The area exam practicum is designed to deepen and test a student's familiarity with the area of philosophy that is the student's proposed area of research for the doctoral dissertation. Students must form a committee, agree with the committee on a reading list, produce a document summarizing the philosophical theses in the reading list, and then take an oral examination regarding the area in question.

The goal of this course to develop a piece of philosophical writing from an initial draft into a polished piece of philosophical work. The instructor and student must agree on the paper to work on at the beginning of the practicum, which in many cases will be a past term paper written for another course which the student has received good feedback on, but still requires improvement. The student and faculty member will meet to discuss drafts of the paper and ways to improve it, including doing additional research, refining the philosophical argumentation, and improving the writing.

An introduction to the history of Greek philosophy; emphasis on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Prerequisite: two courses in Philosophy. (Gen.Ed. HS)

An introduction to the history of Greek philosophy; emphasis on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Prerequisite: two courses in Philosophy. (Gen.Ed. HS)

Survey of basic concepts and theories of ethics. Consideration of specific ethical problems that businesses and business people are apt to face.

This course serves as an introduction to social and political philosophy. We will consider a gamut of issues related to how society should be structured, the nature of political authority and justice, and how certain social and institutional structures contribute to various social inequities. More specifically, we will consider the following sorts of questions: What kinds of societies are ideal for human beings? What is the role of government in those societies?

Survey of basic concepts and theories of ethics. Consideration of specific ethical problems that businesses and business people are apt to face.

Introduction to contemporary methods in philosophical research and writing.

This course covers methods for understanding and evaluating reasoning, arguments and inferences, of the sort found in daily life, political speeches, academic writing and beyond. We address such questions as: What is the structure of an argument? What considerations are relevant for determining its strength and cogency? What sorts of appeals to quantitative and scientific data are appropriate, and what sorts aren't? How can we understand and overcome cognitive biases?