Philosophy (PHIL)

An introduction to the basic problems and concepts of philosophy - the nature of the self, ethics, theories of knowledge, philosophy of religion, etc., as revealed in the writings of the major philosophers. May be used for general education credit.

Course on various topics in philosophy and/or ethics. May be taken multiple times for credit.

An introduction to the techniques for analyzing and evaluating information in everyday experience. The functions of language will be discussed. Techniques for judging the strengths of arguments and the probable truth of the arguments' premises will be examined. This course does not meet the philosophy requirement for the B.A. degree. May be used for general education credit. May not be used for major credit.

An introduction to the principles and techniques of critical thinking in ethics, including analysis of arguments and fallacies, ethical theories, and applications of moral principles to moral issues. This course does not meet the philosophy requirement for the B.A. degree. May be used for general education credit. May not be used for major credit.

An examination of philosophical perspectives on the nature and importance of character and virtue.

This course combines feature length films and classic philosophical writings as points of departure for considering perennial philosophical questions such as: What is real? (Metaphysics) How can I know? (Epistemology) What is of value? (Morality).

This course offers an intensive examination of religion from the standpoint of philosophical thinking with particular emphasis on the way philosophers view such problems as the existence of God, evil, immortality, religious language, etc.

This course will explore the philosophical aspects of science fiction. Topics may include the nature of time, time travel, free will, consciousness, personal identity, possible worlds, artificial intelligence, quantum theory or philosophical skepticism.

This course will involve exploration of the intellectual world of the Ancient Greeks, with particular emphasis on the philosophical, historical, and literary works produced during the period. The course will include lectures and site visits throughout Greece.

An introduction to the languages and techniques of propositional logic and first-order quantification theory.

Ethical theories are used to analyze contemporary moral issues in areas such as business and health care. Course content varies.

Examination of the philosophical issues raised by the law, including the nature, foundation, and limits of the law, theories of its interpretation, and the fundamental interests it aims to protect.

This course will study artistic works (literary or otherwise) for their philosophical content. Related issues in the philosophy of art for example, the nature of tragedy, theories of interpretation may also be considered.

This course involves a collaboration between undergraduate students in the Department of Philosophy and Religion and students in local schools. JMU undergraduate students will read texts and discuss ideas in the philosophy of pedagogy as well as meet weekly with local K-12 students. During these meetings, JMU students will discuss philosophical ideas with K-12 students, using storybooks and various activities (e.g., drawing, photographing, building and exploring) to generate discussions.

An extensive examination of theories of knowledge and philosophical problems concerning knowledge and belief.

Readings and discussions in the persistent philosophical problems of the arts, centering on consideration of the work of art, the artist and the audience.

The study and application of the principles and techniques of modern deductive logic to natural language. Also, examination of the properties of formal systems and of the logical implications and paradoxes of language.

Examination of central questions regarding the fundamental nature of reality. Possible topics: universals and particulars, possibility and necessity, identity of objects over time and puzzles of material constitution, the problem of free will and determinism, and the nature of time.

Application of symbolic logic (first-order logic with identity) to legal language and deductive legal argument. Will include close logical analysis of at least one of the following: Supreme Court brief, Supreme Court decision, Supreme Court oral argument.

Introduction to inductive logic and the philosophical problems it raises. This course may include topics such as the traditional problem of induction; the Goodman paradox and the new riddle of induction; the probability calculus and kinds of probability; Mill's methods of experimental inquiry and the nature of causality, abduction (inference to the best explanation); and confirmation theory.

In an increasingly globalized world, ethical decisions often involve considering diverse systems of beliefs about how one ought to live. In this course, students will think about ethical questions from cross-cultural perspectives, including perspectives of Buddhism, Confucianism, Aristotelianism and utilitarianism. By analyzing arguments made in Eastern and Western philosophical and religious traditions, students will begin to see similarities - such as the use of logical reasoning and the undesirability of pain - as well as fundamental differences. Case studies and examinations of contemporary issues make the course content relevant to the present day.

