Philosophy

The following descriptions of courses being offered by the Philosophy Department in Summer 2025 were submitted by the course instructors. Exceptions are descriptions in braces {…}, which have been adopted from the Undergraduate Catalogue (students desiring further information regarding the specific content of courses with bracketed descriptions are advised to contact the instructors directly).

Specific information regarding the dates, times, and locations of these courses may be found in the Registrar’s official Schedule of Courses for Summer 2025 (opens in new tab).

Summer A

PHI 2010 Introduction to Philosophy — R. Borges

This foundational course introduces students to the discipline of philosophy through engagement with perennial questions that have shaped human inquiry for millennia. While exploring fundamental philosophical problems, students will simultaneously develop the critical thinking, argumentative writing, and public speaking skills essential for success in rigorous academic environments.

The course examines three central domains of philosophical investigation:

• Epistemology: What can we know about the world and how do we know it? We will explore theories of knowledge, skepticism, and the justification of beliefs, examining how these epistemological frameworks shape our understanding of science, perception, and truth.
• Philosophy of Mind: What is consciousness and how does it relate to the physical world? Students will engage with competing theories of mind, including dualism, materialism, and functionalism, while considering the implications of recent advances in cognitive science and artificial intelligence.
• Philosophy of Religion: Does God exist, and if so, what is God’s nature? We will analyze classical arguments for and against the existence of God, the problem of evil, and questions about divine attributes, exploring how different philosophical traditions approach these ultimate questions.

Throughout the course, strong emphasis is placed on the development of philosophical writing and oral communication skills. Students will learn to construct, analyze, and evaluate philosophical arguments through regular writing assignments and structured presentations. The integration of public speaking into the curriculum reflects philosophy’s dialogical tradition and prepares students to articulate complex ideas with clarity and precision.

Both writing and oral presentations complement one another, requiring students to:

• Distill complex philosophical positions into clear, accessible explanations
• Organize arguments efficiently to maximize persuasive impact
• Think on their feet when responding to questions and counterarguments
• Calibrate technical language for appropriate audience understanding
• Incorporate feedback to refine and strengthen philosophical positions

By semester’s end, students will have developed not only familiarity with major philosophical questions and approaches but also the analytical and communicative tools necessary for sophisticated academic work across disciplines.

PHI 2630 Contemporary Moral Issues — J. Madock

Do non-human animals have moral standing, comparable to that of human beings? Is abortion ever morally permissible? Are affirmative action policies morally justified or morally bankrupt? What is the most ethically justified immigration policy – one of largely open or largely closed borders? Given the persistence of vast global poverty in our world, what moral duties do those of us in wealthy nations have to persons in impoverished states? Should private gun ownership be morally permissible or impermissible? Is climate change a significant issue for individual morality? Are individuals morally responsible for their greenhouse gas emissions, despite the fact that individual actions seem to make little difference to climate change? Is the death penalty morally justified, or not?

These are examples of moral questions about which many of us have strong and often opposing opinions. And, just as we disagree on many of these issues, so do many philosophers, political theorists, and economists. In this course, we examine opposing philosophical arguments and points of view on these urgent moral questions. The governing aim of our course will be to come to grips with and critically reflect on the underlying justifications for the various sides of these different debates.

PHI 3681 Ethics, Data, and Technology — A. Kumar

This course exposes students to important interactions between ethics, contemporary data science, and emerging social issues. Students will grapple with foundational concepts in ethics and data science. The course begins with a brief introduction to ethical issues in technology. The course then pairs theoretical discussions of ethics with concrete issues in emerging technologies. Discussion topics include the alignment problem, the black box problem for machine learning, attention economy, copyright and computational creativity in generative AI, and some issues in algorithmic evidence.

Summer B

PHI 1001 Conflict of Ideas — Dr. Borges

This course explores the nature and dynamics of intellectual conflict, equipping students with the conceptual tools and practical skills to navigate disagreements constructively in their academic, professional, and personal lives. Rather than viewing conflict as something to be avoided, this course presents it as an inevitable and potentially generative aspect of human interaction that, when approached thoughtfully, can lead to deeper understanding and positive change.

