PHI 111 Introduction to Philosophy 3

Discussion of views and methods of major philosophers. Topics drawn from metaphysics and epistemology, such as the foundations and scope of human knowledge, personal identity, freedom and determinism, and the mind-body problem.

MAC: MAC CritThink Hum and Fine Art

PHI 115 Critical Thinking 3

Introduction to basic principles of reasoning and argumentation. Topics taken from syllogistic reasoning, probability, informal fallacies, the structural analysis of statements, and scientific methods.

MAC: MAC CritThink Hum and Fine Art

PHI 119 Introduction to Ethics 3

Fundamental questions of ethics, such as the nature of the distinction between good and evil, moral right and wrong, the foundation of moral judgments, relativism, absolutism, and subjectivism. Readings from major figures in the history of ethics.

MAC: MAC CritThink Hum and Fine Art

PHI 121 Contemporary Moral Problems 3

Philosophical readings and discussion of such current topics as abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, censorship, sexual morality, affirmative action and preferential hiring, environmental ethics, population control, and the morality of war.

MAC: MAC CritThink Hum and Fine Art

PHI 131 Science, Technology, & Society 3

This course explores the relationship between science, technology, and society. Looking at historical and contemporary examples from the sciences, technology, arts, literature, and philosophy, we will discuss contemporary issues such as human enhancement, climate change, and artificial intelligence.

MAC: MAC Foundations

Prerequisites: Must have fewer than 60 credits to enroll or can enroll by Written Permission.

PHI 132 Free Will 3

A Foundations Course looking at different conceptions of free will and what implications these have for how we evaluate the morality of actions. Readings from historical and contemporary sources.

MAC: MAC Foundations

Prerequisites: Must have fewer than 60 credits to enroll or can enroll by Written Permission.

PHI 133 Sex & Death 3

This course deals with the moral status of behavior relating to sex and death, such as homosexuality, prostitution, surrogate pregnancy, abortion, war, capital punishment, and euthanasia. This course also provides foundational skills necessary for academic success at UNCG.

MAC: MAC Foundations

Prerequisites: Must have fewer than 60 credits to enroll or can enroll by Written Permission.

PHI 134 Sports & Philosophy 3

This course focuses on the metaphysical and moral status of sports, including discussion of cheating, performance enhancing drugs, politics and sports, and sports issues relating to gender. This course also provides foundational skills necessary for academic success at UNCG.

MAC: MAC Foundations

Prerequisites: Must have fewer than 60 credits to enroll or can enroll by Written Permission.

PHI 135 God 3

This course focuses on questions in the philosophy of religion relating to the existence of God, the possibility of evil, objective moral truth, divine attributes, and more. This course also provides foundational skills necessary for academic success at UNCG.

MAC: MAC Foundations

Prerequisites: Must have fewer than 60 credits to enroll or can enroll by Written Permission.

PHI 136 School & Life 3

This MAC Foundations course explores philosophical questions concerning the aims and nature of education. Students develop critical insight into how and why education is worth pursuing in light of their life projects and goals.

MAC: MAC Foundations

Prerequisites: Must have fewer than 60 credits to enroll or can enroll by Written Permission.

PHI 137 Minds & Brains 3

This course deals with philosophical questions concerning the human mind, its relation to the body, the brain, consciousness, what is sometimes called the "soul," etc. This course also provides foundational skills necessary for academic success at UNCG.

MAC: MAC Foundations

Prerequisites: Must have fewer than 60 credits to enroll or can enroll by Written Permission.

PHI 138 Good & Evil 3

This course focuses on fundamental moral issues, including objective and subjective morality, whether the means justifies the ends, and the moral status of ordinary forms of behavior that we typically take to be unobjectionable. This course also provides foundational skills necessary for academic success at UNCG.

MAC: MAC Foundations

Prerequisites: Must have fewer than 60 credits to enroll or can enroll by Written Permission.

PHI 141 What Makes a Life Good? 3

This course is an introduction to philosophy through consideration of theories about what makes a life a good one, and the relation between one’s own well-being and the well-being of others.

MAC: MAC Health and Wellness

PHI 202 Arguing About … 3

This is a variable topic, debate-oriented course, with different themes in different semesters. Please contact the department, or see Banner, for information about a specific semester. Themes may include philosophical perspectives on: contemporary moral issues, ethical theory, topics in religion, political theory, the nature of free will, and so on.

MAC: MAC Oral Communication

Prerequisites: None.

Notes: May be repeated twice for credit when topic varies.

PHI 220 Medical Ethics 3

Moral problems in medicine including the patient's right to know, the confidentiality of doctor-patient communications, informed consent and experimentation with human subjects, abortion, euthanasia, socialized medicine, conflicts between medicine and religion, and genetic engineering.

MAC: MAC CritThink Hum and Fine Art

PHI 221 Philosophical Concepts in Everyday Contexts 3

This course introduces students to philosophical problems that touch our lives, engaging two basic branches of philosophy: theory of knowledge and study of the nature of reality. This course will also focus heavily on the development of clear writing skills.

