Department of Philosophy

Introduction

The principal goal of the study of philosophy is to enable students to think more clearly, deeply, and appreciatively about themselves and their world. Study of philosophy enhances analytical, critical, and interpretive capacities that are applicable to any subject matter in almost any context. It provides many opportunities for expressing oneself, for reflecting on questions that human beings have pondered for millennia, for exchanging reasoned beliefs and engaging in focused debate, and for learning how to come to terms with problems for which there are no easy answers. A good philosophical education also helps to prepare students for responsible and intelligent participation in political and community affairs.

The most important outcome of philosophical study is the ability to engage in thinking that is at once disciplined and imaginatively creative. While such thinking lies at the heart of the philosophical enterprise, it is also needed for success in any complex intellectual or practical endeavor. Philosophy’s attention to critical thought, rigorous argument, and articulate expression makes the philosophical curriculum absolutely central to a liberal education and valuable as a basis for further training in a variety of pursuits.

Examples of philosophical questions are:

  • How should we understand truth, existence, validity, fact, value, and free will?
  • What are the principles or presuppositions of science, language, political systems, and religious and moral views?
  • What is the nature of a person, of space and time, of a work of art?
  • What is the wisdom of the past on these enduring questions? How do Western traditions differ from Eastern ones on these questions? And how do these historical approaches relate to our own, contemporary ones?

Students are encouraged to view philosophy not as a specialized, esoteric discipline, but instead as an activity integral to a liberal arts education, helping students to think more cogently and appreciatively about themselves and their world.

PHIL 101, PHIL 110, or PHIL 112 is recommended as a first course for those interested in philosophical issues and their cultural significance and for those who wish to examine a broad range of philosophical topics, problems, or historical figures. Other good starting points are PHIL 155, which deals with logic and the analysis of argument; PHIL 160, which deals with moral thought and experience; and PHIL 150, which deals with the concepts, methods, and foundations of the biological and physical sciences.

PHIL 155 is recommended for all students who major or minor in philosophy.

Advising

All majors and minors have a primary academic advisor from the Academic Advising Program. Students are strongly encouraged to meet regularly with their advisor and review their Tar Heel Tracker each semester. The department’s director of undergraduate studies works with current and prospective majors by appointment (see contact information above). Departmental academic advising is particularly important for those majors who are considering going on to graduate school. Further information on courses, undergraduate research opportunities, the honors program, careers, and graduate schools may be obtained from the department’s website. A brief video with information about the philosophy major is available here.

Graduate School and Career Opportunities

A major in philosophy offers excellent preparation for many careers in which clear thinking and analytical ability are valued. Some majors choose to pursue graduate work in philosophy in preparation for college or university teaching (Ph.D. normally required), but the philosophy major also provides the form of rigorous and systematic intellectual training that is of crucial importance in law, medicine, business, and other fields.

Distinguished Professors

Marc Lange, C.D.C. Reeve, Geoffrey Sayre-McCord.

Professors

Luc Bovens, Thomas Dougherty, Thomas Hofweber, Markus Kohl, Matthew Kotzen, Mariska Leunissen, Ram Neta, James Pryor, John T. Roberts, Sarah Stroud, Rebecca Walker, Alexander Worsnip.

Assistant Professors

Rosalind Chaplin, Simone Gubler, Carla Merino-Rajme, Daniel Muñoz, Margaret Shea.

Teaching Assistant Professors

William Zev Berger, Samuel Dishaw, Samuel Fullhart, Rory Hanlon, Gerard Rothfus, Michael Vazquez.

Professors Emeriti

Bernard Boxill, Thomas E. Hill Jr., William G. Lycan, Douglas MacLean, Stanley Munsat, Alan Nelson, Gerald J. Postema, Michael D. Resnik, Robert D. Vance, Susan Wolf.

PHIL–Philosophy

Courses numbered below 199 have no prerequisites. These serve as suitable first courses in philosophy for many students, as do some courses below 299, in particular PHIL 210, PHIL 213PHIL 230, PHIL 266, and PHIL 280. Courses numbered 101 to 120 are general survey courses. (Non-majors, please note that PHIL 155 satisfies the quantitative reasoning General Education requirement.) Courses numbered 130 to 290 are oriented toward particular problems or topics. For instance, courses numbered 210 to 229 concern the history of philosophy. Courses numbered 300 to 399 are designed for advanced undergraduates and majors and carry a prerequisite of one course in philosophy. (Some may carry additional prerequisites.) Courses numbered between 400 and 699 are for advanced undergraduates as well as graduate students. Detailed information on upcoming courses is available on the department’s website.

Please note that not all courses are offered on a regular basis. For information on which courses are most likely to be offered in a given year or semester, please contact the department’s director of undergraduate studies.

Undergraduate-level Courses

IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 51.  First-Year Seminar: Who Was Socrates?.  3 Credits.  