The course takes a multidisciplinary approach, drawing insights from diverse fields to illuminate different dimensions of conflict:

• Cognitive Science and Psychology: How does the architecture of the human mind shape our perception of disagreement? We will examine cognitive biases, motivated reasoning, and the evolutionary foundations of group conflict.
• Technology and Artificial Intelligence: How do AI systems and large language models process, generate, and potentially amplify conflicting ideas? Students will explore the social function and epistemological implications of these technologies.
• Ethics and Philosophy: What principles should guide our engagement with opposing viewpoints? The course introduces frameworks for ethical argumentation, intellectual charity, and just conflict resolution.
• Social Sciences: How do conflicts manifest and evolve in different social contexts? Readings from economics, history, and linguistics will illuminate the social dimensions of intellectual disagreement.
• Natural Sciences and Theology: How do different disciplinary approaches handle fundamental conflicts about the nature of reality? We will examine case studies from biology and theology to understand how different knowledge systems navigate contradictions.

Throughout the semester, students will not only study conflict but also practice engaging with it productively. Assignments include:

• Conflict Observation Report: Students will document and analyze conflicts they observe in their daily lives, applying course concepts to understand their dynamics.
• Argumentative Essay: A short paper defending a position on a controversial topic, with special attention to charitable representation of opposing views.
• In-Class Debates: Structured debates where students practice articulating positions clearly and responding constructively to challenges.
• Debate Evaluation: Critical assessment of debates, focusing on the quality of reasoning, evidence use, and ethical engagement.
• Examinations: Tests covering key concepts and their applications across disciplines.

By the end of the course, students will have developed a nuanced understanding of intellectual conflict and practical strategies for engaging with it constructively—skills that will serve them throughout their academic careers and beyond as they work to make positive and lasting impacts on the conflicts they encounter.

PHI 2010 Introduction to Philosophy — J. Haun

This course is designed to introduce the foundational questions asked in philosophy. Such questions include the following four:

• What is knowledge? What can we know?
• What is free will? Should we think we have it?
• What is morality? Are there facts about what is right and wrong?
• What makes up our identity? When do we stop existing?

We will survey just some of the work that has been done to answer these topics, reflecting on each piece as a class. The goal will be to develop an ability to critically examine the many challenging questions that life impresses upon us.

PHI3681 Ethics, Data, and Technology — M. Steele

Artificial intelligence and other emergent technologies give rise to new and pressing ethical problems. This course surveys recent discussions on the ethical implications of using machine learning algorithms in trials and predictive policing. The course also explores the moral murkiness of deploying autonomous weapons systems in war, and the ethical properties of attention economies. The overall purpose of the course is to use theoretical discussions in ethics to evaluate the use and creation of some of new technologies that are changing the way we live.

Summer C

PHI 2010 Introduction to Philosophy — J. Simpson

This course introduces students to philosophy by engaging with various readings and arguments, both classical and contemporary, in the history of philosophy. This course will have a two-part structure. The first part of the course will cover some topics in the philosophy of religion, epistemology, metaphysics, meta-ethics, and the three standard normative ethical theories, which are utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, and Aristotelian virtue theory. The second part of the course will cover applied philosophical issues including abortion, meat-eating, the use of autonomous weapons in war, the attention economy, among others. (H)(WR)

PHI 3641 Ethics and Innovation — J. Simpson

This course is designed to familiarize students with ethics and some of the ethical issues surrounding innovation. We will discuss ethical concerns arising from innovations in data science, modern warfare, and the food industry. We will also discuss the main theories in meta-ethics and normative ethics. Discussion topics include, inter alia, racial bias in machine learning, the black box problem for machine learning, the attention economy, the ethics of eating factory-farmed meat, technological unemployment, and moral responsibility for autonomous weapons systems. (H) (WR)