Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• CAS PH 801: Ancient Philosophy 1
  An advanced study of works by either Plato or Aristotle.
• CAS PH 810: Topics in Modern Philosophy
  Topics vary.
• CAS PH 812: ANALYTIC PHIL
  KANT 2
• CAS PH 816: Hegel
  A close reading of the Phenomenology of Spirit, with a particular emphasis on its role as the justification of Hegel's standpoint in the Logic, the development of the overall argument, and the famous sections on sense-certainty, the master-slave dialectic, unhappy consciousness, the terror of the French revolution, the critique of Kant's moral philosophy, and the transition to religion. Students are asked to present short presentations on selections from the secondary literature.
• CAS PH 819: Ethics
  An advanced study of ethics.
• CAS PH 820: Contemporary Philosophy
  An advanced study of contemporary philosophy.
• CAS PH 826: Advanced Phenomenology
  ADV PHENOMENOL
• CAS PH 840: Metaphysics
  Topic for Spring 2022: Metaphysics & Epistemology of Mental Health and Illness. First half of semester covers foundational issues in metaphysics/epistemology (with sources from philosophy of science, psychiatry, disability, and metaphysics). Second half covers (i) agency and (ii) the social world.
• CAS PH 850: Ethics
  Examines the origins of two familiar distinctions (1. the good versus the right; 2. sentiment versus reason). Tries to make sense of the eighteenth century approaches to these issues, as well as the continuity of those approaches with related twentieth and twenty-first century ethical theory.
• CAS PH 854: Seminar in Political Philosophy
  Topic for Spring 2018: Hobbes.
• CAS PH 860: Epistemology
  EPISTEMOLOGY
• CAS PH 870: Seminar in the Philosophy of Science
  Topic for Fall 2007: Philosophical Foundations of Quantum Theory. An advanced seminar in the philosophy of physics, focusing on quantum theory. Examines the philosophical implications of recent developments in entanglement and quantum information science, such as quantum cryptography, quantum computing, and quantum teleportation.
• CAS PH 871: Philosophy of Science
  The aim of the course is to clarify the credentials and implications of each position (thus provide students a solid ground for participating in wider cultural debates on rationality and relativism), and to have a better understanding of the recent history and current status of philosophy of science (which is part of necessary training for professional philosophers), through a careful examination of the structure of the arguments adopted by each position in dealing with various issues.
• CAS PH 880: Topics in Philosophy I
  Recent work in moral psychology and ethics.
• CAS PH 881: Proseminar for First-Year Graduate Students
  Graduate Prerequisites: First-year philosophy PhD student standing. - This seminar is open only to first-year PhD students in philosophy, all of whom are required to enroll. The seminar is designed to help incoming graduate students hone several invaluable philosophical skills, including those needed for effective presentation and defense of one's ideas. Topics vary by semester.
• CAS PH 883: Topics in Philosophy
  Topic for Fall 2022: History of Analytic Philosophy. One or more topics from the history of analytic philosophy (roughly Frege through Quine), emphasizing the importance of logic for that tradition
• CAS PH 901: Directed Research on Thesis
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of major professor. - DIR RES THESIS
• CAS PH 902: Directed Research on Thesis
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of major professor. - DIR RES THESIS
• CAS PH 905: Directed Study in Problems in Philosophy
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - DS PROB OF PHIL
• CAS PH 906: Directed Study in Problems in Philosophy
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - DS PROB OF PHIL