69 classes matched your search criteria.

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1001 Section 001: Introduction to Logic (52523)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue, Thu 09:45AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Anderson Hall 270
Enrollment Status:
Open (154 of 160 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Sharpen your reasoning skills through a close examination of arguments. Learn formal methods for representing and assessing arguments, including how to represent informal arguments in formal languages, and how to evaluate whether the premises of an argument entail its conclusion.
Class Description:
Have you ever heard an argument that you knew wasn't any good, but you didn't have the tools you needed to show what was wrong with it? This course will give you those tools. We will look at many different kinds of arguments and we will identify the patterns of good and bad arguments. You will learn a method for describing and analyzing these patterns so that you will be able to evaluate even very complicated arguments in a straightforward way. Armed with these abilities you will be able to diagnose the problems with faulty arguments and you will be better equipped to come up with excellent arguments of your own. Your writing will become clearer, better argued, and more forceful. And most of all, your will become a clearer and more reasonable thinker. Logic cannot teach you what to think, but it will teach you how to think, and thinking logically is a crucial skill for you as a student and a citizen.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52523/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
4 September 2007

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1001 Section 002: Introduction to Logic (52025)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon 09:05AM - 09:55AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 230
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (39 of 40 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Sharpen your reasoning skills through a close examination of arguments. Learn formal methods for representing and assessing arguments, including how to represent informal arguments in formal languages, and how to evaluate whether the premises of an argument entail its conclusion.
Class Description:
Have you ever heard an argument that you knew wasn't any good, but you didn't have the tools you needed to show what was wrong with it? This course will give you those tools. We will look at many different kinds of arguments and we will identify the patterns of good and bad arguments. You will learn a method for describing and analyzing these patterns so that you will be able to evaluate even very complicated arguments in a straightforward way. Armed with these abilities you will be able to diagnose the problems with faulty arguments and you will be better equipped to come up with excellent arguments of your own. Your writing will become clearer, better argued, and more forceful. And most of all, your will become a clearer and more reasonable thinker. Logic cannot teach you what to think, but it will teach you how to think, and thinking logically is a crucial skill for you as a student and a citizen.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52025/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
4 September 2007

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1001 Section 003: Introduction to Logic (52026)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon 10:10AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 230
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Closed (40 of 40 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Sharpen your reasoning skills through a close examination of arguments. Learn formal methods for representing and assessing arguments, including how to represent informal arguments in formal languages, and how to evaluate whether the premises of an argument entail its conclusion.
Class Description:
Have you ever heard an argument that you knew wasn't any good, but you didn't have the tools you needed to show what was wrong with it? This course will give you those tools. We will look at many different kinds of arguments and we will identify the patterns of good and bad arguments. You will learn a method for describing and analyzing these patterns so that you will be able to evaluate even very complicated arguments in a straightforward way. Armed with these abilities you will be able to diagnose the problems with faulty arguments and you will be better equipped to come up with excellent arguments of your own. Your writing will become clearer, better argued, and more forceful. And most of all, your will become a clearer and more reasonable thinker. Logic cannot teach you what to think, but it will teach you how to think, and thinking logically is a crucial skill for you as a student and a citizen.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52026/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
4 September 2007

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1001 Section 004: Introduction to Logic (52027)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Fri 09:05AM - 09:55AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 230
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (38 of 40 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Sharpen your reasoning skills through a close examination of arguments. Learn formal methods for representing and assessing arguments, including how to represent informal arguments in formal languages, and how to evaluate whether the premises of an argument entail its conclusion.
Class Description:
Have you ever heard an argument that you knew wasn't any good, but you didn't have the tools you needed to show what was wrong with it? This course will give you those tools. We will look at many different kinds of arguments and we will identify the patterns of good and bad arguments. You will learn a method for describing and analyzing these patterns so that you will be able to evaluate even very complicated arguments in a straightforward way. Armed with these abilities you will be able to diagnose the problems with faulty arguments and you will be better equipped to come up with excellent arguments of your own. Your writing will become clearer, better argued, and more forceful. And most of all, your will become a clearer and more reasonable thinker. Logic cannot teach you what to think, but it will teach you how to think, and thinking logically is a crucial skill for you as a student and a citizen.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52027/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
4 September 2007

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1001 Section 005: Introduction to Logic (52028)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Fri 10:10AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 230
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (37 of 40 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Sharpen your reasoning skills through a close examination of arguments. Learn formal methods for representing and assessing arguments, including how to represent informal arguments in formal languages, and how to evaluate whether the premises of an argument entail its conclusion.
Class Description:
Have you ever heard an argument that you knew wasn't any good, but you didn't have the tools you needed to show what was wrong with it? This course will give you those tools. We will look at many different kinds of arguments and we will identify the patterns of good and bad arguments. You will learn a method for describing and analyzing these patterns so that you will be able to evaluate even very complicated arguments in a straightforward way. Armed with these abilities you will be able to diagnose the problems with faulty arguments and you will be better equipped to come up with excellent arguments of your own. Your writing will become clearer, better argued, and more forceful. And most of all, your will become a clearer and more reasonable thinker. Logic cannot teach you what to think, but it will teach you how to think, and thinking logically is a crucial skill for you as a student and a citizen.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52028/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
4 September 2007

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1001H Section 001: Honors Course: Introduction to Logic (66470)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Honors
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Wed 09:45AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Walter W Heller Hall 731
Enrollment Status:
Open (3 of 18 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Sharpen your reasoning skills through a close examination of arguments. Learn formal methods for representing and assessing arguments, including how to represent informal arguments in formal languages, and how to evaluate whether the premises of an argument entail its conclusion.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/66470/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1001H Section 002: Honors Course: Introduction to Logic (66471)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Honors
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Fri 10:10AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Walter W Heller Hall 731
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (3 of 18 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Sharpen your reasoning skills through a close examination of arguments. Learn formal methods for representing and assessing arguments, including how to represent informal arguments in formal languages, and how to evaluate whether the premises of an argument entail its conclusion.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/66471/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1002W Section 001: Introduction to Philosophy (53000)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Wed, Fri 10:10AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Anderson Hall 250
Enrollment Status:
Open (88 of 112 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Problems, methods, historical/contemporary schools of philosophy.
Class Description:
Most people have heard of the famous philosophers, e.g. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Wittgenstein. And most know that philosophy is about the big issues: reality, truth, God, knowledge, mind, goodness, justice, identity. Far fewer know or understand what philosophers have had to say about these problems. To many, philosophy can seem impractical, unworldly and strange. But deep and careful philosophical reflection on the big issues can enrich your life in unexpected ways. If you are curious about these problems and would like to learn about what philosophers have had to say about them then this is the course for you.
Grading:
20% Midterm Exam
30% Final Exam
50% Reports/Papers Other Grading Information: 3 short writing assignments: 10% each; paper: 20%;
Class Format:
60% Lecture
40% Discussion
Workload:
10-20 Pages Reading Per Week
10-15 Pages Writing Per Term
2 Exam(s)
4 Paper(s)
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/53000/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
21 May 2007

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1002W Section 002: Introduction to Philosophy (53001)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue 09:05AM - 09:55AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 260
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (14 of 25 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Problems, methods, historical/contemporary schools of philosophy.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/53001/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1002W Section 003: Introduction to Philosophy (54551)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue 10:10AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 260
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Closed (31 of 31 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Problems, methods, historical/contemporary schools of philosophy.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/54551/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1002W Section 004: Introduction to Philosophy (55406)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Thu 09:05AM - 09:55AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 260
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (15 of 28 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Problems, methods, historical/contemporary schools of philosophy.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55406/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1002W Section 005: Introduction to Philosophy (55407)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Thu 10:10AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 335
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Closed (28 of 28 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Problems, methods, historical/contemporary schools of philosophy.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55407/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1003W Section 001: Introduction to Ethics (55417)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Wed, Fri 11:15AM - 12:05PM
UMTC, West Bank
Hanson Hall 1-109
Enrollment Status:
Open (56 of 58 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Are values/principles relative to our culture? Is pleasure valuable? Are there any absolute rules? These questions and others are addressed through critical study of moral theories.
Class Description:
"What kind of life should I live?" "What kind of person do I want to be?" Such questions confront us all and do so perhaps most urgently during the college years, when we typically choose or prepare for the life we wish to live. These questions also are of concern to the moral philosopher. Moral philosophers engaged in the systematic study of the ethical standards that should govern our lives and their sources of justification are engaged in the project of 'normative ethics'. Sometimes we might find ourselves wondering about more abstract questions, such as whether moral judgments are objective, whether moral principles are relative to our culture, where values fit into the scientific world of facts, etc. These are among the questions that are the subject of 'meta-ethics'. In this course we will join some prominent moral philosophers in reflecting on both normative and meta-ethical questions. We will examine the most influential normative ethical theories: Utilitarianism, Kantianism and neo-Aristotelianism. We also will consider philosophy's contribution to thinking about some contemporary moral controversies (e.g., is affirmative action fair?). The goals of the course are to provide students with no previous background in philosophy with an introduction to philosophical ethics and to equip them to critically read, assess, and write philosophical prose.
Grading:
30% Final Exam
60% Reports/Papers
10% Quizzes
Class Format:
75% Lecture
25% Discussion
Workload:
15-21 Pages Writing Per Term
1 Exam(s)
3 Paper(s)
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55417/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
6 May 2015

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1003W Section 002: Introduction to Ethics (65451)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Thu 11:15AM - 12:05PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 330
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Closed (33 of 32 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Are values/principles relative to our culture? Is pleasure valuable? Are there any absolute rules? These questions and others are addressed through critical study of moral theories.
Class Description:
This is a required discussion section to be taken in conjunction with PHIL1003W. See the course information for PHIL1003W section 001.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65451/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
6 May 2015

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1003W Section 003: Introduction to Ethics (65452)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Thu 12:20PM - 01:10PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 205
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (23 of 25 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Are values/principles relative to our culture? Is pleasure valuable? Are there any absolute rules? These questions and others are addressed through critical study of moral theories.
Class Description:
This is a required discussion section to be taken in conjunction with PHIL1003W. See the course information for PHIL1003W section 001.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65452/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
6 May 2015

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1004W Section 001: Introduction to Political Philosophy (54281)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Wed, Fri 09:05AM - 09:55AM
UMTC, West Bank
Anderson Hall 250
Enrollment Status:
Open (96 of 112 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Government -- what are its purpose; the limits on its authority; its responsibilities to citizens (and vice versa)? What roles do freedom, equality, rights, property, punishment and justice play here? Join in as we discuss and debate competing views.
Class Description:

What is the ideal form of a state? Is it democracy? Should there be a state at all? What is justice? These questions that different thinkers have answered in various ways. We will use philosophical analysis and argument to understand the theoretical grounding for different theories of government, views of the state, and ideals of justice. We will examine skeptics about the state, consequentialists, feminist, libertarian, communitarian, and egalitarian answers to these questions.

As a writing intensive course, you will gain experience in exegetical analysis, critical writing, and formulating novel arguments. Evaluation will be based upon written assignments, including revised work, as well as in class exams (midterm and final).

Textbook: Matt Zwolinski, ed. Arguing about Political Philosophy, 2nd ed. ISBN: 9780415535823

We will also use iClicker2 - available in the UMN bookstore

Grading:
Your final grade will be comprised of some combination of writing assignments, attendance/participation, and weekly discussion questions or quizzes.
Class Format:
Class will be primarily a combination of lecture and class discussion, with occasional small-group discussions and workshop activities.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/54281/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
7 November 2016

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1004W Section 002: Introduction to Political Philosophy (54282)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue 08:00AM - 08:50AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 105
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (26 of 27 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Government -- what are its purpose; the limits on its authority; its responsibilities to citizens (and vice versa)? What roles do freedom, equality, rights, property, punishment and justice play here? Join in as we discuss and debate competing views.
Class Description:

What is the ideal form of a state? Is it democracy? Should there be a state at all? What is justice? These questions that different thinkers have answered in various ways. We will use philosophical analysis and argument to understand the theoretical grounding for different theories of government, views of the state, and ideals of justice. We will examine skeptics about the state, consequentialists, feminist, libertarian, communitarian, and egalitarian answers to these questions.

As a writing intensive course, you will gain experience in exegetical analysis, critical writing, and formulating novel arguments. Evaluation will be based upon written assignments, including revised work, as well as in class exams (midterm and final).

Textbook: Matt Zwolinski, ed. Arguing about Political Philosophy, 2nd ed. ISBN: 9780415535823

We will also use iClicker2 - available in the UMN bookstore

Grading:
Your final grade will be comprised of some combination of writing assignments, attendance/participation, and weekly discussion questions or quizzes.
Class Format:
Class will be primarily a combination of lecture and class discussion, with occasional small-group discussions and workshop activities.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/54282/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
7 November 2016

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1004W Section 003: Introduction to Political Philosophy (54283)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue 09:05AM - 09:55AM
UMTC, West Bank
Hubert H Humphrey Center 35
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Closed (29 of 29 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Government -- what are its purpose; the limits on its authority; its responsibilities to citizens (and vice versa)? What roles do freedom, equality, rights, property, punishment and justice play here? Join in as we discuss and debate competing views.
Class Description:

What is the ideal form of a state? Is it democracy? Should there be a state at all? What is justice? These questions that different thinkers have answered in various ways. We will use philosophical analysis and argument to understand the theoretical grounding for different theories of government, views of the state, and ideals of justice. We will examine skeptics about the state, consequentialists, feminist, libertarian, communitarian, and egalitarian answers to these questions.

As a writing intensive course, you will gain experience in exegetical analysis, critical writing, and formulating novel arguments. Evaluation will be based upon written assignments, including revised work, as well as in class exams (midterm and final).

Textbook: Matt Zwolinski, ed. Arguing about Political Philosophy, 2nd ed. ISBN: 9780415535823

We will also use iClicker2 - available in the UMN bookstore

Grading:
Your final grade will be comprised of some combination of writing assignments, attendance/participation, and weekly discussion questions or quizzes.
Class Format:
Class will be primarily a combination of lecture and class discussion, with occasional small-group discussions and workshop activities.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/54283/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
7 November 2016

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1004W Section 004: Introduction to Political Philosophy (65665)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Thu 08:00AM - 08:50AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 105
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (13 of 28 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Government -- what are its purpose; the limits on its authority; its responsibilities to citizens (and vice versa)? What roles do freedom, equality, rights, property, punishment and justice play here? Join in as we discuss and debate competing views.
Class Description:

What is the ideal form of a state? Is it democracy? Should there be a state at all? What is justice? These questions that different thinkers have answered in various ways. We will use philosophical analysis and argument to understand the theoretical grounding for different theories of government, views of the state, and ideals of justice. We will examine skeptics about the state, consequentialists, feminist, libertarian, communitarian, and egalitarian answers to these questions.

As a writing intensive course, you will gain experience in exegetical analysis, critical writing, and formulating novel arguments. Evaluation will be based upon written assignments, including revised work, as well as in class exams (midterm and final).

Textbook: Matt Zwolinski, ed. Arguing about Political Philosophy, 2nd ed. ISBN: 9780415535823

We will also use iClicker2 - available in the UMN bookstore

Grading:
Your final grade will be comprised of some combination of writing assignments, attendance/participation, and weekly discussion questions or quizzes.
Class Format:
Class will be primarily a combination of lecture and class discussion, with occasional small-group discussions and workshop activities.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65665/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
7 November 2016

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1004W Section 005: Introduction to Political Philosophy (65666)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Thu 09:05AM - 09:55AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 105
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Closed (28 of 28 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Government -- what are its purpose; the limits on its authority; its responsibilities to citizens (and vice versa)? What roles do freedom, equality, rights, property, punishment and justice play here? Join in as we discuss and debate competing views.
Class Description:

What is the ideal form of a state? Is it democracy? Should there be a state at all? What is justice? These questions that different thinkers have answered in various ways. We will use philosophical analysis and argument to understand the theoretical grounding for different theories of government, views of the state, and ideals of justice. We will examine skeptics about the state, consequentialists, feminist, libertarian, communitarian, and egalitarian answers to these questions.

As a writing intensive course, you will gain experience in exegetical analysis, critical writing, and formulating novel arguments. Evaluation will be based upon written assignments, including revised work, as well as in class exams (midterm and final).

Textbook: Matt Zwolinski, ed. Arguing about Political Philosophy, 2nd ed. ISBN: 9780415535823

We will also use iClicker2 - available in the UMN bookstore

Grading:
Your final grade will be comprised of some combination of writing assignments, attendance/participation, and weekly discussion questions or quizzes.
Class Format:
Class will be primarily a combination of lecture and class discussion, with occasional small-group discussions and workshop activities.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65666/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
7 November 2016

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1026W Section 001: Philosophy and Cultural Diversity (65732)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon 06:00PM - 08:30PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 255
Enrollment Status:
Open (52 of 58 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Central problems/methods of philosophy through culturally diverse texts. Focus is critical/comparative, reflecting a range of U.S. philosophical traditions.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65732/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1914 Section 001: Space and Time: from Aristotle to Einstein (69185)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Freshman Seminar
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue, Thu 01:00PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Virtual Rooms NORMREQD
Enrollment Status:
Open (0 of 20 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Space and time belong to those concepts that we all intuitively use to make sense of the world around us. They are also crucial in all of modern science. But modern physics has brought along radical revisions in our view on these concepts. This course will introduce you to these revisions but also raise questions that still remain unestablished. This course will take you through a history of ideas about the nature of space and time ranging from Aristotle and Euclid in the 3rd century BC to Einstein's theory of general relativity, and the Big Bang model and black holes of modern cosmology. Along the way, we will discuss specific questions like: what is the geometry of physical space? Or is the choice of geometry a mere convention? Is space merely a relational notion? Or should we conceive of it as some kind of entity in its own right: as the stage on which the evolution of the universe takes place? How does Einstein's relativity theory change the verdict on these questions? Similar questions will be raised about time. In addition, we will discuss questions like: Is time travel physically possible? Does time have a direction? Do the past, present and future have a different status? And if not, how do we distinguish the past from the future?
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/69185/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 1917 Section 001: How Should We Value Persons? (65719)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Freshman Seminar
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Wed, Fri 01:25PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Hubert H Humphrey Center 30
Enrollment Status:
Open (9 of 20 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
A capacity for valuing (a capacity for, among other things, effectively responding to the significance of events, actions, or persons) is central to our status as moral beings. Moreover, how well or poorly we value influences the kinds of feelings we warrant in turn. A proper orientation to the value of things and persons likewise is necessary if we are to live good lives. A good life, that is, plausibly requires that we concern ourselves not only with the truth of what we believe and the efficacy of what we do but, also, with the appropriateness of our evaluative attitudes and feelings toward things and persons (including oneself). This class will explore the complexity and moral significance of our modes of valuing persons by introducing and investigating a class of esteem-based, person-focused evaluative attitudes. Paradigms of the class include forms of contempt, shame, pride, and love. Although these attitudes are both commonplace and arguably central to holding others and ourselves accountable to moral ideals, contemporary Anglo-American moral philosophy lacks a systematic account of them as a class.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65719/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3005W Section 001: General History of Western Philosophy: Modern Period (54872)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Wed, Fri 12:20PM - 01:10PM
UMTC, West Bank
Carlson School of Management L-114
Enrollment Status:
Open (44 of 56 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Can anything be known beyond a shadow of a doubt? How ought scientific knowledge be discovered and justified? In what does one's identity as a person consist? How does our human nature affect the way that we conceive of and come to know the world? This course examines the momentous intellectual transformations in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries that inspired such questions and their innovative solutions.
Class Notes:
In this course, we will read the philosophies of Rene Descartes, Princess Elisabeth, Thomas Hobbes, Baruch Spinoza, Anne Finch Conway, John Locke, Thomas Reid, Catharine Trotter Cockburn, David Hume, Marie de Gournay, Francois Poullain de la Barre, Mary Astell, and Sojourner Truth. Our focus will be on the metaphysics and politics of personhood. A great deal of emphasis will be placed on the ways in which women philosophers shaped the debates over persons and personhood in the modern period.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/54872/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3005W Section 002: General History of Western Philosophy: Modern Period (54873)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue 11:15AM - 12:05PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 205
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (27 of 28 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Can anything be known beyond a shadow of a doubt? How ought scientific knowledge be discovered and justified? In what does one's identity as a person consist? How does our human nature affect the way that we conceive of and come to know the world? This course examines the momentous intellectual transformations in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries that inspired such questions and their innovative solutions.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/54873/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3005W Section 003: General History of Western Philosophy: Modern Period (54874)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue 12:20PM - 01:10PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 260
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (17 of 28 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Can anything be known beyond a shadow of a doubt? How ought scientific knowledge be discovered and justified? In what does one's identity as a person consist? How does our human nature affect the way that we conceive of and come to know the world? This course examines the momentous intellectual transformations in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries that inspired such questions and their innovative solutions.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/54874/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3303W Section 001: Business Ethics (55538)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Wed, Fri 10:10AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 235
Enrollment Status:
Open (11 of 18 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
The course offers a comprehensive overview of ethical questions that arise in the context of doing business, including questions regarding what duties companies have to consumers and the general public, and what the moral obligations businesses have to employees and shareholders.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55538/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3303W Section 002: Business Ethics (55539)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Thu 10:10AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Walter W Heller Hall 830
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (7 of 10 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
The course offers a comprehensive overview of ethical questions that arise in the context of doing business, including questions regarding what duties companies have to consumers and the general public, and what the moral obligations businesses have to employees and shareholders.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55539/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3303W Section 003: Business Ethics (55540)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Thu 11:15AM - 12:05PM
UMTC, West Bank
Walter W Heller Hall 830
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (4 of 8 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
The course offers a comprehensive overview of ethical questions that arise in the context of doing business, including questions regarding what duties companies have to consumers and the general public, and what the moral obligations businesses have to employees and shareholders.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55540/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3305 Section 001: Medical Ethics (54339)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon 09:45AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Hanson Hall 1-104
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Fri 09:45AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Hanson Hall 1-102
Enrollment Status:
Open (55 of 60 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Moral problems confronting physicians, patients, and others concerned with medical treatment, research, and public health policy. Topics include abortion, living wills, euthanasia, genetic engineering, informed consent, proxy decision-making, and allocation of medical resources.
Class Description:
This is an introductory course in medical ethics. We will use critical philosophical methodology to examine contemporary problems related to current medical practice, research, and healthcare systems. The course begins with foundational problems within clinical and research practice, including: Is paternalism on the part of medical experts justified? To what degree should patients control their care? Should medical professionals always tell the truth? We will critically examine how these questions have been answered by patients, physicians, courts, and philosophers. The course will also examine contemporary philosophical debates on abortion, end-of-life decision-making, and the use of reproductive technologies, such as cloning. We will question what justice means in three different senses: 1) What is a just distribution of scarce resources, such as transplantable organs? 2) What is a just distribution of healthcare resources across a system? And 3) how should we conceptualize healthcare as a global health concern? In the final portion of the course, we will examine at individual roles and responsibilities within medicine, such as should conscientious objection be allowed? We will consider the cases of pharmacists and prescription contraception, as well as cases from medical education and research ethics. This course will familiarize students with philosophical methodology, especially written critical analysis, and cover a wide range of questions in the field of medical ethics. In this course, the complexities of reality will confront philosophical inquiry into what is good, right, and just.
Grading:
20% Reading Responses, 50% Short Written Assignments, 10% In-class work, 20% Final Exam
Exam Format:
Multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions
Class Format:
Lecture with discussion
Workload:
30+ pages of reading per week, approximately 1.25 pages of written work per week, final examination
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/54339/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
8 September 2015

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3305 Section 002: Medical Ethics (54878)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Wed 09:05AM - 09:55AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 330
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (25 of 26 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Moral problems confronting physicians, patients, and others concerned with medical treatment, research, and public health policy. Topics include abortion, living wills, euthanasia, genetic engineering, informed consent, proxy decision-making, and allocation of medical resources.
Class Description:
This is an introductory course in medical ethics. We will use critical philosophical methodology to examine contemporary problems related to current medical practice, research, and healthcare systems. The course begins with foundational problems within clinical and research practice, including: Is paternalism on the part of medical experts justified? To what degree should patients control their care? Should medical professionals always tell the truth? We will critically examine how these questions have been answered by patients, physicians, courts, and philosophers. The course will also examine contemporary philosophical debates on abortion, end-of-life decision-making, and the use of reproductive technologies, such as cloning. We will question what justice means in three different senses: 1) What is a just distribution of scarce resources, such as transplantable organs? 2) What is a just distribution of healthcare resources across a system? And 3) how should we conceptualize healthcare as a global health concern? In the final portion of the course, we will examine at individual roles and responsibilities within medicine, such as should conscientious objection be allowed? We will consider the cases of pharmacists and prescription contraception, as well as cases from medical education and research ethics. This course will familiarize students with philosophical methodology, especially written critical analysis, and cover a wide range of questions in the field of medical ethics. In this course, the complexities of reality will confront philosophical inquiry into what is good, right, and just.
Grading:
20% Reading Responses, 50% Short Written Assignments, 10% In-class work, 20% Final Exam
Exam Format:
Multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions
Class Format:
Lecture with discussion
Workload:
30+ pages of reading per week, approximately 1.25 pages of written work per week, final examination
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/54878/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
8 September 2015

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3305 Section 003: Medical Ethics (54879)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Wed 10:10AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 330
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (30 of 34 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Moral problems confronting physicians, patients, and others concerned with medical treatment, research, and public health policy. Topics include abortion, living wills, euthanasia, genetic engineering, informed consent, proxy decision-making, and allocation of medical resources.
Class Description:
This is an introductory course in medical ethics. We will use critical philosophical methodology to examine contemporary problems related to current medical practice, research, and healthcare systems. The course begins with foundational problems within clinical and research practice, including: Is paternalism on the part of medical experts justified? To what degree should patients control their care? Should medical professionals always tell the truth? We will critically examine how these questions have been answered by patients, physicians, courts, and philosophers. The course will also examine contemporary philosophical debates on abortion, end-of-life decision-making, and the use of reproductive technologies, such as cloning. We will question what justice means in three different senses: 1) What is a just distribution of scarce resources, such as transplantable organs? 2) What is a just distribution of healthcare resources across a system? And 3) how should we conceptualize healthcare as a global health concern? In the final portion of the course, we will examine at individual roles and responsibilities within medicine, such as should conscientious objection be allowed? We will consider the cases of pharmacists and prescription contraception, as well as cases from medical education and research ethics. This course will familiarize students with philosophical methodology, especially written critical analysis, and cover a wide range of questions in the field of medical ethics. In this course, the complexities of reality will confront philosophical inquiry into what is good, right, and just.
Grading:
20% Reading Responses, 50% Short Written Assignments, 10% In-class work, 20% Final Exam
Exam Format:
Multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions
Class Format:
Lecture with discussion
Workload:
30+ pages of reading per week, approximately 1.25 pages of written work per week, final examination
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/54879/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
8 September 2015

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3601W Section 001: Scientific Thought (53070)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
4 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue, Thu 11:15AM - 12:55PM
UMTC, West Bank
Anderson Hall 330
Enrollment Status:
Open (51 of 60 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Science influences us daily, shaping how we understand ourselves and interpret nature. This course is an introduction to how scientists reason about the world, what that means for our lives, and the status of science as a human activity. What is science and what's so great about it? Is science the ultimate authority on the world and our place in it? This course examines the authority of science, how scientists reason, and science's status as a human activity. prereq: One course in philosophy or natural science
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/53070/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3602 Section 001: Science, Technology, and Society -- Technology and Warfare (67588)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Topics Course
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Wed, Fri 11:15AM - 12:05PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 230
Enrollment Status:
Closed (30 of 30 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Philosophical issues that arise out of interaction between science, technology, society (e.g., religion and science, genetics and society, science and the environment).
Class Notes:
The aim of this course is to investigate how new technologies affect the nature of warfare, and various moral and political problems that result from these changes. We will begin with a brief introduction to military technology as it has developed over the 20th and 21st centuries -- in particular, aircraft, chemical weapons, nuclear weapons, uninhabited aerial vehicles (drones), and artificial intelligence (AI) -- to give students context as we proceed. Then, the first part of the course will be a survey of just war theory to give students an understanding of how changes in military technology might lead to moral and political problems, with aircraft, chemical weapons, and nuclear weapons being the primary examples. In the second half of the course, we will look at how emerging technology in the 21st century is raising new problems, with a close look at the military ethics literature surrounding military applications of drones and artificial intelligence.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/67588/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3605 Section 001: Disease, Diagnosis, and Intervention: Conceptual Issues in Medicine (65728)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue, Thu 11:15AM - 12:30PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 235
Enrollment Status:
Open (33 of 40 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Contemporary medicine dominates our daily concerns and societal conversation. From insurance coverage to the consumer advertising of pharmaceuticals, the variety of issues and their visibility is patently obvious. However, conceptual issues in medicine, such as what counts as health and disease or what do we mean by "evidence-based" or "precision" medicine, are arguably just as important--if not prior to--many of these other issues. For example, if doctors do not consider something an "official" disease or condition, it is unlikely your insurance company will pay to treat it. Additional conceptual questions include: what role do theories play in medicine? Can scientific experiments be replicated in clinical medicine? Should all medicine be based on evidence? How do we know what causes health or disease? What do advances in neuroscience reveal about the relationship between mind and body, especially with respect to mental health and illness? What properties do physicians measure and why? How does probability and chance enter into medical practice (e.g., diagnosis, therapy, and rehabilitation)? This course is an introduction to these and other related issues in medicine with an emphasis on their diversity and heterogeneity. It is designed for undergraduates across a variety of majors with an interest in these conceptual questions, including but not limited to Animal Science; Anthropology; Biochemistry; Biology, Society and Environment; Chemistry; Ecology, Evolution and Behavior; Genetics, Cell Biology and Development; Microbiology; Neuroscience; Physiology; Psychology). No prior knowledge of medicine or philosophy is required; I do not assume that you have any previous exposure to the material we will be covering. Most of the assignments for this course are writing oriented. The goal is to identify, characterize, and critically reflect on the issues raised in our discussions and do this in the medium of writing. At the end of the class you will possess new analytica
Class Notes:
What role do theories play in medicine? How do we know what causes health or disease? What do physicians measure, and why? How should research evidence be incorporated into medical decisions? How does probability and uncertainty enter into medical practice? No prior knowledge of medicine or philosophy required. Assignments for this course are relevant to the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills portion of the MCAT
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65728/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3607 Section 001: Philosophy of Psychology (55408)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue, Thu 01:00PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 10
Enrollment Status:
Closed (90 of 90 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
What are minds and mental states (like desires and beliefs)? How are these different from brains and brain states? Should scientific explanation abandon any appeal to the mental (like behaviorism) or can we offer a scientific account of mind? prereq: One course in philosophy or psychology
Class Description:
Mental phenomena present the philosopher with a number of deep but inescapable challenges. We tend to suppose that we know what it is to have a mind, to have beliefs, desires, etc., All of this is surely amazing; indeed it verges on the outrageous. We admit to not knowing the makeup of the simplest structures, to not knowing how to explain the behavior of the simplest organisms--we leave such issues to scientific investigators--and at the same time we think we know how to explain the behavior of this most complex of systems; we know how to do it, and we know what we are talking about when we explain behavior by citing the relevant beliefs, desires, etc. Strange indeed. We start our investigation with a brief look at Descartes, who is usually supposed to have expressed our shared intuitive conception of mind. For our purposes, Descartes' vision is best viewed as posing the central problems rather than answering them.The body of the course is then taken up with investigating current and recent theories of mind and psychology. Special attention will be given to cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence approaches--contemporary theories that attempt to understand intelligent systems as programmed systems.
Grading:
100% Reports/Papers
Class Format:
75% Lecture
25% Discussion
Workload:
2 Paper(s)
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55408/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
21 May 2007

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3607 Section 002: Philosophy of Psychology (55409)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon 12:20PM - 01:10PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 205
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (26 of 27 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
What are minds and mental states (like desires and beliefs)? How are these different from brains and brain states? Should scientific explanation abandon any appeal to the mental (like behaviorism) or can we offer a scientific account of mind? prereq: One course in philosophy or psychology
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55409/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3607 Section 003: Philosophy of Psychology (55410)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon 01:25PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 260
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (33 of 35 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
What are minds and mental states (like desires and beliefs)? How are these different from brains and brain states? Should scientific explanation abandon any appeal to the mental (like behaviorism) or can we offer a scientific account of mind? prereq: One course in philosophy or psychology
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55410/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3607 Section 004: Philosophy of Psychology (55411)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Class Attributes:
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Wed 12:20PM - 01:10PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 205
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Closed (31 of 31 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
What are minds and mental states (like desires and beliefs)? How are these different from brains and brain states? Should scientific explanation abandon any appeal to the mental (like behaviorism) or can we offer a scientific account of mind? prereq: One course in philosophy or psychology
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55411/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 3993 Section 001: Directed Studies (52070)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Independent Study
Credits:
1-3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
Department Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
12:00AM - 12:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (12 of 15 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Guided individual reading or study. Prereq instr consent, dept consent, college consent.
Class Description:
Students may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52070/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
4 September 2007

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 4010 Section 001: Ancient Philosophers (65950)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
PHIL 5010 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Wed 09:45AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Hubert H Humphrey Center 60
Enrollment Status:
Open (15 of 20 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Major work of selected ancient philosophers (e.g., Plato's Parmenides, Plato's Sophist, Aristotle's Metaphysics). Works discussed may vary from offering to offering. prereq: 3001 or instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65950/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 4231 Section 001: Philosophy of Language (65725)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
PHIL 5231 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Fri 01:00PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 335
Enrollment Status:
Open (25 of 28 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Theories of reference, linguistic truth, relation of language/thought, translation/synonymy. prereq: 1001 or 5201 or instr consent
Class Description:
Language makes us all mind readers. By listening to the noises that people produce and the marks they write on pieces of paper you can read their minds. And by making your own noises and marks you can let other people read your mind. How is this possible? How do these noises and marks allow us to communicate with each other? This is the subject of philosophy of language. We will start with something seemingly very simple: proper names. What is the meaning of a proper name? How do we use proper names to talk about things in the world? This question seems deceptively easy to answer, but in fact it is one of the most vexed questions in contemporary philosophy. We will also cover several other major philosophical issues about meaning and linguistic communication. No previous experience in philosophy is required, although some experience with logic is highly recommended.
Grading:
40% Final Exam
60% Reports/Papers
Exam Format:
Short answer
Class Format:
70% Lecture
30% Discussion
Workload:
20-30 Pages Reading Per Week
15-20 Pages Writing Per Term
1 Exam(s)
3 Paper(s)
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65725/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
21 May 2007

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 4331 Section 001: Contemporary Moral Theories (65724)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
PHIL 5331 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Fri 01:00PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 330
Enrollment Status:
Closed (31 of 31 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Is morality objective, just a matter of feeling, or something in between? How do we know even the most basic of moral truths? Do I always have a reason to do what is moral? What motivates people to be moral and why do some people behave immorally? This class looks at these and related questions in metaethics, moral psychology, and other areas of contemporary moral theory. prereq: 1003 or instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65724/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 4607 Section 001: Philosophy of the Biological Sciences (65729)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
PHIL 5607 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue, Thu 02:30PM - 03:45PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 135
Enrollment Status:
Open (36 of 38 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Biology dominates the landscape of contemporary scientific research, and yet "biology" consists of a variety of different disciplinary approaches: from protein biochemistry to field ecology, from developmental biology to evolutionary genetics. Many philosophical issues can be found in the concepts and practices of life science researchers from these different disciplines. What is the structure of evolutionary theory? What is a gene? What are the units of selection? What is an individual? What counts as a "cause"? What is the relationship between evolution and development? Are all biological phenomena reducible to genes or molecules? What are adaptations, and how do we identify them? What is an ecological niche? Is there a progressive trend in the history of life? Is there such a thing as 'human nature'? This course is an introduction to these and other related issues in the biological sciences with an emphasis on their diversity and heterogeneity. It is designed for advanced undergraduates with an interest in conceptual questions and debates in biology that are manifested across a variety of majors (e.g., animal science; anthropology; biochemistry; biology, society and environment; biosystems and agricultural engineering; chemistry; ecology, evolution and behavior; genetics, cell biology and development; microbiology; neuroscience; physiology; plant biology; psychology). Some of these issues will appear familiar from previous coursework or opportunities, whereas new issues will be intriguing because of their similarities and differences with those that have been encountered in other contexts.
Class Notes:
Conceptual questions abound in biology: What is a gene? What are the units of selection? What is an individual? What counts as a "cause"? Are all biological phenomena reducible to genes or molecules? What is an ecological niche? Is there a progressive trend of increasing complexity in the history of life? Is there such a thing as 'human nature'? This course is an introduction to these and related issues, designed for curious students of all majors.
Class Description:
Contemporary biology is growing faster than almost any other branch of science and yet many philosophical issues arise in the midst of the concepts and practices of life science researchers. Besides those that receive routine play in the media (what is 'intelligent design'? what is 'Darwinism'?), there are a variety of issues of interest. What is the structure of evolutionary theory? What are the units of selection? What is the relationship between evolution and development? Are all biological phenomena reducible to genes? What are adaptations, and how do we identify them? Is there a progressive trend in the history of life? Is there such a thing as 'human nature'? This course is an introduction to these and other philosophical issues in the biological sciences with an emphasis on how these ideas have emerged and developed through history.
Who Should Take This Class?:
This course is designed for anyone with an interest in conceptual questions and debates in biology that are manifested across a variety of majors (e.g., Animal Science; Anthropology; Biochemistry; Biology, Society and Environment; Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering; Chemistry; Ecology, Evolution and Behavior; Genetics, Cell Biology and Development; Microbiology; Neuroscience; Physiology; Plant Biology; Psychology). I do not assume that you have any previous exposure to the material we will be covering.
Learning Objectives:
All of the assignments for this class are writing oriented because the goal is to synthesize and critically reflect on the philosophical issues raised in our discussions. At the end of the class you will be positioned to pursue further reading and research on the topics covered. Additionally, you will possess new analytical skills and recognize the value of philosophical investigation into the concepts and practices of the life sciences.
Grading:
55% Reports/Papers
15% Written Homework
5% Attendance
20% In-class Presentations
5% Class Participation (Other Grading Information: Written homework corresponds to the questions submitted for class discussion.)
Exam Format:
n/a
Class Format:
45% Lecture
45% Discussion
5% Student Presentations
5% Web Based
Workload:
~50 Pages Reading Per Week
~15 Pages Writing Per Term
3 Paper(s)
1 Presentation(s)
24 Homework Assignment(s)
Other Workload: Homework assignments consist of generating a single question from the readings for the designated class session. (Not every class session will have this requirement.)
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65729/1203
Past Syllabi:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/aclove_PHIL4607_Fall2017.pdf (Fall 2017)
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
10 April 2017

