Undergraduate Courses

To see a complete list of courses offered and their descriptions, visit the online course catalog.

The courses listed below are provided by Student Information Services (SIS). This listing provides a snapshot of immediately available courses within this department and may not be complete. Course registration information can be found at https://sis.jhu.edu/classes.

Column one has the course number and section. Other columns show the course title, days offered, instructor's name, room number, if the course is cross-referenced with another program, and a option to view additional course information in a pop-up window.

Philosophical Problems
AS.150.112 (01)

An introduction to philosophy through several central problems. This year’s topics are free will, death, time, and race.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
  • Instructor: Gross, Steven
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/20
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Philosophical Problems
AS.150.112 (02)

An introduction to philosophy through several central problems. This year’s topics are free will, death, time, and race.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AM
  • Instructor: Gross, Steven
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 8/20
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Philosophical Problems
AS.150.112 (03)

An introduction to philosophy through several central problems. This year’s topics are free will, death, time, and race.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
  • Instructor: Gross, Steven
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/20
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Philosophical Problems
AS.150.112 (04)

An introduction to philosophy through several central problems. This year’s topics are free will, death, time, and race.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AM
  • Instructor: Gross, Steven
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 6/20
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Introduction to Formal Logic
AS.150.118 (01)

An introduction to symbolic logic and probability. In the first two parts of the course we study formal ways of determining whether a conclusion of an argument follows from its premises. Included are truth-functional logic and predicate logic. In the third part we study the basic rules of probability, and learn how to make probability calculations and decisions in life. Co-listed with AS.150.632 (for graduate students) (01-F 11:00-11:50am).

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
  • Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-LOGSCI, COGS-PHLMND

Introduction to Formal Logic
AS.150.118 (02)

An introduction to symbolic logic and probability. In the first two parts of the course we study formal ways of determining whether a conclusion of an argument follows from its premises. Included are truth-functional logic and predicate logic. In the third part we study the basic rules of probability, and learn how to make probability calculations and decisions in life. Co-listed with AS.150.632 (for graduate students) (01-F 11:00-11:50am).

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
  • Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 1/17
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-LOGSCI, COGS-PHLMND

Introduction to Formal Logic
AS.150.118 (03)

An introduction to symbolic logic and probability. In the first two parts of the course we study formal ways of determining whether a conclusion of an argument follows from its premises. Included are truth-functional logic and predicate logic. In the third part we study the basic rules of probability, and learn how to make probability calculations and decisions in life. Co-listed with AS.150.632 (for graduate students) (01-F 11:00-11:50am).

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
  • Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 4/17
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-LOGSCI, COGS-PHLMND

Introduction to Formal Logic
AS.150.118 (04)

An introduction to symbolic logic and probability. In the first two parts of the course we study formal ways of determining whether a conclusion of an argument follows from its premises. Included are truth-functional logic and predicate logic. In the third part we study the basic rules of probability, and learn how to make probability calculations and decisions in life. Co-listed with AS.150.632 (for graduate students) (01-F 11:00-11:50am).

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
  • Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 6/17
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-LOGSCI, COGS-PHLMND

Introduction to the History of Modern Philosophy
AS.150.205 (01)

An overview of philosophical thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. We shall focus on fundamental questions in epistemology (knowledge, how we acquire it, its scope and limits), metaphysics (the ultimate nature of reality, the relation of mind and body, free will), and theology (the existence and nature of God, God’s relation to the world, whether knowledge of such things is possible): all questions that arose in dramatic ways as a result of the rise of modern science. The principal philosophers to be discussed are Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant, though we shall also make the acquaintance of Spinoza, Leibniz and Berkeley.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
  • Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 2/17
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-MODERN, MSCH-HUM, INST-GLOBAL, INST-PT

Intro Hist of Mod Philos
AS.150.205 (02)

