Philosophy and Humanties

2013 Summer/Fall Course Description:

Maymester Course Description:

PHIL 3340-001 (Philosophy through Film)
MoTuWeThFr 1:00pm-4:45pm
Dr. Charles Hermes
 
Most people begin thinking philosophically after being confronted with a good movie.  Yet, many of the discussions that occur after watching these movies can be greatly enriched by adding a bit of philosophical sophistication to the topics.  The course will explore major issues in philosophy and how we can learn about these topics through film.  Throughout the course we will guide our discussion through readings and selections from films watched in class.   
Requirements:  The course grade will be determined by two exams and a series of quizzes  

Text: Philosophy through Film, Mary Litch  

Summer Course Descriptions:
 
PHIL 4388-001 (Topics in the History of Philosophy)
PHIL 5392-001 (Topics in the History of Philosophy, Graduate Section)
Monday-Thursday, 10:30AM-12:30PM
Dr. Kenneth Williford  

This course is an advanced introduction to the Buddhist philosophical tradition.  We will begin by covering the core doctrines of Buddhism and an outline of the history of Buddhism, from its origins to its major living schools:  Theravada, Tibetan, and Zen.  The focus of the course will be one the philosophical articulation and defense of the central Buddhist tenets:  the no-self doctrine, the ubiquity of suffering, impermanence, dependent origination, altruistic ethics,  methods for bringing about the cessation of suffering, the role of meditation, the distinction between conventional and absolute reality, and consciousness and self-consciousness.  Throughout, we will relate the discussion to contemporary Western philosophical perspectives.

Text:  Buddhism as Philosophy:  An Introduction by Mark Siderits, Hackett, 2007

CLAS 2307-001 (Women in the Ancient World)
MoTuWeTh 1:00pm-3:00pm
Dr. Dustin Heinen
 
Using written and material evidence, this course will explore the economic, social and political roles of women in the societies of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as the development of the Western idea of the female in antiquity. Secondarily, it will introduce and explore the social theories commonly applied to the study of gender in history.

Text: Women in the Classical World, by Fantham, Foley, Kampen, Pomeroy, and Shapiro
 
Fall Course Descriptions:
 
PHIL 1301-001/002(Fundamentals of Reasoning)
TuTh 9:30am-10:50am and TuTh 11:00am-12:20am
Dr. Charles Nussbaum

Reasoning is thinking in accordance with principles.  Logic makes these principles explicit.  As a consequence, this is a course on elementary logic.  Good reasoning is indispensable for maintaining the integrity of our legal as well as our natural- and social-scientific institutions.  It is also indispensable for the preservation of the open society that makes free inquiry possible. In this course we will develop criteria of good reasoning, giving special attention to the logical concepts of deduction, induction, validity, soundness, strength, and cogency.  Topics discussed will also include informal fallacies, as well as elements of classical syllogistic and inductive reasoning.
Requirements: A series of in-class exams, a final in-class exam, and attendance. 

Text: Patrick J. Hurley: A Concise Introduction to Logic (Abridged Edition).
 
PHIL 1301-003 (Fundamentals of Reasoning)
TuTh 8:00am-9:20am
Dr.  Harry P. Reeder

An extremely practical course based in the basic logical structures of reasoning, and of the logical and rhetorical nature of the living process of argumentation. An excellent course for helping students in their studies and in their daily life.
Requirements: Three in-class exam plus a final exam.

Text: H. Reeder, Arguing With Care: Dialectic for a Democratic Society. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 2010. ISBN 978-0-7575-8010-9

PHIL 1304-001/002 (Contemporary Moral Problems)
MWF 10:00am-10:50am and MWF 11:00am-11:50am
Dr. Charles Hermes  

In this course we will explore many different moral issues including: war and terrorism, abortion, the legalization of drugs, human sexuality, cloning/stem cell research, animal rights, affirmative action, and world hunger.  While everyone has already thought about and talked about some of these issues, the approach we will take in this course will provide a unique method for making more progress in these discussions.  By exploring the logical structure of arguments on both sides of these debates, students will discover a method for producing friendlier and more fruitful discussions on these topics.

