Philosophy

Majors and Degrees Offered

• International Human Rights (B.A.)
• Philosophy (B.A.)
• Philosophy (B.A.) with an Emphasis in Ethics and Society

Minors Offered

• Philosophy
• International Human Rights

A minor requires a minimum of 18 credit hours of formal coursework from the University curriculum completed at Webster University. Courses used to fulfill a major may not also be used to fulfill a requirement for a minor.

Objectives

The Philosophy Department's purpose is to teach students to cultivate the habit of examining their lives in meaningful, creative, and productive ways.

Philosophy asks the big questions: Who am I? Why am I here? How should I live? What makes a society good? What is justice? Philosophy students learn to think critically and creatively about questions such as these.

More specifically, our educational goals are to teach students to:

• Understand philosophical concepts, ideas, and arguments;
• Acquire the skills to analyze philosophical arguments and assumptions critically as well as provide evidence for claims; and
• Examine and apply abstract ideas to concrete situations and to individual and social problems.

Philosophy

This emphasis provides solid undergraduate background in areas of general philosophical concern, preparing the student for graduate work in philosophy as well as continued education in other fields.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, students should:

• Understand philosophical concepts, ideas, and arguments;
• Be able to critically analyze arguments and assumptions, as well as to provide evidence for claims;
• Be able to examine and apply philosophical ideas to concrete situations and current problems, from both individual and social perspectives.

Degree Requirements

• 36 required credit hours
• 27 general education credit hours
• 65 elective credit hours

Students will complete 36 credit hours as specified below with a grade of C or better.

Required Courses

• PHIL 2010 Informal Logic, or
  PHIL 2020 Formal Logic                                                               3 hours
• PHIL 2300 Social and Political Philosophy                            3 hours
• PHIL 2510 Philosophic Classics: Ancient Greece and Rome    3 hours
• PHIL 2520 Philosophic Classics: Early Modern Europe      3 hours
• PHIL 3300 Epistemology                                                              3 hours
• PHIL 3350 Philosophical Ethics                                                 3 hours
• PHIL 4050 Topics in the History of Philosophy                    3 hours
• PHIL 4600 Overview                                                                       3 hours

Philosophy electives 12 hours: 3 credit hours on the 2000 level, 9 credit hours on the 3000 or 4000 levels.

Philosophy with an Emphasis in Ethics and Society

With an ethics and society emphasis students have the opportunity to concentrate their studies in ethical, social, and political philosophy and to apply theory to issues and problems arising in public life.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the program, students should:

• Display knowledge of the ethical issues pertinent to several disciplines, professions and topics;
• Display strong grounding in ethical, social, and political philosophy
• Be able to identify and analyze ethical issues and problems that arise in public life;
• Display enhanced critical thinking skills related to moral theory and decision making;
• Capacity to develop and defend positions and to anticipate objections and alternatives;
• Ability to evaluate moral problems through several theoretical frameworks.

Degree Requirements

• 36 required credit hours
• 27 general education credit hours
• 65 elective credit hours

Students will complete 36 credit hours as specified below with a grade of C or better.

Required Courses

• HRTS 1100 Introduction to Human Rights                               3 hours
• PHIL 2300 Social and Political Philosophy                                 hours
• PHIL 2320 Contemporary Moral Problems                              3 hours
• PHIL 2510 Philosophic Classics: Ancient Greece and Rome    3 hours
• PHIL 2520 Philosophic Classics: Early Modern Europe      3 hours
• PHIL 3350 Philosophical Ethics                                                 3 hours
• PHIL 4600 Overview                                                                       3 hours

Nine credit hours from the following:

• PHIL 3080 Current Topics in Philosophy
  ( If appropriate content)                                                        3 hours  
• PHIL 3110 Philosophy and Film: Human Rights                   3 hours
• PHIL 3360 Ethics for Cyberspace                                               3 hours
• PHIL 3370 Philosophy and Women                                           3 hours
• PHIL 3380 Ethics in Social Research                                         3 hours
• PHIL 3590 Theories of Human Rights                                       3 hours
• PHIL 4400 Practicum in Philosophy                                      1-3 hours