An overview of philosophical thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. We shall focus on fundamental questions in epistemology (knowledge, how we acquire it, its scope and limits), metaphysics (the ultimate nature of reality, the relation of mind and body, free will), and theology (the existence and nature of God, God’s relation to the world, whether knowledge of such things is possible): all questions that arose in dramatic ways as a result of the rise of modern science. The principal philosophers to be discussed are Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant, though we shall also make the acquaintance of Spinoza, Leibniz and Berkeley.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AM
  • Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 15/18
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-MODERN, MSCH-HUM, INST-GLOBAL, INST-PT

Intro Hist of Mod Philos
AS.150.205 (03)

An overview of philosophical thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. We shall focus on fundamental questions in epistemology (knowledge, how we acquire it, its scope and limits), metaphysics (the ultimate nature of reality, the relation of mind and body, free will), and theology (the existence and nature of God, God’s relation to the world, whether knowledge of such things is possible): all questions that arose in dramatic ways as a result of the rise of modern science. The principal philosophers to be discussed are Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant, though we shall also make the acquaintance of Spinoza, Leibniz and Berkeley.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
  • Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 3/17
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-MODERN, MSCH-HUM, INST-GLOBAL, INST-PT

Intro Hist of Mod Philos
AS.150.205 (04)

An overview of philosophical thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. We shall focus on fundamental questions in epistemology (knowledge, how we acquire it, its scope and limits), metaphysics (the ultimate nature of reality, the relation of mind and body, free will), and theology (the existence and nature of God, God’s relation to the world, whether knowledge of such things is possible): all questions that arose in dramatic ways as a result of the rise of modern science. The principal philosophers to be discussed are Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant, though we shall also make the acquaintance of Spinoza, Leibniz and Berkeley.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AM
  • Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 15/18
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-MODERN, MSCH-HUM, INST-GLOBAL, INST-PT

Introduction to Moral Philosophy
AS.150.220 (01)

An introduction to moral philosophy through in-depth and critical reading of selected texts from the history of philosophy. The philosophers whose texts will be discussed include Aristotle, Kant, Mill, and Nietzsche.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
  • Instructor: Bok, Hilary
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/17
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS

Introduction to Moral Philosophy
AS.150.220 (02)

An introduction to moral philosophy through in-depth and critical reading of selected texts from the history of philosophy. The philosophers whose texts will be discussed include Aristotle, Kant, Mill, and Nietzsche.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
  • Instructor: Bok, Hilary
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 4/17
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS

Introduction to Moral Philosophy
AS.150.220 (03)

An introduction to moral philosophy through in-depth and critical reading of selected texts from the history of philosophy. The philosophers whose texts will be discussed include Aristotle, Kant, Mill, and Nietzsche.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
  • Instructor: Bok, Hilary
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 1/17
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS

Introduction to Moral Philosophy
AS.150.220 (04)

An introduction to moral philosophy through in-depth and critical reading of selected texts from the history of philosophy. The philosophers whose texts will be discussed include Aristotle, Kant, Mill, and Nietzsche.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, W 3:00PM - 3:50PM
  • Instructor: Bok, Hilary
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 3/17
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS

Introduction to Moral Philosophy
AS.150.220 (05)

An introduction to moral philosophy through in-depth and critical reading of selected texts from the history of philosophy. The philosophers whose texts will be discussed include Aristotle, Kant, Mill, and Nietzsche.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, W 4:30PM - 5:20PM
  • Instructor: Bok, Hilary
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 12/16
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS

Introduction to Moral Philosophy
AS.150.220 (06)

An introduction to moral philosophy through in-depth and critical reading of selected texts from the history of philosophy. The philosophers whose texts will be discussed include Aristotle, Kant, Mill, and Nietzsche.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 1:30PM - 2:20PM
  • Instructor: Bok, Hilary
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 10/16
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS

Intro-Political Philosop
AS.150.240 (01)

Course reviews and explores canonical texts in political philosophy.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 10:00AM - 10:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AM
  • Instructor: Lebron, Christopher Joseph
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 1/20
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS, INST-PT

