University
of Wisconsin Oshkosh
PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT
Course
Descriptions
for
Spring 2012
Lower Division Courses
PHIL
101 (Section 1): Elementary Logic (Prof. Cordero) [TTh 1:20-2:50 PM]
A
study of how logic works in the most common types of arguments. The required
text is Unified Logic. Symbols are used. Up to seven hours of study time per
week outside of class may be necessary for the average student. Grades will
come from four cumulative multiple-choice tests.
PHIL
105: Ethics (Prof. Cordero) [One section on MW 3-4:30 PM, and another
on TTh 9:40-11:10 AM]
An examination of morality, the Good Life, and the meaning of basic ethical
terms. The required text is Ethics: Selections from Classical and Contemporary
Writers. Theories by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Epictetus, St. Augustine,
St. Thomas, Hobbes, Butler, Hume, Kant, Mill, Nietzsche, Marx, Moore, Ayer,
Sartre, and Rawls will be discussed. Good note taking in class is a must. Up
to seven hours of study time per week outside of class may be necessary. Grades
will come from cumulative multiple-choice tests.
PHIL
105: Ethics (Prof. Gilboa) [One section on MWF 8:00-9:00 AM, and another
on MWF 9:10-10:10]
After explaining the notion of an objective basis for ethics, we will study
the moral theory of John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism. We will next study the
moral theory of Immanuel Kant, and the Social Contract theory of Morals of Thomas
Hobbes. To demonstrate the usefulness of ethical theory, we will discuss along
the way questions of applied ethics. If time permits, we will take a look at
the modification of Hobbes' theory by Dr. Gilboa.
PHIL
105: Ethics (Prof. Herzberg) [One section on MWF 12:40-1:40 PM, and another
on MWF 1:50-2:50 PM]
In this class we will examine several influential moral theories. In a philosophical moral theory, principles of right and wrong action are not simply asserted as commands, as they might be in a legal system or a religion. Rather, philosophers attempt to logically justify the moral principles they hold to be true. All of the philosophers that we will be studying in this class - including Thomas Hobbes, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Immanuel Kant - have tried to find a rational or a natural (as opposed to a supernatural) basis for morality, arguing that at least some rules of behavior are as objectively true as the fundamental principles of science or mathematics. In this class, strengths and weaknesses of each theory will be discussed, and you will be encouraged to think about how your own moral theory resembles (or differs from) the ones we have studied.
PHIL
109: Introduction to Philosophy (Prof. Burr) [One section on MWF
12:40-1:40 PM and another on MWF 1:50-2:50]
The general goal of this course is to stimulate students to grow in Socratic
wisdom so that they no longer think they know what they do not know. To this
end, students will scrutinize some philosophical analyses and solutions to such
questions as: Is anyone or no one morally responsible? Does God exist? Is it
rational to obey the law? Is any knowledge possible? Does human life have any
meaning? Only when one has forged one’s own answers to these and similar
questions does he or she cease being the mere echo of other voices and, instead,
speak freely and independently and achieve genuine freedom of thought.
PHIL
109: Introduction to Philosophy (Prof. Wagoner) [One section on TTh 9:40-11:10 and another on TTh 11:30-1:00 PM)
This course will introduce students to basic problems in four areas of Philosophy. We will be studying philosophical problems and debates surrounding knowledge and skepticism, the nature of the mind, human freedom and determinism, and religious belief. We will read a variety of important and influential philosophical texts, both classical and modern, whose authors argue for, develop, and defend distinctive answers to these problems. Students will also be introduced to basic philosophical methodology. In addition to a basic understanding of the philosophical debates covered in the course, students can expect to come away from the course with a general understanding of the kinds of questions philosophers are concerned about as well as a basic understanding of how philosophers set about to answer such questions and to evaluate their answers.
PHIL 109 : Introduction to Philosophy (Prof. Kyburg) [Interim: MTWTThF 9:00-12:00 PM]
PHIL 110: Honors Introduction to Philosophy (Prof. Carlin) [MWF 1:50-2:50 PM]
This seminar is designed to introduce students to a number of philosophical issues that have fascinated humankind for centuries. We will ask such questions as: Is it reasonable to believe in the existence of God? Do human beings have freedom of the will, or are all their actions determined? What, if any, knowledge do we have? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? What makes certain actions right (moral) and others wrong (immoral)? Is the death penalty morally acceptable? To what extent may government rightfully restrict the behavior of its citizens? We will critically examine answers that have been offered to these, and other questions. Note that this is a small class (a seminar) and it will involve lively critical discussion, as well as a number of writing exercises.
Upper Division Courses
PHIL
211: Philosophy of India (Prof. Burr) [MWF 10:20-11:20 AM]
This course critically discusses the contributions of native Indian philosophies to the analysis and solution of such philosophic problems as the nature of the self, knowledge, causation, freedom, reality, and release from suffering. Consideration also will be given to the appropriate yogas. Indian philosophies scrutinized include Carvaka, Yogacara, Madhyamika, Nyaya-Vaisesika, Samkhya-yoga, Vedanta, and Satyagraha (Gandhi).
PHIL
305: History of Modern Philosophy (Prof. Carlin) [MWF 12:40-1:40 PM]
This course covers the period of philosophy generally referred to as the “modern” period (roughly, 1600-1800). There can be little doubt that these were some of the most active and tumultuous years in the history of intellectual thought. We will begin with a brief look at the historical and intellectual background to the modern period. This will set the stage for a more careful coverage of several great philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: René Descartes, John Locke, Gottfried Leibniz, George Berkeley, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. We will look in less detail at a few other figures too, such as Thomas Hobbes, Baruch Spinoza, and Nicholas Malebranche. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the individual views of these philosophers, as well as the philosophical development of the modern period as a whole.
PHIL
311: Bioethics (Prof. Wagoner) [TTh 3:00-4:30 PM]
In this course we will consider a variety of ethical issues associated with the practice of medicine. We will consider ethical issues relating to different roles – doctor, nurse, patient, family – and their importance in ethical decision making. We will consider questions about the importance of knowledge in ethical decision making on the part of the care-givers and patients. We will also look closely at some important issues of recent and continuing public debate. Throughout the course, we will be concerned to analyze the issues from a variety of ethical and scientific standpoints.
PHIL
345: Philosophy of Law (Prof. Gilboa) [MWF 3:00-4:00 PM]
The first part of the course will be devoted to the study of several influential types of legal philosophy: classical natural law, positivism, constructivism and consequentialism. The second part of the course will be devoted to analysis of legal cases in statutory interpretation, contract law, tort law and public law in which we find the influence of legal philosophy of one type or another. The grade will be based on a midterm, final and a paper.
PHIL 426: Wittgenstein (Prof. Herzberg) [TTH 1:20-2:50 PM]
Many prominent philosophers of the early 20th century adopted the guiding assumption that the most intractable problems of philosophy arose entirely from misinterpretations of language. Better interpretations, they argued, required a sort of “deep logical analysis” that presupposed a particular view of scientific verification and utilized a mathematically precise symbolic notation. Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) began his career advocating just such a view, but then turned passionately against it. In fact, he came to believe that most of his colleagues were desperately in need of a sort of “philosophical therapy” – one that involved carefully attending to the many ways in which words were actually used. To this end, he devised an alternative methodology that utilized “language games” to illuminate how one should understand linguistic meaning. We will discuss his most influential expression of this methodology in Philosophical Investigations (1953), a book that radically challenged the dominant philosophical paradigm of its time.
Last
Updated:9-21-11