Department of Philosophy and Religion

The Philosophy Curriculum

Here are all the courses that are currently listed under the philosophy curriculum.  Following each course title, in parenthesis, are included the last time the course was offered and the frequency with which the course is usually offered.


PHIL 021 - INTRO TO PHILOSOPHY (S09, every semester)

  • Introduction to the Western philosophical tradition through a study expository and critical, of a variety of issues - the existence of God, freedom, foundations of belief, etc. - as they have been formulated in the writings of outstanding classical and contemporary philosophers.

PHIL 033 - CURRENT ISSUES/PHIL (S09, every other year)
  • A discussion at the introductory level of the philosophic significance of various topics of contemporary interest. A student may receive credit for four semesters of this course.  For more info, go to: http://www.infoweb.drake.edu/philkeyworth/. 

PHIL 034 - CURRENT ISSUES/PHIL (S08, every other year)
  • A discussion at the introductory level of the philosophic significance of various topics of contemporary interest. A student may receive credit for four semesters of this course.  For more info, go to: http://www.infoweb.drake.edu/philkeyworth/. 

PHIL 051 - LOGIC & CRITICAL THINKING (no longer in rotation)
  • Learning and practicing the principles of correct reasoning with an emphasis on recognizing and assessing arguments in philosophy, politics, the arts, science and morality. Topics include the uses of language, types of definition, fallacies, and inductive and deductive reasoning.

PHIL 079 - ETHICS IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD (F07, infrequent)
  • This course will apply competing ethical perspectives to a wide range of global issues, including the ethics of intervention in world politics, ethical perspectives on global economic issues, ethics and public health, and ethics and the environment.

PHIL 090 - ETHICS (F08, every semester)
  • An exploration of attempts to develop an adequate personal moral philosophy, including the analysis of selected normative ethical theories and the problems of relativism, egoism and determinism.

PHIL 091 - CONTEMPORARY ETHICAL PROBLEMS (S09, every year)
  • Study of contemporary ethical problems from the perspective of philosophical and religious principles. Various sections of the course may specialize in different types of ethical problems. Crosslisted with Rel 91. May be used as part of Women's Studies Concentration.

PHIL 100 - PHIL DIALOGUE/INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION (F07, every other year)
  • The course will focus on the question: What is communication like when it’s at its best, when we are most effectively utilizing our capacity as human beings to communicate? In the field of Rhetoric and Communication, the ideal is often referred to as communicating at the level of the “Inter-personal.” Though these terms come from different academic traditions and so reflect some different ways of thinking and talking about things, I believe these different versions of the ideal can be brought into interesting and fruitful conversation, and so I have joined them together in this course. This “joining together” will not only give us a wide variety of understandings from which to draw in our search for the ideal, but will also give us the opportunity to explore, better understand, and contrast various methodological approaches to the study of human communication. We will focus especially on the relationship between self and other, for that is where the problems and possibilities of human communication are worked out. What is the “self”? Who is the “other”? How might we negotiate a relationship between self and other which “works” and at the same time shows “care” about the identity and the integrity of each? Some of the theorists and philosophers of communication we will study include Paul Watzlawick, Georg Herbert Mean, Soren Kierkegaard, Hans-George Gadamer, Emmanuel Levinas, Maurice Blanchot, Richard Rorty, Kenneth Burke, and Martin Buber.

PHIL 104 – ANCIENT PHIL (F08, every other year)
  • The study of the major philosophers of the ancient era, including Pre-Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and the major schools of the Hellenistic period. The philosophy of the period is set in the context of intellectual, social and scientific developments.

PHIL 105 - MEDIEVAL PHIL (no longer in rotation)
  • A study of the major philosophers of the medieval era, from Augustine through Ockham, with reference to such issues as the existence of God, the nature of belief, the problem of universals and the rediscovery and extension of Greek philosophy.

PHIL 106 - MODERN PHILOSOPHY (S09, every other year)
  • A study of the major philosophers of the modern era, such as Bacon, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant, with reference to certain, developments that influenced these men, e.g. the Renaissance, the Reformation, the rise of science and other important intellectual developments.

PHIL 107 - CONTEMP PHILOSOPHY (no longer in rotation)
  • A study of the major philosophers of the late 19th century and the 20th century. Such philosophical movements as Pragmatism, Idealism, Existentialism and Analytic Philosophy are examined, with an emphasis on the social and intellectual developments that influenced them - developments that followed from the work of such men as Darwin, Marx and Freud.

PHIL 109 - AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY (S08, every other year)
  • A study of the central texts and ideas of American philosophy from transcendentalism in the nineteenth century to pragmatism in the twentieth, with special emphasis on Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, William James, John Dewey, Nelson Goodman and Richard Rorty.

PHIL 110 - PHENOMENOLOGY (F06, every other year)
  • This course will try to recapture the excitement of "discovering existence" which permeated German philosophy early in the century. We will trace the development of phenomenology from its inception in the work of Edmund Husserl to its flowering in the influential teachings of his student, Martin Heidegger. The course will conclude with an examination of French existentialism, focusing especially on Sartre and Camus, and Heidegger's "response " in his "Letter on Humanism." Prereq: at least one PHIL course or consent of instructor.

PHIL 111 - EASTERN PHILOSOPHY (S09, every other year)
  • An examination of the philosophical ideas contained within the core texts of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism, with special emphasis on the way in which Southeast Asian and East Asian "philosophies" challenge the commonplace Western distinction between philosophy and religion.

PHIL 112 - SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY (no longer in rotation)
  • An examination of some classical and recent views of the state, the nature and function of the state, the basis upon which states derive their authority, and the relationship of economic rights and individual political rights.