Intro-Political Philosop
AS.150.240 (02)

Course reviews and explores canonical texts in political philosophy.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 10:00AM - 10:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
  • Instructor: Lebron, Christopher Joseph
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 13/20
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS, INST-PT

Prometheus Editorial Workshop
AS.150.300 (01)

Prometheus is an international undergraduate philosophy journal published by students at Johns Hopkins University. The purpose of the journal is to promote philosophic discourse of the highest standard by offering students an opportunity to engage in open discussion, participate in the production and publication of an academic journal, and establish a community of aspiring philosophers. Students enrolled in this workshop will act as the staff readers for the journal. For more information, please visit www.prometheus-journal.com. Prerequisite: MUST have taken one philosophy course.

  • Credits: 1.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: T 7:00PM - 8:00PM
  • Instructor: Brown, Simon Alexander Burns
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 6/20
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Majors Seminar: Topics in Metaphysics
AS.150.301 (01)

Metaphysics addresses fundamental questions about the nature and structure of reality. In this majors' seminar we will explore a range of topics in metaphysics, focusing particularly on distinctions between realism and anti-realism. We will also work on core philosophical skills including argument reconstruction, presenting original work to an audience, and writing longer philosophy papers.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 1:30PM - 2:45PM
  • Instructor: Taylor, Elanor J.
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-SEM, PHIL-MIND

Kant’s Theoretical Philosophy
AS.150.308 (01)

This course is an in-depth investigation into Kant’s theoretical philosophy. We will deal with his metaphysics, his theory of knowledge and his philosophy of science. All students are welcome.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: W 4:00PM - 6:30PM
  • Instructor: Hussein, Rima
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-MODERN

Aristotle
AS.150.402 (01)

A study of major selected texts of Aristotle.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
  • Instructor: Bett, Richard
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ANCIEN

Modal Psychology
AS.150.411 (01)

In this seminar, we'll consider recent theoretical and experimental work by philosophers, psychologists, and cognitive scientists on the impact of our modal judgments (i.e., our judgments about whether a state or event is possible or not, statistically probable or not, morally bad or not, and so forth) in various cognitive domains. Among other things, we'll look at recent studies suggesting that our moral judgments can affect our judgments about whether an agent is free to act, our selection of causes, and our simulation of counterfactual possibilities in surprising ways.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Bledin, Justin
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-LOGSCI, COGS-PHLMND

Typefaces and Meaning
AS.150.415 (01)

While linguists and philosophers have developed deep and intricate theories of meaning for natural language, considerably less attention has been paid to how the form of written and printed language can itself communicate content. In this seminar, we'll look at recent theoretical and experimental work across a range of different disciplines that converges on the idea that typeface choice can be a rational means to communicate and construct different personae. To get clearer about this phenomenon, we'll also look at philosophical work on meaning, and related research on sociolinguistic variation and the semantics and pragmatics of expressive language.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: F 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Bledin, Justin
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 5/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-MIND

Axiomatic Set Theory
AS.150.422 (01)

A development of Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory (ZF), including the axiom of choice (ZFC), a system in which all of mathematics can be formulated (i.e., entails all theorems of mathematics). Although, we’ll do an exposure to transfinite ordinals and cardinals in general so that you can get a sense for how stupendously “large” these can be, the main thrust concerns certain simple, seemingly well-posed conjectures whose status appears problematic. For example, the Continuum Hypothesis (CH) is the conjecture that the cardinality of the real numbers is the first uncountable cardinality, i.e., the first cardinality greater than that of the set of natural numbers. Equivalently, there is no uncountable subset of real numbers strictly smaller in cardinality than the full set of reals. (You’d think that if there were one, you would be able eventually to find such.) Cantor thought that CH is true, but could not prove it. Gödel showed, at least, that if ZFC is consistent, then so is ZFC+CH. However, Paul Cohen later proved that if ZFC is consistent, then so is ZFC + the negation of CH. In fact, CH could fail in astoundingly many ways. For example, the cardinality of the continuum could be (weakly) inaccessible, i.e., of a cardinality that cannot even be proved to exist in ZFC (although the reals can certainly can be proved to exist in ZFC). So, are there further, intuitively true axioms that can be added to ZFC to resolve the cardinality of the continuum, and CH is definitely true or false? Or, as Cohen thought, does CH simply lack a definite truth value?