Six credit hours from the following:

• PHIL 2050 Philosophy and History of Education                   3 hours
• PHIL 2340 Bioethics                                                                     3 hours
• PHIL 2360 Environmental Ethics                                               3 hours
• PHIL 2390 Philosophy of Sex and Love                                   3 hours

International Human Rights

The international human rights program at Webster University seeks to encourage greater understanding of international human rights standards, problems, and solutions.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the program, students should:

• Display knowledge of generally accepted international human rights standards;
• Display familiarity with widely discussed theories of human rights and criticisms of those theories;
• Display familiarity with a sampling of current and historical human rights problem areas;
• Display a capacity to reflect critically on the workings of an organization that is active in the area of international human rights or on focused human rights related observations;
• Display intermediate foreign language capability.

Degree Requirements

• 37 required credit hours
• 27 general education credit hours
• 64 elective credit hours

Students will complete 37 credit hours as specified below with a grade of C or better, and must display foreign language competence. (This requirement can be met by taking 12 sequential credit hours in a foreign language or by passing an intermediate-level proficiency examination and will be waived for students whose native language is not English and who are studying in English.)

In the final semester of study, each student must register for HRTS 4600 Senior Overview (1 credit hour) and submit an overview paper. This project will include a summation of the student's academic work in the major, an evaluation of that work in terms of the student's field experience, and an evaluation of the student's field experience in terms of the academic work.

Required Courses

• HRTS 1100 Introduction to Human Rights                               3 hours
• HRTS 2500 Current Problems in Human Rights                     3 hours
• HRTS 3500 International Human Rights Law                          3 hours
• HRTS 3590 Theories of Human Rights                                      3 hours
• HRTS 4500 Human Rights Field Experience                            3 hours
• HRTS 4600 Senior Overview                                                          1 hour
• PHIL 2300 Social and Political Philosophy or
  POLT 1070 Introduction to Political Theory                           3 hours

Elective Courses

18 credit hours from among the following, including at least 9 credit hours from courses with an HRTS prefix:

• ANSO 2000 Issues in Contemporary Society:
  Sociocultural Factors behind Migration
  and Refugee Movements                                                   1-4 hours
• ANSO 3960 Ethnic and Minority Relations                             3 hours
• ANSO 4200 Class, Status, and Power                                         3 hours
• ANSO 4275 Gender and Sex Roles                                              3 hours
• ENGL 1060 Protest Literature                                                       3 hours
• ETHC 1000 Issues and Problems in Ethics                                 1 hour
• HIST 2420 History of Africa                                                         3 hours
• HIST 2440 History of Latin America                                          3 hours
• HIST 2450 Third World                                                                  3 hours
• HRTS 2086 Topics In Human Rights                                         3 hours
• HRTS 3080 Advanced Topics in Human Rights                     3 hours
• HRTS 3160 Human Rights in Film: Documentaries               3 hours
• HRTS 3170 Human Rights in Film: Narrative Films             3 hours
• HRTS 3200 Human Rights Area Studies                            3 hours
• HRTS 3210 Prejudice and Discrimination                                 3 hours
• HRTS 3400 Human Rights and the Environment                    3 hours
• HRTS 3600 Genocide and the Holocaust                                   3 hours
• HRTS 3700 Human Rights and Business                                   3 hours
• ISTL 1000 Introduction to International Studies                    3 hours
• INTL 1500 The World System since 1500                                3 hours
• INTL 2030 International Law                                                       3 hours
• INTL 3300 Governments and Politics of Eastern Europe      3 hours
• MEDC 2800 Cultural Diversity in the Media                           3 hours
• MULC 2010 American Cultural Pluralism                                 3 hours
• PHIL 2320 Contemporary Moral Problems                              3 hours
• PHIL 2340 Bioethics                                                                      3 hours
• PHIL 2360 Environmental Ethics                                               3 hours
• PHIL 3350 Philosophical Ethics                                                 3 hours
• PHIL 3360 Ethics for Cyberspace                                               3 hours
• PHIL 3370 Philosophy and Women                                           3 hours
• POLT 1080 Introduction to Comparative Politics                  3 hours
• POLT 2550 The Politics of Development                                 3 hours
• PSYC/ANSO 3225 Holocaust                                                       3 hours
• PSYC/ANSO 3275 Genocide                                                         3 hours
• RELG 2050 Religion and Human Values                                   3 hours

Minor in International Human Rights

18 credit hours taken at Webster University as specified below. Nine credit hours must be at the 3000 level or above. All courses for the minor must be completed with a grade of C or better.