Socrates is the quintessential philosopher--a man for all seasons, a foundational figure of the West.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 52.  First-Year Seminar: Reason and Religion at the Dawn of Modern Science.  3 Credits.  

Students will read some of the most important philosophical reflections of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 53.  First-Year Seminar: Theories in Human Nature.  3 Credits.  

Students will explore a variety of issues that arise when human beings begin to reflect on our own natures and will be introduced to main theories that have been developed. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 54.  First-Year Seminar: Thinking about Time.  3 Credits.  

What is time? Do the past and the future exist, or only the present? Is the "flow of time" an objective feature of reality?

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 55.  First-Year Seminar: Paradoxes.  3 Credits.  

Paradoxes have been a driving force in philosophy since the fourth century BCE. They force us to rethink old ideas and conceptions.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 56.  First-Year Seminar: Abortion.  3 Credits.  

A general philosophical discussion of the value of life, the evil in death, and the wrongness of killing.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 57.  First-Year Seminar: Race and Affirmative Action.  3 Credits.  

The goal of the course is to get a mature and correct understanding of race, racism, and affirmative action.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 58.  First-Year Seminar: From Vengeance to Mercy: Dealing with Evil.  3 Credits.  

This course will explore the ethical dimensions of the responses to evil that we have developed over history. Revenge, retribution, reparation; hatred, resentment, forgiveness; punishment, pardon, mercy.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 59.  First-Year Seminar: Proofs of the Existence of God.  3 Credits.  

We will examine efforts in the history of philosophy to prove that God exists or that God does not exist. Our aim is to articulate and understand some of the underlying philosophical issues that are raised by these proofs and arguments. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 60.  First-Year Seminar: Plato's Symposium and Its Influence on Western Art and Literature.  3 Credits.  

This seminar examines Plato's philosophical and literary masterpiece, The Symposium, and its influence on later artists and writers: we explore the Symposium itself, the ways in which the Symposium influenced later European artists and writers, and the importance of the Platonic view of love and beauty for modern artists and writers. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 61.  First Year Seminar: The Self: Aspiration and Transformation.  3 Credits.  

Novels, memoirs, and aisles of self-help books attest to our desire to transform ourselves. Yet, the idea of self-transformation is puzzling. In this class, we will critically examine the idea of aspiration and transformation.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 62.  First-Year Seminar: Philosophy with Children.  3 Credits.  

This seminar is designed to give students a unique, experiential perspective on philosophical inquiry by combining the philosophical study of ethics with virtual service in the community. We will examine philosophical questions about childhood and engage in philosophical interactions with children about a range of philosophical topics, with an emphasis on ethics and human values. Students perform 30 hours of service at a local K-5 school.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES, HI-SERVICE.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, EE- Service Learning.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 63.  First-Year Seminar: Mind, Brain, and Consciousness.  3 Credits.  

What are minds and how are they related to bodies?

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 65.  First-Year Seminar: Philosophy through Mathematics.  3 Credits.  

This seminar introduces several of the central problems in philosophy through reflection on the nature of mathematics.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: QI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 66.  First-Year Seminar: Ethics: Theoretical and Practical.  3 Credits.  

This seminar examines theoretical issues, relativism, utilitarianism, deontological ethics, and virtue ethics.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 67.  First-Year Seminar: Issues in a World Society: Sports and Competition.  3 Credits.  

This seminar examines ethical issues in sports, including Title IX, gender equity, racism, sexism, cheating, violence, and drug use.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 68.  First-Year Seminar: Moral Life.  3 Credits.  

This course will explore the meaning of basic moral concepts as they are understood in philosophy, science, and art. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 70.  First-Year Seminar: Gateway to Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.  3 Credits.  

This course uses insights and techniques from philosophy, politics, and economics to answer questions like: What makes a modern civilization possible? How can our societies continue to improve? What role do property rights, markets, and political action play in creating flourishing civilizations? How do we address environmental degradation, distributive justice, and economic exploitation? Our answers will draw from rational choice theory, utility theory, game theory, public choice economics, etc. Course is limited to PPE minors.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-POWER or FC-VALUES, FC-LAB.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 75.  First-Year Seminar: Evil.  3 Credits.  

What is evil? Who, if anyone, is responsible for it? How different are evil people from the rest of us? How should we respond to them? The course will explore the nature of evil through philosophy, nonfiction, fiction, and film.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 76.  First-Year Seminar: Is Free Will an Illusion?.  3 Credits.  

This course will examine whether our belief in freedom of action is compatible with the modern picture of ourselves. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 77.  First-Year Seminar: Moral Weakness and Conscience.  3 Credits.  

Is man's reason a powerful thing: if one had knowledge or belief about something that should be done, would that be enough to position one to do it?

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 78.  First-Year Seminar: Death as a Problem for Philosophy: Metaphysical and Ethical.  3 Credits.  