This course is a general survey of topics in the philosophy of mathematics. Topics may include the realism/antirealism debate, structuralism in mathematics, mathematical explanation, mathematical conceptions of infinity, the limits of mathematics or philosophical implications of set theory.

This course will examine some non-standard logics and some of the philosophical issues they raise. Topics may include modal logic, intuitionistic logic, temporal logic or many valued logics.

An examination, at the intermediate level, of both classical and contemporary moral theories. Critical analysis of the normative and meta-ethical issues these theories raise.

Mid-level class in political philosophy. Will read classic and/or contemporary texts in philosophy influential on political thought. Focus may be on views of the justification for, and role of, the state. Consideration may also be given to the proper relationship of individuals and the state, political freedom and autonomy.

This course will explore a variety of philosophical perspectives from across the Islamic world, employing methodological tools from both philosophy and religious studies. Themes may include: What is knowledge and how is it acquired? What does it mean to be human? What is the relationship between reason and other human faculties? What is the nature of time and history? What do we really mean when we talk about God? Philosophers covered may include: al-Kindi (d. 873), Ibn Sina (d. 1037), Ibn 'Arabi (d. 1240), Mulla Sadra (d. 1636), Muhammad Iqbal (d. 1938) and Fatema Mernissi (d. 2015).

This course traces philosophical problems raised by the pre-Socratics, Parmenides, Heraclitus, Pythagoras and the Sophists, through their treatment by Plato and Aristotle. Emphasis is placed on selected writings of Plato and Aristotle.

A selective survey of major issues and thinkers in Western philosophy from Descartes to Kant.

A survey of the major issues and thinkers of the medieval philosophical world with emphasis on the philosophical writings of those within the Western tradition, such as (e.g.) Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, and Scotus.

This course will focus on philosophy from the Hellenistic and Roman periods (4th C. BCE through 5th C. CE), with a special emphasis on Epicureanism, Stoicism and Skepticism.

An examination of existentialism and its major spokesmen including such authors as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus, Marcel and Heidegger.

This course covers topics in ethics through the lens of influential figures in the history of philosophy. Possible topics include the foundations of morality, moral judgment, moral motivation, freedom of the will and the nature of our obligations to others.

An intermediate-level examination of philosophical problems in feminist theory and feminist contributions to philosophy.

Rather than considering psychoanalysis as a field of research within psychology, or a form of therapeutic or clinical practice, this course will survey canonical works in psychoanalysis, including but also beyond Freud and Lacan, in an attempt to identify and explicate the philosophical core of psychoanalysis. As part of this survey of psychoanalysis, we will consider psychoanalytically informed discussions of politics, ideology, art, cinema, cultural phenomena and literature.

This course examines some major approaches to the philosophical study of race and racism. Possible topics include the ontology of race and racism, the ethics and politics of identity, just and unjust forms of race-based discrimination, intersectionality, and the morality of race-based social policies, such as reparations.

The middle of the twentieth century in France was a rich period of intellectual production, as well as a moment of intense social upheaval and political turmoil. This course studies the development of political philosophy in the 1950s in France. In particular, the course focuses on the way in which philosophical movements in France like existentialism and poststructuralism became increasingly sutured to their historical context and were thus compelled to critically engage with this historical situation - i.e., to confront capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy as philosophical problems. This course examines the relationship between these philosophical movements and the development of Marxism, postcolonial theory and feminism in French philosophy.

A study of the main philosophical ideas in America, especially pragmatism, with particular emphasis being given to Pierce, James, Royce, Dewey and Whitehead.

A selected study of 19th-century thought, with emphasis on controversies concerning the nature and limits of reason, the ultimate meaning of history, and the inner meaning and social significance of religion. Pertinent thinkers include Hegel, Marx, Schleiermacher, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and others.