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
  • Instructor: Rynasiewicz, Robert
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/10
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-LOGSCI

Enlightenment Moral and Political Theory
AS.150.425 (01)

An examination of some of the central texts of the Enlightenment, including works by Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Kant.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: F 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Bok, Hilary
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 9/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS, PHIL-ETHICS, INST-PT

Spinoza’s Theological Political Treatise
AS.150.428 (01)

The course is an in-depth study of Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise. Among the topics to be discussed are: Spinoza’s Bible criticism, the nature of religion, philosophy and faith, the nature of the ancient Hebrew State, Spinoza’s theory of the State, the role of religion in Spinoza’s political theory, the freedom to philosophize, the metaphysics of Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise, and finally, the reception of the TTP.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 8/18
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-MODERN, INST-PT

Philosophy of Memory
AS.150.432 (01)

Memory is amongst the most fundamental capacities of the mind. Without memory, we would be limited to our present experience, and many of our other cognitive capacities and social practices would be impossible. In this course we will investigate interconnected questions including: What is the nature of memory and of its different varieties? How should we study memory: what should be the roles of psychology, neuroscience, and introspection? If someone loses many of their memories due to injury or disease, are they still the same person—and should we still respect their past wishes and hold them responsible for their past deeds? What kinds of memory do other animals have and is this morally significant? Is forgetting always bad, or do we have a duty to remember? How do collective memory and public memorials relate to individual memory, and what lessons does the study of individual memory have for the politics of collective memory?

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 3:00PM - 4:15PM
  • Instructor: Brown, Simon Alexander Burns
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-MIND, PHIL-BIOETH, COGS-PHLMND

Philosophy of Gender
AS.150.436 (01)

In this class we will examine philosophical questions about gender, and about the intersections between gender and other social categories including race, class and sexuality. We will focus specifically on questions about the metaphysics of gender and other social categories.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 4:30PM - 5:45PM
  • Instructor: Taylor, Elanor J.
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/20
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-MIND

Kierkegaard
AS.150.437 (01)

A survey of the works of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, considered by many to be the most important figure in the history of what came to be called ‘existential philosophy’, and one of the great moral psychologists in the history of western philosophy. We will read a broad selection from Kierkegaard's pseudonymous works, including Either/Or, Fear and Trembling, The Concept of Anxiety and The Sickness unto Death.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: F 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Kosch, Michelle
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS

Paradoxes of Agency and Belief
AS.150.441 (01)

This course will focus on issues arising from the Socratic paradoxes of agency and from Moore's Paradox. Readings will include Platonic dialogues, the ethical writings of Kant, Fichte and Hegel, selections from Moore and Wittgenstein, and writings by contemporary philosophers of agency.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Moyar, Dean
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 7/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS, PHIL-ETHICS

Wittgenstein
AS.150.442 (01)

An advanced introduction to the philosophical work of Ludwig Wittgenstein. We shall begin by examining the central ideas of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus against the background of the philosophical work of Frege and Russell. We shall then move on to the Philosophical Investigations, paying special attention to his searching self-criticisms and to the “rule-following” and “private language” problems, as highlighted by Saul Kripke’s pathbreaking but controversial account of Wittgenstein’s argument.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Williams, Michael
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 5/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-MIND

New Foundations for Mathematics
AS.150.449 (01)

With the appearance of Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory (ZF) in the early 20th century and the subsequent identification of first-order logic, the problem of an adequate foundations for mathematics was thought to have been solved. The emergence of category theory (Cat) in the latter half of the century and more recently of homotopy type theory (HoT) has been seen to undermine ZF’s foundational status and to threaten to replace it. In this course we will (1) see how ZF serves as a foundation, (2) learn a bit of Cat and HoT, and (3) discuss what the foundations can and should be (if any).