This course explores both old and new questions regarding death. It will examine the presuppositions and cogency of the classical religious-philosophical conception of death.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 79.  First-Year Seminar: Words That Bind: The Structure of Constitutions.  3 Credits.  

In this seminar we will examine a number of constitutions and try to determine what makes a constitution better or worse, and when it makes sense to borrow constitutional principles from other countries. We will also try our hand at designing a constitution.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 80.  First-Year Seminar: Short Stories and Contemporary Social Problems.  3 Credits.  

We will read short stories and social science articles that address social problems such as child-rearing; social mobility; mass incarceration and race; the opiate crisis; tradition versus science. Students will explore the different ways in which literature, the humanities and the social sciences construct issues of social relevance, the opportunities and limits of these constructions, and what might be gained by using each to understand and respond to these issues.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 85.  First-Year Seminar: Reason, Religion, and Reality in the Copernican Revolution.  3 Credits.  

The arguments by which Galileo and his contemporaries defended the Copernican model of the solar system puzzle philosophers even today. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 86.  First-Year Seminar: Persons and Identity.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to the topic of personal identity, focused on epistemological, ethical, and metaphysical themes. The course examines what personal identity over time consists in, whether and how we can know such identity, under what conditions our personal identity is liable to change, and what this implies for our values and projects.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 89.  First Year Seminar: Special Topics.  3 Credits.  

Special Topics Course. Content will vary each semester.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 101.  Introduction to Philosophy: Central Problems, Great Minds, Big Ideas.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to philosophy focusing on a few central problems, for example: free will, the basis of morality, the nature and limits of knowledge, and the existence of God. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 102.  Introduction to Philosophy: Central Problems, Great Minds, Big Ideas.  3 Credits.  

This course introduces students to the experience of thinking like philosophers and aims at developing students' capacity to think carefully and critically about philosophical arguments. The central skills to be practiced are those involved in productive philosophical discussion. The course emphasizes how philosophy is and has been done through dialogue, that philosophical claims must be tested against the objections of one's fellow thinkers, and how philosophical disagreement can lead to productive insights.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES, COMMBEYOND.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 105.  How to Reason and Argue: An Introduction to Critical Thinking.  3 Credits.  

A course on how to identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments by other people and how to construct arguments. Topics include argument reconstruction, informal logic, fallacies, introductory formal logic, probabilistic reasoning.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-QUANT.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 110.  Philosophical Texts that Changed the World: An Introduction to Philosophy through Great Works.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to philosophy focusing on several great books from the history of Western philosophy. See course description at the department's website for which books will be covered each semester. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 111.  Philosopher Queens: World Philosophies through Women's Texts.  3 Credits.  

This course provides an introduction to world philosophies through close readings of philosophical texts attributed to or written by women in different time-periods from across the globe. We will practice the art of reading, understanding, and philosophically engaging with great historical works of philosophy while also examining the political inequalities, social structures, and contemporary practices from within which these women philosophers wrote and were trying to make their voices heard.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-POWER.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 112.  Making Sense of Ourselves.  3 Credits.  

An examination of some of the most influential attempts to understand human beings, their lives, and their moral and political values. Authors may include Plato, Aristotle, and Nietzsche. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 134.  Reason, Faith, and God: Philosophy of Western Religion.  3 Credits.  

A philosophical inquiry into the problems of religious experience and belief, as expressed in philosophic, religious, and literary documents from traditional and contemporary sources. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 126.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 140.  Knowledge and Society.  3 Credits.  

An examination of questions about knowledge, evidence, and rational belief as they arise in areas of social life such as democratic politics, the law, science, religion, and education. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 143.  AI and the Future of Humanity: Philosophical Issues about Technology and Human Survival.  3 Credits.  

This course investigates philosophical issues arising from advanced forms of technology, in particular artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and biological augmentation. We will consider questions about the dangers and benefits of AI, survival in non-biological ways, moral constraints on AI, the relationship between human and machine morality, and others. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 145.  Language, Communication, and Human and Animal Minds.  3 Credits.  

An examination of the differences between natural human languages and other communication systems. Includes a philosophical inquiry into how languages relate to the world and the mind. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: LING 145.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 150.  Theory, Evidence, and Understanding in Science.  3 Credits.  

What is distinctive about the kind of knowledge called "science"? What is scientific explanation? How are scientific theories related to empirical evidence? Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 154.  Philosophy of the Social Sciences.  3 Credits.  

How do social sciences explain human actions? Are there social facts over and above facts about various individuals? Do values enter into social science?

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 155.  Truth and Proof: Introduction to Mathematical Logic.  3 Credits.  

Introduces the theory of deductive reasoning, using a symbolic language to represent and evaluate patterns of reasoning. Covers sentential logic and first-order predicate logic. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-QUANT.
Making Connections Gen Ed: QR.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 157.  Logic and Decision Theory.  3 Credits.  

