Philosophy

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Not all courses are offered every semester. Refer to the schedule of courses for each term's specific offerings.
More Info

Unless otherwise indicated in the course description, all courses at the University of Florida are taught in English, with the exception of specific foreign language courses.

Department Information

The Department of Philosophy addresses foundation questions. These are questions the answers to which inform our basic understanding of one or another domain of inquiry, or some fundamental aspect of the world or ourselves or our relation to the world.
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CONTACT

Email | 352.392.2084 (tel) | 352.392.5577 (fax)

P.O. Box 118545
330 GRIFFIN-FLOYD HALL
GAINESVILLE FL 32611-8545
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 Curriculum


Courses

HPS 3003 Perspectives on Science and Mathematics 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Explores the different ways that scientists and mathematicians since the 17th century have explained the workings of the natural world. (H) (WR)

Prerequisite: UFTeach Step 1.

Attributes: General Education - Humanities, Satisfies 6000 Words of Writing Requirement

IDS 1114 Ethics and the Public Sphere 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Examination of the ways in which ethical concerns are aired and debated in the public sphere, including civic institutions, media organizations, and the market. Questions explored may touch on such topics as honesty in media, humility in the face of disagreement, and the pursuit of justice in a contentious society.

Prerequisite: Restricted to undergraduate degree-seeking students.

Attributes: Quest 1, General Education - Humanities, Satisfies 2000 Words of Writing Requirement

PHH 3100 Ancient Greek Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Sustained study of Plato and Aristotle with some consideration of pre-Socratic antecedents and Hellenistic successors. (H) (WR)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHH 3111 Ancient Ethical and Political Thought 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Examines ancient Greek and Roman political theories and their ethical foundations. (H)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHH 3200 Medieval Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Surveys medieval philosophy. Philosophers to be read may include Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Maimonides, Aquinas, Duns Scotus and Ockham. Topics include the nature of God, universals, individuation and future contingents.

Prerequisite: one course in philosophy.

PHH 3400 Modern Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Surveys the work of major philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries, from Descartes to Kant, in the primary texts. (H)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHH 3610 Happiness and Well-Being 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Examines major philosophical theories of human happiness and well-being from both historical and contemporary perspectives. Topics may include self-interest, pleasure, subjective vs. objective conceptions of happiness, autonomy and the relation between morality and happiness.

Prerequisite: sophomore or higher standing or PHI 2010 or PHI 2100 or PHI 2630 or PHM 2204 or philosophy major or minor or instructor permission.

PHH 4141 Seminar in Ancient Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Variable topic seminar focusing on a particular topic, period or school in the philosophy of Greco-Roman antiquity.

Prerequisite: a 3000-level philosophy course or department permission.

PHH 4420 Seminar in Modern Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Variable topic seminar focusing on a period, school or topic in 17th or 18th century philosophy.

Prerequisite: a 3000-level philosophy course or department permission.

PHH 4644 Continental Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Studies selected works by 19th and 20th century continental philosophers, with emphasis determined by the instructor. Selections may include such thinkers as Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Foucault.

Prerequisite: a 3000-level course with the prefix PHI, PHH, PHM, or PHP.

PHH 4911 Undergraduate Research in History of Philosophy 0-3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Provides firsthand, supervised research. Projects may involve inquiry, design, investigation, scholarship, discovery, or application.

PHH 4930 Seminar in a Major Philosopher 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Variable topic seminar on the work of a major historical or contemporary philosopher such as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Hobbes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Berkeley, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Mill, Marx, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Russell, Moore, Sartre, Wittgenstein and Quine.

Prerequisite: a 3000-level philosophy course or department permission.

PHI 1001 Conflict of Ideas 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Examination of conflict in the realm of ideas, including both factors (psychological, social, logical) that make conflicts difficult and methods that may help us engage in them in a principled and effective way. Readings are drawn from multiple disciplines, which may include philosophy, history, linguistics, sociology, and cognitive science.

Prerequisite: Restricted to undergraduate degree-seeking students.

Attributes: Quest 1, General Education - Humanities, Satisfies 2000 Words of Writing Requirement

PHI 1322 The Idea of Happiness 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Examination of the concept of happiness as explored in philosophy, literature, art, and other products of human culture. Readings drawn from both historical and contemporary sources are used both to articulate theories of happiness and to help students think about what kinds of lives they want to live.

Prerequisite: Restricted to undergraduate degree-seeking students.

Attributes: Quest 1, General Education - Humanities, Satisfies 2000 Words of Writing Requirement

PHI 1643 Cultural Animals 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Examination of the ways in which humans are products of both culture and nature, focusing on our moral and political practices. Topics may cover the evolutionary underpinnings (both biological and cultural) of our moral practices and political convictions as well as our treatment of and relationships with nonhuman animals.

Prerequisite: Restricted to undergraduate degree-seeking students.

