A survey of some philosophical topics in medical ethics, focusing on questions about (if ever) when medicine should be used to end life, and when it should be used to improve quality of life. (Gen.Ed. AT)

A survey of some philosophical topics in medical ethics, focusing on questions about (if ever) when medicine should be used to end life, and when it should be used to improve quality of life. (Gen.Ed. AT)

A survey of some philosophical topics in medical ethics, focusing on questions about (if ever) when medicine should be used to end life, and when it should be used to improve quality of life. (Gen.Ed. AT)

Content varies somewhat depending on instructor; students are encouraged to read the detailed descriptions published each semester on the Department's website. The following are typical. (1) Introduction to philosophical thinking, stressing the formulation and evaluation of logical arguments, with readings from Plato and Descartes, and recent works on good and evil, immortality, and personal identity.

This course addresses central questions in contemporary epistemology concerning the nature of knowledge and justification, the 'a priori'; perceptual knowledge; and skepticism.

This is a seminar on the metaphysics of free will. In recent years there has been a renewed interest in the idea that agent causation plays a crucial role in solving the problem of freedom and determinism, and some writers have been exploring the possibility of combining agent causation with compatibilism. In this course we will examine some of the recent literature on these and related topics.

The mind-body problem breaks down into two questions: how can mere matter think, and how can it be conscious? We will investigate both of these issues through a critical evaluation of the principal contemporary theories of mind.

Critical study of recent work in moral philosophy. May include utilitarian, Kantian, or other normative theories, as well as naturalistic, nonnaturalistic, or emotivist theories in metaethics.

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

A survey of some philosophical topics in medical ethics, focusing on questions about (if ever) when medicine should be used to end life, and when it should be used to improve quality of life. (Gen.Ed. AT)