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Rynasiewicz, Robert
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/5
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-LOGSCI

Topics in Biomedical Ethics: Depression
AS.150.450 (01)

There is a mental health crisis in the United States. One very significant aspect of this crisis is that – according to a recent survey conducted by the CDC -- the prevalence of depression is skyrocketing, particularly among young adults. Unfortunately, we are still woefully inadequate both in identifying cases of depression and, especially, in treating them. It is therefore morally imperative that we gain a better understanding of what depression is and how to treat it. In this course, we will use the tools of philosophical analysis to make headway on these questions. We will explore the nature of depression, address ethical issues in its treatment, and investigate depression’s “significance” – that is, what depression can help teach us about perennial philosophical questions like what makes for a life worth living.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: T 4:00PM - 6:30PM
  • Instructor: Tully, Ian M
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS, PHIL-BIOETH

The Biggest Hits in Philosophy of Science (20th and 21st Centuries)
AS.150.458 (01)

Readings from Duhem, Carnap, Hempel, Popper, Quine, Kuhn, Feyerabend, van Fraassen, and others who got us where we are in the field today. Quine said: Philosophy of science is philosophy enough. Is it?

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Achinstein, Peter
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 10/12
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-LOGSCI

Animals and Animality in Literature and Philosophy
AS.213.360 (01)

(300-level, taught in English) critically engages the presentation and imagination of animals and other non-human life in modern literature, philosophy, and thought. We will examine the figure of the animal and the means of conceptual differentiation between the animal and the human, considering animals' relation to or perceived exclusion from language, pain, embodiment, sexuality, and the visual gaze. The course is ideal for students interested in fascinating themes in literature and how they reflect philosophical concerns. No prior courses in philosophy are required. Students will read philosophical texts alongside literary works in learning the conceptual history of animals and of humanity as a distinct species. Expect fascinating readings and engaging, lively discussions. Readings may include works by Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger Derrida, Agamben, Poe, Kleist, Hofmannsthal, Rilke, Kafka, Mann, Pirandello, and Coetzee.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Gosetti, Jennifer Anna
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 6/10
  • PosTag(s): GRLL-ENGL

Animals and Animality in Literature and Philosophy
AS.213.360 (02)

(300-level, taught in English) critically engages the presentation and imagination of animals and other non-human life in modern literature, philosophy, and thought. We will examine the figure of the animal and the means of conceptual differentiation between the animal and the human, considering animals' relation to or perceived exclusion from language, pain, embodiment, sexuality, and the visual gaze. The course is ideal for students interested in fascinating themes in literature and how they reflect philosophical concerns. No prior courses in philosophy are required. Students will read philosophical texts alongside literary works in learning the conceptual history of animals and of humanity as a distinct species. Expect fascinating readings and engaging, lively discussions. Readings may include works by Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger Derrida, Agamben, Poe, Kleist, Hofmannsthal, Rilke, Kafka, Mann, Pirandello, and Coetzee.

  • Credits: 4.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Gosetti, Jennifer Anna
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 4/5
  • PosTag(s): GRLL-ENGL

Phenomenology and Literature
AS.213.437 (01)

Phenomenology and Literature engages the most fertile interchanges between literature and philosophy in the 20th century, focusing on the roots of phenomenology in German philosophy and its connections with and expansion to literary writing. Themes include: the nature of literary experience, including the experience of reading and writing, literary and phenomenological descriptions of reality, the literary construction of the self, and the understanding of literary imagination from a phenomenological perspective. We will read philosophers and literary theorists such as Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus, Merleau-Ponty, Blanchot, Beauvoir, Hamburger, Ingarden and Iser in connection with the works of many modernist writers, including Rainer Maria Rilke, Franz Kafka, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Thomas Mann, Thomas Bernhard, Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, and Wallace Stevens.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Gosetti, Jennifer Anna
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/15
  • PosTag(s): n/a

