtue are a primary focus of the course. Prerequisite(s): two courses in philosophy. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] [AC] D. Cummiskey.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

ES/PL 314. The Environment and What We Owe to Each Other.
As we use and deplete natural resources and alter the global environment, the consequences do not respect national borders, the boundaries among generations, or species distinctions. This course takes up questions about the nature and scope of justice as it pertains to the environment. Specifically, it considers what we owe to our fellow citizens, to the global community, to future generations, and to nonhuman animals, as we change the environment. Prerequisite(s): ES/PL 214; or two courses in philosophy; or one course in philosophy and one course in environmental studies. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] [AC] P. Schofield.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 321. Seminar: Topics in the Contemporary Philosophy of Mind and Language.
An examination of recent discussions of topics concerning language, intentionality, and what it is to be a person. Topics vary from year to year.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 321J. Self-Knowledge.
We seem to know our own minds — our beliefs, desires, intentions, feelings, and sensations — in a distinctive and particularly secure way. But although introspective self-knowledge is so familiar, it is difficult to account for. This course examines a range of philosophical problems associated with self-knowledge: What (if any) are the differences between self-knowledge and other knowledge, such as knowledge of other people's minds? Can plausible accounts of the process of introspection be reconciled with plausible accounts of the objects of self-knowledge (i.e., mental states and their contents)? Do we even have knowledge of our own minds? Prerequisite(s): one 200- or 300-level course in philosophy. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] [AC] L. Ashwell.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 321K. Philosophy of Animal Minds.
Nonhuman animals seem like us in many ways, and unlike us in many others. Sometimes they are studied as models of human minds; other times, they are studied to discover what (if anything) makes human minds unique. Beyond these questions, the cognitive abilities of animals like great apes, corvids, and octopuses are fascinating in their own right, and the task of understanding other minds presents a deep and complex challenge to science. Students discuss these issues from an interdisciplinary perspective including philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology. Prerequisite(s): two courses in philosophy, or one course in philosophy and one course in neuroscience or psychology. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] [AC] M. Dacey.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 321L. Topics in Contemporary Mind and Language: Language and Power.
Language helps us communicate and create important connections with others. Yet it can be used to disparage, marginalize, or subordinate people. With the help of classic ideas from the philosophy of language, students analyze a number of contemporary issues around power and the effects of social discourse. Topics may include: free speech; the impact of hate speech, pornography, slurs, and other harmful speech; generalizations (so-called generics); propaganda and ideology; the representation of gender, race, and other social categories in language; the relationship between our social position and the effect of our speech; and resistance to harmful speech. Prerequisite(s): two courses in philosophy. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] Normally offered every other year. [AC] L. Ashwell.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 322. Seminar: Topics in Contemporary European Philosophy.
An examination of recent developments in Continental philosophy. Enrollment limited to 15.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 323. Seminar: Topics in Metaphysics and Epistemology.
This course focuses on advanced issues in the theory of knowledge and in the theory of ultimate reality.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 323C. The Metaphysics of Action.
Some of the most exciting work in contemporary metaphysics seeks to better understand the nature of action. The work is compelling not only because it is fascinating in its own right, but also because it has deep implications for the philosophy of mind, ethics, philosophy of law, and epistemology. This course takes up questions such as: When agents act, what is the relationship between their bodily movements and what goes on in their minds? What does it mean to act intentionally? How do agents know what they're doing? Can multiple persons form a collective agent to which actions may be attributed? Prerequisite(s): two philosophy courses. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] One-time offering. [AC] P. Schofield.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

GS/PL 323D. Feminist Epistemology.
In this course, students read feminist accounts and critiques of how we know what we know as well as how and what we value, and why. Students consider questions such as: Is rationality gendered? Are conceptions of philosophy "masculine"? What role do "subjects" play in knowledge production? What epistemic role does ignorance play in knowing and unknowing? What role does epistemic responsibility play in being justified? What is epistemic injustice and how can such injustice be addressed? Prerequisite(s): two courses in philosophy; or two courses in gender and sexuality studies; or one course in philosophy and one course in gender and sexuality studies. Recommended background: PHIL 236 and GS/PL 262. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] [AC] [HS] L. Ashwell.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