Required Courses

• HRTS 1100 Introduction to Human Rights                               3 hours
• HRTS 2500 Current Problems in Human Rights                     3 hours

Elective Courses

12 credit hours from among the following, including at least 6 credit hours from courses with an HRTS prefix:

• HRTS 2086 Topics in Human Rights                                         3 hours
• HRTS 3080 Advanced Topics in Human Rights                     3 hours
• HRTS 3160 Human Rights in Film: Documentaries               3 hours
• HRTS 3170 Human Rights in Film: Narrative Films             3 hours
• HRTS 3200 Human Rights Area Studies                            3 hours
• HRTS 3210 Prejudice and Discrimination                                 3 hours
• HRTS 3400 Human Rights and the Environment                    3 hours
• HRTS 3500 International Human Rights Law                          3 hours
• HRTS 3590 Theories of Human Rights                                      3 hours
• HRTS 3600 Genocide and the Holocaust                                   3 hours
• HRTS 3700 Human Rights and Business                                   3 hours
• HRTS 4500 Human Rights Field Experience                        1-6 hours
• ANSO 2000 Issues in Contemporary Society: Sociocultural
  Factors behind Migration and Refugee Movements      1-4 hours
• ANSO 3960 Ethnic and Minority Relations                             3 hours
• ANSO 4200 Class, Status, and Power                                         3 hours
• ANSO 4275 Gender and Sex Roles                                              3 hours
• ENGL 1060 Protest Literature                                                       3 hours
• ETHC 1000 Issues and Problems in Ethics                               3 hours
• HIST 2420 History of Africa                                                         3 hours
• HIST 2440 History of Latin America                                           3 hours
• HIST 2450 Third World                                                                  3 hours
• INTL 1500 The World System since 1500                                3 hours
• INTL 2030 International Law                                                       3 hours
• INTL 3300 Governments and Politics of Eastern Europe      3 hours
• ISTL 1000 Introduction to International Studies                    3 hours
• MEDC 2800 Cultural Diversity in the Media                           3 hours
• MULC 2010 American Cultural Pluralism                                 3 hours
• PHIL 2320 Contemporary Moral Problems                              3 hours
• PHIL 2340 Bioethics                                                                      3 hours
• PHIL 2360 Environmental Ethics                                               3 hours
• PHIL 3350 Philosophical Ethics                                                 3 hours
• PHIL 3360 Ethics for Cyberspace                                               3 hours
• PHIL 3370 Philosophy and Women                                           3 hours
• POLT 1080 Introduction to Comparative Politics                  3 hours
• POLT 2550 The Politics of Development                                 3 hours
• PSYC/ANSO 3225 Holocaust                                                       3 hours
• PSYC/ANSO 3275 Genocide                                                         3 hours
• RELG 2050 Religion and Human Values                                   3 hours

International Human Rights
Course Listings

HRTS 1100 Introduction to Human Rights (3)

Introduces students to the philosophic and political background of the concept of human rights. Discusses important documents as part of the history of the development of human rights theories. Examines important issues in current political and ethical debates about human rights. Reviews core legal documents and the work of the most important governmental and nongovernmental institutions currently involved in human rights protection and promotion. Examines at least one current problem area in human rights protection.

HRTS 2086 Topics in Human Rights (3)

Study of text or topic in a special area of Human Rights. Contents and methodology at an introductory level.

