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Purdue UniversityDepartment of Philosophy Course Descriptions

Spring 2020

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Sp2020 PHIL Course Descriptions | 2

PHIL Courses Meeting UCC Requirements

Below is a list of PHIL courses that are being taught in the Spring 2020 semester, and which meet

University Core Curriculum requirements. The abbreviation for the UCC Foundational Outcomes

these courses satisfy are:

HUM = Human Cultures: Humanities

IL = Information Literacy

QR = Quantitative Reasoning

STS = Science, Technology & Society

WC = Written Communication

Also listed are the College of Liberal Arts Core Curriculum requirements that these courses meet,

where applicable.

*NOTE: PHIL 260 (Philosophy and Law) satisfies both the Information Literacy and the Written

Communication UCC requirement.

Course Number Course Title Cr Hrs UCC Requirement CLA Requirement

PHIL 11000 The Big Questions: Introduction to Philosophy 3 HUM Western Heritage

PHIL 11100 Introduction to Ethics 3 HUM Social Ethics

PHIL 11400 Global Moral Issues 3 HUM Global Perspective

PHIL 15000 Principles of Logic 3 QR

PHIL 20600 Philosophy of Religion 3 HUM Western Heritage

PHIL 20700 Ethics for Technology, Engineering, and Design 3 STS

PHIL 23000 Religions of the East 3 HUM Other Cultures

PHIL 23100 Religions of the West 3 HUM Western Heritage

PHIL 26000 Philosophy and Law 3 IL, WC Social Ethics

PHIL 27000 Biomedical Ethics 3 STS Social Ethics

PHIL 29000 Environmental Ethics 3 HUM Social Ethics

PHIL 30100 History of Ancient Philosophy 3 HUM Western Heritage

PHIL 30200H History of Medieval Philosophy (Honors) 3 HUM Western Heritage

PHIL 30300 History of Modern Philosophy 3 HUM Western Heritage

PHIL 42400 Recent Ethical Theory 3 HUM


SPRING 2020 Department of Philosophy Course Descriptions

Listed below are the PHIL courses being offered in Spring 2020. The courses are listed by their five-digit

course number and course title, followed by a brief description. The tables below each description also

include information on the course type (mainly lectures, marked ‘LEC’), the enrolment limit of the course,

the day(s)/time of the course or each section of it, the classroom in which the course will be taught, and the

instructor(s) for the course. Courses that include a recitation section are marked in the tables below as type

‘LEC/REC’. Details of the recitation sections are not listed. Type ‘DIS’ indicates a distance learning

section. ‘Grad’ indicates that a graduate student will be the instructor of record. PHIL courses that are cross-

listed with other courses are marked as such (e.g., ‘c/l DEPT 10000’).

100 LEVEL COURSES

11000 The Big Questions: Introduction to Philosophy The basic problems and types of philosophy, with special emphasis on the problems of knowledge and the

nature of reality.

Course Type Enrolment Time Bldg/Rm Instructor

PHIL 11000 LEC 35 MWF 9:30-10:20 BRNG 1268 Grad

PHIL 11000 LEC 35 TR 9:00-10:15 BRNG 1268 COVER

PHIL 11000 LEC/REC 75 TR 10:30-11:20 BRWN 1154 LÖWE

PHIL 11000 LEC 35 TR 10:30-11:45 BRNG 1268 DAVIS

PHIL 11000 LEC 35 TR 1:30-2:45 BRNG 1268 DRAPER

PHIL 11000 DIS 100 Grad

w/ COVER: TR 9:00 – 10:15am

This will be what we used to call a “first course” in philosophy. But never mind what used to be: looking

to the future, it will be a semester’s worth of reflection on some pretty cool topics that will help to launch

you on one of three paths: the path to making more money (than you would make if you didn’t take the

course), the path to deeper savvy about the most important and fundamental truths there are, or the really

rare path to both of those.

There is probably an explanation for why philosophy majors are among the most cheerful and

clever conversationalists-over-a-beer that you’ll find anywhere. There certainly is an explanation for why

(according to the Educational Testing Service, which oversees that nerve-wracking step into education

beyond your four years in college) philosophy graduates are at the top of all majors when it comes to the

GRE, are perennially among the top five on the GMAT, come in second-highest on the LSAT (physics and

mathematics ties for highest), and so on. The full explanation unpacks what starts happening to anyone who

takes a good “first course” Introduction to Philosophy: basically (skipping the two-paragraph explanation)

what happens is simply that you not-very-simply get a lot smarter, while having way more fun than you’d

have ever guessed that pondering the most important and fundamental questions could be. The questions,

our topics, include

(i) what reasoning is and how to do it well while others around you are making mistakes

(ii) what knowledge is

(iii) what your mind might be if it should turn out to be possible – just possible, is all – that God or

angels have minds but no bodies

(iv) why it could turn out that God must exist if it’s even possible – just possible, is all – that God

does exist


(v) how you could be blameworthy or praiseworthy, for doing things you didn’t have to do, even

if raising your hand or walking to the movies is governed by laws of nature (over which you

have no control), and

(vi) a few more surprises thrown in.