An examination of Nietzsche's philosophy based on close study of one or more of his major works. The course may also more briefly examine one or more thinkers who especially influenced Nietzsche (for example Schopenhauer) or who were strongly influenced by him (for example Foucault).

This course will examine the main features of hermeneutics with particular emphasis on its contemporary perspectives. Discussion will focus on such themes as human understanding and human finitude, the nature of history and tradition, linguisticality and textuality of experience. Readings may address Gadamer, Ricoeur, Schleiermacher, and Dilthey.

An examination of the central issues in contemporary (mainly 20th century) philosophy of language. Potential topics to be covered include meaning, reference, the nature of language and the nature of truth. Potential philosophers to be examined include Mill, Frege, Russell, Kripke, Lewis and Grice.

Topics for this intermediate-level course may be drawn from any area or period of philosophy chosen by the instructor. The course is designed primarily for philosophy majors and minors, but any suitably prepared student may take the course with permission of the instructor.

Topics for this advanced course may be drawn from any area or period of philosophy chosen by the instructor. The course is designed primarily for philosophy majors and minors, but any suitably prepared student may take the course with the permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit.

An examination of competing theories of the intrinsic nature of mental states and mental processes, including careful consideration of questions concerning the relation between the mind and the physical world.

This course will explore the philosophical aspects of personal identity, with particular emphasis on the metaphysics of the self. Other issues considered may include the nature of the soul, the status of self-knowledge and the ethical aspects of personhood.

This course examines the philosophical foundations of physics. Some of the philosophical issues explored in the course may include how various theories in physics impact metaphysics, ontology and/or epistemology. Topics may include the nature of space and time, special relativity, general relativity, quantum theory, classical mechanics, thermodynamics, and/or cosmology.

This course will survey debates about the nature of space and time. Topics may include Zeno's paradoxes, time travel, relationism vs. substantivalism, classical accounts of space and time, and relativistic space time.

Quantum theory describes atoms and particles and is one of the most empirically successful physical theories. However, quantum theory seems to have revolutionary conceptual implications for metaphysics and epistemology. This course offers an introduction to philosophical problems raised by quantum theory. Topics may include the measurement problem, quantum entanglement, different interpretations of quantum mechanics, the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox, and Bell's theorem.

This course surveys a number of topics about the nature of science. The topics may include the problem of distinguishing science from pseudoscience, the nature of scientific explanation, the notion of progress in science, and the realism and anti-realism debate.

An examination of the origins and development of contemporary philosophical analysis, with special attention given to the nature and uses of language as well as logical structures of confirmation and explanation.

A critical examination, at the advanced level, of recent or historical work on normative and/or metaethical issues in moral philosophy.

An advanced study of major issues in or the writings of one, or more thinkers in ancient Greece through the western medieval period. May be repeated for credit with change of topics.

This course examines the revolutionary theory of knowledge and critique of traditional metaphysics presented in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, followed by some study of the novel approach to metaphysics adopted in his Critique of Practical Reason (and based in part on his Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals). The course may also briefly explore Kant's contributions to other important debates or Kant's impact on other major thinkers.

A study of phenomenological investigation into the fundamental structures and conditions of conscious experience -- meaning-laden, first person experience of objects, of events, of one's self, of other persons, of one's world, and so forth. The course will devote special attention to the work of Husserl and of Heidegger. Additional authors may be studied, such as Sartre, Merleau-Ponty or Levinas.

Designed to give capable students an opportunity to complete independent study in philosophy under faculty supervision. May be repeated for credit.

Students participate as course assistants in philosophy. Assistantships provide students with a sense of what it is like to teach a philosophy course by allowing them to work closely with faculty members through different phases of course preparation, presentation and evaluation. Assistantships may also provide opportunities for student assistants to lead discussion and to help their peers review the material outside of the classroom.

Students participate in activities related to ethical reasoning on campus. Students receive training in writing ethical reasoning scenarios and leading discussions. The practicum also provides opportunities for peer-to-peer learning.