HRTS 2500 Current Problems in Human Rights (3)

At any given time, there are approximately 20 million refugees, 30 wars of various sizes, and scores of governments violating citizens' rights with varying degrees of brutality. This course will review current areas of concern to human rights advocates paying special attention to obtaining current information, evaluating sources, and understanding the actions of violators in terms of current human rights standards. Prerequisite: HRTS 1100 Introduction to Human Rights.

HRTS 3080 Advanced Topics in Human Rights (3)

Upper level study of influential text(s) or topic(s) in a special area of International Human Rights.

HRTS 3160 Human Rights in Film: Documentaries (3)

We'll look at and talk about films and videos that explore serious human rights concerns. In doing so, along with reading and writing about the films--and the situations or problems depicted in them--we should learn a fair bit about these specific films, documentary films in general, the situations depicted, human rights, and the human condition. Each film will be discussed in terms of the human rights issues raised; relevant international human rights standards; appropriate historical, philosophical, and political background; and the methods used by the filmmakers to get their messages across. Cross-listed with FILM 3160 and PHIL 3110. May be repeated for credit if content differs.

HRTS 3170 Human Rights in Film: Narrative Films (3)

We'll look at and talk about narrative films and videos that explore serious human rights concerns. In doing so, along with reading and writing about the films--and the situations or problems depicted in them--we should learn a fair bit about these specific films, narrative films in general, the situations depicted, human rights, and the human condition. Each film will be discussed in terms of the human rights issues raised; relevant international human rights standards; appropriate historical, philosophical, and political background; and the methods used by the filmmakers to get their message across. Crosslisted with FILM 3160 and PHIL 3110. May be repeated for credit if content differs.

HRTS 3200 Human Rights Area Studies (3)

Examines the conditions in selected countries during a specific time period. (An example might be the conditions in Argentina , Chile , and Uruguay in the 1960s and 1970s that led to the human rights abuses of the 1970s and 1980s.) Investigates the impact of human rights abuses on the politics and society in the countries selected. The approach may vary from semester to semester, ranging from the historical to the literary. May be repeated once for credit, when subject matter varies.

HR TS 3210 Prejudice and Discrimination (3)

Focus of the course will be on the essential features of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Examines inter-group relations as they pertain to such socially defined boundaries as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, ethnicity, ability, appearance, and socioeconomic status. We will look at how standards regarding international human rights discrimination and violations are handled by the international community. Addresses impact on life in the U.S. and elsewhere, and what measures, if any, can be taken to reduce stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Cross-listed with ANSO 3650 and PSYC 3650.

HRTS 3400 Human Rights and the Environment (3)

A clean environment, safe from human-created hazards, has increasingly been argued to be a human right. This course examines the arguments and the status of environmental rights under the present international framework.

HRTS 3500 International Human Rights Law (3)

Briefly introduces the idea of international law and examines the development of international human rights law from its origins through successive generations of thinking and institutionalization to the present. Examines conventions, monitoring, conformity and violation, attempts at enforcement, and current controversies.

HRTS 3590 Theories of Human Rights (3)

Examines the historical development of theories of human rights and their relation to civil liberties, international law, social organization, and different conceptions of community, individualism, and the state. Also examines the most significant human rights documents in their historical context. May focus on specific cases and questions of current concern. Prerequisite: POLT 1070 or PHIL 2300. Cross-listed with PHIL 3590 and POLT 3590.

HRTS 3600 Genocide and the Holocaust (3)

Examines the nature of evil and its impact on victims and perpetrators; differences between genocide, democide, ethnocide, and other forms of mass violence; the interaction of psychological, sociological, cultural, and/or political roots of evil, human cruelty, mass violence, and genocide; Staub's theory of evil and the application of this theory to the perpetration of genocide and mass violence in Nazi Germany, Turkey, Cambodia, and Argentina; the nature of bystander behavior and the impact of bystander behavior on the perpetration of genocide; the interrelationship between genocide and war; and the question of what can be done to prevent human cruelty, mass violence, and genocide. Cross-listed with ANSO 3000 and PSYC 3000 when appropriate.

HRTS 3700 Human Rights and Business (3)

Human rights standards are often incorporated into the civil law of nations, but not always--and often incompletely. Business practice is generally required to conform to national law, but businesses operating internationally are also under pressure to conform to international human rights standards. The course examines conformity of national and international business with relevant human rights standards and the pressures leading toward greater conformity or increased violation.

HRTS 4500 Human Rights Field Experience (3)

For students undertaking either travel and research into a specific human rights topic or area through direct contact with the material or people studied, outside academic confines, or experience working in an organization whose mission includes work in the area of international human rights. Requires prior and follow-up consultation with an appropriate faculty member approved by the director of the Human Rights program or a site academic director. The student must prepare a portfolio, to include an advance description of the intended field and/ or work experience and, whichever is appropriate, either a projected itinerary; documentation of the travel and experiences; and a summary of and formal reflection on those experiences, or a description of the projected work experience and a summary of and formal reflection on the work experience. Prerequisites: HRTS 1100 and approval of the director of the Human Rights program or the site academic director.

HRTS 4600 Overview (1)

A critical examination of the Human Rights Field Experience in light of other academic work in the major and vice versa, with the student preparing an individual paper reflecting significant mastery of the methods and content of academic work in the major. Prerequisite: senior standing or permission of instructor. Student must have already taken and passed HRTS 4500 or be enrolled in it concurrently.

Philosophy Course Listings

PHIL 1010 Introduction to Critical Thinking (3)

Emphasizes identifying the techniques of critical analysis and analyzing arguments in a variety of short essays, most of them not by professional philosophers. Gives special attention to educating students to distinguish between their own beliefs as to the truth or falsity of a claim and the validity of the arguments offered in support of that claim.

PHIL 1100 Introduction to Philosophy (3)

Introduces a broad spectrum of topics in philosophy, such as knowledge, reality, freedom, morality, and art. The emphasis is not only on what is contained in these topics, but also on how to think critically about them.

PHIL 2010 Informal Logic (3)

Introduces the study of reasoning, including the nature of argument, deductive and inductive inference, meaning and inference, validity, hypotheticals, syllogisms, and the identification of fallacies. Emphasizes reasoning in a natural language and arguments in practical contexts with minimum use of symbolic notation.

PHIL 2020 Formal Logic (3)

Studies techniques of deductive inference in a symbolic notation, including propositional calculus and some operations with quantifiers. Covers theory of logic, including such topics as axiomatization, rules of inference, the distinctions between use and mention and validity and truth, semantic interpretations, completeness, and consistency. Crosslisted with MATH 1580 and COSC 1580.

PHIL 2050 Philosophy and History of Education (3)

Analyzes the nature of education, especially as this has developed historically in the West, paying special attention to the philosophical aims and aspirations that have motivated (and ought to motivate) Western education.

PHIL 2080 Topics in Philosophy (3)

Study of text or topic in a special area of philosophy. Contents and methodology on an introductory level.   May be repeated for credit if content differs.

PHIL 2110 Introduction to Ethics (3)

A topical introduction to ethics. Topics to be covered may include: the nature of ethical reasoning, duty, and obligation; excuses, mitigating circumstances, and personal responsibility; conflicts between obligations and between duty and self-interest; conflict between personal and community moral standards; and the objectivity or subjectivity of values. Replaces BUSN 2110.

PHIL 2300 Social and Political Philosophy (3)

Introduces philosophical issues raised by our social and political existence. Includes social contract, rights and obligations, sovereignty and authority, utopias and political ideas, and the individual and the state. Cross-listed with POLT 1070.

PHIL 2310 Introduction to Scientific Understanding (3)

Offers an examination/analysis of scientific concepts in their historical, philosophical, and cultural contexts. The aim is to enable the students to gain insight into the development of scientific ideas in view of the interactions between science, technology, philosophy, and society.

PHIL 2320 Contemporary Moral Problems (3)

Examines the opposing positions typically taken in discussions of contemporary moral problems, such as euthanasia, the death penalty, pornography, animal rights, and world hunger. The focus is on developing and critically analyzing reasons used to support a moral position.

PHIL 2330 Philosophy and Technology (3)

Philosophical consideration of technology, including such issues as how technologies embody values, technological determinism, consequences of technological choices, and how technologies can be helpful or hurtful. Typically focuses on one or a related group of technologies.

PHIL 2340 Bioethics (3)

This course explores the ethical issues that arise with changes in medical technologies and health care policies. Students explore the philosophical concepts of autonomy, duty, justice, and care as they apply to patients and physicians. Topics covered may include stem cell research and cloning technologies, organ transplantation, experimentation on animals, prenatal diagnosis and abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide, access to experimental treatments and allocation of scarce resources.  

PHIL 2360 Environmental Ethics (3)

An introductory exploration of issues in environmental policy and the value presuppositions to different approaches to environmental problems, including economic, judicial, political, and ecological. Discusses specific environmental problems, focusing on their moral dimensions, e.g., wilderness preservation, animal rights, property rights, values of biodiversity, corporate responsibility, varieties of activism, ecofeminism, resource exploitation, and technological advancement, global environmental politics, and obligations to future generations.

PHIL 2390 Philosophy of Sex and Love (3)

An introductory study of sexual philosophy including historical traditions as well as a variety of alternative belief systems. Critical analysis of topics such as marriage and adultery, sex with and without love, perversion, and pornography.

PHIL 2510 Philosophic Classics: Ancient Greece and Rome (3)

The great philosophic texts of ancient Greece and Rome are rich in insight and powerful in their influence on Western culture. This course reviews selected classics, familiarizing students with famous thinkers, their thoughts, and their methods.

PHIL 2520 Philosophic Classics: Early Modern Europe (3)

Early modern Europe, an era of profound intellectual, scientific, religious, and philosophic change, produced philosophic works with enduring influence on Western culture. This course reviews selected classics, familiarizing students with famous thinkers, their thoughts, and their methods. Prerequisite: PHIL 2510 is recommended.

PHIL 2540 American Philosophy (3)

Each civilization contributes a unique intellectual culture that characterizes the values and aspirations of its people. This course explores some intellectual impacts and influences of the unique contributions of American philosophers. An introductory study that combines the historical and cultural setting of inquiry into the nature of experience, truth, goodness, and society by nineteenth-and twentieth-century American philosophers, including Emerson, Thoreau, James, Peirce, and Dewey, and their influences on later philosophies in the United States.

PHIL 2610 Intermediate Reading (2-4)

Designed for students who have little background in philosophy but who have demonstrated an ability to do independent work and have an interest in exploring some philosophical or nonphilosophical texts philosophically. Prerequisites: permission of the instructor and filing of official form.

PHIL 3080 Current Topics in Philosophy (3)

Upper level study of influential texts or topics in a special area of philosophy, such as epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, philosophy of science, philosophy of social sciences, political philosophy, or logic. May be repeated for credit if content differs.

PHIL 3100 Literature and Philosophy (3)

Philosophical treatments of selected stories, novels, poems, plays, or films. Emphasizes the discovery of philosophical commitments in such works and the critical examination of their intelligibility, defensibility, and truth value. The question of the ineluctability of form is also raised.

PHIL 3110 Philosophy and Film (3)

Philosophic problems will be approached through their presentation in selected films. Emphasizes the discovery of philosophic commitments and claims in the works studied; the defensibility of those commitments and claims; and film as a mode of presentation for philosophic ideas. May be repeated for credit if content differs.

PHIL 3120 Philosophy and Art (3)

Raises philosophical issues surrounding the activities of producing and appreciating works of art. Sample topics: the theory of art, the relationship between art and other human institutions, standards of judgment in art, how works of art are meaningful and true, and the relationship between judgments of value in art and judgments of moral worth.

PHIL 3200 Philosophy of Religion (3)

This course explores the philosophical dimensions of religious belief and practice. Topics include: the nature of religion and of religious and spiritual experience; the problem of religious diversity; the nature of the Religious Ultimate, and evidence of its existence; evil and religious belief; scientific rationality and religious belief; religious naturalism; faith and rationality; continental philosophy of religion (God as "the impossible"); and the interrelation between religious, spiritual and moral values. The course draws on writers and texts located within or in relation to various world religious traditions, especially Buddhism, Hinduism, and Abrahamic Monotheism (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) and Humanism.

