Wellesley College Department of Philosophy: Complete List

PHIL 103 Self and World: Introduction to Metaphysics and Epistemology
Staff, McIntyre

This course introduces basic philosophical methods and concepts by exploring a variety of approaches to some central philosophical problems. Topics covered include the existence of God, the relation between reason and faith, skepticism and certainty, theories of knowledge, the relation between mind and body, and the compatibility of free will and causal determination. Readings are drawn from historical and contemporary texts. Discussions and assignments encourage the development of the student’s own critical perspective on the problems discussed.

Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition
Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 106 Introduction to Moral Philosophy
de Bres, Staff, Davis

A study of central issues in moral philosophy from ancient Greece to the present day. Topics include the nature of morality, conceptions of justice, views of human nature and their bearing on questions of value, and competing tests of right and wrong.

Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 201 Ancient Greek Philosophy
Staff

Study of writings of Plato and Aristotle that are particularly influential still today, including Plato's Symposium and Republic and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. In addition to studying the fundamental "essentialist" views that Aristotle accepted from his teacher Plato for both the study of nature and of ethics, we will consider their differences and distinctive contributions. For Plato, this will include his presentation of Socrates and the dialogue form. For Aristotle, it will include his development of the philosophical vocabulary that became standard for subsequent Western philosophy up until the Renaissance and that continues to be of great interest in a wide range of areas and topics today. These include ethics and biology and issues such as “stereotyping” in social thought, whether scientific and ethical reasoning are fundamentally the same or different, whether women and men are or are not essentially different, and what role rhetoric plays in a democracy.

Prerequisite None
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition and Ethics
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0

PHIL 202/AFR 202 African Philosophy
Menkiti

Initiation into basic African philosophical concepts and principles. The first part of the course deals with a systematic interpretation of such questions as the Bantu African philosophical concept of Muntu and related beliefs, as well as Bantu ontology, metaphysics, and ethics. The second part centers on the relationship between philosophy and ideologies and its implications in Black African social, political, religious, and economic institutions. The approach will be comparative. Students may register for either PHIL 202 or AFR 202 and credit will be granted accordingly.

Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 203 Philosophy of Art
de Warren

What makes an object an art object? How does art reflect on the human condition? Why is there art rather than not, expression rather than silence, a gesture rather than stillness? A philosophical approach to art is primarily interested in clarifying the problem of aesthetic value, the special activities that produce art, and the claim to truth which finds expression through artistic creation. The aim of this course is to explore these questions, among others, by examining the positions of major philosophers and twentieth-century artists.

Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 204 Philosophy and Literature
Menkiti

This course considers the questions: what sort of object is the literary text and what are the ontological issues raised by acts of literary interpretation? It also examines the complex relationship between fiction and fact, and between fiction and morality. The treatment of commitment to self and others, of self-knowledge and self-identity, and of individual and social ideals will also be explored. We end the course by looking at poetry – how it has meaning despite an inbuilt element of ambiguity and how it succeeds not only in shaping, but also healing the world.

Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0

PHIL 206 Normative Ethics
Staff

NOT OFFERED IN 2008-09. Can philosophers help us to think about moral issues, such as what to do about poverty and hunger, or racism and sexism; what is the good life and how could we know that it is good? We shall look at the attempts of some contemporary philosophers to provide answers, or at least guides to finding answers, to these and similar questions. We shall compare and contrast several approaches to evaluating an action: placing major weight on its consequences, or on whether it conforms to a moral rule, or whether it is the sort of thing a virtuous person would do.

Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 207 Philosophy of Language
McGowan

This course will explore a variety of philosophical issues concerning language: the different ways in which spoken language functions and conveys information, the alleged difference between speech and action and how it relates to freedom of speech issues (e.g., pornography and hate speech), the general problem of how words get attached to their referents, and criticisms of traditional conceptions of meaning and reference.

Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy, and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0

PHIL 208 Theories of Knowledge
Staff

We usually assume that we know a lot about the world around us. But how can we be sure that our beliefs reflect what the world is really like? In this course, we will investigate the nature of knowledge and the conditions under which we can be said to have any. We will explore answers to the following questions: What distinguishes knowledge from mere opinion? What makes someone justified in holding a particular belief? What's the connection between what we do believe and what we should believe? How is self-deception possible? We will conclude by examining the contributions of feminism and cognitive science to the discussion of these questions.

Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy, and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0

PHIL 209 Scientific Reasoning
Staff

NOT OFFERED 2008-09. This is a reasoning course that emphasizes the practical importance of critical thinking. Topics covered will include the basic forms of scientific inference, the basics of probability, issues of data collection, the difference between correlation and causation, and the theoretical and practical difficulties associated with establishing causal claims. Students will also gain an appreciation of the political and ethical importance of critical thinking by evaluating cases of sexist and racist science.

Prerequisite: Fulfillment of the basic skills component of the Quantitative Reasoning requirement.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition. Fulfills the Quantitative Reasoning overlay course requirement.
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 210 Philosophy of Business
Congleton

NOT OFFERED 2008-09 This course looks at philosophical foundations of U.S. corporate business and the role of the corporate executive, beginning historically and moving to the present day. It begins by looking at the development of corporate business from the time of the greatly accelerated industrialization and urbanization following the Civil War, looking at differing theories involved in thinking about the new urban wage laborer and unions, the definition of corporations as legal “persons” beginning in the 1880s, the emergence of government regulations such as the Sherman Anti-trust law, and the transformation of the U.S. into a consumerist nation, including the development of “marketing” in relationship to “democracy.” The study of the construction of the role of corporate executive includes questions of gender in relationship to individualism, competitivism and teamwork.

Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 211 Philosophy of Religion
Staff

NOT OFFERED 2008-09 A philosophical examination of the nature and significance of religious belief and religious life. Topics include the nature of faith, the role of reason in religion, the ethical import of religious belief, and toleration and religious diversity.

Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 213 Social and Political Philosophy
Staff

NOT OFFERED 2008-09. Introduction to major views in social and political philosophy, both historical and contemporary, as well as applications of these views to ethical problems facing policy-makers. We will be concerned with such questions as: What is the best form of government? What gives a government authority? How extensive should that authority be? How ought the state treat individuals? What justifies state infringement of individual liberty? We will explore alternative accounts of justice, equality and liberty, and also examine alternative solutions to specific problems of social policy including capital punishment, affirmative action, and pornography and censorship.

Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy, and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy or Social and Behavioral Analysis
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 214 Foundations of Ethics
Staff

NOT OFFERED IN 2008-09. Can we all get along? In a multicultural society in which we share a common language but often differ in our basic values and cultural practices, is there anything on which we can all agree? If so, what are the ground rules for reasoned dialogue? For social cooperation? In order to formulate viable answers to these questions that provide real-life resolutions to our real-life conflicts, we will examine and critique the answers offered by the leading contemporary moral theorists, John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas.

Prerequisite: 106 or another course in ethical theory.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 215 Philosophy of Mind
McIntyre

How are thoughts and sensations related to neurological processes? Could mental states be identical to brain states? What is free will? Could we have free will if we live in a deterministic universe? After examining a variety of answers to these traditional questions in the philosophy of mind, we will expand our inquiry to include recent work in philosophy and cognitive science that examines the nature of consciousness, animal intelligence, and the role of emotion in thought and action.

Prerequisite: One course in philosophy, psychology, or cognitive science, or permission of instructor.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0

PHIL 216 Logic
McGowan, Staff

An introduction to formal logic. Students will learn a variety of formal methods – methods sensitive only to the form of arguments, as opposed to their content – to determine whether the conclusions of arguments follow from their premises. Discussion of the philosophical problems that arise in logic, and of the application of formal logic to problems in philosophy and other disciplines. Some consideration of issues in the philosophy of language.

Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition
Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 217 Philosophy of Science: Traditional and Feminist Perspectives
Staff

This course will survey various issues in the philosophy of science surrounding the debate over scientific realism. Issues include: What constitutes adequate evidence? Exactly what does accepting a scientific theory involve? Does science discover the single objective way that the world is or does it partially construct the world around us? How do cultural attitudes (e.g. gender) affect scientific practice?

Prerequisite: Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 221 History of Modern Philosophy
de Warren

A study of central themes in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy, concentrating on Descartes, Hume, and Kant. More limited readings of such figures as Spinoza, Locke, Ann Conway, Leibniz, and Berkeley. Among the topics: the relationship between mind and body; the limits of reason; determinism and freedom; the bearing of science on religion.