BI/PL 323E. Philosophy of Evolution.
Evolutionary theory raises many deep and complicated philosophical issues as well as questions about how science operates: Are concepts like function, selection, and optimality scientifically legitimate? How do we make inferences about the unobserved past? Can thinking about the evolutionary past help us understand how biological processes, such as the mind, work today? It also raises questions about who we are and where we come from: How do we relate to other species? Can we better understand our moral and intellectual strengths and weaknesses by looking to evolution? In this course, students approach these questions from an interdisciplinary perspective, including philosophy, biology, and the cognitive sciences. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: PHIL 211; two courses in philosophy; or one course in philosophy and one course in biology. Not open to students who have received credit for BIO 323E or PHIL 323E. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] [AC] M. Dacey.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 323E. Philosophy of Evolution.
Evolutionary theory raises many deep and complicated philosophical issues as well as questions about how science operates: Are concepts like function, selection, and optimality scientifically legitimate? How do we make inferences about the unobserved past? Can thinking about the evolutionary past help us understand how biological processes, such as the mind, work today? It also raises questions about who we are and where we come from: How do we relate to other species? Can we better understand our moral and intellectual strengths and weaknesses by looking to evolution? In this course, students approach these questions from an interdisciplinary perspective, including philosophy, biology, and the cognitive sciences. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: PHIL 211; two courses in philosophy; or one course in philosophy and one course in biology. Not open to students who have received credit for BI/PL 323E or BIO 323E. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] [AC] M. Dacey.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 324. Seminar: Topics in Ethics.
This course focuses on important issues in ethics and political theory.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 324E. Virtue and Emotions.
Virtue ethics emerged as an important kind of moral theory during the last half of the twentieth century. There are many virtue theories, but they share a focus on the morality of character rather than the morality of individual actions. Many seek an answer to the question, "How shall I live?" rather than, "What should I do?" This course explores both the historical roots of virtue theory found in Aristotle and, according to some scholars, Kant. It also examines several contemporary theories of virtue as well as critics of this approach to moral theory. Prerequisite(s): two courses in philosophy. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] [AC] S. Stark.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 324F. I and Thou: Recognition and Second-Personal Morality.
Morality requires that we treat persons not simply as objects to be planned around or manipulated, but as beings with a special status that we ought to recognize or acknowledge. It is this status to which we gesture when we talk about owing a duty to someone. Philosophers have long sought to understand the relationship that holds between persons who recognize one another's status as morally significant beings. Participants in this seminar seek to understand this as well. Readings include both historical philosophical texts and contemporary works. Prerequisite(s): one course in philosophy. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] [AC] P. Schofield.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 325. Seminar: Topics in Metaethics.
These courses consider a broad range of issues, both historical and contemporary, in metaethics and moral epistemology. [AC] S. Stark.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 325C. Moral Realism and Irrealism.
This course examines contemporary views on the meaning of moral language, the possibility of moral knowledge, the possibility of moral facts, the nature of moral arguments, the relationship among morality, emotion, and reason. Some background in moral or political philosophy is recommended. Prerequisite(s): Two courses in philosophy.. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] [AC] S. Stark.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 332. Moral Psychology.
Facts about how people actually do choose and judge actions seem to matter for how we understand morality. But any attempts to trace these connections face the famous gap between "is" and "ought," claims about how the world is versus how it ought to be. The last two decades have seen an explosion in work at the intersection of philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience attempting to make these connections explicit. In this course, students attempt to bridge the is-ought gap to better understand our selves, our well-being, our duties, our valves, and our biases and limitations. Prerequisite(s): two courses in philosophy, or one course in philosophy and one course in neuroscience or psychology. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] [AC] M. Dacey.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 350. Seminar on Major Thinkers.
The course examines in depth the writings of a major philosopher. Thinkers who may be discussed include Anscombe, Aristotle, Beauvoir, Butler, Descartes, Foot, Hume, Kant, Kierkegaard, Marx, Merleau-Ponty, Mill, Nagarjuna, Nietzsche, Nussbaum, Plato, Rawls, Rousseau, Santideva, Sartre, Spinoza, Vasubandhu, Tu Weiming, and Wittgenstein. [AC] [HS] Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 360. Independent Study.
Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study per semester. Normally offered every semester. Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 365. Special Topics.
A course or seminar offered from time to time and reserved for a special topic selected by the department.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 365D. Reparations and Responsibility.
Colonialism, the genocide of native and Indigenous peoples, and the enslavement of Africans and African Americans, are foundational wrongs in the United States. It is essential to ask whether the United States—as a society, as a government, or as individuals—must pay reparations to Black and brown people and to Indigenous people for these wrongs. This course examines what it means to make reparations, whether and under what circumstances humans in the present can repair wrongs done by others, and done in the past. The course considers the difference between paying reparations for past wrongs and ending ongoing injustices. Finally, the course asks what the goal of reparations is, whether it is morally required to pay them, and morally justified to demand them. Prerequisite(s): two courses in philosophy. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] [HS] S. Stark.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 457. Senior Thesis.
Students register for PHIL 457 in the fall semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both PHIL 457 and 458. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL 458. Senior Thesis.
Students register for PHIL 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both PHIL 457 and 458. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

