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In the Philosophy Section of the Catalog Philosophy Chair: Michelle Jenkins Patrick R. Frierson Mitchell S. Clearfield Rebecca Hanrahan Thomas A. Davis Julia A. Ireland Wenqing Zhao Philosophy courses provide the opportunity for the development of a critical and unified understanding of experience and nature. This is accomplished through their concern — from both historical and contemporary perspectives — with the ethical, social and political, aesthetic, religious, metaphysical, epistemological, and scientific dimensions of existence. All four-credit courses in philosophy meet the equivalent of three periods per week. Learning Goals: Upon graduation, a student will be able to: develop individual insights, pursue them with depth, and present them clearly in writing. develop individual insights and present these insights clearly and rigorously orally. understand the history of philosophy and be able to reconsider questions and problems as they are raised and transformed by a succession of thinkers. use philosophical tools for close reading, investigation, analysis, and argument. discover and question hidden assumptions in their own work and the work of others. Distribution: Courses completed in philosophy apply to the humanities distribution area, except for Philosophy 200 and 488, which apply to quantitative analysis. Philosophy 260 may be applied to either humanities or cultural pluralism. Total credit requirements for a Philosophy major: 32 The Philosophy major: 32 Credits (36 credits if pursuing honors) Required Courses o Philosophy 201 and 202 o One course from each of the three categories: Analytic, Continental, Ethics (see course list below) o At least two courses from the 300 or 400 level Other notes o No one course can be used to satisfy two categories o Philosophy 201 and 202 should be completed before the end of the students’ seventh semester o No courses may be taken PDF Senior Requirements o Rewriting of a seminar paper from a 300- to 400-level course o Written comprehensive exam o Oral exam . Focus on revised seminar paper and answers from the written exam Honors o Students submit a Honors in Major Study Application to their department o Students must submit a proposal for their thesis or project Must be submitted within the first six weeks of the two-semester period in which student is eligible o Accumulated at least 87 credits o Completed two semesters of residency at Whitman. o Cumulative GPA of at least 3.300 on all credits earned at Whitman College o Major GPA of at least 3.500 o Complete a written thesis or research project prepared exclusively for the satisfaction of this program o Earn a grade of at least A- on the honors thesis or project and the honors thesis course. o Pass the senior assessment with distinction o The department will submit the Honors applications to the Registrar’s Office of students pursuing Honors by the specified deadline o The department submit “Senior Assessment/Major Study Certificate” to the Registrar’s Office no later the Reading Day The Honors Thesis (a total of eight credits): Majors interested in writing an honors thesis must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.300 on all credits earned at Whitman and a major GPA of at least 3.500, must complete at least 36 credits of coursework in philosophy and complete the following: o Submit a proposal to the department two weeks before the end of the spring semester of their junior year o Get consent from a member of the department based on departmental approval of the proposal to conduct an independent study in the fall semester of their senior year o Upon completion of a successful independent study, submit a new honors thesis proposal for departmental approval by the beginning of the last week of classes in the fall semester of their senior year. If approved, then write the honors thesis in the spring semester of their senior year due the end of the first week in April o Successfully complete a public oral examination of the honors thesis before the end of the third week of April The Philosophy minor: 20 Credits Required Courses o Philosophy 201 or 202 Other notes o Philosophy 479 may not be applied o No courses may be taken PDF Courses in Analytic, Continental, and Ethics Philosophy Analytic: Philosophy 107 Critical Reasoning Philosophy 320 Contemporary Pragmatism Philosophy 117 Problems in Philosophy Philosophy 329 Wittgenstein Philosophy 125 Philosophy of Science Fiction Philosophy 332 Reproduction Philosophy 137 Skepticism, Relativism, and Truth Philosophy 336 Language and Meaning Philosophy 210 Epistemology Philosophy 337 Philosophy of Mind Philosophy 235 Philosophy of Feminism Philosophy 356 Contemporary Philosophy of Philosophy 261 Philosophy of Science Science Philosophy 262 Animals and Philosophy Philosophy 488 Symbolic