PHIL 113 - SOCIAL JUSTICE (no longer in rotation)
  • A study of contemporary issues in social justice with an emphasis on how different systems - such as communism, capitalism and democratic socialism - approach issues of personal freedom, the distribution of wealth, discrimination, war and punishment.

PHIL 114 - SYMBOLIC LOGIC (S08, every other year)
  • Study of the concepts and techniques of modern formal logic, including axiomatic developments of the sentential calculus and an examination of the first-order predicate calculus in a system of natural deduction. Crosslisted with CS 114.

PHIL 117 - HEALTH CARE ETHICS (S06, infrequent)
  • This course is an introduction to issues ethics in healthcare, between healthcare professionals and patients, between the state and its citizens, and with regard to individual decision-making. Topics discussed may be genetic technology, euthanasia, the concepts of disease and health, healthcare education, mind/body issues.

PHIL 118 - FEMINIST ETHICS (no longer in rotation)
  • Description not available

PHIL 120 - INTRO PHIL OF HERMENEUTICS (S07, every other year)
  • "There are no facts": Introduction to Philosophical Hermeneutics. Examination of the theory and practice of interpretation as it fits within the framework of philosophic inquiry. Hermeneutical theory is traced through its incarnations in ancient, medieval and modern philosophy to its present central position in continental thought, where, bas on Nietzsche's assertion, "there are no facts," everything human beings understand and do is seen as a function of how they interpret the foundational texts which constitute their world. Prereq: philosophy or rhetoric course or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with SCSR 120.

PHIL 122 - POLITICS OF INTERPRETATION (S08, every other year)
  • A critical examination of the power relationships that influence the interpretation of legal, religious, and other foundational texts upon which societies are built.

PHIL 123 - PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY (F08, every other year)
  • This course will explore three critical areas in the philosophy of history. The first asks whether or not there is meaning and purpose, or perhaps even a discernable pattern in the broad sweep of historical events. The second looks at how history is recorded, namely in writing, and asks whether or not it is possible for history to be recorded objectively. The third deals with the phenomenon of historical consciousness and asks "What does it mean to BE historical, to have a sense of continuity that connects a community to its past, informs that community's sense of itself in the present, with a view toward its future?" Pre-req: one philosophy course or instructor permission.

PHIL 124 - HEALTH AND SOCIAL JUSTICE (S09, every other year)
  • This course looks at the intersection of issues in health and social justice. As such, this course pulls from a number of different fields - politics, economics, sociology, philosophy, epidemiology, medicine, biology and anthropology (and probably some others). We will spend time looking at international health and justice as well as domestic issues of health and justice. In particular we will discuss the impact of the health of a population on economic and political justice and the impact of economic and political justice on the health of a population.

PHIL 125 - PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION (S08, every other year)
  • Examination of the purposes of religion; the perennial challenge to religious thought; the development of the idea of God; and assessment of the validity of this kind of reflective thought. Prereq: One philosophy course or instructor consent. Crosslisted with Rel 125.

PHIL 126 - THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE/BELIEF (S05, infrequent)
  • Examination of significant issues in the theory of knowledge; such as the criteria of meaning and truth; a priori knowledge; knowing and sensing; and the problems of induction, memory and skepticism. Prereq: One philosophy course.

PHIL 127 - THEORIES OF REALITY (F07, infrequent)
  • Discussion of selected metaphysical problems such as universals, materialism, causality, freedom, personal identity and the nature of metaphysical thinking. Prereq: One philosophy course.

PHIL 128 - LANGUAGE AND REALITY (S08, every other year)
  • An introduction to philosophy of language, linguistics, and semiotics focused on the issue of linguistic relativism, i.e., whether languages are significantly different, and if so, whether they shape significantly different views of reality. Examines evidence both in support of and against linguistic relativism, and then uses this evidence as a means of addressing the relationship between language and reality.

PHIL 129 - PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE (F08, every other year)
  • Examination of the major topics and issues of contemporary philosophy of science, including (but not limited to) the demarcation criteria of science, the rationality and objectivity of scientific theories, the verification and falsification of scientific theories, and scientific realism and empiricism.

PHIL 131 - GREAT PHILOSOPHERS (F07, infrequent)
  • Description not available

PHIL 137 - RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES (S09, every other year)
  • Investigation of the philosophical questions regarding moral rights. Assuming that we have them, what are they? Why do we have them? Does the obsession with rights lead to a problematically individualistic culture? As we look at all of the questions, we will also be looking at the extent to which rights are connected with responsibilities.

PHIL 150 - PLATO & ARISTOTLE (no longer in rotation)
  • An inquiry into the problematical relationship between philosophy and rhetoric at the dawn of philosophy in Ancient Greece.

PHIL 151 - SELECTED TOPICS (used for new courses)
  • A seminar approach to significant issues in contemporary philosophy. A student may receive credit for four semesters of this course. Junior or senior standing or consent of instructor.

PHIL 197 - SENIOR CAPSTONE (S09, yearly)
  • The Senior Capstone course is a culminating course in which students will bring to bear their philosophical knowledge and skills to "do philosophy" in one area which furthering their knowledge and skills. Emphasis will be put on primary sources, individual research and creative work and collaborative work. All seniors will participate in a departmental presentation of their work at the end of the semester. The particular topic of study will be selected by the professor teaching the course. Limited to Senior Philosophy majors or permission of instructor.

PHIL 198 - SEMINAR IN PHILOS (S07, offered at request of students)


PHIL 199 - INDEPENDENT STUDY (offered at request of a student)

Last Modified: 09/30/2009 06:29:50 by content editor