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Course Descriptions

Department of Philosophy and Humanities

S. W. Austin, R. Becka, R. W. Burch, M. J. Cresswell, S. H. Daniel, D. L. Darby, T. D. George, H. Gert, M. R. Hand, C. E. Harris, Jr., M. L. LeBuffe, C. S. Longstreet, H. J. McCann, J. J. McDermott, C. P. Menzel, C. Murphy, J. A. O’Neal, G. F. Pappas, L. Radzik, R. Sansom, D. J. Self, R. A. Smith (Head), R. W. Stadelmann, G. E. Varner*

* Graduate Advisor

The Department of Philosophy and Humanities at Texas A&M University offers the degrees of Master of Arts in philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy. Students may pursue studies in any area of philosophy under these programs, both of which have distinctive features. Applicants are asked to specify the degree they wish to pursue.

The MA program is conceived as a terminal program aimed at two purposes. First, to enable professionals and advanced students from other disciplines to complement their training with systematic study of the philosophical concepts most relevant to their specialty. Second, to enable students who may have come to the study of philosophy late in their careers, or who are returning to academic pursuits after pursuing other interests, to continue to enjoy the personal enrichment of philosophy and/or to prepare themselves for doctoral studies at Texas A&M or elsewhere.

Two options for obtaining the MA are available: a non-thesis internship option and a thesis option. Students interested in applying their philosophical skills to other environments, such as education, medicine, law, the military or business, may arrange a professional internship in addition to taking 30 semester hours of course work (9 of which may be in other disciplines). Individuals who choose to write a master’s thesis must take at least 24 semester hours (6 of which may be in other disciplines) in addition to their thesis research. Depending on their background, applicants may be required to take particular undergraduate courses in order to enhance their program of study.

The PhD program is unique in requiring that the student earn, in addition to the PhD, a supporting MA or MS in a field other than philosophy. Supporting degrees may come from a host of fields. Students pursuing a PhD in political philosophy may, for example, wish to earn an MA or MS in political science. Those interested in environmental ethics might consider a supporting degree in wildlife or ecology. Supporting degrees must be approved by the Department’s Graduate Program Advisory Council. Applicants who already hold a degree at the master’s level should indicate they wish to have it counted as the supporting degree, and if so they should specify how the degree supports their research and teaching interest in philosophy. Other applicants are expected to secure admission to a master’s program in an approved field by the end of their second year of study. Applicants who already hold a degree at the master’s level may petition to have it counted as the supporting degree. Such petitions are approved only if the department judges the prior work to fit the overall needs of the student’s course of study. Other applicants are expected to secure admission to a master’s program in another department during their first year of study.

The PhD program requires a minimum of 96 semester hours beyond the baccalaureate. Students may apply for admission to doctoral candidacy after completing the supporting MA and formal course work in philosophy amounting to 44 hours. Further information on the requirements for doctoral candidacy may be obtained by contacting the Department of Philosophy and Humanities.

Philosophy
(PHIL)

611. Ancient Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Greek and Roman philosophy from 600 B.C. to 300 A.D.; emphasis on Plato and Aristotle. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

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

Christian, Jewish and Islamic thought from 300 to 1450; emphasis on Augustine and Aquinas. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

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

Developments in philosophy from the Renaissance through the Enlightenment: Renaissance humanism and natural science, 17th- and 18th-century empiricism and rationalism, idealism; major thinkers including Descartes, Hume, Kant, Hegel. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

620. Contemporary Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

19th- and 20th-century philosophical movements: phenomenology, existentialism, positivism, pragmatism, analysis, process thought. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

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

The genesis of American philosophical thought from the seventeenth century until the work of Emerson; subsequent concentration on the philosophies of Pierce, James, Royce, Dewey, Mead, Santayana and Whitehead. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

630. Aesthetics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Metaphor, the ontology of artworks, art and artifactuality, aesthetic attitudes, concepts of aesthetic appraisal such as beauty and sublimity and theory of tropes. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

631. Philosophy of Religion. (3-0). Credit 3. II

Investigation of metaphysical and epistemological issues concerning religious claims, beliefs and experiences. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

