This course is an exploration of some of the basic questions in philosophy such as what is reality, what is self, what is the connection between mind and body, whether are we free, and what is the nature of right and wrong.  

Required Course Material: 

• Robert C. Solomon, Introducing Philosophy 
• Aldous Huxley, Brave New World 
• Various essays and lectures on Learn 
• Film: The Matrix 

For thousands of years philosophers have wrestled with some pretty big questions. What is the world made of? How do I know that I am who I think I am? What kind of life is going to bring me happiness? In this course we will explore the rich history of the philosophical tradition through historical and modern readings. We will build familiarity with the philosophical figures that have shaped the world, analyze and engage with them, and come to a better understanding of the various problems and puzzles that we often take for granted.  

Required text:  

Introduction to Philosophy.  Michael Bratman, John Martin Fischer, John Perry. New York: Oxford University Press. 2021. ISBN: 9780197543825/ 0197543820

Most, if not all of us, have spent time in our lives asking philosophical questions: Are you and I seeing the same blue when we look at the sky? What is the meaning of life? What does it mean to be a good person? While many people view these philosophical questions as just pointless musings which don't really have any answer beyond one's opinion, in this course, we will take seriously the idea that philosophy relies on rigorous, well-reasoned arguments. The goal of this course is not to answer all our philosophical questions once and for all. The goal is simply to engage with some of the important philosophers of the past in order to determine what philosophy is, how we do it, and why we ought to do it at all. We're all born as philosophers who repeatedly ask our parents "Why?" over and over until we are met with the frustrated "Because I said so!" Throughout the rest of our lives, we are often told by other authorities "this is simply the way things have to be" or "it's just common sense." Our goal is to revive that child-like wonder and questioning - philosophy is about giving actual reasons where others simply want to appeal to authority or say "it's just obvious."  

We will begin with ancient philosophy and continue all the way to the 21st century, picking out a variety of important texts throughout history. All readings will be available on Learn. Grades will primarily be determined by argumentative papers and reading responses. 

In what we say is true about the world, reasoning plays the most crucial role. The bodies of knowledge that we as members of the university produce, value, and utilize depend for the most part on our ability to reason. In the evolution of philosophical thought in different philosophical traditions, there has been a recognition of what constitutes good reasoning and poor reasoning. This recognition evolved over millennia into a body of knowledge that we will undertake to study in this course. This undertaking will aid us in not repeating similar mistakes when we argue for a position in our respective domains and therefore be in a position to construct strong arguments. 

This course will also open a philosophical investigation into the conception of critical thinking as merely the acquisition of a skill set. We will explore alternatives offered by different philosophical views and traditions and think together about how critical thinking may contribute to enriching our lives.

There will be weekly quizzes during the first few weeks, and as we progress through the course, there will be short writing assignments and a final paper. Readings for this course will include philosophical works from Ancient Greek and Classical Indian philosophical traditions.

This class aims at developing your skills in writing, argumentation, argument analysis, reasoning, and critical thinking. We will study the structures of argumentative texts and of different types of arguments (deduction and induction, descriptive vs normative arguments, etc.) as well as the elements of meaning and language that convey those arguments. We will also consider what constitutes a flawed argument, or logical fallacy. Throughout the class, we will practice our skills at spotting and analyzing arguments by reading texts on philosophical and ethical themes. Students will also practice their own argumentative skills by writing short essays in response to some of these texts. The logical and analytical tools acquired in this class will be highly useful to students in their future coursework by enabling them to read and analyze material efficiently and to write strong and well-structured papers. 

Required text: Critical Thinking, An Introduction to the Basic Skills (7th Edition), by William Hughes, Jonathan Lavery, Katheryn Doran (Broadview Press). (ISBN-13: 978-1554811977 ISBN-10: 155481197X)

This online course focuses on some of the ethical issues that arise in the context of professional life.  Beginning with an overview of three major ethical theories, we will consider how these theories, which traditionally concern personal morality, apply to life in a professional setting.  We will also examine the roles and obligations associated with professional life. What is the relationship between personal and professional codes of conduct? What distinguishes professions from other occupations?  Through the lens of various professions, we will look at issues such as lying and truth-telling, whistleblowing, confidentiality, and the obligations of professionals toward the public.  Using a combination of readings, case studies, and online discussion groups, we will explore these ideas in a philosophical manner, looking to understand the ethical principles at work.  This course will give students a solid introduction to ethical reasoning and will help to develop the tools necessary to apply ethical principles to real-world settings. 

Required text: 

This course is a study of philosophy between 1600 and 1894 in which we will examine critical texts by Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant. We will examine their theories of knowledge and being as expressed in rationalism and empiricism. We will analyze and evaluate their arguments and consider the consequences of their ideas for contemporary thought. Of special interest will be the respective ways, manners, and modalities for doing philosophy which contribute to analytic and continental philosophies.

The only required text is Roger Ariew and Eric Watkins (eds.), Modern Philosophy: An Anthology of Primary Sources (third edition), Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2019, ISBN-13: 978-1624668050. It is important to have the third edition. All other readings will be made available on Learn.

The philosophies that emerged during the Early Modern period can be seen as a response to a two-fold challenge: [1] the skeptical challenge to human knowledge and [2] the challenge to find a scientific method appropriate for study of the natural world.