A broader discussion of practical reasoning, including inductive and deductive logic, which provides a good introduction to decision and game theory that is important for the social sciences, especially economics. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-QUANT.
Making Connections Gen Ed: QR.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 160.  Virtue, Value, and Happiness: An Introduction to Moral Theory.  3 Credits.  

Exploration of different philosophical perspectives about right and wrong, personal character, justice, moral reasoning, and moral conflicts. Readings drawn from classic or contemporary sources. Critical discussion emphasized. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 163.  Practical Ethics: Moral Reasoning and How We Live.  3 Credits.  

Topics may include war, medical ethics, media ethics, sexual ethics, business ethics, racism, sexism, capital punishment, and the environment. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 164.  Morality and Business.  3 Credits.  

An examination of business ethics and the types of ethical dilemmas people may face in business practices.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 165.  Bioethics.  3 Credits.  

An examination of ethical issues in the life sciences and technologies, medicine, public health, and/or human interaction with nonhuman animals or the living environment. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 170.  Liberty, Rights, and Responsibilities: Introduction to Social Ethics and Political Thought.  3 Credits.  

An examination of major issues in political philosophy, e.g., liberty, individual rights, social responsibility, legal authority, civil authority, civil disobedience. Readings include classical and contemporary writings. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 180.  Philosophy of Humor.  3 Credits.  

A course on philosophical issues related to laughter and humor. Historical and contemporary philosophical theories of humor; connections between traditional issues in aesthetics and humor; moral questions about humor, such as what is involved in a joke being racist/sexist/homophobic; and connections between jokes and various epistemological fallacies.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 185.  Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art.  3 Credits.  

The nature of art and artworks and their aesthetic appraisal. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 210.  Wonder, Myth, and Reason: Introduction to Ancient Greek Science and Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

The emergence of philosophy in Greece during the sixth century BCE and its development during the classical period. The major figures studied are the Pre-Socratic philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 211.  Perspectives on Gender, Race, and Marginality in Ancient Greek Philosophy, Science, and Medicine.  3 Credits.  

This course studies through the examination of several infamous, ignored, or otherwise uncharted Ancient Greek texts the views about gender and race as presented in ancient Greek philosophy, medicine, and science. Our aims are to generate a new understanding of how the male elite used such views to further promote or justify (or perhaps challenge) the existing marginalization and silencing of women, foreigners, and less privileged men.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-POWER, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 213.  Asian Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

An examination of some of the philosophical traditions of Asia. Possible topics include Advaita Vedanta, Nyaya-Vaisheshika, Madhyamaka Buddhism, neo-Confucianism, Mohism, and philosophical Taoism.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 215.  Medieval Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

A survey of medieval philosophy from Augustine through Ockham. Topics: God and the world, faith and reason, knowledge and reality, the problem of universals. Additional main authors: Anselm, Aquinas, Duns Scotus.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 220.  17th and 18th Century Western Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

A study of some major philosophical works from this period, including works by authors such as Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Leibniz, Hume, and/or Kant. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA, WB.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 224.  Existential Philosophy and the Meaning(lessness) of Life.  3 Credits.  

A survey of European philosophers in the phenomenological and existentialist traditions. Philosophers studied may include Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 228.  American Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

An exploration of the distinctively American approaches to philosophy from Jonathan Edwards to the present.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 229.  20th-Century Western Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

An introductory survey of British and Continental philosophy in the 20th century.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 230.  Mind, Matter, and Metaphysics: the Philosophy of Experience and Reality.  3 Credits.  

Topics in metaphysics and/or epistemology, such as: Is your mind different from your brain? Is it possible for us to know anything about the external world? Do we have free will? What distinguishes reasonable from unreasonable belief? Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 251.  Inductive Logic and the Scientific Method.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the role that inductive logic plays in scientific reasoning. Questions to be considered include: Are scientific theories distinguished from pseudoscience by being testable against our observations? Can we prove our best scientific theories to be true? Are we justified in making predictions about the future on the basis of past observations? The course examines these and other questions about confirming scientific theories by using the apparatus provided by the probability calculus.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-QUANT, RESEARCH.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 261.  Ethics in Action.  3 Credits.  

Ethics Bowl provides a unique experiential opportunity for students to apply theory to practical global issues. Students will prepare cases to present locally and at Ethics Bowl competition. Permission of the instructor.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, CI, EE- Mentored Research.  
Requisites: Prerequisites, One of the following PHIL ethics courses: PHIL 56, 57, 58, 66, 67, 68, 70, 77, 78, 160, 163, 164, 165, 170, 261, 266, 272, 273, 274, 275, 280, 282, 285, 360, 362, 364, 368, 370, 384, 460, 463, 465, 468, 471, 473, 474, 475, 476, 480, or 485.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 12 total credits. 4 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 265.  Ethics, Politics, and Technology.  3 Credits.  

