2002-2003 Edition
Texas A&M University Undergraduate CatalogTexas A&M University Undergraduate Catalog
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College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
College of Architecture
Lowry Mays College and Graduate School of Business
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Dwight Look College of Engineering
College of Geosciences
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Department of Philosophy and Humanities

Professors C.F.Allen, R.W.Burch, S.H.Daniel, M. R. Hand, C.E.Harris,Jr., H.J.McCann, J.J.McDermott, D.J.Self, R. A. Smith (Head); Associate Professors S.W.Austin, H.Gert, C.P.Menzel, G.Pappas, L. Radzik, R.W.Stadelmann, G.E. Varner; Assistant Professors T. D. George, M. L. LeBuffe, R. Sansom; Senior Lecturer C. J. Smith; Assistant Lecturer R. Garmong

Philosophy
(PHIL)

111. Contemporary Moral Issues. (3-0). Credit 3.

Representative ethical positions and their application to contemporary social problems.

205. Technology and Human Values. (3-0). Credit 3.

Interaction of personal and societal values with technology and man's self-image, the future and value change.

208. Philosophy of Education. (3-0). Credit 3.

Basic social ideas and concepts of human nature in Western civilization; their implications for theories of education.

210. Concepts of Love. (3-0). Credit 3.

Philosophical and ethical implications of various concepts of love. Writings of philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Sartre and Buber.

240. Introduction to Logic. (3-0). Credit 3.

Methods and principles used to distinguish between correct and incorrect reasoning; uses of language, informal and formal fallacies, Venn diagrams, truth-tables, symbolic notation, formal deductive proof, induction.

251. Introduction to Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Perennial problems of philosophy such as the existence of God, the mind/body relationship, the limits of knowledge, the foundations of moral judgment, man and the state.

283. Latin American Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Major philosophers in the history of Latin American philosophy, such as Unamuno, Ortega y Gasset, Vasconcelos, Caso and Gutiérrez.

285. Directed Studies. Credit 1 to 4.

Directed studies in specific problem areas of philosophy. Prerequisite: Approval of department head.

289. Special Topics in... Credit 1 to 4.

Selected topics in an identified area of philosophy. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

305. Philosophy of the Natural Sciences. (3-0). Credit 3.

Critical analysis of scientific methods and achievements; the nature and types of explanation, discovery and confirmation, models and theories. Prerequisite: 3 hours of philosophy other than PHIL 240.

307. Philosophy of the Social Sciences. (3-0). Credit 3.

Nature and objectivity of the social sciences, their paradigms and patterns of explanation. Prerequisite: 3 hours of philosophy other than PHIL 240.

314. Environmental Ethics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Moral basis of duties to preserve or protect plants, animals and environmental systems; foundations of environmental law and policy; the idea of nature in philosophy; critique of social and economic analyses of environmental values. Prerequisite: Sophomore classification or approval of instructor.

315. Military Ethics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Major ethical issues in modern military practice: ethics of leadership, just war theory, killing of the innocent and the moral status of the rules of war.

320. Philosophy of Mind. (3-0). Credit 3.

Relation of mind to body, nature of thought and knowing, the free will problem, death and immortality. Prerequisite: 3 hours of philosophy other than PHIL 240.

330. Philosophy of Art. (3-0). Credit 3.

Theories of artistic creation and aesthetic response as exemplified in art forms such as painting, music, poetry, architecture, dance, theater, sculpture and motion pictures.

331. Philosophy of Religion. (3-0). Credit 3.

Philosophical problems of Western religion such as the existence of God, the problem of evil, types of theism, rational, empirical and mystical approaches to God. Cross-listed with RELS 331.

332. Social and Political Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Metaphysical commitments and political theory, the nature and proper ends of the state, freedom, equality, authority, and justice, considering such writers as Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Dewey. Prerequisite: 3 hours of philosophy other than PHIL 240.

341. Symbolic Logic. (3-0). Credit 3.

Elementary symbolic logic beginning with propositional calculus and first order predicate logic, and their applications. Prerequisite: PHIL 240.

