Download 2015 Philosophy Course Offerings foR

2015 PHILOSOPHY COURSE OFFERINGS FOR FALL
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34-110. Introduction to Western Philosophy. Fall: Cook, Guarini, Noonan
An introduction to philosophy through the study of major figures and movements in the Western philosophical
tradition. The figures and themes selected for any given year will be chosen by the instructor.
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34-112. Philosophy and Human Nature. Fall: Guetter
What is human nature? How do we think of ourselves as human beings? The course will examine several of the
principal theories of human nature that have been put forward in Western philosophy.
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34-129. Contemporary Moral Issues. Fall: MacPherson
A critical examination of philosophical arguments about controversial moral issues. Readings will be chosen by
the instructor on issues connected with one or several of such areas as: biomedical ethics, euthanasia, suicide,
environmental ethics, the treatment of animals, war and violence, pornography, censorship.
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34-130. Philosophy and Popular Culture. Fall: Letteri
A philosophical inquiry into one or more of the more important contemporary cultural forms and phenomena. Topics
may vary and may include popular music, television, virtual reality, sexual roles and stereotypes, or other topics.
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34-160. Reasoning Skills. Fall: Tindale, Guetter, Letteri
An explanation of, and practice in, the basic knowledge, skills and attitudes which are essential components of
reasoning well. (Antirequisite: 34-161 and 34-162.)
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34-221. Introduction to Ethics. Fall: Letteri, Neculau
A survey of the main contending theoretical positions on such basic questions of ethics as: Are all moral values and norms
subjective or objective, relative or absolute? What makes right actions right? What is the good life for human beings?

34-222. Introduction to Social and Political Philosophy. Fall: Cook
An examination of some of the main contending theories about the nature of society and the state, or of some of
the central controversies in social and political theory. (Prerequisite: 34-110 or 34-112 or semester 3 or above
standing; or consent of the instructor.)
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34-224. Business Ethics. Fall: Guetter
An introduction to some central ethical notions (e.g., justice, the common good, moral vs. legal obligation);
application of these issues and concepts to cases drawn from the experiences of business men and women
(concerned with such issues as corporate responsibility, conflict of interest, honesty in advertising, preferential
hiring, corporate responsibility for environmental externalities).

34-227. Environmental Ethics. Fall: Rose
What ethical obligations do we have to the non-human environment? The course examines various answers to
that question. Topics may include: animal rights, the moral status of non-human life, the intrinsic value of
ecosystems, the importance of wilderness, deep ecology, eco-feminism, economic development,
environmentalism, and politics.

34-250. Metaphysics. Fall: Rose
An examination of fundamental questions about the nature of reality. What kinds of things are real; what
distinguishes the real from the ideal, or the real from the illusory? Are there abstract entities (e.g., numbers)? The
nature of necessity and possibility, essence and existence. (Prerequisite: 34-110 or 34-112 or semester 3 or
above standing, or consent of the instructor.)
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34-255. Knowledge, Science, and Society. Fall: Hundleby
The course explores the relationship between what individuals know and their participation in society, including as
members of scientific communities. Topics may include: the ways communities rather than individuals can hold
knowledge; how cognitive authority depends on a person's membership in, and social position in, society; the role
of testimony in knowledge; how the legal system creates knowledge; the roles of gender, race, class, and culture
in knowledge; and the ethical implications of knowledge. (Prerequisite: semester 3 or above standing.)

34-260. Informal Logic: Fallacy. Fall: Parr
The objective is to develop the ability to discriminate between good and bad arguments found in everyday
settings, using the concept of fallacy. A variety of kinds of fallacy are explained, and the skill of identifying them is
taught. The basic tools for analyzing arguments are presented and put to use. Material for analysis is drawn from
newspapers, current periodicals, and other sources of actual arguments. (Prerequisite: 34-160 or 34-161 or
semester 3 or above standing; or consent of the instructor.)
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34-262. Symbolic Logic. Fall: MacPherson
The course covers propositional logic as well as an introduction to the basic concepts of predicate logic. Topics
include the construction of symbolic representation of natural language sentences, semantic methods for
evaluating symbol formulas, and methods of constructing deductions or proofs. (Prerequisite: Semester 3 or
above standing, or permission of the instructor. Antirequisite for non-Philosophy majors: 60-231, 62-190.)

34-273. Ancient Greek Philosophy. Fall: Tindale
The course is a survey of major thinkers and themes in Greek philosophy with particular emphasis on Plato and
Aristotle, but may include attention to Pre-Socratic and post-Aristotelian thinkers. The course will concentrate on
the main developments in Greek, philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, politics, and ethics.

34-319. Social Pathologies. Fall: Neculau
The course examines the emergence of pathological forms of social life that systematically undermine human
interaction, distort social communication, and falsify individual and group consciousness. The course may explore the
work of major social thinkers such as Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, Lukacs, Weber, Schmidt, Freud, Adorno, Marcuse,
Arendt, Habermas and Honneth or investigate one or more specific forms of modern social pathologies such as racism,
gender inequality, colonialism, extreme poverty, the destruction of the environment.(Prerequisite: 34-221, 34- 222).
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34-329. Animals and Ethics. Fall: Parr
The course examines philosophical views about our relationship to animals and the relation of these views to the
evaluation of moral principles and ethical theories, including notions of justice and rights. It may cover such topics
as: attitudes towards animals, animal awareness and autonomy, whether moral consideration should be extended
to animals, whether animals have rights. (Prerequisites: Semester 3 standing and at least one prior Philosophy
course, or permission of the instructor.)
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34-376. Kant. Fall: Neculau
A study of the critical philosophical writings of Immanuel Kant. Topics may include Kant's theories about: the limits
of human knowledge, how knowledge in mathematics and the natural sciences is possible, whether it is possible
to have moral knowledge, whether it is possible to have religious knowledge. (Prerequisite: 34-276, or consent of
the instructor.)

34-470. Recent German Philosophy. Fall: Cook
Significant developments in German philosophy in the twentieth century will be examined. Portions of the course
may be devoted to Husserl (the founder of the phenomenological school), Heidegger (a seminal figure in
existentialism), Gadamer (a key figure in the development of hermeneutics), Critical Theory (a Freudian and
Marxist approach to social and economic issues), and second-generation critical theorists such as Habermas.
(Prerequisite: 34-100 or 34-112, or one 200-level Philosophy course, or permission of instructor.)(Cross-listed
with 34-570.)
For more information, please visit the Philosophy website at http://www.uwindsor.ca/philosophy or you can send
an email directly to the department at [email protected] or [email protected]