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 4615 Section 001: Minds, Bodies, and Machines (65727)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
PHIL 5615 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue, Thu 09:45AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 115
Enrollment Status:
Open (26 of 30 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Mind-body problem. Philosophical relevance of cybernetics, artificial intelligence, computer simulation. Mental phenomena present the philosopher with a number of deep but inescapable puzzles and challenges. We tend to suppose that we know what it is to have a mind, to have beliefs, desires, etc., and we think that we know how to explain our own behavior and that of others -- and all of this without any formal training in the relevant science. All of this is surely amazing; indeed it verges on the outrageous. We admit to not knowing the makeup of the simplest structures, to not knowing how to explain the behavior of the simplest organisms -- we, OF COURSE, leave such issues to scientific investigation. Yet, at the same time, we think we know how to explain the behavior of this most complex of systems; we know how to do it, and we know what we are talking about when we explain behavior by citing the relevant beliefs, desires, etc. And, to repeat, we know all of this with no formal training. Strange indeed. Not only is this initial confidence puzzling, but attempts to articulate the mental story and to integrate it into the larger scientific picture have all proven problematical. We start our investigation with a very brief glance at a mid-century proposal that initiated a very different way of thinking about mind: the proposal by Turing -- one of the great minds of the 20th Century--that machines of a certain kind could exhibit intelligence. A story told in part in the recent movie, The Imitation Game. We then turn to some more traditional approaches to mind: Cartesianism, Behaviorism and Materialism. prereq: one course in philosophy or instr consent
Class Description:
Our concern is with the nature of mind with alleged differences between mind and body, and with a number of recent attempts to integrate mind into the natural order. This course has three parts. In part A, we discuss some traditional conceptions of mind and body and how these have come under attack from materialists and behaviorists. In part B, we examine the view of mind that is dominant in contemporary cognitive theory. This view has two components: first, it incorporates the notion that representation is central, that having a mind is primarily having a representational system--being able to represent one's environment and being able to operate on such representations to infer, to plan actin, etc. Second, certain well known systems exhibit this kind of representational capacity--computers--and so they provide us with a new model of what it is to have a mind. To have a mind is to satisfy a certain kind of very powerful program. In a sense, we are no more than sophisticated automata, and if on e wants to understand the working of such an automaton one studies its program. To gain some real understanding of such phenomena as vision, linguistic understanding, try to design a program for a system so that it, too, can be said to see and understand. our final part consists of an examination of Wittgenstein's later philosophy, the most most radical challenge to all traditional and contemporary theories of mind.
Grading:
100% Reports/Papers
Class Format:
75% Lecture
25% Discussion
Workload:
2-3 Exam(s)
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65727/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
4 September 2007

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 4993 Section 001: Directed Studies (52069)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Independent Study
Credits:
1-3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
Department Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
12:00AM - 12:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (3 of 5 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Guided individual reading or study. Prereq instr consent, dept consent, college consent.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52069/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
4 September 2007

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 4995 Section 001: Senior Project (Directed Studies) (53467)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Independent Study
Credits:
1 Credit
Grading Basis:
Student Option No Audit
Instructor Consent:
Department Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
Independent/Directed Study
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
12:00AM - 12:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Closed (25 of 25 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Guided individual study leading to research paper that satisfies senior project requirement. prereq: instr consent, dept consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/53467/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 4995H Section 001: Honors Senior Project (53906)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Independent Study
Credits:
1 Credit
Grading Basis:
Student Option No Audit
Instructor Consent:
Department Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
Independent/Directed Study
Class Attributes:
Honors
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (2 of 5 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Guided individual study leading to research paper that satisfies senior project requirement. prereq: instr consent, dept consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/53906/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 5010 Section 001: Ancient Philosophers (66590)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
PHIL 4010 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Wed 09:45AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Hubert H Humphrey Center 60
Enrollment Status:
Open (6 of 8 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Major work of selected ancient philosophers (e.g., Plato's Parmenides, Plato's Sophist, Aristotle's Metaphysics). Works discussed vary. prereq: 3001 or instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/66590/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 5211 Section 001: Modal Logic (65720)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Wed 11:15AM - 12:30PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 235
Enrollment Status:
Open (7 of 26 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Axiomatic and semantic treatment of propositional and predicate modal logics; problems of interpreting modal languages. prereq: 5201 or instr consent
Class Description:
This course covers the basics of modal logic - the logic of necessity and possibility.
Grading:
Grades will be based primarily on weekly homework assignments and participation. There is also an optional final paper.
Exam Format:
No exams.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65720/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
3 November 2015

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 5211 Section 002: Modal Logic (65721)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Thu 01:25PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 205
Auto Enrolls With:
Section 001
Enrollment Status:
Open (7 of 26 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Axiomatic and semantic treatment of propositional and predicate modal logics; problems of interpreting modal languages. prereq: 5201 or instr consent
Class Description:
This course covers the basics of modal logic - the logic of necessity and possibility.
Grading:
Grades will be based primarily on weekly homework assignments and participation. There is also an optional final paper.
Exam Format:
No exams.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65721/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
3 November 2015

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 5231 Section 001: Philosophy of Language (66450)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
PHIL 4231 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Fri 01:00PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 335
Enrollment Status:
Closed (2 of 2 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Theories of reference, linguistic truth, relation of language/thought, translation/synonymy. prereq: 1001 or 5201 or instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/66450/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 5331 Section 001: Contemporary Moral Theories (66455)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
PHIL 4331 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Mon, Fri 01:00PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 330
Enrollment Status:
Closed (3 of 3 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Is morality objective, just a matter of feeling, or something in between? How do we know even the most basic of moral truths? Do I always have a reason to do what is moral? What motivates people to be moral and why do some people behave immorally? This class looks at these and related questions in metaethics, moral psychology, and other areas of contemporary moral theory. prereq: 1003 or instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/66455/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 5415 Section 001: Philosophy of Law (53488)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
LAW 6615 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 04/27/2020
Mon, Wed, Fri 01:25PM - 02:20PM
UMTC, West Bank
Walter F. Mondale Hall 5
Enrollment Status:
Open (6 of 20 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Analytical accounts of law and legal obligation. prereq: 1003 or 1004 or 3302 or social science major or instr consent
Class Description:
This course will be a general survey course of American legal movements and conceptions of the law. The course will examine foundational legal questions: What is law, why are we obligated to follow laws, and when if ever, are we not? What is the Rule of Law? When if ever can we condemn a law as unjust and, if so, must we obey it? We will also examine how different legal movements have attempted to answer these questions from the beginnings of "legal science" and formalism; to the Legal Realists and the responses to them; to the more recent movement to unite law with moral philosophy; to Critical Legal Studies; and responses to the Critical Studies movement. We will compare and contrast these movements with basic conceptions of the law-positivism and natural rights.
Grading:
50% term paper, 50% final exam
Exam Format:
in-class exam, essay questions
Class Format:
lecture and discussion
Workload:
about 30 pages of reading per class
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/53488/1203
Past Syllabi:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/bixxx002_PHIL5415_Spring2017.pdf (Spring 2017)
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
7 November 2016