In the near future, our taxis will be driver-less, our wars will be fought by autonomous drones, and our towns will be kept safe by algorithms foreseeing crimes. This course explores the ethical implications of this new technological revolution and invites students to debate the challenges it engenders. We will debate how new technologies ought to be governed and what limits should be imposed on their implementation.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 266.  Not All Fun and Games: Ethics of Sports.  3 Credits.  

An analysis of the moral significance of sports, the nature of sport and competition, and issues such as racism, gender equity, violence, and performance-enhancing drugs.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 272.  The Ethics of Peace, War, and Defense.  3 Credits.  

An analysis of ethical issues that arise in peace, war, and defense, e.g., the legitimacy of states, just war theory, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, GL, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: POLI 272, PWAD 272.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 273.  Justice, Rights, and the Common Good: Philosophical Perspectives on Social and Economic Issues.  3 Credits.  

This course will focus on justice and the common good, applying theoretical justifications to contemporary social and economic issues. Readings will include classical and contemporary literature on the nature of justice and rights. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 274.  Race, Racism, and Social Justice: African-American Political Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

Race, identity, discrimination, multiculturalism, affirmative action, and slave reparations in the writings of Walker, Delany, Douglass, Cooper, DuBois, King, and Malcolm X. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 275.  Moral and Philosophical Issues of Gender in Society.  3 Credits.  

A survey of feminist perspectives on topics such as the meaning of oppression, sexism and racism, sex roles and stereotypes, ideals of female beauty, women in the workplace, pornography, rape. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: WGST 275.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 276.  Ideology, Capitalism, and Critique.  3 Credits.  

This course studies how (oftentimes implicit) ideological commitments shape our culture and our social reality. We will explore the Marxist tradition and the Frankfurt School Critical Theory, as well as contemporary applications and critiques of ideology in thinkers such as Jaeggi, Fraser, Shelby, and Haslanger.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 280.  Morality, Law, and Justice: Issues in Legal Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

Explores issues in legal philosophy such as, What is law? Does it serve justice or undermine it? Can punishment be justified? When is a person responsible? Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 282.  Human Rights: Philosophical Interrogations.  3 Credits.  

The philosophy of human rights addresses questions about the existence, content, nature, universality, justification, and legal status of human rights. The strong claims made on behalf of human rights frequently provoke skeptical doubts and countering philosophical defenses. These will be addressed through classical and contemporary history of philosophy.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 285.  Moral and Philosophical Issues in Education.  3 Credits.  

A critical examination of the moral and philosophical issues in education: What does it mean to be well educated? What is a liberal education? Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, CI.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 292.  Field Work in Philosophy: Introducing Philosophy in Primary and Secondary Schools.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. This course combines on-campus structured learning with substantial on-site field work incorporating philosophy into the primary and/or secondary school curriculum. Philosophy subjects and school partners will vary by semester.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: EE- Mentored Research.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, two previous PHIL courses.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 9 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 294.  Philosophy across the Lifespan.  3 Credits.  

This is a high-impact service-learning course that aims to promote experiential learning in philosophy by combining traditional elements of classroom study with service in the community (HI-SERVICE). Students will have the unique opportunity to teach and learn philosophy alongside older adults in the Triangle area, thereby integrating the academic study of philosophy with community engagement.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES, HI-SERVICE.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, EE- Service Learning.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, One prior Philosophy course required.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 330.  Metaphysics.  3 Credits.  

An examination of general theories of the nature of reality. What kinds of things exist? What are space, time, and causation? Are abstract entities (such as numbers) real?

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 335.  Theory of Knowledge.  3 Credits.  

What is knowledge and how does it relate to belief, justification, and truth? What makes beliefs reasonable or irrational? Can skepticism be defeated?

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 340.  Philosophy of Mind.  3 Credits.  

The mind-body problem, the nature of thinking, the puzzles of consciousness, and the qualitative character of felt experience.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 345.  Philosophy of Language.  3 Credits.  

Survey of major topics in contemporary philosophy of language. Topics may include truth and meaning, speech acts, reference, descriptions, names, and demonstratives.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 351.  Philosophy of Physics.  3 Credits.  

Topics may include the nature of space and time, the ontological status of fields and energy, or causation and locality in quantum physics. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-NATSCI.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 352.  Sex and Death, Life and Health, Species and Evolution: The Philosophy of Biology.  3 Credits.  

Philosophical issues raised by biological theories, which may include the logical structure of evolutionary theory, fitness, taxonomy, the notion of a living thing, reductionism, evolutionary explanations, or teleology.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PL.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 353.  Minds and Machines: Philosophy of Cognitive Science.  3 Credits.  