The Existential Drama: Philosophy and Theatre of the Absurd
AS.225.328 (01)

Existentialism, a powerful movement in modern drama and theatre, has had a profound influence on contemporary political thought, ethics, and psychology, and has transformed our very notion of how to stage a play. Selected readings and lectures on the philosophy of Kierkegaard, Nietszche, Camus and Sartre -- and discussion of works for the stage by Sartre, Ionesco, Genet, Beckett, Albee, Pinter, Athol Fugard (with Nkani & Nshone), Heiner Müller and the late plays of Caryl Churchill. Opportunities for projects on Dürrenmatt, Frisch, Havel, Witkiewicz, and Mrozek.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: M 3:00PM - 5:30PM
  • Instructor: Martin, Joseph H
  • Room:  
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 3/13
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Being a Good Person
AS.365.100 (04)

In this seminar we explore the virtue ethics tradition and its pursuit to figure out what it means to be a good person. We creatively read the canonical tradition as well as less familiar texts in race & gender studies as well as fiction.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times:
  • Instructor: Lebron, Christopher Joseph
  • Room:  
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/12
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Course # (Section) Title Day/Times Instructor Room PosTag(s) Info
AS.150.112 (01)Philosophical ProblemsMW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AMGross, Steven 
AS.150.112 (02)Philosophical ProblemsMW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AMGross, Steven 
AS.150.112 (03)Philosophical ProblemsMW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AMGross, Steven 
AS.150.112 (04)Philosophical ProblemsMW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AMGross, Steven 
AS.150.118 (01)Introduction to Formal LogicMW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AMAchinstein, Peter PHIL-LOGSCI, COGS-PHLMND
AS.150.118 (02)Introduction to Formal LogicMW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AMAchinstein, Peter PHIL-LOGSCI, COGS-PHLMND
AS.150.118 (03)Introduction to Formal LogicMW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AMAchinstein, Peter PHIL-LOGSCI, COGS-PHLMND
AS.150.118 (04)Introduction to Formal LogicMW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AMAchinstein, Peter PHIL-LOGSCI, COGS-PHLMND
AS.150.205 (01)Introduction to the History of Modern PhilosophyMW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AMMelamed, Yitzhak Yohanan PHIL-MODERN, MSCH-HUM, INST-GLOBAL, INST-PT
AS.150.205 (02)Intro Hist of Mod PhilosMW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AMMelamed, Yitzhak Yohanan PHIL-MODERN, MSCH-HUM, INST-GLOBAL, INST-PT
AS.150.205 (03)Intro Hist of Mod PhilosMW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AMMelamed, Yitzhak Yohanan PHIL-MODERN, MSCH-HUM, INST-GLOBAL, INST-PT
AS.150.205 (04)Intro Hist of Mod PhilosMW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AMMelamed, Yitzhak Yohanan PHIL-MODERN, MSCH-HUM, INST-GLOBAL, INST-PT
