Philosophy
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- CAS PH 300: History of Ancient Philosophy
Undergraduate Prerequisites: one philosophy course or sophomore standing. First Year Writing Semina r (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - A survey of ancient Greek philosophy, with an emphasis on Plato and Aristotle. Topics will include: the fundamental nature of reality, how we know anything about it, wisdom, virtue, and human happiness. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. - CAS PH 310: History of Modern Philosophy
Undergraduate Prerequisites: one philosophy course or sophomore standing. - An examination of seventeenth- and eighteenth‐century philosophy from Descartes to Kant, with emphasis on the nature and extent of knowledge, the relation of mind to body, the nature of personal identity, the problem of free will, and the problem of evil. Readings from Rene Descartes, Princess Elizabeth, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Benedict Spinoza, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Research and Information Literacy. - CAS PH 340: Metaphysics and Epistemology
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH160) or consent of instructor. - This course is about metaphysics (the study of what there is, and how it all relates) and epistemology (the study of knowledge, and how we can know things about the world) and their intersection. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking. - CAS PH 350: History of Ethics
Undergraduate Prerequisites: one philosophy course or sophomore standing. - Are there fundamental principles for determining the right way to act ethically? How do different eras answer this question? What is the significance of these differences? This course addresses these questions by examining classical ethical texts from different historical traditions. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking. - CAS PH 360: Symbolic Logic
U - CAS PH 401: Senior Independent Work
Undergraduate Prerequisites: senior standing, consent of instructor and department, and approval of Honors Committee. - Individual tutorial instruction and directed research at distinction level. - CAS PH 402: Senior Independent Work
Undergraduate Prerequisites: senior standing, consent of instructor and department, and approval of Honors Committee. - Individual tutorial instruction and directed research at distinction level. - CAS PH 403: Plato I
Undergraduate Prerequisites: two courses in philosophy or consent of instructor. - (Knowledge of Greek is helpful but not required. Familiarity with Greek philosophy is helpful.) A close reading of the Symposium. - CAS PH 405: Aristotle I
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH300) - A careful study of the philosophy of Aristotle conducted primarily through a close reading of several of his major works. - CAS PH 408: History of Medieval Philosophy
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH300) sophomore standing and CAS PH 300 and two other philosophy courses, or consent of instructor. - Topic for Fall 2020: Jewish and Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism. Thematic introduction to mysticism and philosophy, with a focus on dynamics of religious experience. Readings from medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy; Sufi mysticism and philosophy; Kabbalah, Biblical interpretation, Sufi poetry, Hebrew poetry from the Golden Age of Muslim Spain. - CAS PH 409: Maimonides
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH300) - A study of major aspects of the thought of Maimonides. Primary focus on the Guide of the Perplexed, with attention to its modern reception in works by Baruch Spinoza, Hermann Cohen, Leo Strauss, and others. Also offered as CAS RN 420. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Oral and/or Signed Communication. - CAS PH 412: Philosophy of the Enlightenment
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH310) - A critical examination of that family of philosophical and political movements that called itself "the Enlightenment." Students analyze key texts by Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Smith, Rousseau, Voltaire, Diderot, Jefferson, Madison, Kant, and Hegel. Also offered as CAS PO 592 and CAS HI 514. - CAS PH 413: Kant
Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous PH courses, or consent of instructor. - A study of Kant's critical philosophy, focusing on one or more of his works. - CAS PH 415: Nineteenth-Century Philosophy
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH310) and one other philosophy course. - Course subtitle: "Constructing and Deconstructing Autonomy". We will ask: To what extent is a practical agent free or autonomous? We examine answers to these questions by figures such as Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche and Freud. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking. - CAS PH 416: Hegel
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH310) and two courses in philosophy above the 100 level or consent of the in structor. - A study of Hegel's systematic philosophy, focusing on one or more of his works. - CAS PH 418: Marx and Marxism
Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous PH courses, or consent of instructor. - Philosophical foundation of Marxism and its development. Critical study of Marx's writings stressing questions of philosophy, political economy, science, and history. Emphasis on Marx's theory of relation of praxis to consciousness. Later (including contemporary) Marxists and critics. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. - CAS PH 419: Nietzsche
Undergraduate Prerequisites: two philosophy courses, or consent of instructor. - An intensive study of Nietzsche's philosophical thought. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings. - CAS PH 422: Analytic Philosophy
Undergraduate Prerequisites: successful completion of CAS PH 360, or equivalent knowledge of quanti fication theory. - An examination of some aspects of the development of twentieth-century analytic philosophy, with an emphasis on works by Frege, Russell, the Logical Empiricists (also known as Logical Positivists), and Quine. - CAS PH 424: Wittgenstein
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPH310) and two other philosophy courses, or consent of instructor. - An intensive (line by line) study of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. - CAS PH 426: Phenomenology
Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous PH courses, or consent of instructor.. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Rigorous examination of foundations of philosophical phenomenology in Husserl and others. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing-Intensive Course, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