Philosophical questions raised by linguistics, computer science, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. Topics may include the innateness of language, artificial intelligence, and the neural correlates of consciousness. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 354.  Quantum Mechanics, Weirdness, and Reality.  3 Credits.  

An interdisciplinary course on the weirdness of quantum mechanics and the problem of interpreting it. Nonlocality, the measurement problem, superpositions, Bohm's theory, collapse theories, and the many-worlds interpretation.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Requisites: Prerequisites, MATH 231 and any PHYS course numbered 100 or greater; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisites.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: PHYS 354.  
PHIL 355.  Intermediate Mathematical Logic.  3 Credits.  

Quantificational logic with identity; basic meta-theory; modal logic.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: QI.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, PHIL 155.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 357.  Induction, Probability, and Confirmation.  3 Credits.  

Current accounts of evidence and observation, the confirmation of scientific theories, the logic of inductive reasoning, and the metaphysics and epistemology of chance.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-QUANT.
Making Connections Gen Ed: QI.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, One previous PHIL course.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 360.  Major Developments in Ethics: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives.  3 Credits.  

PHIL 160 recommended. Major developments in the history of moral philosophy, from Plato to Nietzsche. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 362.  Contemporary Ethical Theory.  3 Credits.  

Using 20th- and 21st-century texts, this course explores some general questions about morality in depth. For example, Is there moral truth? Are any moral rules absolute? Why be moral? Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 364.  Ethics and Economics.  3 Credits.  

Recommended preparation, at least one course in ethics (PHIL 160, 163, or 170) or one course in economics. Issues at the intersection of ethics and economics, including value; the relation between values and preferences; rationality; the relevance to economics of rights, justice, and the value of human life.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: PLCY 364.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 368.  Living Things, Wilderness, and Ecosystems: An Introduction to Environmental Ethics.  3 Credits.  

The meaning of environmental values and their relation to other values; the ethical status of animals, species, wilderness, and ecosystems; the built environment; environmental justice; ecofeminism; obligations to future generations.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ENEC 368.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 370.  Authority, Freedom, and Rights: Advanced Political Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

Advanced discussion of competing philosophical approaches to questions of justice, authority, freedom, rights, and the like, including libertarianism, liberalism, communitarianism, Marxism, and feminism.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 381.  Philosophy and Film.  3 Credits.  

An examination of how philosophical issues are explored in the medium of film. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 384.  Gateway to Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.  3 Credits.  

One course in economics strongly recommended. This interdisciplinary gateway course provides an introduction to subjects and quantitative techniques used to analyze problems in philosophy, political science, and economics. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ECON 384, POLI 384.  
PHIL 390.  Seminar in Selected Topics.  3 Credits.  

Intensive exploration and discussion of selected topics in philosophy. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit; may be repeated in the same term for different topics; 9 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 392.  Ethics Research Seminar for Undergraduates.  3 Credits.  

This is a capstone course in ethics designed for Parr Center Ethics Scholars completing the Mentored Research capstone project. The seminar will provide a collaborative learning space that will facilitate each student's independent research and writing. This course will begin with survey of major themes in practical ethics before transitioning to a thematically focused study of topics based on the research interests of the students in the course.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES, RESEARCH.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 395.  Undergraduate Research Seminar in Selected Topics.  3 Credits.  

This is a philosophical research course for anyone with some background in philosophy and an interest in the topic. Special emphasis is placed on giving students the opportunity to immerse themselves in a research project that leads to an original final research paper.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING, RESEARCH.
Requisites: Prerequisite, One previous philosophy course.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 396.  Directed Readings.  1-3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. See the director of undergraduate studies of the department.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous PHIL course.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit; may be repeated in the same term for different topics; 9 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 397.  Philosophy Research Seminar for Undergraduates.  3 Credits.  

This course is designed to approximate the experience of a graduate seminar in philosophy. The course topic is different each year; class meetings are discussion-based and focused on developing professional writing and research skills. Recommended for all majors and minors.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: CI.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, two previous PHIL courses.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 9 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  

Advanced Undergraduate and Graduate-level Courses

IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 411.  Aristotle.  3 Credits.  

An examination of some representative works of Aristotle, with reference to common emphases and basic problems, together with an analysis of their philosophic content. The aim to provide students with a more thorough understanding of the key texts, doctrines, notions, and ideas in Aristotle's philosophy as a whole and with the capacities and confidence to conduct a short, independent, ancient philosophical research project on Aristotle's philosophy.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST, RESEARCH.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 412.  Plato.  3 Credits.  

An examination of some representative works in the context of contemporary scholarship.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: WB.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 415.  Medieval Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

An intensive study of some medieval philosophical author (e.g., Aquinas, Scotus, or Ockham) or topic (e.g., arguments for the existence of God, universals, knowledge of individuals).

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 421.  Rationalism.  3 Credits.  

An in-depth study of such rationalist philosophers as Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 422.  Empiricism.  3 Credits.  