AS.150.220 (01)Introduction to Moral PhilosophyMW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PMBok, Hilary PHIL-ETHICS
AS.150.220 (02)Introduction to Moral PhilosophyMW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PMBok, Hilary PHIL-ETHICS
AS.150.220 (03)Introduction to Moral PhilosophyMW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PMBok, Hilary PHIL-ETHICS
AS.150.220 (04)Introduction to Moral PhilosophyMW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, W 3:00PM - 3:50PMBok, Hilary PHIL-ETHICS
AS.150.220 (05)Introduction to Moral PhilosophyMW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, W 4:30PM - 5:20PMBok, Hilary PHIL-ETHICS
AS.150.220 (06)Introduction to Moral PhilosophyMW 12:00PM - 12:50PM, F 1:30PM - 2:20PMBok, Hilary PHIL-ETHICS
AS.150.240 (01)Intro-Political PhilosopMW 10:00AM - 10:50AM, F 10:00AM - 10:50AMLebron, Christopher Joseph PHIL-ETHICS, INST-PT
AS.150.240 (02)Intro-Political PhilosopMW 10:00AM - 10:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AMLebron, Christopher Joseph PHIL-ETHICS, INST-PT
AS.150.300 (01)Prometheus Editorial WorkshopT 7:00PM - 8:00PMBrown, Simon Alexander Burns 
AS.150.301 (01)Majors Seminar: Topics in MetaphysicsMW 1:30PM - 2:45PMTaylor, Elanor J. PHIL-SEM, PHIL-MIND
AS.150.308 (01)Kant’s Theoretical PhilosophyW 4:00PM - 6:30PMHussein, Rima PHIL-MODERN
AS.150.402 (01)AristotleTTh 10:30AM - 11:45AMBett, Richard PHIL-ANCIEN
AS.150.411 (01)Modal PsychologyTh 1:30PM - 4:00PMBledin, Justin PHIL-LOGSCI, COGS-PHLMND
AS.150.415 (01)Typefaces and MeaningF 1:30PM - 4:00PMBledin, Justin PHIL-MIND
AS.150.422 (01)Axiomatic Set TheoryTTh 10:30AM - 11:45AMRynasiewicz, Robert PHIL-LOGSCI
AS.150.425 (01)Enlightenment Moral and Political TheoryF 1:30PM - 4:00PMBok, Hilary PHIL-ETHICS, PHIL-ETHICS, INST-PT
AS.150.428 (01)Spinoza’s Theological Political TreatiseM 1:30PM - 4:00PMMelamed, Yitzhak Yohanan PHIL-MODERN, INST-PT
AS.150.432 (01)Philosophy of MemoryMW 3:00PM - 4:15PMBrown, Simon Alexander Burns PHIL-MIND, PHIL-BIOETH, COGS-PHLMND
AS.150.436 (01)Philosophy of GenderMW 4:30PM - 5:45PMTaylor, Elanor J. PHIL-MIND
AS.150.437 (01)KierkegaardF 1:30PM - 4:00PMKosch, Michelle PHIL-ETHICS
AS.150.441 (01)Paradoxes of Agency and BeliefW 1:30PM - 4:00PMMoyar, Dean PHIL-ETHICS, PHIL-ETHICS
AS.150.442 (01)WittgensteinT 1:30PM - 4:00PMWilliams, Michael PHIL-MIND
AS.150.449 (01)New Foundations for MathematicsT 1:30PM - 4:00PMRynasiewicz, Robert PHIL-LOGSCI
AS.150.450 (01)Topics in Biomedical Ethics: DepressionT 4:00PM - 6:30PMTully, Ian M PHIL-ETHICS, PHIL-BIOETH
AS.150.458 (01)The Biggest Hits in Philosophy of Science (20th and 21st Centuries)W 1:30PM - 4:00PMAchinstein, Peter PHIL-LOGSCI
AS.213.360 (01)Animals and Animality in Literature and PhilosophyM 1:30PM - 4:00PMGosetti, Jennifer Anna GRLL-ENGL
AS.213.360 (02)Animals and Animality in Literature and PhilosophyM 1:30PM - 4:00PMGosetti, Jennifer Anna GRLL-ENGL
AS.213.437 (01)Phenomenology and LiteratureT 1:30PM - 4:00PMGosetti, Jennifer Anna 
AS.225.328 (01)The Existential Drama: Philosophy and Theatre of the AbsurdM 3:00PM - 5:30PMMartin, Joseph H 
AS.365.100 (04)Being a Good PersonLebron, Christopher Joseph