TRINITY UNIVERSITY

Philosophy Department

 

SPRING 2008

Upper Division Course Descriptions

 

 

 

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PHIL 1341 Tools for Reasoning
Dr. Curtis Brown
MWF 9:30-10:20am
MMS 233
 

Reasoning is the process of using the evidence available to us in order to make informed decisions about what to believe and do. Good reasoning requires the ability to identify and assess deductive arguments; to formulate hypotheses, test them, and choose those that are best supported by the evidence; and to assess which courses of action are most reasonable given our beliefs and values. This class will introduce a number of tools that are useful for reasoning, including deductive logic, probability and statistics, and decision theory. The course will also consider problem-solving techniques and ways of evaluating the credibility of sources.

The course may be of interest to several groups of students: (1) Pre-law students who hope to improve their reasoning skills. Since this course is broader in scope than Symbolic Logic I, it may be a better choice for pre-law students. (2) Philosophy majors who would like a gentle introduction to logic before taking Symbolic Logic I. (3) Anyone who would like to develop a greater facility at evaluating rival claims, whether everyday, scientific, or philosophical.
 

PHIL 3326 19th Century Philosophy II
Dr. Judith Norman
MWF 1:30-2:20pm
CGC 045

In this course we will explore the writings of some of the most important philosophers of the 19th century. We spend the most time with Nietzsche, but we will also discuss some of his most significant predecessors and followers.

The authors we will read form a distinctive historical lineage; specifically, we can see in their writings the development of the German philosophies of will and the unconscious. We will emphasize these ideas, and see how they are expressed in their philosophies of nature (of both human and inhuman varieties), theories of art, and, in the case of Wagner, artistic practice. 

Prerequisites: PHIL 1301 or 1354.

 

 

PHIL 3332 Philosophy of Science
Dr. Curtis Brown
MW 2:30-3:45pm
CGC 045

 

This course will examine a number of philosophical issues about science. Among the issues we will discuss are these:

 

Demarcation. What distinguishes science from non-science, and real from bogus science? Is Creation Science science? Is parapsychology? Astrology?

 

Explanation. What is it to explain something? Does explanation require universal laws? Does it depend on context?

 

Validation. How are scientific theories validated or confirmed? Is validation a simple matter of gathering inductive support? Of making predictions that are born out by the evidence? Of trying but failing to falsify a theory? Or does it also depend on "pragmatic" matters such as the simplicity, elegance, or scope of the theory?

 

Values and Objectivity. Is science necessarily value-laden? To what extent does the intrusion of the values of the scientist diminish or make impossible objectivity in science?

 

Realism. Do highly theoretical entities really exist, or are they just fictions or useful tools for making predictions? Does science discover the truth about the real world, or create a world of its own?

 

Limits. Is science the only reliable method for finding out about the world? Are there any truths which are simply inaccessible to scientific method? (If so, is there any other method to which they are accessible?)

 

Philosophy and Particular Sciences. Depending on the interests and specialties of class members, we may also explore the philosophical implications of particular scientific results, e.g. the implications of sociobiology for ethics or of quantum physics for metaphysics.

 

Prerequisites: PHIL 1301 or 1354; and 2340 or 9 hours in any of the natural or social sciences.

 

PHIL 3354 Philosophy of Gender
Dr. Andrew Kania
M 4:30-7:25pm
CGC 045

 

In this course we will investigate a number of topics in the philosophy of gender, from the nature of sex, gender, and sexuality, through the motivations for feminism, to questions of sexual ethics. What will make the course philosophical is a focus on arguments – we will be primarily interested in the cogency of the reasons given by various writers in support of their claims. However, in philosophy nothing is above dispute, so we may also want to think about whether there can be such an autonomous study of these issues as the above characterization implies.

 

Prerequisites: One of PHIL 1301, 1354, WAGS 2350, 2351, 2352

 

 

PHIL 4395 Senior Thesis
Dr. Andrew Kania
TR 12:45-2:00pm
CGC Room 045

 

See Senior Experience and Senior Thesis.

 

 

PHIL 3351 Social and Political Philosophy
Dr. Steven Luper
TR 9:55-11:10:25am
CGC 045

 

A critical study of philosophical views about society and politics, with particular attention to the concepts of sovereignty, obligation, rights, justice, equality, and liberty.

 

Prerequisites: PHIL 1301 or 1354.

 

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