Prerequisite: Open to first-year students in their second semester and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition or Historical Studies
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 222 American Philosophy
Staff

NOT OFFERED IN 2008-09. The development of American philosophy from colonial times to the present. Among the topics: Native American world-views; European justifications of colonization and conquest; the spiritualist metaphysics of Berkeley and Jonathan Edwards; philosophical underpinnings of the revolution and the republic; slavery and abolition; transcendentalism (Emerson, Thoreau); justice and civil disobedience; feminism. We will concentrate in particular on pragmatism, America’s unique contribution to world philosophy, with readings from Peirce, James, Dewey, Quine, Richard Rorty, and Cornel West. The course is intended for students of history, literature, and American studies as well as for students of philosophy.

Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition or Historical Studies
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 224 Existentialism
de Warren

NOT OFFERED 2008-09 This course will study basic themes in existentialism by focusing on the theoretical and theatrical works of key existentialist writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Antonin Artaud, Samuel Beckett, Albert Camus, and Eugene Ionesco. In taking the human condition as its primary question, existentialism redefines the meaning of theory as a philosophical reflection or “seeing” of the human condition, as well as the significance of theatre as a “seeing” or “manifestation” of features of the human condition that otherwise remain hidden from view. Special emphasis will be placed on the themes of boredom, death, bad faith, anxiety, suffering, freedom, and inter-subjective relationships.

Prerequisite: One philosophy course or permission of instructor.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition or Historical Studies
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 225 Phenomenology and Hermeneutics
de Warren

NOT OFFERED 2008-09. Phenomenology attempts to reclaim the richness of human experience for philosophical analysis. An important movement of twentieth-century philosophy, phenomenology represents an original approach to traditional philosophical questions based on the investigation of how “lived experience” animates the various ways in which the world is meaningful for human beings. As an introduction to the phenomenological movement, including the hermeneutic turn of phenomenological philosophy, this course will focus on the work of Husserl, Heidegger, Lévinas, and Merleau-Ponty.

Prerequisite: One philosophy course or permission of instructor.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 226 Human Nature in Three Medieval Philosophers
Congleton

NOT OFFERED 2008-09. What is it to be a human being? This course will examine the responses of two twelfth-century writers – the Jewish thinker Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides) and the Islamic thinker Ibn Rushd (Averroes) – and a thirteenth-century Christian thinker who built on their work, Thomas Aquinas. Primary focus will be the question of whether each human being is essentially unique or simply an example of a species. Other questions will include whether the most educated people should control what texts/debates are available to the less educated, and what is involved in arguing that God is “transcendent.” The course will begin with an introduction to central concepts of Plato and Aristotle used by these medieval thinkers. Also considered will be the “neo-Platonism” of Plotinus and that of Ficino, as found in his discussion of “Platonic love.”

Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy or medieval studies and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 230 Nineteenth-Century Philosophy
de Warren

NOT OFFERED 2008-09. This course will study selected themes in nineteenth-century philosophy. Readings from Kant, Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche will address central issues such as the status of reason, the irrational and the unconscious, modernization and the meaning of history, and the significance of religion and art for human existence. Other important figures of nineteenth-century thought such as Darwin, Comte, Mill, and Schleiermacher may also be addressed.

Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or permission of instructor.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition or Historical Studies
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 233 Environmental Philosophy
Staff

A study of conceptions of the natural world and our place in it, from the pre-Socratics and the Book of Genesis to the deep ecologists and ecofeminists of the present day. Readings in the history of philosophy (Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, Newton, Rousseau, and Hume, among others), in Emerson and Thoreau, and in contemporary nature writers and natural scientists. Discussion of ethical issues and of Third-World critics of Western environmentalism.

Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 235 Democracy
de Bres

This course provides an introduction to past and present work on the normative theory of democracy, and discusses how that work bears on some important issues in current affairs. We will explore significant historical contributions to democratic thought; consider contemporary work on issues such as procedural vs. substantive accounts of democracy, democratic deliberation, democratic participation, legislative representation and constitutionalism; and address present public debates concerning campaign finance reform, democracy at the supra-state level and the "exporting" of democracy overseas.

Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy or political science and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 236 Introduction to Global Justice
de Bres

An introduction to recent work in political philosophy on the ethics of international relations. The course will begin with a survey of some of the main theoretical approaches to the topic: realism, cosmopolitan egalitarianism, political liberalism, utilitarianism and nationalism. We will then consider how these different approaches might be applied to some specific moral controversies in international politics, such as those relating to global poverty, human rights and humanitarian intervention, immigration, climate change, and global governance.

Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have taken one course in philosophy or political science and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0

PHIL 245 Agency and Motivation
McIntyre

An examination of the capacities important to moral agency, drawing on work in philosophy as well as research in social psychology, evolutionary biology, and cognitive science. Topics to be examined include: theories of motivation; the moral significance of sympathy and empathy; guilt, shame, regret, and other traits central to moral accountability; differing conceptions of free will and the nature of autonomy; and issues involving self-control and self-knowledge.

Prerequisite: Open to first-year students who have completed Writing 125 and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors without prerequisite.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 249 Medical Ethics
Davis

A philosophical examination of some central ethical issues within medicine and biology. Issues may include abortion, euthanasia, organ donation, genetic manipulation, human and animal experimentation, and patient rights.

Prerequisite: Open to all students without prerequisite.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0

PHIL 300 Seminar in Modern Philosophy
McIntyre

Topic for 2008-09: Morality, Nature, and Society in The Scottish Enlightenment. An examination of the moral, social, and political views of three central figures in the 18th century "Scottish Enlightenment": Frances Hutcheson, David Hume, and Adam Smith. We will look at themes that unite these thinkers: their critical responses to the political views of Hobbes and Locke and their accounts of the foundations of morals, including their innovations in accounting for the role of passion and sentiment in morality, while also paying close attention to their differences regarding theological controversies and the vexed question of assessing what is "natural" and what is "artificial" in moral judgments and social arrangements. Readings will include the views of their 18th century opponents and critics as well as recent discussions that draw on elements of their positions.

Prerequisite: One course in philosophy above the 100 level.
Distribution: Religion Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0

PHIL 302 Kant’s Solution to Skepticism and Solipsism
Staff

NOT OFFERED IN 2008-09. Kant thinks that we can’t know what anything is really like, including us. We can only know appearances we construct. So it seems we’re permanently trapped in subjective illusions and biases. But Kant also thinks we have objective knowledge and that he can prove it. How can he reconcile these seemingly contradictory claims? Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason has set the agenda for nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosophy, and influenced psychology, physics, history, geography, political science, and law.

Prerequisite: 221
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 303 Kant’s Metaethics
Staff

NOT OFFERED IN 2008-09. Kant thinks human beings are free, rational, and autono¬mous; and therefore have moral responsibilities that are universally and cross-culturally valid. This is a controversial view that has influenced international conceptions of human rights, justice, legal liability, and personal convictions about freedom and self-determination. Its metaethical justification begins in Kant’s conceptions of freedom, reason, and the self in the Critique of Pure Reason, and extends all the way through to his normative moral theory in the late Metaphysics of Morals.

Prerequisite: 221
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester :N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 310 Seminar Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
Staff

Topic for 2008-09: TBA.

Prerequisite: 201 or permission of the instructor.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition and Historical Studies
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 313 Seminar Metaphysics
McGowan

NOT OFFERED 2008-09. Constructionism. This course will survey various ways in which we make facts about our world. That certain facts are constructed (e.g. speed limits and checkmates) is uncontroversial. Substantive philosophical issues arise, however, when delineating the precise manner in which such facts are constructed and drawing a defensible line between that which is constructed and that which is not. Constructionist speech, the social construction of gender and certain global constructionist theses will be considered. The diverse work of such contemporary analytic philosophers as Elgin, Goodman, Haslanger, Hacking, Lewis, Putnam, and Searle will be discussed.