Requirements: This course will be graded on the basis of two exams, ten quizzes, and a final paper.  The quizzes will be based both off of the readings for the course as well as material covered in previous classes.  While there may be more than ten quizzes, only the top ten scores will be factored into the final grade.   
Quizzes                       25%
Paper 1                        25%
Exam 1                        25%
Exam 2                        25%

Text: Ethics in Practice, Hugh Lafollette

PHIL 1310-001/002 (Philosophical Perspectives)
TuTh 9:30am-10:50am and TuTh 11:00am-12.20pm
Dr. Lewis Baker

Most college students have never had a philosophy course, but they began asking themselves philosophical questions even before they entered elementary school. What kind of world do I live in? What is the purpose of life? What constitutes a good life? Throughout history philosophers have revisited these questions, and their answers have shaped our civilization as dramatically as the world’s political, military, and economic leaders. "Philosophical Perspectives" offers a broad survey of philosophical ideas, using the methods students are already familiar with from their history and literature courses: examining the writings of major philosophers in their historical context, and the way one idea led to another.

Text: Plato, The Trial and Death of Socrates
Epicurus, Letters, Principal Doctrines, and Vatican Sayings,
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
René Descartes, Discourse on Method
Henri Bergson, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion

PHIL 2300-001/003 (Introduction to Philosophy)
MWF 9:00am-9:50am and 10:00am-10:50am
Dr. Miriam Byrd

This course provides an interactive approach to the study of philosophy. Not only will students learn about important philosophical figures, movements, and methodology, but they will be encouraged to identify their own philosophical positions and consider how these positions relate to those of the philosophers we’ve studied. Students are also encouraged to consider how particular philosophical issues have been important in their own lives and to discuss philosophical problems with friends and family outside of class.
Representative topics covered in this course include epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. Discussion of these topics will give rise to such questions as ‘what do I really know?’, ‘am I free?’; ‘am I morally responsible for what I do?’ ‘is there an afterlife?’ ‘How should I treat others?’ and ‘what should I do with my life?’
At the end of the course, students will be able to explain key philosophical concepts and the positions of major figures and will demonstrate skill in philosophical argumentation. Finally, students will have awareness of their own philosophical positions and the evaluative skills needed for building and improving upon their overall worldview in the future.

Requirements: Grades will be based on quizzes, short written assignments, and three exams. Attendance is required.

Text: William Lawhead, The Philosophical Journey: An Interactive Approach, 5th edition, 2011. This book comes with an online component. Students wishing to save money by purchasing the e-book instead of the hardback text should visit www.coursesmart.com. Be sure to purchase the 5th edition. 

PHIL 2300-002 (Introduction to Philosophy)
TuTh 2:00-3:20pm
Dr. Charles Nussbaum  

 Philosophy is distinguished from all other disciplines in that it is the only discipline that is thoroughly self-reflective.  Nothing at all, be it first principles, method, logic, or rationality itself, need be taken for granted or assumed without examination.  Everything is potentially up for grabs (though not everything at the same time!).   Philosophical reflection moves in both an analytic and a synthetic direction: when we philosophize, we attempt to clarify our concepts and principles, but we also take a comprehensive view of our cognitive and practical endeavors, and ask how they fit together.  In the modern tradition, philosophy consists of three principal areas of inquiry: ontology and metaphysics (the study of the fundamental categories and structure of existence), epistemology (the study of the scope and limits of human knowledge), and ethics (the search for moral justification).  We shall touch on all three and more.

Requirements: We will have short essay-type exams after Descartes, Hume, and Wielenberg.  We will also have a comprehensive final exam.  Grades will be computed on the basis of performance on these exams as well as on attendance.  Each of the short exams counts one-fifth of the final grade; the final counts two-fifths.  Before each exam I shall supply study questions from which the exam questions will be taken.