Logic Philosophy 270 The Nature of Persons Continental: Philosophy 105 The Gift of Art Philosophy 300 Emerson Philosophy 122 Radical Thoughtlessness Philosophy 302 Heidegger and Architecture Philosophy 205 The Genesis of Non-Violence Philosophy 318 Hannah Arendt as Political Thinker Philosophy 206 The Hermeneutics of the Subject Philosophy 321 Changing the Subject: Judith Butler Philosophy 215 Ethics after Auschwitz and Philosophy Philosophy 216 Cosmopolitanism, Citizenship, and Philosophy 331 Nietzsche and Heidegger Belonging Philosophy 408 Studies in American Philosophy 239 Aesthetics Philosophy 410 Special Topics in Continental Philosophy 260 Queer Friendship Philosophy 422 Heidegger’s “Being and Time” Ethics: Philosophy 110 East Asian Philosophies and the Philosophy 151 Philosophy and Literature Good Life Philosophy 205 The Genesis of Non-Violence Philosophy 115 Philosophy of Education Philosophy 208 Ethics and Food Philosophy 120 Environmental Ethics Philosophy 215 Ethics after Auschwitz Philosophy 127 Ethics Philosophy 216 Cosmopolitanism, Citizenship, and Philosophy 141 Punishment and Responsibility Belonging Philosophy 217 Bioethics Philosophy 219 Case Studies in Applied Ethics Philosophy 222 Education and Autonomy Philosophy 227 Concepts of Nature in Modern European Philosophy Philosophy 251 Chinese Philosophy and Contemporary Issues Philosophy 262 Animals and Philosophy Philosophy 300 Emerson Philosophy 311 Plato Philosophy 312 Aristotle Philosophy 315 Happiness Philosophy 322 Kant’s Moral Philosophy Philosophy 332 Reproduction Philosophy 351 What is the Human Being? Philosophy 360 Asian Philosophy Philosophy 400 Values Philosophy 461 Global Health Ethics Some Special/Variable Topics courses may be applied to the above categories. Any Special/Variable Topics courses applied to the above will be noted in the course descriptions. 105 The Gift of Art Not offered 2021-22 4 credits How is the logic of the gift native to the work of art? We will explore this question in light of the development of the logic of the gift in, for example, Nietzsche, as that logic informs art selected from such genres as landscape, the portrait, and social commentary, both in individual artists and in the creation of whole contexts such as Portland’s Japanese Garden. 107 Critical Reasoning Not offered 2021-22 4 credits Focuses on principles and standards applicable to thinking critically on any topic. Arguments and their analyses, the nature and use of evidence, fallacies both formal and informal, are included in the matters addressed in the course. Intended for first-year students and sophomores; open to juniors and seniors by consent only. 110 East Asian Philosophies and the Good Life Spring Zhao 4 credits This course aims at providing a gateway for you to engage with prominent philosophers in three major East Asian traditions, namely Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Such engagement takes the format of philosophical dialogues around questions that are important for us to live “a good life.” Upon completion of the course, you are going to learn about key ideas and arguments in the tradition, how to read philosophy out of historical texts situated in another cultural tradition, and ways of developing your own personal philosophy in conversations with the East Asian thinkers. 115 Philosophy of Education Not offered 2021-22 4 credits This course examines a variety of issues in the philosophy of education, ranging from the general nature and proper aims of education to a variety of specific issues in contemporary educational philosophy and policy such as the role and nature of diversity in education, moral education, testing and assessment, and the role of technology in education. We start with a historical survey of some central approaches to the philosophy of education from ancient Greece and China through modern Europe and then turn primarily to contemporary thinkers debating key issues. We end the course by engaging with the thought of one of the most important progressive educational thinkers of the twentieth century, the Brazilian philosopher Paolo Friere. Students will be required to participate in class discussion, to lead at least one debate over the course of the semester, and to write several short papers. 117 Problems in Philosophy Not offered 2021-22 4 credits An introductory study of some of the major problems of philosophy. Among those general problems considered will be the nature of philosophy; problems of knowledge; metaphysical questions concerning materialism, idealism, and naturalism; and questions of ethics. Other problems may be considered as time permits. This course is intended for first-year students and sophomores; open to juniors and seniors by consent only. 120 Environmental Ethics Spring Frierson 4 credits Does the
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