Attributes: Quest 1, General Education - Humanities, Satisfies 2000 Words of Writing Requirement

PHI 2010 Introduction to Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Variable topics introduction to philosophy through study of traditional questions about the existence of God, the nature of the mind, the definition of good, freedom of the will, and criteria of truth and knowledge. (H) (WR)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities, Satisfies 6000 Words of Writing Requirement

PHI 2100 Logic 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Introductory-level survey of different methods of formal and informal analysis of the logical structure of propositions and arguments. Topics include syllogistic logic, propositional logic, quantification logic, inductive logic, informal fallacies, and probability. (M)

Attributes: General Education - Mathematics

PHI 2630 Contemporary Moral Issues 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Introduces moral philosophy through selected contemporary issues such as abortion, euthanasia, genetic engineering, and the treatment of animals. (H) (WR)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities, Satisfies 6000 Words of Writing Requirement

PHI 3114 Reasoning 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Practical methods for understanding reasoned argumentation; instruction in the use of diagrammatic techniques to develop both interpretations and criticisms of philosophical arguments as well as in the application of these techniques in the writing of critical essays on a range of philosophical topics.

Prerequisite: sophomore or higher standing or (PHI 2010 or PHI 2100 or PHI 2630 or PHM 2204 with a minimum grade of C) or (philosophy major or philosophy minor) or instructor permission.

PHI 3130 Symbolic Logic 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Systematic study of forms of deduction. Techniques and topics include truth-functional analysis and quantification. (M)

Attributes: General Education - Mathematics

PHI 3300 Theory of Knowledge 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Studies the central topics and concepts of the theory of knowledge, including the analysis of the concepts of knowledge, truth, justification and related concepts, the nature of empirical knowledge, the problem of skepticism, the nature of a priori knowledge, and the structure of the justification of our beliefs. (H)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHI 3400 Philosophy of Natural Science 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Studies central contemporary issues in the philosophy of natural science: the nature of laws, the logic of discovery and the relationships between different sciences. The sciences used for illustration vary with the instructor. (H)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHI 3420 Philosophy of the Social Sciences 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Studies the possibility of social laws, the nature of social explanation and rationality, and the role of value judgments in social-scientific research. (H)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHI 3459 Medicine and Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Examines areas in which medicine and philosophy overlap, including philosophy of science as applied to medical research, ethical theories as applied to medical cases, and moral reflection on the institution of medicine. Provides information about contemporary medical practice and research as well as tools for their critical assessment.

Prerequisite: sophomore or higher standing or PHI 2010 or PHI 2100 or PHI 2630 or PHM 2204 or philosophy major or minor or instructor permission.

PHI 3500 Metaphysics 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Studies the problems of first philosophy: the concepts of existence, essence, object, property and event; universals and particulars; the nature of change, possibility, causation, space and time. Traditional philosophical issues such as free will, the mind/body problem, personal identity and the existence of abstract entities (e.g., numbers) are discussed as are views of realism, idealism, materialism and relativism. (H)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHI 3501 Free Will 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Sustained examination of key questions about free will. What exactly does it take for an action to be performed freely? Do scientific results threaten free will? What case can be made for the existence of free will? What are the consequences if free will does not exist?

Prerequisite: sophomore or higher standing or PHI 2010 or PHI 2100 or PHI 2630 or PHM 2204 or philosophy major or minor or instructor permission.

PHI 3551 Thought Experiments 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Much philosophical work depends on thought experiments in which we evaluate merely hypothetical situations; examine several such experiments to gain insight about their general character and proper use. Cases may include Descartes' "evil genius," Searle's "Chinese Room" example, and Gettier's examples of true, justified belief without knowledge.

Prerequisite: sophomore or higher standing or PHI 2010 or PHI 2100 or PHI 2630 or PHM 2204 or philosophy major or minor or instructor permission.

PHI 3553 The Self, Reason and Ethics 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Examines rationality, morality, and personhood. What does it mean to be the same person over time? How is personal identity related to the rationality of self-interest or the rationality of morality? Topics may include the nature of reasons, self-undermining theories, reductionism about people, population ethics, and more.

Prerequisite: sophomore or higher standing or PHI 2010 or PHI 2100 or PHI 2630 or PHM 2204 or philosophy major or minor or instructor permission.

PHI 3633 Bioethics 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

The ethical issues that arise in medicine and biotechnology.

PHI 3641 Ethics and Innovation 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Grounding in ethical theory and moral reasoning with a focus on changes at both organizational and societal levels, including, for instance, technological innovations, new business practices and legal changes. Examines the rights and responsibilities of those making such changes as well as the conditions that facilitate responsible decision making. (H, WR4)

Prerequisite: sophomore or higher standing or PHI 2010 or PHI 2100 or PHI 2630 or PHM 2204 or philosophy major or minor or innovation academy minor or instructor permission.

Attributes: General Education - Humanities, Satisfies 4000 Words of Writing Requirement

PHI 3650 Moral Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Analysis and criticism of various normative ethical theories such as egoism, utilitarianism, Kantianism, deontology and virtue ethics. (H)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHI 3681 Ethics, Data, and Technology 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Addresses ethical issues related to data science, algorithmic decision-making, and artificial intelligence. Pairs theoretical discussions of ethics, economics, and policy-making with concrete issues in emerging technologies.

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher or (PHI 2010 or PHI 2100 or PHI 2630, with a minimum grade of C) or (philosophy major or minor) or data science major.

PHI 3693 Ethics of Communication 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Examines ethical issues in communication between individuals and in the media. Topics include truth-telling, misrepresentation, privacy and fairness. (H)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHI 3695 Philosophy and Death 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

A philosophical investigation of the nature and significance of death. Focuses on critical assessment of arguments regarding such topics as the definition of death, whether death is bad for the deceased, whether immortality is desirable or even conceivable, and the ethics of ending and starting lives. (H)

Prerequisite: sophomore or higher standing or PHI 2010 or PHI 2100 or PHI 2630 or PHM 2204 or philosophy major or minor or instructor permission.

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHI 3700 Philosophy of Religion 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Studies problems in philosophical theology, including the nature of God, arguments for God's existence, the problem of evil and the relation between faith and reason, from both historical and contemporary perspectives. (H) (WR)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities, Satisfies 6000 Words of Writing Requirement

PHI 3930 Special Topics 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Check the department office for a course description for the offered term.

PHI 4220 Philosophy of Language 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Variable topics study the major topics and concepts of the philosophy of language, including truth and meaning, speech act theory, reference and descriptions, names and demonstratives, propositional attitudes and indirect discourse, the nature of language and metaphor.

Prerequisite: a 3000-level philosophy course or department permission.

PHI 4320 Philosophy of Mind 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Studies the central problems of the philosophy of mind, including the mind-body problem, the nature of mental states, intentionality and representation, and sensation and consciousness.

Prerequisite: a 3000-level philosophy course or department permission.

PHI 4542 Philosophy of Space and Time 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Studies the nature of space and time: the concepts of substantival space and time (or space-time), relational space and time (or space-time), dynamical space-time, conventional space-time metrics, causal reduction of time, time's arrow, dimensionality of space (or space-time). The approach, historical or issue-oriented, and the required amount of knowledge of physics varies with the instructor.

Prerequisite: a 3000-level philosophy course or department permission.

PHI 4662 Ethical Theory 1 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Advanced topics in moral theory, including cognitivism, obligations and permissions, moral reasons and moral epistemology.

Prerequisite: a 3000-level philosophy course or department permission.

PHI 4905 Individual Work 1-3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Registration requires advance application to the undergraduate coordinator.

Prerequisite: upper-division students with 12 credits of philosophy and department permission.

PHI 4911 Undergraduate Research in Philosophy 0-3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Provides firsthand, supervised research. Projects may involve inquiry, design, investigation, scholarship, discovery, or application.

PHI 4912 Honors Project 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Open to qualified philosophy majors upon application to the undergraduate coordinator.

PHI 4930 Special Topics 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Refer to the department website for a course description for the offered term.

Prerequisite: a 3000-level philosophy course or department permission.

PHI 4956 Overseas Studies 1-15 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Provides a mechanism by which coursework taken as part of an approved study abroad program can be recorded on the UF transcript and counted toward graduation.

Prerequisite: undergraduate advisor permission.

PHM 2204 Social Issues and Political Thought 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Introduces the classic works in the fundamental issues of political philosophy. Topics include comparative systems, authority and freedom. (H) (WR)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities, Satisfies 6000 Words of Writing Requirement

PHM 3032 Ethics and Ecology 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Normative study of the relationships between human beings and the environment, with special emphasis on land and resources. (H)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHM 3123 Feminist Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Analyzes theoretical and practical issues in feminism such as radical, liberal and socialist perspectives, gender roles and equal opportunity; an elective in the women's studies program. (H and D)

Attributes: General Education - Diversity, General Education - Humanities

PHM 3127 Race and Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Examines the concept of race and how it has been used, both theoretically and practically, looking at both historical and contemporary works. Topics may include the definition of "race", the political use and abuse of the term, and its role in one's sense of identity.

PHM 3202 Political Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Studies philosophical problems of political freedom, justice, obligation and coercion. (H) (WR)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities, Satisfies 6000 Words of Writing Requirement

PHM 3400 Introduction to Philosophy of Law 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Introduces philosophical issues in legal thought and practice; for pre-law majors and serves as an introduction to PHM 4440 Philosophy of Law, the course introduces the types of philosophical issues that the major schools of legal thought have attempted to resolve. (H) (WR)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities, Satisfies 6000 Words of Writing Requirement

PHM 3600 Philosophy of Education 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Examines questions about the nature, value, and proper role of education, with special attention to schooling in wealthy modern democracies. Topics may include the purposes of education, the value of having an education, educational authority, the distribution of educational opportunity, and the special role of higher education. (H)

Prerequisite: sophomore or higher standing or PHI 2010 or PHI 2100 or PHI 2630 or PHM 2204 or philosophy major or minor.

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHP 3786 Existentialism 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Examines the existentialist movement in philosophy through readings from such figures as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Sartre. (H)

Attributes: General Education - Humanities

PHP 4784 Analytic Philosophy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Studies the major philosophers, themes and developments of the analytic tradition, from Frege, Russell, Moore and Wittgenstein to Quine, Austin and contemporary figures.

Prerequisite: a 3000-level philosophy course or department permission.