Short Term Courses
PHIL s17. The Ethics of Care.
What is it to care? Whose concerns are centered and whose are marginalized or ignored in caring? This course may consider the ethics of caring/not caring in health care/midwifery, in movements for birthing justice, in the paid workforce, at home, for the unhoused, throughout history (in whose stories are centered in discussions of institutionalized slavery or colonization), and at the margins of life. This course focuses on the way social oppressions, historical and ongoing, affect caring and not caring. [W1] [AC] S. Stark.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL s20. Film as Philosophy.
Some philosophers have argued that movies may be approached as works of philosophy, asking philosophical questions that they themselves go on to answer. In this course, students watch films from a number of genres (westerns, science fiction, thrillers, comedies of remarriage, etc.) and then attempt to discern their philosophical contributions to questions about knowledge, politics, love, embodied agency, race, and feminism. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. [AC] P. Schofield.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL s28. Homelessness.
Homelessness raises special questions for social and political philosophy, for to be homeless is not simply to lack an important resource, but to live in a particular condition and social status. This course takes up questions such as: Is a home necessary for human dignity? Are laws regulating where the homeless can dwell unjust? How does homelessness affect a person’s ability to be a full member of their community? Is housing a human right, and should it be subject to market norms? Philosophical readings are supplemented with first-person narratives, policy proposals, journalistic reporting, and legal scholarship. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. Normally offered every other year. P. Schofield.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL s29. Logic: Possibility, Proofs, and Paradox.
Building on PHIL 195 (Introduction to Logic), students consider the relationship between logic and reasoning, learn about modal logic (the logic of possibility and necessity), Turing machines, and alternative logics, prove some surprising metalogical results, and puzzle through some logical paradoxes. Prerequisite(s): PHIL 195. Not open to students who have received credit for PHIL 295 or 395A. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. [QF] L. Ashwell.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL s32. Teaching Philosophy: Course Design and Classroom Instruction.
The line between practicing philosophy and teaching it has always been a blurry one, enough so that being a philosopher is often thought to involve being a teacher. In this course, students assume the role of philosophy instructor. The course covers works by a number of contemporary authors writing on course design and innovative teaching methodology, and students design a week-long introductory philosophy mini-course targeted at high school students. Prerequisite(s): three philosophy courses. Enrollment limited to 9. Instructor permission is required. (Community-Engaged Learning.) [AC] P. Schofield, S. Stark.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL s34. What is Philosophy?.
What is philosophy? Philosophy departments typically offer a reply to this question. Do these characterizations of the nature of philosophy capture the diversity of philosophical methods and questions? This seminar explores this question by considering common criticisms of philosophy, non-Western philosophy, and empirically informed approaches to the study of philosophy. The course is designed for philosophy majors and minors to study the diversity and unity of the philosophical enterprise. Prerequisite(s): Four courses in philosophy. Enrollment limited to 15. [AC] [HS] D. Cummiskey.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations

PHIL s50. Independent Study.
Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study during a Short Term. Normally offered every year. Staff.
Concentrations

This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations