About Philosophy
Careful reasoning about knowledge, reality, and value. Courses carry the PHIL subject code and are offered through the College of Arts, Design & Communication. Numbers below 300 are introductory, 300–499 advanced undergraduate, and 500 and above graduate. Prerequisites are enforced at registration.
How the sequence works
Of the 9 PHIL courses listed, 4 are introductory (numbers under 300), 2 are advanced undergraduate (300–499). 3 courses have no prerequisite and are a reasonable first step. Later courses assume the earlier ones, so read prerequisites before you plan a term — they are enforced at registration and an override from the Philosophy department is the only way around them.
PHIL 1000 — Introduction to Philosophy 3 cr
Central problems — free will, the mind, knowledge, God, and the good life — through primary readings.
Prerequisite: none.
PHIL 1200 — Critical Thinking 3 cr
Arguments, fallacies, evidence, probability, and reasoning well about everyday and public questions.
Prerequisite: none.
PHIL 2100 — Formal Logic 3 cr
Propositional and predicate logic, translation, proofs, and the concepts of validity and soundness.
Prerequisite: none.
PHIL 2300 — Ethics 3 cr
Consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics, and applying each to contemporary moral problems.
Prerequisite: PHIL 1000.
PHIL 2500 — Philosophy of Science 3 cr
Explanation, confirmation, theory change, realism, and the demarcation of science.
Prerequisite: PHIL 1000.
PHIL 3100 — Ancient Philosophy 3 cr
The Presocratics, Plato, and Aristotle, and their questions about nature, knowledge, and the soul.
Prerequisite: PHIL 1000.
PHIL 3200 — Modern Philosophy 3 cr
Descartes through Kant: rationalism, empiricism, and the turn to the knowing subject.
Prerequisite: PHIL 1000.
PHIL 3400 — Biomedical Ethics 3 cr
Autonomy, consent, justice in health care, end-of-life decisions, and emerging technologies.
Prerequisite: PHIL 2300.
PHIL 3600 — Philosophy of Technology and AI 3 cr
Agency, responsibility, surveillance, automation, and the ethics of machine decision-making.
Prerequisite: PHIL 2300.
Planning and advising
Your degree audit shows exactly how PHIL courses apply to your requirements; this list only shows what is offered. If you are choosing between two courses, deciding when to take a heavy one, or wondering whether a course will run next term, your academic adviser can tell you. Course availability by term is set close to registration and is not guaranteed by anything on this page.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Every course, prerequisite, credit value, and department on this page is invented; nothing here describes a real curriculum or a course you can enroll in.