Miss the class, and you'll miss the chance to set yourself apart from the unfortunate many who never enjoyed

the payoffs of thinking about (i) - (vi).

w/ LÖWE: TR 10:30 – 11:20am (with REC section)

The goal of this course is to introduce students to theorizing about one of philosophy’s perennial topics:

human nature. The course takes a historical approach and is divided into three sections.

1. The first section considers ancient accounts of human nature, examining Plato’s theory of the

human soul, as well as Aristotle’s account of human agency. Discussion topics include: Is a

human being only a body or more than just a body? If there is a soul, does it survive death?

What is the nature of a human action? Under which conditions is an action free? Do our

character traits determine what we do?

2. The second section examines the problem of human knowledge through the lens of medieval

and early modern philosophy. We will begin with Augustine’s reflection on whether we can

know ourselves and what it is that we can know about ourselves. We will continue with

Descartes’s discussion of how we can know that things outside of our mind, such as trees, cats,

or fellow human beings, truly exist. We will conclude this section by considering Hume’s

inquiry into the nature of our predictions about the future, examining such questions as whether

we can be certain that the sun will rise tomorrow.

3. The final section of the course is dedicated to contemporary accounts of the human mind and

will. We will discuss the view that our mental states are no more than brain states as well as

one important objection to it due to Thomas Nagel. In addition, we will examine Harry

Frankfurt’s contention that free will requires self-reflection.

w/ DAVIS: TR 10:30 – 11:45am

This course has two primary aims:

1. Provide exposure to a sample of philosophical issues and debates

2. Develop skills in formulating arguments and writing essays

The topics discussed include such questions as: Does God exist? What are the limits of scientific

explanation? What is knowledge, and do we have any? Do human beings ever act freely, or does

determinism show that free will is just an illusion? Is the mind just the brain, or is there more to it? The

course will help you to formulate your own answers to such questions, by critically examining the answers

previous philosophers have given. No prior experience with philosophy is necessary. Regarding the other

aim: Logical reasoning and argumentation make up the basic methodology of philosophy, so learning to do

philosophy means learning to develop clear and convincing arguments—even about difficult and abstract

topics. Since defending a thesis is just providing an argument, these skills will also prove useful for writing

essays in other university courses. More generally, the ability to persuade others of the truth of one’s views

(at least, when they are true) is extremely useful outside the classroom. Thus, the benefits of developing

skills in argumentation, critical thinking and writing extend far beyond the scope of the philosophical issues

we’ll discuss.

w/ DRAPER: TR 1:30 – 2:45pm

This course introduces students to philosophical inquiry about consciousness, morality, knowledge, free

will, and God. The course begins by examining Plato's account of the trial and death of Socrates. Each of


Plato's three main themes—Socratic method, Socratic wisdom, and Socratic virtue—tells us something

important about the nature and goals of philosophy. Next, the course examines five philosophical problems.

1. The mind-body problem: what are minds or mental events and how are they related to the

physical world?

2. The abortion problem: under what circumstances, if any, is it morally permissible to obtain an

abortion?

3. The problem of the external world: how, if at all, is it possible to know that there is an external

world?

4. The free will problem: how, if at all, is it possible for some of our choices to be free?

5. The problem of evil: does the evil in the world prove there is no God?

Each of these five problems will be formulated as an "inconsistent triad": a set of three claims, each of

which is highly plausible, but one of which must be false. To solve the problem, one must determine which

of the three claims is false.

11100 Introduction to Ethics A study of the nature of moral value and obligation. Topics such as the following will be considered:

different conceptions of the good life and standards of right conduct; the relation of nonmoral and moral

goodness; determinism, free will, and the problem of moral responsibility; the political and social

dimensions of ethics; the principles and methods of moral judgment. Readings will be drawn both from

contemporary sources and from the works of such philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Butler, Hume,

Kant, and J. S. Mill.


PHIL 11100 LEC 35 MWF 8:30-9:20 BRNG 1268 HARRIS


PHIL 11100 LEC 35 TR 12:00-1:15 BRNG 1268 Grad

PHIL 11100 LEC/REC 75 TR 12:30-1:20 BRNG 2290 LAMBETH


11400 Global Moral Issues A systematic and representative examination of significant contemporary moral problems with a focus on

global issues such as international justice, poverty and foreign aid, nationalism and patriotism, just war,

population and the environment, human rights, gender equality, and national self-determination.





15000 Principles of Logic A first course in formal deductive logic; mechanical and other procedures for distinguishing good

arguments from bad. Truth-tables and proofs for sentential (Boolean) connectives, followed by

quantificational logic with relations. Although metatheoretic topics are treated, the emphasis is on methods.




200 LEVEL COURSES

20600 Philosophy of Religion The course will be divided into three parts. The first part of the course will deal with a question that has

loomed large in the philosophical history of western monotheism (Judaism, Christianity and Islam): is belief

in God rational? The focus here will be on arguments for God’s existence (such as the argument from the

fact that the universe seems to have been designed), on arguments against God’s existence (e.g., the

argument that a perfect God wouldn’t permit terrible things to happen and yet they happen), and on whether

belief in God can be rational if it isn’t supported by argument. The second part of the course will focus on

the fact that there are many different religions in the world, most of which claim to be the only religion that

is right about the most important truths. Our question here will be whether, in the face of this plurality of

religions, it can be rational to think that one’s own religion is right and that other religions incompatible

with it are mistaken. The third part of the course will focus on some questions in philosophical theology—

questions such as: Can we be free if God foreknows what we will do? Does it make sense to make requests

of God in prayer given that, whether we pray or not, a perfect being would know what we want and would

do what is best? The course requirements will include some short writing assignments, a midterm exam,

and a final exam.


PHIL 20600 LEC 35 TR 3:00-4:15 BRNG 1268 BERGMANN

20700 Ethics for Technology, Engineering, and Design

This course is designed to increase your understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities in

national, international, and cross-cultural environments, helping you to anticipate, understand, and navigate

issues that will likely arise in your working life as an engineer or designer. Toward this end, reflection on

your own engineering experience and its ethical ramifications is a fundamental component. The main

concern of the course will be with developing your ability to apply a general ethical framework to new and

unique situations, as well as an understanding of the relation between engineering and issues arising from

global cultural and environmental contexts. The course covers how this ethical framework should be

constituted, and provides practice applying such a framework to specific, concrete cases. Together, these

components work toward your development as a better engineer and a more responsible global citizen. The

readings, case studies, and exercises are geared towards the development of a well-researched original

essay, informed by your past experiences and future aspirations related to engineering, which you will

present to the class.


PHIL 20700 LEC/REC 50 TR 9:30-10:20 BRWN 1154 DAVIS

20800 Ethics of Data Science As applications of data science permeate more aspects of our lives, new and important ethical issues are

arising. However, especially because we’re entering uncharted territory, reasoning clearly about the ethical

implications of data science isn’t easy. This course provides students with the tools for doing so, including

a conceptual framework for ethical reasoning in professional settings, as well as a procedure for case-study

analysis that allows students to practice employing this conceptual framework. Together, these components

help prepare students to be ethical professionals and responsible global citizens.

NOTE: This course is an 8-week, 1 credit hour course.


PHIL 20800 LEC 120 MW 1:30-2:20 (first 8 wks) RAWL 1086 KROLL


23000 Religions of the East (c/l REL 230) A study of the history, teachings, and present institutions of the religions of India, Southeast Asia, China,

and Japan. This will include Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism,

and Zoroastrianism.


PHIL 23000 LEC 38 MWF 9:30-10:20 STEW 314 PURPURA

(REL 23000) 37

23100 Religions of the West (c/l REL 231) A comparative study of the origins, institutions, and theologies of the three major Western religions,

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.


PHIL 23100 LEC 18 MWF 12:30-1:20 BRNG 1268 RYBA

(REL 23100) 17

26000 Philosophy and Law We’ll examine some of the central questions of philosophy of law. How ought judicial decisions be

decided? What are laws? What’s the relation between law and morality? Under what conditions do laws

have authority over us? To what extent is it proper for laws to limit freedom? What constitutes a just

system of punishment? There will be two short papers, one a legal brief and the other a philosophy paper.

There will be two research exercises leading up to the papers. Students will also be required to write a

question or comment on the reading for most classes.


PHIL 26000 LEC/REC 150 TR 1:30-2:20 WTHR 172 JACOVIDES

27000 Biomedical Ethics An examination of the moral problems raised by developments in medicine and the biomedical sciences.

Topics include abortion, reproductive technologies, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, experiments

involving human subjects, and health care delivery.


PHIL 27000 LEC/REC 150 TR 3:30-4:20 WTHR 172 PARRISH

29000 Environmental Ethics An introduction to philosophical issues surrounding debates about the environment and our treatment of it.

Topics may include endangered species, "deep ecology," the scope and limits of cost-benefit analyses, and

duties to future generations.


PHIL 29000 LEC 75 MWF 1:30-2:20 BRWN 1154 BERNSTEIN


300 LEVEL COURSES

30100 History of Ancient Philosophy This class is an exploration of some of the principle themes and figures of Ancient Greek philosophy. We

will be covering weighty issues in physics, metaphysics, epistemology and ethics as they emerged in

Ancient Greek thought, especially questions regarding the nature of Being, the nature of the soul, and what

justice is. We will spend 3 ½ weeks on the Presocratics and Socrates, 5 ½ weeks on Plato, and 6 weeks on

Aristotle.

Required Texts: Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy from Thales to Aristotle (=RAGP), edited

by Marc Cohen, Patricia Curd, and C.D.C. Reeve, Hackett Publishing, Indianapolis: 2016 (ISBN-13: 978-

1624665325).


PHIL 30100 LEC 35 MWF 11:30-12:20 BRNG 1268 MARIÑA

30200H History of Medieval Philosophy Honors A survey of the main trends and figures of medieval philosophy, with an emphasis on metaphysics,

epistemology, and ethics. Readings (in English translation) may include Augustine, Boethius, Avicenna,

Anselm, Abelard, Maimonides, Aquinas, Scotus, Ockham and Suarez.


PHIL 30200H LEC 20 TR 3:00-4:15 BRNG 1230 BROWER

30300 History of Modern Philosophy The history of philosophy, like logic and ethics and epistemology and metaphysics, is a traditional area of

academic philosophy with a history of its own. As practiced in the past, and as we’ll pursue it in this course,

it isn’t history (of a certain subject) but philosophy (with a certain focus). The focus is the content of

historically important philosophical texts. The contents of texts we examine will be approached not out of

special respect for the past, nor for the purpose of uncovering broad social currents influencing the central

figures of early modern philosophy, but simply out of a desire to discover fundamental truths about the

world. That is what philosophy is, according to those thinkers most influential in European philosophical

thought during the so-called early modern period (roughly 1600-1800). They made claims about how the

world is; these claims are either true or false – true if the world is the way they claimed it to be, false if the

world isn’t the way they claimed it to be. Of these influential thinkers we shall, time permitting, examine

selected writings of five: Descartes, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Readings and lectures will focus

primarily on metaphysical and epistemological topics, since those are the philosophical topics of central

concern to these thinkers. It's all cool stuff: a bit of history and philosophy of science, a bit of reflection

about God, some issues about what it takes to know something, some stuff about the nature of minds (from

our arm-chairs without doing any neuro-physiology), a bit more about God, a surprising treatment of “What

is a physical object?” with two hard-nosed answers guaranteed to make you feel like you’ve lived your life

up ‘till now in utter blindness, some knotty thoughts about causation and knowledge (again) that is not

guaranteed to make you nervous about planning ahead for Spring Break, a few reflections on the un-

rewarding game of backgammon, and more.


PHIL 30300 LEC 35 TR 1:30-2:45 BRNG 1230 COVER


30600 20th Century Philosophy We’ll critically examine the roots and development of contemporary philosophical thought. Our starting

points will include phenomenology, logical positivism, and existentialism. Our topics will include the

natures of subjectivity, science, freedom, and morals. We’ll look at both continental and analytic

approaches to our topics. Three papers will be assigned, along with a requirement to write a question or

comment on the reading for most classes.


PHIL 30600 LEC 35 TR 10:30-11:45 BRNG 1230 JACOVIDES

400 LEVEL COURSES

40200 Studies in Medieval Christian Thought A survey of some of the main trends and figures of the Christian Middle Ages, with an emphasis on the

way thinkers from this period make use of philosophy in theology. Readings (in English translation) may

include Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Abelard, Aquinas, Scotus, and Ockham.


PHIL 40200 LEC 35 TR 12:00-1:15 BRNG 1230 BROWER

42400 Recent Ethical Theory A philosophical examination of significant issues in recent ethical theory and metaethics, such as the nature

of value, obligation, virtue, rationality, moral knowledge, the status of ethical sentences, practical

applications, and the relationship between ethics and natural science or religion. This semester we will

examine important recent exchanges between prominent defenders of Humeanism, Kantianism,

Consequentialism, Platonism, and Aristotelian Virtue Theory in normative theory. We will also consider

exchanges between proponents of naturalism, constructivism, expressivism, sentimentalism, and theism in

metaethics. This course fulfills: PHIL major requirements for Area C (Value Theory) and Area D; and

general requirements for S General Education, GTC-Humanistic-Artistic, UC-Humanities, Upper Division.


