Current course offerings in Philosophy can be found by following links on our home page.
PHI 101
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
3, 3/0; HUIF
Introduction to the literature and problems of philosophy.
PHI 102
INTRODUCTION TO MORAL AND SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY
3, 3/0; HUIF
Various views of how we ought to live and how society should be organized, considered in the context of discussions about the "good" life and the "good" society.
PHI 103
INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC
3, 3/0
Introduction to practical reasoning and argument relevant to everyday life; uses of language, informal fallacies, elementary deductive arguments, and the nature of scientific thinking.
PHI 107
INTRODUCTION TO MATHEMATICAL LOGIC
3, 3/0; MQIF
Prerequisite: Basic proficiency in mathematics as specified by the requirements for the mathematics and quantitative reasoning component of Intellectual Foundations.
Introduction to two types of mathematical models for assessing the correctness of reasoning. Venn diagrams as geometric mathematical models for assessing categorical syllogisms. Sentential logic and monadic predicate logic as systems of algebraic mathematical models for assessing the reasoning associated with these systems.
PHI 110
MEANING OF LIFE
3, 3/0; HUIF
Exploration of a number of fundamental philosophical questions that make their way into everyday life, specifically related to the question, "What is the meaning of (my) life?" or its Socratic equivalent, "How ought I to live?" Critical analysis of classical and contemporary works - philosophical and autobiographical - to develop clearer, more informed, and better-reasoned views about the questions, if not the answers.
PHI 204
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
3, 3/0
Critical analysis of the philosophical assumptions that support religious belief. Focus on problems arising from philosophical assumptions, such as the existence of God, omnipotence, omniscience, foreknowledge, and the existence of evil.
PHI 207
PHILOSOPHY IN LITERATURE
3, 3/0
The relationship of philosophy to literature through a consideration of the nature of language, the methods of language analysis, the relation of knowledge to fiction, and the function of myth and metaphor in presenting philosophical ideas.
PHI 210
EXISTENTIALISM
3, 3/0
The problem of the meaning and value of life considered in a context of various philosophical and literary works of religious and nonreligious existentialists, including Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre.
PHI 300
PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY
3, 3/0
Selected problems in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and certain movements in contemporary philosophy.
PHI 301
HISTORY OF POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
3, 3/0; WCIF
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
Examination of moral presuppositions and justifications of forms of government and economic systems, as well as interrelations between government and economics.
PHI 302
PHILOSOPHY OF ART AND BEAUTY
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
The basic concepts presupposed in any critical examination of the arts, including painting, literature, and music.
PHI 304
PHILOSOPHY OF LAW
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
The nature and justification of legal institutions; emphasis on the problem of legal punishment and on the legal enforcement of morality.
PHI 305
PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
Recent works by analytical philosophers in the foundations of language; meaning, reference, and necessity.
PHI 307
SYMBOLIC LOGIC
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
First-order logic as a system for understanding argumentation in ordinary language. Covers the structure and use of truth-functional logic and quantification theory, including identity.
PHI 308
PHILOSOPHY OF LOVE AND SEX
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
Classic and contemporary philosophic theories of the nature, value, and purpose of human love and sexuality; discussions of Plato, Aquinas, Ortega, Sartre, and Kierkegaard; value judgments implicit in the concepts of “supervision", "good sex", and "true love", as well as problems encountered in finding clear definitions for such terms; considers certain moral arguments found in such areas as abortion and marital intercourse.
PHI 309
KNOWLEDGE AND JUSTIFICATION
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
The nature, variety, and requirements of knowledge. May include the natures of belief and perception; knowledge of necessary truths of mathematics; perception and memory as good sources of evidence; knowing what another person thinks or believes.
PHI 310
HISTORY OF ETHICS
3, 3/0; WCIF
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
Historical study of the writings of great Western philosophers as they examine ethical questions about self-interest, freedom, duty, and happiness in regard to the moral life. Includes Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Mill, and Hume.
PHI 312
PHILOSOPHY OF MIND
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
Recent work by analytic philosophers in the philosophy of mind.
PHI 314
CONTEMPORARY ETHICS
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
Historical and analytical study of important developments in twentiethcentury ethical theory; naturalism, noncognitivism, prescriptivism, rationalism; the ideas of Rawls, Nozick, Gauthier, and Gewirth.
PHI 317
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
Readings in selected primary texts of the leading philosophers of ancient Greece, specifically: Heraclitus, Parmenides, Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, and focus on the original visionary contribution of each thinker to the intellectual development of Western thought.
PHI 318
MODERN PHILOSOPHY
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
Readings in selected primary texts from Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant; focus on the original visionary contribution of each thinker to the intellectual development of Western thought; learning to read a philosophical work.
PHI 324
ZEN BUDDHISM
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
Zen as a paradoxical method by which suffering of existence is transformed into everyday enlightenment; contemporary practices of Zen and its historical origins in Buddha’s "complete and unexcelled" enlightenment and in Lao-tzu’s living in harmony with the Tao.
PHI 333
PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL SCIENCES
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
The structure and nature of sciences. Epistemological and ontological implications of scientific theories (e.g., quantum mechanics, evolutionary biology). The roles of evidence, confirmation, falsification in science.
PHI 334
PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
The structure and nature of social sciences. Epistemological and ontological implications of social scientific theories. Analysis of socially constructed facts and institutions. Rational-choice and decision-theory models of explanation.
PHI 347
WESTERN THOUGHT: HOMER TO ALEXANDER
3, 3/0; WCIF
Prerequisites: CWP 101, CWP 102.
The development of Hellenic and Hellenistic thought and its influence on the modern world. Examination of tensions between naturalistic, conventional, and religious world views. Special emphasis on the role such tensions played in the development of philosophy
PHI 351
ETHICS BOWL
3, 3/0; OCIF
Prerequisite: One PHI course or instructor permission.
Preparation for a competition in which students are judged on their ability to deploy intricate ethical reasoning in addressing case studies from practical and professional ethics. Students develop well-informed opinions about ethically complex, everyday scenarios, orally present these opinions and supporting arguments, and provide critical oral responses to the opinions and arguments of other students and judges. Some students compete in the regional and/or national Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl, others in the Buffalo State Ethics Bowl.
PHI 401
SEMINAR IN PROBLEMS IN PHILOSOPHY
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Upper-division status or one course in philosophy.
Intensive analysis of selected topics in philosophy.
PHI 402
SEMINAR IN HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
3, 3/0
Prerequisites: Fulfillment of English composition/basic communication requirement, PHI 317, PHI 318.
Figures and periods in the history of Western and Eastern philosophies.
Graduate Courses
PHI 601
ETHICS IN PROFESSIONAL APPLIED SCIENCES
3, 3/0
Ethical theories and professional ethics in the applied sciences. Ethical reasoning and its application to practical problems. Ethical issues in fields such as computer science, engineering, genetics, and ecology.