Philosophy
Chair: Stephen Mathis
Department home page: http://www.wheatoncollege.edu/Acad/Philosophy
The Philosophy Department offers a broad range of courses in traditional areas of philosophical inquiry. In addition, the department provides several courses of interest to students with specific career goals, such as law, medicine and business.
Major
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The major consists of 10 semester courses.
Required courses
Phil 125 Logic
Phil 203 Ancient Philosophy
Phil 207 Modern Philosophy: Descartes to Kant
Phil 401 Advanced Seminar in Philosophy
(in the senior year)
Special areas
At least one course is required from each of two special areas:
Value theory
Phil 236 Aesthetics
Phil 265 Philosophy of Law
Phil 311 Ethical Theory
Phil 321 Contemporary Social and Political Philosophy
Metaphysics and Epistemology
Phil 224 Minds and Machines
Phil 245 Philosophy of Science
Phil 325 Metaphysics
At least two courses (in addition to Phil 401) are required at the 300 level or above. Not more than two courses at the 100 level, other than logic, may count toward the major. Students may be invited by the department to become honors candidates or to elect other independent work.
Guidelines have been established for interdepartmental major programs combining Philosophy with Religion, Political Science or History.
Minor
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The minor consists of five philosophy courses, including one at the 300 level and one from each of the following special areas: value theory (Phil 236, Phil 265, Phil 311 or Phil 321) and metaphysics (Phil 224, Phil 245 or Phil 325). Only one course at the 100 level, other than logic, may count. The department also participates in the minor programs in Environmental Studies, Legal Studies, Public Policy, Psychology and Women's Studies.
Courses
Introductory courses
101. Introduction to Philosophy
An examination of fundamental problems of philosophy. Topics will vary and may include faith and reason, appearance and reality, the relation of mind and body, human nature, nihilism and morality. This course does not assume previous study of philosophy or intent to specialize.
111. Ethics
An introduction to moral reasoning through the study of ethical theories and their application to practical problems such as capital punishment, world hunger, animal rights and the environment. Special attention to developing and defending one's own moral positions. Readings from traditional and contemporary sources.
Connections:
Conx 20015 Genes in Context
121. Individual and Society
An introduction to social and political philosophy, with special emphasis on the individual's role in various approaches to the proper constitution of the state. Emphasis will be placed on developing and defending one's own positions on both theoretical and practical issues. Readings from traditional and contemporary sources.
(Stephen Mathis, Serene J. Khader)
125. Logic
An introduction to categorical, propositional and predicate logic with particular emphasis on methods of discovering and proving the validity of arguments. Designed to improve students' ability to reason clearly and precisely. Analysis of logical equivalence, soundness and the relation of truth to validity.
(Nancy Kendrick)
Connections:
Conx 20003 Logic and Digital Circuits
Conx 20016 Logic and Programming
Intermediate courses
203. Ancient Philosophy
An introduction to the thought of Plato and Aristotle: knowledge and truth, the nature of reality, the good life and the good society. Attention also to Socrates and the pre-Socratic philosophers.
(John Partridge)
Connections:
Conx 20039 Ideas of Antiquity
207. Modern Philosophy: Descartes to Kant
The foundations of theory of knowledge and metaphysics through the writings of Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant. Attention to the ways in which these thinkers anticipate various issues in contemporary thought.
(Nancy Kendrick)
208. American Philosophy
America's contribution to philosophical thought, focusing on the classical pragmatists Charles Pierce, William James and John Dewey and their influence on contemporary issues of gender, race, and religion. Emphasis on epistemological and metaphysical concepts, such as belief, truth, the nature of knowledge and justification.
(Nancy Kendrick)
211. Normative Ethics
This course examines in depth four important approaches to morality: deontology, utilitarianism, virture ethics and feminist ethics of care. Readings drawn from historical and contemporary sources.
(Serene J. Khader)
224. Minds and Machines
Can a computer think? What is the nature of thought? How does technology affect our conception of ourselves? This introductory course explores issues in the philosophy of mind.
(Nancy Kendrick)
225. Philosophy of Religion
See Rel 225.
233. Philosophy and Literature
Plato began the ancient quarrel between poetry and philosophy; this course seeks rapprochement. Philosophical examination of the relationship among readers, writers and literary texts, illuminating the nature of the mind and imagination, the domain of ethics and the task of moral philosophy. Topics include existentialism, the paradox of fiction and ethical criticism.
(John Partridge)
236. Aesthetics
The branch of philosophy that concerns itself with beauty and art. Examines the main historical and contemporary theories of art and the aesthetic experience. Special emphasis on the nature of aesthetic value, the limits of aesthetic theory and the contributions of aesthetic inquiry to other philosophical fields.
(John Partridge)
Connections:
Conx 20009 Performing into Theory
241. Bio-Ethics
A consideration of ethical issues raised by biotechnologies. Possible topics include: laboratory-assisted reproduction and human cloning, enhancement of human traits, designing future children and stem cell research.
(M. Teresa Celada)
242. Medical Ethics
A consideration of current ethical controversies in medicine. Topics will be drawn from life and death issues, resource allocation, experimentation with human subjects and ethical issues in the practice of health care.
(M. Teresa Celada)
245. Philosophy of Science
An examination of modern views about the nature of science. One emphasis is on epistemological issues: scientific knowledge and its distinctiveness, observational evidence and theory construction, and scientific method. A second emphasis concerns issues about science, values and democratic society.
(M. Teresa Celada)
255. Feminism, Philosophy and the Law
An examination of issues in law and philosophy posed by feminist theory, including how society views women and their roles, and how that view affects the legal and societal status of women.
(Stephen Mathis)
260. How Judges Reason
A consideration of fundamental issues in the conception and practice of law in the United States. Emphasis on the analysis of forms of legal reasoning; designed to provide students with a basic understanding of the judicial process.
(Stephen Mathis)
Connections:
Conx 20067 Philosopy and Politics of Law
265. Philosophy of Law
A survey of key issues in legal philosophy and legal theory, such as the nature of law, the role of the ethical in the law and punishment theory. Materials will draw on the social sciences as well as philosophy to develop a framework for study of legal institutions across cultures.
(Stephen Mathis)
Connections:
Conx 20067 Philosopy and Politics of Law
298. Experimental Courses
Advanced courses
311. Ethical Theory
An in-depth examination of theories in normative ethics and meta-ethics. Topics drawn from consequentialist and nonconsequentialist theories, moral prohibitions, moral rights, autonomy, naturalism, cognitivism and noncognitivism and practical reason.
(M. Teresa Celada)
312. Feminist Theory
(See Wmst 312 for course description.)
(Serene J. Khader)
321. Contemporary Social and Political Philosophy
A critical examination of recent theories of a just society, including the work of Nozick, Rawls, Habermas, Young and Benhabib. Offered in alternate years.
(Stephen Mathis)
325. Metaphysics
An investigation of philosophical problems involving space and time, causation, agency, contingency and necessity, and the distinction between mind and matter.
(Nancy Kendrick)
329. Nineteenth-Century Continental Philosophy
Critical examination of post-Kantian idealism and the materialist turn in the context of the German Enlightenment. Intensive study of some of the following thinkers: Kant, Hegel, Fichte, Schopenhauer, Marx, Feuerbach, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.
(John Partridge)
388. Tutorial
The student will do all the work required for any 200-level course not already taken, plus additional independent work to be arranged in advance with the instructor.
398. Experimental Courses
Moral Worth
We don't always praise a person for doing the right act, nor do we always blame a person for doing the wrong act. When is an agent praiseworthy and when blameworthy? In her book Unprincipled Virtue Nomy Arpaly presents a theory of moral worth to answer these questions. Her accounts draws on concepts of autonomy, rationality and practical reason. In this class we will read Arpaly's book as well as papers on agent autonomy, responsibility, rationality and practical reason.
401. Advanced Seminar in Philosophy
Topics will vary from year to year, according to the interests of students and members of the department. Required of majors and minors in their senior year, encouraged for junior majors and minors.