MAC: MAC Written Communication

CIC: CIC College Writing

PHI 222 Ethics in the Computer Age 3

The course will survey select moral problems arising from computer technology in contemporary life, focusing on analysis of specific problems, stakeholders, and consequences, and the historical impact of computer technology.

MAC: MAC CritThink Hum and Fine Art

PHI 224 Philosophy of Race and Gender 3

This course provides historical background for understanding racial inequalities, focuses on the concepts of race and gender and how they are connected to racism and sexism, and explores the concept of intersectionality.

MAC: MAC Diversity and Equity

Notes: Same as WGS 224.

PHI 225 Philosophy of Bodies 3

This course deals with philosophical questions regarding the human body, especially the ways in which how a normal body is defined impacts how we think about health, wellness, and disability. We will also look at imaginative alternatives for defining the human body, its possibilities, and its boundaries.

MAC: MAC Health and Wellness

PHI 261 Ethical Issues in Business 3

Ethical theory and its application to business: economic justice, corporate responsibility, self-regulation and government regulation, conflict of interest, investment policy, advertising, and environmental responsibility.

MAC: MAC CritThink Hum and Fine Art

Notes: Students may not receive credit for both PHI 261 and PHI 262.

PHI 262 Ethical Issues in Entrepreneurship 3

Application of ethical theory to global entrepreneurship; including entrepreneur's role in ethical actions, economic justice, responsibility, self and government regulation, conflict of interest, investment policy, advertising, and environmental responsibility, and application to direct selling.

MAC: MAC CritThink Hum and Fine Art

Prerequisites: None.

Notes: May not receive credit for both PHI 261 and PHI 262. Students who have prior credit for ENT 262 may not take PHI 262 for credit.

PHI 267 Existentialism 3

Introduction to the fundamental ideas of existentialism. Readings from Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Sartre.

PHI 275 Philosophy of Aging 3

Are "you" the same "you" across a lifespan? What do we owe the elderly and our future, older selves? What is a good old age? How can age and ability-related discrimination affect the experience of growing old? This course engages these questions from various philosophical, interdisciplinary and international perspectives.

MAC: MAC Diversity and Equity

PHI 301 Topics in Philosophy 3

Variable content.

Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

PHI 310 Introduction to Formal Logic 3

Validity, consistency, implication, and the formal analysis of language. Propositional logic and quantification theory.

PHI 319 Knowledge, Truth, and Belief 3

Discussion of concepts central to an understanding of the nature of human knowledge, such as truth, evidence, certainty, intuition, perception, the reasonableness of belief, and the reliability theory of justification.

Prerequisites: PHI 310.

PHI 321 Ethical Theory 3

Analysis of the meaning of moral concepts such as good, right, ought, duty, and of the nature of ethical argument. Attention to current theories in normative ethics.

Prerequisites: One course in Philosophy.

PHI 322 Philosophy of the Arts 3

Philosophical problems concerning description, interpretation, and evaluation of the visual, performing, and literary arts, discussed generally and in relation to specific works of art. Readings in philosophy and art theory.

CIC: CIC College Writing

PHI 325 Introduction to the Philosophy of Science 3

Concepts important to an understanding of the nature/goals of research in the natural sciences, such as observation, experiment, theory, law, and explanation. Philosophical problems about objectivity and conceptual change in science based on examples from the history of science. Nature of scientific knowledge.

Notes: One course in natural science recommended.

PHI 331 Social and Political Philosophy 3

What justifications (if any) can be offered for the existence and the power of the state? What would a just society look like, and can any sort of inequality exist in such a society? Is democracy the best form of government? This course examines these questions and others.

PHI 335 Philosophy of Law 3

Theories of the origin and justification of legal systems, our obligation to obey the law, justice, punishment, and related issues. Readings from classical and contemporary sources.

PHI 336 Philosophy of Crime and Punishment 3

Critical discussion of philosophical questions raised by criminal law, including the moral justification of punishment, the theoretical underpinnings of various criminal defenses, and the conceptual distinctions among types of crimes.

PHI 338 Ethics and International Affairs 3

Critical discussion of topics such as human rights, the morality of war and terrorism, international distributive justice, poverty and international aid, self-determination and secession, immigration policy, and global environmental issues.

PHI 341 History of Ancient Philosophy 3

Survey of Western philosophical thought in the ancient period from the pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, the Sceptics, Stoics, Epicureans. Particular choices of texts and philosophical ideas may vary.

CIC: CIC College Writing

PHI 342 History of Modern Philosophy 3

Survey of Western philosophical thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, its historical background and its influences on subsequent intellectual developments. Reading from major figures of the period, such as Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, and Kant.

CIC: CIC College Writing

PHI 348 Existentialism, Phenomenology, and Structuralism 3

Recent philosophical movements in France and Germany. Application of structuralist models to the human sciences. Post-structuralist developments such as Deconstruction and Hermeneutics. Selections from such writers as Husserl, Levi-Strauss, Foucault, Lacan, Althusser, Derrida, Gadamer, and Ricoeur.