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 5607 Section 001: Philosophy of the Biological Sciences (65845)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
PHIL 4607 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue, Thu 02:30PM - 03:45PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 135
Enrollment Status:
Open (1 of 3 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Biology dominates the landscape of contemporary scientific research, and yet "biology" consists of a variety of different disciplinary approaches: from protein biochemistry to field ecology, from developmental biology to evolutionary genetics. Many philosophical issues can be found in the concepts and practices of life science researchers from these different disciplines. What is the structure of evolutionary theory? What is a gene? What are the units of selection? What is an individual? What counts as a "cause"? What is the relationship between evolution and development? Are all biological phenomena reducible to genes or molecules? What are adaptations, and how do we identify them? What is an ecological niche? Is there a progressive trend in the history of life? Is there such a thing as 'human nature'? This course is an introduction to these and other related issues in the biological sciences with an emphasis on their diversity and heterogeneity. It is designed for advanced undergraduates with an interest in conceptual questions and debates in biology that are manifested across a variety of majors (e.g., Animal Science; Anthropology; Biochemistry; Biology, Society and Environment; Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering; Chemistry; Ecology, Evolution and Behavior; Genetics, Cell Biology and Development; Microbiology; Neuroscience; Physiology; Plant Biology; Psychology). Some of these issues will appear familiar from previous coursework or opportunities, whereas new issues will be intriguing because of their similarities and differences with those that have been encountered in other contexts. prereq: Courses in [philosophy or biology] or instr consent
Class Notes:
Conceptual questions abound in biology: What is a gene? What are the units of selection? What is an individual? What counts as a "cause"? Are all biological phenomena reducible to genes or molecules? What is an ecological niche? Is there a progressive trend of increasing complexity in the history of life? Is there such a thing as 'human nature'? This course is an introduction to these and related issues, designed for curious students of all majors.
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65845/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 5615 Section 001: Mind, Bodies and Machines (67426)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
PHIL 4615 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue, Thu 09:45AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 115
Enrollment Status:
Open (3 of 4 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Mind-body problem. Philosophical relevance of cybernetics, artificial intelligence, computer simulation. Mental phenomena present the philosopher with a number of deep but inescapable puzzles and challenges. We tend to suppose that we know what it is to have a mind, to have beliefs, desires, etc., and we think that we know how to explain our own behavior and that of others -- and all of this without any formal training in the relevant science. All of this is surely amazing; indeed it verges on the outrageous. We admit to not knowing the makeup of the simplest structures, to not knowing how to explain the behavior of the simplest organisms -- we, OF COURSE, leave such issues to scientific investigation. Yet, at the same time, we think we know how to explain the behavior of this most complex of systems; we know how to do it, and we know what we are talking about when we explain behavior by citing the relevant beliefs, desires, etc. And, to repeat, we know all of this with no formal training. Strange indeed. Not only is this initial confidence puzzling, but attempts to articulate the mental story and to integrate it into the larger scientific picture have all proven problematical. We start our investigation with a very brief glance at a mid-century proposal that initiated a very different way of thinking about mind: the proposal by Turing -- one of the great minds of the 20th Century--that machines of a certain kind could exhibit intelligence. A story told in part in the recent movie, The Imitation Game. We then turn to some more traditional approaches to mind: Cartesianism, Behaviorism and Materialism. prereq: one course in philosophy or instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/67426/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 5993 Section 001: Directed Studies (52071)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Independent Study
Credits:
1-3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
Department Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
12:00AM - 12:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (1 of 5 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Guided individual reading or study. prereq: instr consent, dept consent, college consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department fo information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52071/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
4 September 2007

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 8010 Section 001: Workshop in History of Philosophy (55545)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
1 Credit
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
Instructor Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (0 of 5 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Topics vary by offering. prereq: concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in 4xxx hist of phil course, instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55545/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 8200 Section 001: Workshop in Logic and Philosophy of Mathematics (65734)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
1 Credit
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
Instructor Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (0 of 5 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Topics vary by offering. prereq: [concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in 4xxx logic or 4xxx phil of math], instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65734/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 8300 Section 001: Workshop in Moral and Political Philosophy (54553)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
1 Credit
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
Instructor Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (0 of 5 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Topics vary by offering. prereq: [concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in 4xxx moral phil or 4xxx pol phil] instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/54553/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 8310 Section 001: Seminar: Moral Philosophy (65730)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Tue 04:00PM - 06:30PM
UMTC, West Bank
Walter W Heller Hall 731
Enrollment Status:
Open (9 of 20 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Concepts/problems relating to ethical discourse. prereq: 4310 or 4320 or 4330 or instr consent
Class Notes:
New Research on Well-Being and Ill-Being What is it for life to go well? Is it to experience more pleasure than pain? To get everything you've always wanted? To develop into a virtuous human being? And what is it for life to go badly? Is there a zero point for happiness, below which a person is better off dead? This seminar investigates these questions as taken up in new philosophical research on well-being and ill-being. We'll start with a brief history of the field, and turn quickly to the latest debates. Some of these debates are quite abstract and may appear disconnected from the big questions, but we'll try to keep an eye on the big questions throughout. We will also read some work by psychologists on happiness and well-being.
Class Description:
Practical Wisdom Practical wisdom is an important virtue that has received little philosophical attention in recent years. The course will explore relevant literature in virtue ethics, meta-ethics, virtue epistemology and moral psychology.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65730/1203
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
20 May 2010

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 8333 Section 001: FTE: Master's (52649)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Independent Study
Credits:
1 Credit
Grading Basis:
No Grade Associated
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Grade Sort
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
12:00AM - 12:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (0 of 5 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
(No description) prereq: Master's student, adviser and DGS consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52649/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 8444 Section 001: FTE: Doctoral (52671)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Independent Study
Credits:
1 Credit
Grading Basis:
No Grade Associated
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Grade Sort
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (13 of 20 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
(No description) prereq: Doctoral student, adviser and DGS consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52671/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 8600 Section 001: Workshop in the Philosophy of Science (65735)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
1 Credit
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
Instructor Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (0 of 5 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Topics vary by offering. prereq: concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in 4xxx phil of sci course, instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65735/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 8610 Section 001: Seminar: History of Modern Physical Sciences (65731)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
Instructor Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Thu 04:00PM - 06:30PM
UMTC, West Bank
Walter W Heller Hall 731
Enrollment Status:
Open (0 of 15 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Topics specified in [Class Schedule]. prereq: instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65731/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 8777 Section 001: Thesis Credits: Master's (52722)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Independent Study
Credits:
1-18 Credits
Grading Basis:
No Grade Associated
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Grade Sort
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (0 of 2 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
(No description) prereq: Max 18 cr per semester or summer; 10 cr total required [Plan A only]
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52722/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 8888 Section 001: Thesis Credit: Doctoral (52748)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Independent Study
Credits:
1-24 Credits
Grading Basis:
No Grade Associated
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Grade Sort
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (8 of 10 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
(No description) prereq: Max 18 cr per semester or summer; 24 cr required
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52748/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 8993 Section 001: Directed Study (52099)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Independent Study
Credits:
1-3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Grade Sort
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
12:00AM - 12:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (1 of 2 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
tbd prereq: instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52099/1203

Spring 2020  |  PHIL 8994 Section 001: Directed Research (52489)

Instructor(s)
No instructor assigned
Class Component:
Independent Study
Credits:
1-3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Grade Sort
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
12:00AM - 12:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Enrollment Status:
Open (0 of 2 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
tbd prereq: instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52489/1203

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