Prerequisite: Open to students who have taken two courses in philosophy.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 323 Seminar Continental Philosophy
de Warren

Topic for 2008-09: Fides et Ratio: Augustine's Confessions and the Philosophical Origins of Christianity. This seminar offers a detailed study of Augustine's Confessions, with additional readings from On the Trinity, On Christian Doctrine, and The City of God, against backdrop readings from St. Paul, Plotinus, Cicero, and Manichean writings, and in light of recent interpretations of Augustine's thinking (Arendt, Heidegger, Derrida, Ricoeur, Taylor, and Lyotard). Special emphasis is placed on the relationship between faith and reason; the relation between narrative and remembrance; time and human subjectivity; the performance of confession and religious conversion; the nature of love and friendship; the question of hope and the advent of happiness; the relation between rhetoric, the imagination and emotions; and the origin of textual hermeneutics in Augustine's understanding of scriptural interpretation.

Prerequisites: one 200 level course in philosophy or permission of the Instructor.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics and Moral Philosophy or Historical Studies
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0

PHIL 326 Philosophy of Law
Menkiti

A systematic consideration of fundamental issues in the conception and practice of law such as the nature and function of law, the limits of law, the nature of judicial reasoning, and the relationship of law to morality. We will assess how alternative theories of law explain rights, duties, liability and responsibility. We will also focus on philosophical issues raised in court cases associated with liberty, privacy, justice, responsibility, causation and punishment. Readings include selections from legal theory and a variety of contemporary court decisions.

Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors without prerequisite and to sophomores who have taken one course in philosophy.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0

PHIL 340 Seminar Contemporary Ethical Theory
Menkiti

Topic for 2008-09: The Ethical and Political Philosophy of John Rawls. An examination of John Rawls's key ideas on justice, ethics, and politics as found in his major works: A Theory of Justice, Political Liberalism, and The Law of Peoples. In addition to these works, we will also examine, as time allows, selected other essays by Rawls that might help us come to a richer understanding of his views and his place as perhaps the foremost political philosopher of the 20th century.

Prerequisite: One course in philosophy, political theory or legal studies, or permission of the instructor.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 342 Seminar Political Philosophy
de Bres

Topic for 2008-09: Justice and International Trade. This course will consider how norms of justice or fairness might apply to the contemporary multilateral trading regime in goods, capital, services and ideas. International trade raises deep philosophical issues about the relationship of principles of justice to coercion, cooperation, shared values and fair procedures. It also raises specific moral concerns about such matters as national selfdetermination, the environment, labor standards, intellectual property, and global poverty and inequality. The course will draw on recent work by political philosophers as well as empirical research and case studies relating to the World Trade Organization.

Prerequisite: Open to students who have taken one 200-level course in philosophy, political science, international relations or economics or by permission of the instructor.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 345 Seminar. Advanced Topics in Philosophy of Psychology and Social Science
Wearing

NOT OFFERED 2008-09 Innate Knowledge. Do we have any knowledge that we have not derived from experience? Following the seminal work of Noam Chomsky in linguistics, the claim that we have “innate” knowledge has undergone a resurgence in popularity and now emerges regularly in explanations of “human nature”. In this seminar, we will investigate the arguments for and against claims about innate knowledge. We will begin with the historical disagreement about “innate ideas” between Rationalists and Empiricists as represented by Descartes and Locke. We will then examine four specific domains in which recent claims about innate knowledge have been made: language, concepts, mathematics, and morality. We will draw on readings from philosophy, linguistics, and psychology, including work by Chomsky, Fodor, Cowie, Spelke, Carey, and Hauser.

Prerequisite: One course in Philosophy, Psychology, or Cognitive and Linguistic Science, or permission of the instructor.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

PHIL 349 Seminar Speech Acts
McGowan

This seminar will survey various philosophical issues and applications of speech act theory. Particular attention will be paid to utterances that enact facts about what is permissible for others, the role of authority in this, and indirect speech acts. Recent applications of speech act theory to free speech (e.g. hate speech and pornography) will also be discussed.

Prerequisite: 207 or permission of instructor.
Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 350 Research or Individual Study

Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors by permission.
Distribution: None
Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 350H Research or Individual Study

Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors by permission.
Distribution: None
Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 0.5

PHIL 360 Senior Thesis Research

Prerequisite: By permission of department. See Academic Distinctions.
Distribution: None
Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 1.0

PHIL 370 Senior Thesis

Prerequisite: 360 and permission of department.
Distribution: None
Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 1.0

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