Text: Frankfurt:                      On Bullshit
Descartes:                      Meditations on First Philosophy
Hume:                   An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Wielenberg:             Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe
Greene:                 “The Secret Joke of Kant’s Soul”

PHIL 2311-001 (Logic)
TuTh 8:00am-9:20am
Dr. Keith Burgess-Jackson 

Reasoning—also known as inference—is the process by which conclusions are drawn from premis­es.  Like any other human activity, it can be done well or poorly.  The aim of this course is to help you do it better.  There are two types of reasoning.  In theoretical reasoning, one decides what to believe.  In practical reasoning, one decides what to do.  There are two types of study of reasoning.  Those who conduct empirical studies seek to under­stand the processes by which human beings reason (whether theoretical­ly or practical­ly).  This is the province of science.  Those who conduct normative studies seek to distin­guish, in a principled way, between good and bad reasoning.  This is the province of logic.  Logic is either formal or informal, de­pending on whether the reason­ing being studied is ex­pressed in artifi­cial or natural language.  This is a course in formal logic, so you will be learning several new languages: the language of categorical logic, the language of propositional logic, and the language of predicate logic.  Students who wish to study informal logic should take PHIL 1301 (Fundamentals of Reasoning).  A student may (and in my opinion should) take both courses.  The order in which they are taken does not matter. 

Requirements: Three in-class, noncomprehensive examinations, each of which constitutes 25% of the student's final score.  The other 25% is based on attendance. 

Text: Stan Baronett, Logic: An Emphasis on Formal Logic, 2d ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), ISBN 978-0-19-994126-1.  

PHIL 2314 Perspectives on Mathematics and Science
Dr. Kenneth Williford  

In this course we cover topics and episodes in the history of science and mathematics from a philosophical point of view. We consider the role of philosophical, religious, and other cultural factors in the development of and reactions to the findings of the natural and mathematical sciences.   Ideally, students will come to understand that science has a fascinating history, is underpinned by deep philosophical presuppositions about the nature of knowledge and the nature of reality, and depends upon special social and cultural factors for its continued growth and revision.  The pedagogical usefulness of historical and philosophical material in the teaching of science and mathematics will be emphasized.  The successful student will acquire the ability to skillfully incorporate material from the history, philosophy, and sociology of science into the teaching of science and will also acquire a nuanced understanding of the social and cultural forces that have shaped the history of science and mathematics and continue to affect the development of the sciences today.  

PHIL 3303-001 (Renaissance and Early Modern Philosophy)
TuTh 11:00am-12:20pm
Dr. Harry Reeder

A survey of the most important philosophical thinkers of the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, from Bacon to Kant. Modern philosophy was largely a reaction to the scientific revolution, which forced humanity to re-think the nature of itself, of God and of the world of nature. Many of our current ways of thinking and talking in fact stem from important philosophers of this period, so a study of these thinkers will shed light upon the way you actually think about these things.  
Requirements: TBA

Text: Roger Ariew and Eric Watkins, eds., Modern Philosophy: An Anthology of Primary Sources, 2d edition. Hackett Publishing Co., 2009 ISBN 978-0-87220-978-7

PHIL 3316-001 (Philosophy of Religion)
TuTh 9:30am-10:50am
Keith Burgess-Jackson 

The aim of this course is to apply the concepts and methods of contemporary analytic philosophy to religious belief.  It is a course about religion, not in religion.  It is a philosophy course, not a history, sociology, anthropology, psychology, or theology course.  Among the topics to be covered in this course are the ontological argument; the cosmological argument; the teleological argument; miscellaneous arguments; the problem of evil; religious conversions; faith and the need for evidence; death and immortality; religion and morality; religion and law; and religion and science.  At no point will you be evalu­ated on the basis of the con­tent of your beliefs (or values).  There are no prerequisites.  Keep in mind, however, that this is an upper-level course.  The material will be difficult for those who have had little or no exposure to philosophy. 

Requirements: Two in-class, noncomprehensive examinations, each of which constitutes 40% of the student's final score.  The other 20% is based on attendance. 

Text: There are no books.  All course materials are available free of charge (except for the paper on which to print them) from the UTA library (online) or from the course blog.  Each student is responsible for locating and printing these materials.  

PHIL 3324-001 (Business Ethics)
Section 001: MWF 1-1:50 pm
Dr. Gloria Zúñiga y Postigo 

This class examines the relationship of ethics and moral problems in business. Typically, individuals understand ethics to be their homegrown values and norms that determine their behavior when confronted with moral problems. This course shall expand this understanding of ethics with the systematic approach to moral reasoning set forth in a few philosophical theories called ethical theories. Each of these establishes one unique meaning of the moral good or the moral right in normative or “ought” claims. Part of our examinations of moral problems in business will involve the evaluation of economic activity. The dominant attitude of most intellectuals and ordinary people alike is that, while free markets enhance material production and economic growth, they do so at the cost of some moral values. We will critically examine this attitude by the filter of ethical theories. We shall also set aside the ordinary understanding of economics as constituted by differential equations, data collection and prediction, and take a deeper look at economics as a science of human action in order to find what theoretical insights economics can offer ethics.  
Some of the topics that we will examine include the nature of business, markets and capitalism, ethics in the sports and entertainment business, ethics in the food production and manufacturing business, the effects of business activities to the environment and employment, and moral challenges in the workplace such as discrimination, affirmative action, labor unions, sexual harassment, insider trading and whistleblowing. 

Requirements:  Attendance, two tests, one short paper, one debate, and participation in discussions in class and Blackboard. 

Text: Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases, Seventh Edition, Manuel G. Velasquez, Pearson, 2012
The form of this textbook available in the Bookstore is a set of hole-punched, loose-leaf pages, which is priced considerably lower than the bound form of the textbook. Instead of buying the textbook at the Bookstore, students have the option to purchase the digital form of the book, which can be done directly from www.mythinkinglab.com  

PHIL 4387 -001 (Free Will and Moral Responsibility)
MWF 1:00pm-1:50pm
Dr. Charles Hermes

Human beings seem to be accountable for their actions in a manner that other animals are not. While one may be upset with their dog for destroying their property, their attitude would be greatly different if a friend destroyed the property. What seems to account for this difference in attitude is that humans have a degree of control over their behavior not possessed by other animals. In the course, we will discuss the unique sort of control that human beings allegedly have that distinguishes them from other animals and how that sort of control is possible.

Requirements: The course will be graded by two exams, two papers, and a series of quizzes.

Text: The Philosophy of Free Will, Paul Russell and Oisin Deery. Free Will, Joseph Keim Campbell.

PHIL 4388-001 (American Social Thought)
TuTh 12:30pm-1:50pm
Dr. Lewis Baker  

This course will survey American thought from Colonial times to the mid-twentieth century. We will focus on the philosophical issues and beliefs that shaped American thinking in theology, political theory, literature, and the social sciences, as well as in the field of philosophy itself.  Authors covered will include Jonathan Edwards, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James, Charles Peirce, B.F. Skinner and others. Major topics will include Puritanism, revolutionary thought, Transcendentalism, and Pragmatism.

Text: Jonathan Edwards and Others, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Other Puritan Sermons
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature and Other Essays
William James, Essays in Radical Empiricism
Charles Peirce, Philosophical Writings of Peirce
B.F. Skinner Beyond Freedom and Dignity 

Classics, Greek, and Latin:  

GREEK 1441/1442-(1441 Section 082/1442 Section 082) (Ancient Greek Levels I, II)
Concurrent enrollment REQUIRED         
MWF 10:00am-12:00pm
Dr. Charles Chiasson 

An intensive (double-credit) introduction to the ancient Greek language, which provides direct access to one of the most important civilizations in world history, including both classical literature  (Homer, Greek tragedy, philosophy, and history) and the religious literature of early Christianity (the New Testament).  Ideal preparation for students planning to enter the seminary or graduate school in a wide variety of disciplines. 

Requirements:  weekly quizzes; three in-class exams, plus final exam.  
Text: Athenaze, book 1, 2^nd ed. (Oxford University Press 2003).
Optional Texts: Workbook for Athenaze  I (Oxford University Press 2004); The Oxford Grammar of Classical Greek (Oxford University Press 2001). 

CLASSICS 1300-001 (Introduction to Classical Mythology)       
MW 4:00pm-5:20pm
Dr. Charles Chiasson 

A bracing introductory survey of the most influential classical myths as represented in words and images by the Greeks, Romans, and subsequent generations, including our own.  Course readings will be lavishly illustrated by slides and film excerpts.  Sex, violence, heroes, monsters, cultural contextualization, and more!  
Requirements:  three mostly objective exams (two in-class, plus the final). 

Text:  Anthology of Classical Myth (Hackett 2004); The Essential Homer (Hackett 2000); Aeschylus’ Oresteia (Hackett 1998); Euripides’ Medea (Hackett 2008).