PHIL 3300 Epistemology (3)

Exploration of issues in the theory of knowledge, such as the origin, extent, and certainty of knowledge, as well as exploration of such positions as skepticism, relativism, and solipsism. Includes analysis of the concept of knowledge and the justification of belief. Prerequisite: 6 credit hours of history of philosophy or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 3310 Philosophy of Science (3)

An introduction to the main issues in philosophy of science such as: the role of scientific developments in shaping philosophy and philosophy of science; the influence of philosophy and philosophy of science on the development of science; noteworthy philosophical accounts of the scientific enterprise; and characterizations of confirmation, explanation, scientific realism, the nature of theories, and the growth of scientific knowledge.

PHIL 3320 Continental Philosophy (3)

European culture of the last one hundred years has produced philosophical works that have had a profound impact on the way we think and live today. This course reviews selected works from the period, familiarizing students with central thinkers such as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, and Foucault, as well as some of the more important movements associated with these figures, including Phenomenology, Existentialism, and Post-structuralism.

PHIL 3350 Philosophical Ethics (3)

First course in philosophical reflection on the moral life. Includes the analysis of moral terms, the techniques of moral reasoning, the origin and nature of human values, and the justification of moral judgments. Specific topics and texts vary from year to year. Prerequisite: PHIL 2110, PHIL 2300, PHIL 2320, PHIL 2380, or permission of the instructor.

PHIL 3360 Ethics for Cyberspace (3)

A general introduction to ethical issues created, aggravated, or transformed by computing technology. Addresses such topics as: privacy, hacking, and computer intrusion; software piracy; freedom of expression; campus computing policies; professional ethics; responsibility and risks of relying on computers; ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence; just allocation of computing resources; and social implications of networked computing.

PHIL 3370 Philosophy and Women (3)

Analysis of the concept of oppression and a study of the systematic structures of sexism and sex roles. Specific areas of study include the institution of family/marriage, sex, love, and feminist moral issues such as abortion, pornography, and sexual equality.

PHIL 3380 Ethics in Social Research (3)

An examination of some moral issues that arise in social science research and its applications. Neither a review of recent work in the social sciences nor a "cookbook" for solving ethical problems. Rather, the course focuses on relationships between researchers and human subjects, among researchers as professionals, and between researchers and the broader public. Prerequisite: 6 credit hours of philosophy or social science or permission of instructor.

PHIL 3590 Theories of Human Rights (3)

Examines the historical development of theories of human rights and their relation to civil liberties, international law, social organization, and different conceptions of community, individualism, and the state. Also examines the most significant human rights documents in their historical context. May focus on specific cases and questions of current concern. Prerequisite: POLT 1070, PHIL 2300, or GNST 1600. Cross-listed with POLT 3590.

PHIL 4050 Topics in the History of Philosophy (3)

Advanced undergraduate study of texts or topics from the history of philosophy. Specific topics are decided on in consultation between philosophy majors and faculty prior to offering the course. Prerequisite: 6 credit hours of philosophy or permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit if content differs.

PHIL 4400 Practicum in Philosophy (1-6)

Places students in a position in business, school, or social service, or similar organization. Placement will be such as to stimulate philosophical and critical reflection. Work is supervised by the faculty advisor, and the work will be the topic of discussion in a philosophy seminar that will reflect on the problems encountered. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

PHIL 4600 Overview (3)

A critical examination of a significant text, with each student preparing an individual paper on some aspect of the text. To be acceptable, the quality of the paper must reflect significant mastery of the methods and content of philosophy and critical thought. Prerequisite: advanced standing and permission of the instructor.

PHIL 4610 Reading Course (1-5)

Prerequisites: permission of the instructor and filing of official form. May be repeated for credit if content differs.

---

[Top of Page] [Table of Contents] [Webster University Home Page] [Locations]
[Course Schedules] [Admissions and Financial Aid] [Accreditation] [Academic Advising] [Bookstores]