PHI 351 Major Philosophers 3

Systematic examination of the works of a major philosopher.

PHI 355 Philosophy of Language 3

Language is perhaps the single greatest ability that our species has. But how does it work? How do names refer to objects? How can mere words--like a declaration of war--change the world? We will attempt to answer these questions and others.

PHI 357 Metaphysics 3

Selected metaphysical issues such as personal identity and the immortality of the soul, freedom and determinism, the nature of space, time and substance, the problem of universals, forms of realism, and theory of reference.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Prerequisites: PHI 111 or PHI 341 or PHI 342.

PHI 358 Philosophy of Mind 3

The mind-body problem, identity theories, functionalism, reductive and eliminative materialism, behavioral and causal theories of mind.

PHI 359 Philosophy of Religion 3

Arguments concerning God's existence, the problem of evil, God's foreknowledge and human freedom, the analysis of divine attributes, immortality, and the soul.

PHI 363 Environmental Ethics 3

The ethics of our relationship to the environment. Traditions in environmentalism; treatment of animals, nature, plants, and species; application of environmental ethical theory to real-world environmental problems.

PHI 399 Medical Humanities Capstone 3

Students will develop and present projects making use of material from courses taken in fulfillment of the Medical Humanities Minor. The course will also include guest lectures on a variety of topics, as well as discussions led by the instructor of record.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor required.

Notes: In most cases students must have completed 12 hours of coursework towards the minor in order to receive permission.

PHI 401 Reading Course for Seniors 1-3

Supervised reading and research for philosophy majors.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

Notes: May be repeated for credit.

PHI 402 Independent Study 1-3

Prerequisite: Satisfaction of requirements for the major in philosophy and permission of instructor;

Notes: May be repeated for credit.

PHI 420 Advanced Topics in Biomedical Ethics 3

Detailed examination of a particular issue in biomedical ethics, such as research ethics, assisted suicide and euthanasia, and the acquisition and allocation of organs for transplantation.

Prerequisites: PHI 220.

PHI 424 Philosophy of Social and Behavioral Science 3

Issues in philosophy of social and behavioral science from Hume to the present: explanation, theory construction, methodology of the social sciences, the status of the sociology of knowledge.

PHI 426 Philosophy of Physical Science 3

Study of a major current issue in the philosophy of science such as scientific progress and change, scientific methods, experiment and theory, scientific explanation, rationality, scientific realism, relations between philosophy of science and history of science. Examples drawn from modern history of the physical sciences.

Prerequisites: PHI 325.

PHI 445 Social Philosophy 3

Topics from social, political, and legal philosophy, such as property, justice, punishment, liberalism, conservatism, and a study of such major figures as Hobbes, Locke, Mill, and Rawls.

Prerequisites: PHI 321 or PHI 331 or PHI 335.

PHI 474 Advanced Logic 3

Axiomatic first order quantification theory with completeness theorems. Numbers and sets. Paradoxes and type theory. Introduction to modal logic.

Prerequisites: PHI 311 or permission of instructor.

PHI 493 Honors Work 3-6

Prerequisite: Permission of instructor; 3.30 GPA in the major, 12 s.h. in the major;

Notes: May be repeated for credit if the topic of study changes.

PHI 494 Senior Capstone Course 3

Variable content. Senior-level philosophical work on some thematic topic. Elements and methods of philosophical argument, research and debate. Technology competencies and information skills/ research competencies in the major.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Prerequisites: PHI 310, PHI 341, PHI 342. Philosophy major; senior standing.

PHI 523 Philosophy of Social and Behavioral Science 3

Issues in philosophy of social and behavioral science from Hume to the present: explanation, theory construction, methodology of the social sciences, the status of the sociology of knowledge.

PHI 525 Philosophy of Physical Science 3

Study of a major current issue in the philosophy of science such as scientific progress and change, scientific methods, experiment and theory, scientific explanation, rationality, scientific realism, relations between philosophy of science and history of science. Examples drawn from modern history of the physical sciences.

PHI 559 Philosophy of Mind 3

The mind-body problem, identity theories, functionalism, reductive and eliminative materialism, behavioral and causal theories of mind.

PHI 575 Advanced Logic 3

Axiomatic first order quantification theory with completeness theorems. Numbers and sets. Paradoxes and type theory. Introduction to modal logic.

PHI 601 Advanced Topics in Philosophy 3

Topics may include relativism, legal ethics, and artificial intelligence.

Prerequisites: Permission of Instructor.

Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

PHI 620 Ethics and Genetics 3

Ethical issues in the acquisition and application of knowledge about the human genome. Topics include genetic testing and abortion, predictive testing, testing for minors, confidentiality, gene therapy, and human cloning.

Prerequisites: Matriculation to third semester of MS genetic counseling program or permission of instructor.