An in-depth study of such empiricist philosophers as Locke, Berkeley, and Hume.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 423.  Kant's Theoretical Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

An intensive introduction to Kant's accounts of space, time, concepts, perception, substance, causation, and the thinking self through a careful study of his masterwork, The Critique of Pure Reason.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 424.  Kant's Practical Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

This course studies closely Kant's practical philosophy, dedicated to understanding and assessing the answers that Kant gives to classic questions of practical philosophy, such as: What does morality demand from us? What is the morally right course of action? Is morality objective? Do moral norms depend on God?

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 426.  Nietzsche.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, covering all three conventionally recognized periods of his philosophy in chronological sequence, tracing the historical and philosophical development of his views from the early Birth of Tragedy to the late Twilight of Idols. The main question we will face when studying all these different writings is how Nietzsche tries to solve the problem of nihilism. Completion of one previous PHIL course preferred.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 427.  Hegel.  3 Credits.  

In-depth study of Hegel's systematic philosophy emphasizing its roots in Kant's critical philosophy. Primary focus on Phenomenology of Spirit, supplemented by selections from the Encyclopedia and Philosophy of Right.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 428.  History of American Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

An in-depth study of American contributions to philosophy, including for example the transcendentalists, the pragmatists, Quine, Rorty, and others.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 432.  The Beginnings of Analytic Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

Frege, Russell, Moore, and Wittgenstein among others are considered.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Requisites: Prerequisites, PHIL 155 and two additional philosophy courses are recommended as background.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 433.  Current Issues in Analytic Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

Two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155 strongly recommended. Recent work in epistemology and metaphysics.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 9 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 440.  Philosophy of Mind.  3 Credits.  

At least two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155, including PHIL 340, strongly recommended. An examination of dualism, behaviorism, the identity theory, and forms of functionalism with special focus on the problems of mental aboutness and the problems of consciousness.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 442.  Philosophical Foundations of Artificial Intelligence.  3 Credits.  

This course focuses on advanced philosophical issues tied to artificial intelligence. We will discuss a number of topics concerning how to understand contemporary AI systems, their limits and advantages, as well as the risks and benefits of their application and deployment in real life situations.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisites, PHIL 143 and one advanced course in Philosophy (300 level or above), or one course on machine learning in computer science.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 445.  Advanced Philosophy of Language.  3 Credits.  

At least two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155, including PHIL 345, strongly recommended. A study of important contemporary contributions in philosophy of language. Topics include meaning, reference, and truth.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: LING 410, LING 445.  
PHIL 450.  Philosophy of Natural Sciences.  3 Credits.  

An in-depth survey of general issues in contemporary philosophy of natural science intended for advanced philosophy students. Topics include confirmation, explanation, theory-choice, realism, reduction.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 451.  Philosophy of Physics.  3 Credits.  

Topics may include the nature of space and time, the ontological status of fields and energy, or causation and locality in quantum physics.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PL.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 452.  Philosophy of Biology.  3 Credits.  

The logical structure of evolutionary theory, fitness, taxonomy, the notion of a living thing, reductionism, evolutionary explanations, teleology.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 453.  Philosophy of Psychology.  3 Credits.  

Topics may include reasoning, the relationship between language and thought, concepts, moral cognition, and emotions.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 454.  Philosophy, History, and the Social Sciences.  3 Credits.  

The nature of historical explanation, structural and functional explanation, the weighing of historical testimony, the concept of meaning, normative judgments and predictions in the social sciences.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 455.  Symbolic Logic.  3 Credits.  

Introduction for graduates and advanced undergraduates.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-QUANT.
Making Connections Gen Ed: QR.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, PHIL 155; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 456.  Advanced Symbolic Logic.  3 Credits.  

Presupposes propositional and quantificational logic as a basis of further deductive development with special attention to selected topics: alternative systems, modal and deontic logic, inductive logic, the grammar of formalized languages, paradoxes, and foundations of mathematics.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-QUANT.
Making Connections Gen Ed: QI.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, PHIL 455.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 12 total credits. 4 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 457.  Set Theory and Logic.  3 Credits.  

Natural and real numbers. Infinite cardinal and ordinal numbers. Alternative axiom systems and their consistency problems.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisite, PHIL 455; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 458.  Formal Techniques in Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

In a variety of subfields of philosophy, philosophers have found formal techniques to be useful tools for making progress on important philosophical questions. These subfields include, but are not limited to: metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, ethics, and political philosophy. This course is a general introduction to some of the formal tools that have been most influential in these fields.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisite, For undergraduates: PHIL 155 or equivalent, or permission of the instructor.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 459.  Philosophy of Mathematics.  3 Credits.  

Philosophical problems concerning logic and the foundation of mathematics.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 460.  History of Moral Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

Examination of classic texts of Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Hobbes, Butler, Hume, Kant, and Mill. Selections may vary from year to year.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, Two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155, including PHIL 360, strongly recommended.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 462.  Contemporary Moral Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

Advanced discussion of moral issues such as fact and value, reason and morality, the nature of morality.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, two courses in philosophy, including one in value theory.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 9 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 463.  Contemporary Moral and Social Problems.  3 Credits.  

Two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155 strongly recommended. A detailed examination of one or more of the following contemporary issues: environmental ethics, animal rights, abortion, euthanasia, pornography, racism, sexism, public versus private morality.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 464.  Moral Responsibility.  3 Credits.  

An intensive study of classic and recent work on the nature of moral responsibility and its relationship to blame (and praise).

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Requisites: Prerequisite, one previous course in philosophy, preferably in value theory.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 465.  Justice in Health Care.  3 Credits.  

One course in philosophy strongly recommended. Medical students welcome. The course will focus on the question of how scarce health care resources ought to be distributed in order to meet the demands of justice.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 468.  Risk and Society.  3 Credits.  

One additional course in philosophy strongly recommended. The course examines attitudes toward risk and how they affect our preferences for different public policies in the areas of environmental protection, technology regulation, and workplace and product safety.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 470.  Political Philosophy from Hobbes to Rousseau.  3 Credits.  

Two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155, including PHIL 170 or 370, strongly recommended. Explores the foundations of justice and authority in the idea of contract or covenant, the nature of law, rights, liberty, and democracy in the work of Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Rousseau.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 471.  Topics in 19th Century Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

An examination of central issues in social and political philosophy as they figure in the work of 19th Century Philosophy.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 473.  American Political Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

One course in philosophy other than PHIL 155 strongly recommended. The issue of unity and diversity in America is analyzed through the writings of Jefferson, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, Calhoun, MacKinnon, DuBois, and Rawls.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: US.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 474.  Foundations of Modern Political Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

This course traces the emergence and development of central themes of modern political philosophy from the 13th through the 17th century.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, PHIL 170.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 475.  Philosophical Issues in Gender, Race, and Class.  3 Credits.  

Examines in greater depth and complexity one or more of the issues addressed in PHIL 275, investigating issues of gender, race, and class within the dominant theories of philosophy.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: US.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, PHIL 275 or WGST 101.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: WGST 475.  
PHIL 476.  Recent Developments in Political Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

Two courses in philosophy other than PHIL 155, including PHIL 370, strongly recommended. Investigation of major contemporary contributors (Rawls, Nozick, Dworkin, Cohen, Waldron, Arrow) to philosophical debate concerning justice, equality, liberty, democracy, public reason, or rights versus community.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 9 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 480.  Philosophy of Law.  3 Credits.  

An exploration of whether and under what conditions the state has the right to control crime by punishment of past crimes and preventive detention to prevent future crimes.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 482.  Philosophy and Literature.  3 Credits.  

Philosophical readings of literary texts, including novels, plays, and poems.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: CMPL 482.  
PHIL 485.  Philosophy of Art.  3 Credits.  

Competing theories of art and art criticism. The relationship between art and emotional expression, the formal character of art, and standards of taste.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 491.  Health Care, Science, and Philosophy.  3 Credits.  

Interdisciplinary course to develop critical thinking capacities through philosophical study of the nature of scientific presuppositions and concepts, including events, causality, and determinism, with specific application to health care issues.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 494.  Existentialism and Phenomenology.  3 Credits.  

A study of one or two major systematic works by Sartre, Heidegger, or Merleau-Ponty.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 496.  Advanced Directed Studies.  1-3 Credits.  

Permission of the director of undergraduate studies. Advanced independent work in philosophy.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 9 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
PHIL 562.  Ethics, Responsibility, and Justice.  1 Credits.  

Ethics explores obligations to act in the interest of others as well as ourselves. Justice explores the ways people should organize and govern themselves. Course addresses such questions as, What principles govern our relationships with other people? What do we owe others and ourselves? How should we treat other people?

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 2 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Pass/Fail.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 691H.  Courses for Honors.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the director of undergraduate studies. See the director of undergraduate studies of the department.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: CI, EE- Mentored Research.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 692H.  Courses for Honors.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the director of undergraduate studies. See the director of undergraduate studies of the department.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: EE- Mentored Research.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoPHIL 698.  Philosophy, Politics, and Economics: Capstone Course.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the department. This capstone course advances PHIL 384, focusing on such theoretical and philosophical issues as the analysis of rights or distributive justice and the institutional implications of moral forms.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Requisites: Prerequisite, PHIL 384.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ECON 698, POLI 698.  

Department of Philosophy

Visit Program Website

Caldwell Hall, 240 East Cameron Ave., CB# 3125

(919) 962-7291

Chair

Matthew Kotzen

kotzen@email.unc.edu

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Markus Kohl

mkohl17@email.unc.edu