342. Symbolic Logic II. (3-0). Credit 3.

Advanced topics in logic such as the theory of identity, higher order logics, logic of sets, elements of modal logic. Prerequisite: PHIL 341 or approval of department head.

351. Theory of Knowledge. (3-0). Credit 3.

Major topics in epistemology such as the problem of induction, perception theory, memory and the problem of other minds. Prerequisites: PHIL 413 and 3 hours of philosophy.

361. Metaphysics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Topics concerning the fundamental nature of reality such as what exists, the mental and the physical, universals and individuals, space and time, God. Prerequisites: PHIL 240 and 3 hours of philosophy.

371. Philosophy of Literature. (3-0). Credit 3.

Philosophical analysis of the major recurrent themes in world literature including fate, the meaning of tragedy, death, odyssey, good and evil, time and eternity, hope and salvation; works selected from a variety of cultures and historical periods.

375. Philosophy of the Visual Media. (2-2). Credit 3.

Aesthetic, ethical and epistemological issues of photography, cinema and video.

381. Ethical Theory. (3-0). Credit 3.

Values and conduct such as moral relativism, self-interest, utilitarianism, rules, nature of valuation, ethical language and argumentation. Prerequisite: 3 hours of philosophy other than PHIL 240.

410. Classical Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Major philosophers from 600 B.C. to the end of the third century A.D. including the Pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic and Roman philosophy and the Neo-Platonists.

411. Medieval Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Major philosophers from the early Christian centuries through the 14th century, emphasizing such writers as Augustine, Aquinas, Duns Scotus and William of Ockham.

413. Modern Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Major developments from the Renaissance through the 18th century emphasizing such philosophers as Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant.

414. Nineteenth Century Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Contributions of such philosophers as Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Husserl, Mill and Bradley. Prerequisite: PHIL 413.

415. American Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

The thought of philosophers such as Peirce, James, Royce, Santayana, Mead, Dewey and Whitehead. Prerequisite: 3 hours of philosophy other than PHIL 240.

416. Recent British and American Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Major philosophers in contemporary Anglo-American thought such as Moore, Russell, Wittgenstein, Ayer, Quine, Austin and Ryle. Prerequisites: PHIL 240 and 413.

418. Phenomenology and Existentialism. (3-0). Credit 3.

Major recent philosophers such as Sartre, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Marcel, Ricoeur. Prerequisite: PHIL 413.

419. Current Continental Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Major thinkers concerned with "postmodern" topics in hermeneutics, poststructuralism, critical theory, deconstructionism, contemporary Marxist strategies, semiotics and feminist theory. Prerequisite: Junior classification or approval of instructor.

424. Philosophy of Language. (3-0). Credit 3.

The nature of language; the various uses of language and their philosophical import; the nature of meaning, truth, reference and issues surrounding formal representations of natural languages. Prerequisite: Junior classification or approval of instructor. Prerequisite: 3 hours of philosophy other than PHIL 240.

480. Medical Ethics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Critical analysis of major ethical issues in medicine including truth-telling, confidentiality, paternalism, genetics, abortion, infanticide, euthanasia and social justice in health care.

482. Ethics and Engineering. (2-2). Credit 3.

Development of techniques of moral analysis and their application to ethical problems encountered by engineers, such as professional employee rights and whistle blowing; environmental issues; ethical aspects of safety, risk and liability; conflicts of interest; emphasis on developing the capacity for independent ethical analysis of real and hypothetical cases. Prerequisite: Junior classification. Cross-listed with ENGR 482.

483. Professional Ethics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Major ethical theories as applied to problems of professional ethics and decision-making in the biological, physical and social sciences, business, education, engineering, law and medicine.

485. Directed Studies. Credit 1 to 6.

Directed studies in specific problem areas of philosophy. Prerequisite: Approval of department head.

489. Special Topics in... Credit 1 to 4.

Selected topics in an identified area of philosophy. May be repeated for credit.

497. Independent Honors Studies. Credit 1 to 3.

Directed independent studies in specific philosophical problems. Prerequisites: Junior or senior classification either as Honors students or with overall GPR of 3.25; letter of approval from head of student's major department.