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

Theories of justice, equality, liberty and authority in social and political institutions; individualism and the social contract; political philosophy of writers such as Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Dewey and Rawls. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

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

Theories of moral value and conduct, moral language and argumentation; consequentialist and deontological approaches to ethics; ethical naturalism; theories of virtue. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

640. Epistemology. (3-0). Credit 3.

Nature and origin of knowledge, skepticism, belief, truth, rationality, justification and reliability and knowledge of necessary truths. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

641. Mathematical Logic I. (3-0). Credit 3.

The metatheory of prepositional and first-order logic: definitions of formal languages for these systems, their proof theory, model theory, and demonstrations of their soundness and completeness; overview of the basic elements of set theory, including functions and relations, infinite sets, infinite cardinal numbers, and Cantor’s Theorem. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.

642. Mathematical Logic II. (3-0). Credit 3.

Continuation of PHIL 641: Compactness, The Lowenheim-Skolem Theorems, computability theory and Church’s thesis, formal arithmetic, Godel’s Incompleteness Theorems, Tarski’s Theorem, and Church’s Theorem. Other topics covered in the course might include systems of modal logic, intuitionistic logic, and more advanced issues in set theory. Prerequisite: 641 or approval of instructor.

643. History and Philosophy of Logic. (3-0). Credit 3.

Selected topics on the historical development of logic; philosophical views of the nature of logical theory; the role of logical metatheory in the development of logic. Prerequisite: PHIL 341 or 641 or approval of instructor.

645. Philosophy of Science. (3-0). Credit 3.

Philosophy of the natural and social sciences, including the nature of theories and laws, the notion of causation, probability and determinism and the nature of theoretical change. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

646. Philosophy of a Particular Science. (3-0). Credit 3.

Focus on methodology epistemological and ontological issues in physics, or one of the special sciences, such as biology, psychology, cognitive science, economics. Application of philosophical methods to theoretical issues in the particular science. Relationships between theories and explanations of the particular science more basic sciences or other special sciences. May be repeated for credit for courses focusing on different sciences. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

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

Classical and contemporary treatments of the nature of reality, God, the existence of universals, space, time, causality; realism and antirealism, the existence and nature of abstract entities, the nature of events, the nature and logic of time and modality, freedom and determinism, and personal identity. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

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

The mind-body problem, personal identity, thought and intentionality, action and responsibility; materialism, behaviorism, functionalism. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

658. 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: Approval of instructor.

661. Seminar in the History of Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Intensive study of a current issue in the history of philosophy. May be repeated for credit with variation in topic. Prerequisites: 12-hours graduate work in Philosophy plus instructor approval.

662. Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory. (3-0). Credit 3.

Intensive study of current issue in ethics, ethical theory, applied ethics, aesthetics, or the work of particular philosophers in one of these areas. May be repeated for credit with variation in topic. Prerequisites: 12 hours of graduate work in Philosophy plus instructor approval.

663. Seminar in Metaphysics and Epistemology. (3-0). Credit 3.

Intensive study of a current issue in metaphysics, epistemology, or other core areas of philosophy. May be repeated for credit with variation in topic. Prerequisites: 12 hours of graduate work plus instructor approval.

664. Seminar in Applied Philosophy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Intensive study of a topic involving the application of philosophical concepts and theories to an issue arising in another scientific or academic field. May be repeated for credit with variation to topic. Prerequisites: 12 hours of graduate work plus instructor approval.

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

Basic concepts and theories underlying major contemporary ethical codes with application to ethical problems encountered in professions such as engineering, law, business and teaching. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

682. Philosophical Authors. (3-0). Credit 3.

Intensive study of works of an individual important philosopher, their historical context, and criticisms and interpretations of them. May be repeated for credit with different authors. Prerequisites: Appropriate background in history of philosophy plus instructor approval.

684. Professional Internship. Credit 1 to 6.

Practical experience in an institutional or organizational setting appropriate to analysis and understanding of issues in some area of applied philosophy. Prerequisite: Approval of committee chair and department head.

685. Directed Studies. Credit 1 to 6.

Directed studies in specific problem areas in philosophy.

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

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

691. Research. Credit 1 to 15.

Research for thesis. Prerequisites: Approval of department head and committee chair.