PHIL 42400 LEC 35 TR 9:00-10:15 BRNG 1230 KAIN

500 LEVEL COURSES

50600 Advanced Philosophy of Religion The first half of this seminar focuses on metaphysics. Topics include life after death, the motivational

structure of a perfect God, and alternative concepts of God. The second half of the seminar shifts to

epistemological issues. Topics include the epistemology of non-inferentially formed religious belief and

religious disagreement. Two papers will be assigned, along with weekly written or oral assignments.


PHIL 50600 LEC 20 TR 10:30-11:45 BRNG 1248 BERGMANN and DRAPER


600 LEVEL COURSES

60100 Special Topics in Ancient Philosophy In this seminar we shall focus on Plato’s metaphysics and epistemology. We commence with a brief

inspection of Parmenides’ foundational philosophical poem, which set the stage for metaphysical and

epistemological speculation for decades. Then we turn to Plato and take a look first at the Phaedo and the

central books of the Republic to get a sense of his systematic (‘middle-period’) musings about the nature of

knowledge and belief, and the ontological status of their respective objects. Finally we turn for the

remainder of the seminar to Plato’s deep and critical reflections, in the Parmenides, Theaetetus, Sophist,

and Philebus, on the very epistemological and logico-metaphysical presuppositions of his own earlier

work. As we read through those late dialogues, we will ask: Does Plato reaffirm his earlier views, or does

he revise them, and if the latter, precisely how? In working through this question we will see a brilliant

philosophical mind at work, one that does not shy away from self-criticism. Prerequisite: PHIL 50100.


PHIL 60100 LEC 20 M 2:30-5:20 BRNG 1248 FRANK and AUGUSTIN

61000 Seminar in Recent Continental Philosophy: Contemporary Metaphysics The topic of this semester’s seminar will be contemporary metaphysics, with a focus on Gilles Deleuze’s

Difference and Repetition. One of the tasks of philosophy is to construct a metaphysics commensurate with

contemporary science and mathematics, for which traditional categories (substance, attribute, causality,

possibility, etc.) have long been superseded. We will read Deleuze in conjunction with a number of other

thinkers, and will examine topics such as the replacement of: substance with the concept of “manifold” or

“multiplicity” (Riemann, Ruyer); causal relations with differential relations (Bertrand Russell); extensive

space with intensive space (non-Euclidian geometries); and the modal category of possibility with virtuality

(Bergson). We will also explore the critique of hylomorphism (Simondon’s theory of individuation); the

positive status of problems (Lautman); the development of a notion of time that is no longer the “measure

of movement,” the rejection of categories, in the Aristotelian or Kantian sense (univocity); etc.

Presentations and a final research paper. Prerequisite: PHIL 51000 or 52000.


PHIL 61000 LEC 20 M 11:30-2:20 BRNG 1248 SMITH

62400 Seminar in Ethics

In this graduate seminar, we will study Immanuel Kant’s moral philosophy both historically and

systematically. We will closely examine Kant’s Groundwork, Critique of Practical

Reason and Metaphysics of Morals (and selections from his lectures on ethics), along with some of the

recent secondary literature on those works and on Kant’s ethics more generally. Each student will give

several oral presentations offering a critique of assigned readings, and revise those presentations for a grade.

Each student will write a 5,000-6,000 word seminar paper.

By default, this seminar counts towards the graduate Ethics Area Requirement; but depending on

the focus of the student’s seminar paper, a strong case may be made for substituting it towards the History

Area Requirement.


PHIL 62400 LEC 20 TR 1:30-2:45 BRNG 1248 KAIN


68000A Heidegger’s Being and Time

This course will concentrate on Martin Heidegger's magnum opus, Being and Time: one of the most

significant philosophical works of the 20th century, and one of the most difficult. Reading the first division,

we will consider Heidegger's phenomenology; the second division, his existentialism. We'll supplement our

reading of the book with background readings that will help us appreciate Heidegger's philosophical

intervention (e.g. selections from Descartes and Husserl), as well as with contemporary articles debating

how to interpret Being and Time.


PHIL 68000A LEC 20 W 11:30-2:20 BRNG 1248 LAMBETH

68000B Dissertation Writing Seminar An intensive course for graduate students majoring or minoring in philosophy. The content of the seminar

will be determined in accordance with the needs and interests of the students. Prerequisite: 6 credit hours

at the graduate level in Philosophy.


PHIL 68000B LEC 20 W 2:30-5:20 BRNG 1248 MARIÑA

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