We’ll begin the course by considering the growing popularity of skepticism in the wake of the Protestant Reformation and examine some of the skeptical arguments forwarded in Montaigne’s Apology for Raymond Sebond.  This background will set the stage for our examination of the anti-skeptical arguments of ‘rationalists’ such as Descartes and Leibniz.

The second half of the course will be dedicated to ‘empiricists’ such as Locke and Hume. Their philosophies will be placed in the scientific context of the seventeenth century, and we will examine how they attempted to integrate the empirical method of science into their respective approaches to knowledge and nature.

 All materials for this first-half, 8-week Online MAX course, including the required readings, will be available through Canvas. Course assignments include self-check quizzes, short writing assignments, and three exams. All assignments have firm deadlines and will be submitted through Canvas.

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the living tradition of existential philosophy through a careful reading of some of its most influential and important philosophical texts.  This course will focus on four of existentialism’s classic philosophical works, Kierkegaard’s The Sickness unto Death, Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, Simone de Beauvoir’s The Ethics of Ambiguity, and Heidegger’s What Is Called Thinking?  We will also read my Heidegger, Art, and Postmodernity, seeking in this way to understand the living legacy of the still unsettled and often unsettling existential tradition. 

Course Requirements:  There are no formal prerequisites, but this course will require a great deal of difficult but rewarding reading, and you will need to demonstrate your active engagement with and understanding of all the required texts.  In order to facilitate your digestion of some notoriously difficult texts and issues, regular preparation for class and attendance will be required.  To measure your fulfillment of these requirements, grades will be based on in-class pop quizzes (10%), a midterm essay (40%) and a final course essay (50%). This course is excellent preparation for advanced classes in continental philosophy and, perhaps, for existence... 

Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) was a philosopher, forester, ecologist, and conservationist. In the Sand County Almanac, he developed the land ethic that asks us to expand our moral community to include, plants, animals, and the land. The principle of the land ethic states: “Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and aesthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." This course explores his philosophy and its relevance to today’s environmental issues.  

Required Texts 

Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There (New York: Oxford University Press, 1949)  [Almanac] 

Susan L. Flader and J. Baird Callicott, The River of the Mother of God and Other Essays by Aldo Leopold (University of Wisconsin Press, 1991)  

Course Packet available from UNM Copy Center  

Social and political philosophy isn’t about the wranglings of politicians and government—it’s about the purpose and meaning of human existence. What's the full meaning of human dignity and happiness?  What values and priorities do we want for our communities? Is human flourishing a matter of conquering nature itself, or a matter of learning to understand and enhance nature, including our own?  What should be the obligation of the community to the individual, and the individual to the community?  What is good leadership?  In good societies, what are the roles of love and friendship, contemplation and activism, justice and divinity?  Can we be both patriots of our homeland and cosmopolitans, citizens of the world beyond our home borders?   

These are questions of classical social and political philosophy--the philosophy of ancient, medieval, and early modern thinkers—and, particularly, thinkers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Aquinas, and Machiavelli.  This course takes as a basic premise that although these thinkers are older and pre-modern, they have much to teach us about the ills and crises and puzzles that beset contemporary individual and community life. 

Course requirements include: mandatory class attendance and participation, thoughtful reading of assigned texts, short discussion posts/response papers, occasional quizzes, and one or two take-home exams. 

The question “what is law?” concerns everyone. We live under rule of law. Law orders and regulates our human conduct. Law shapes and commands our public lives, our private lives, our political lives, our social lives. Law shapes who we are allowed to be, and who we become. 

Many of us take this for granted. But how does it all work?   What really is the source of law, justice, human rights? What is law’s purpose in human society? Does law ‘create’ justice? What obligates us to obey law?--must you obey ‘unjust’ law or law contrary to your beliefs? What is punishment?--is it vengeance, healing, truly deterring? And how are we to understand error in law, such as the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that a man, Dred Scott, was property, or the ongoing claim that Roe v Wade's legalization of abortion was a mistake?

Guiding our study will be the fundamental question “what is law?” but we will also consider how philosophers think about specific problems in law, including: 1) the sources, authority, and duties of law; 2) the source of rights, such as your right to personal liberty, to individual expression, to privacy; 3) civil disobedience; 4) race and law; and 5) the justice of punishment.

Coursework will improve your reasoning and reading, your familiarity with legal concepts and terminology, and your preparation for continuing undergraduate and graduate study in many areas. Students pursuing degrees in philosophy, political science, pre-law, public policy, sociology, criminology, psychology, peace studies, and/or public administration will find the course especially helpful, but all are welcome.

Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) is widely considered one of the most original and important philosophers of the 20th century.  This seminar will focus on his most famous and influential work, Being and Time (1927).  Here in his early magnum opus, Heidegger develops and deploys a phenomenological method in order to help us understand the ontological structure underlying intelligibility.  The result is a revolutionary reconceptualization of existence, selfhood, and being, one which challenges—and seeks to replace—central presuppositions philosophers have inherited from the tradition of Western metaphysics (especially in its “modern” age).  After reading and discussing the entire work, we will conclude the course by seeking to understand why Being and Time remained permanently unfinished and why Heidegger’s philosophical views began to shift profoundly soon afterward. 

This course is good (indeed, indispensable) preparation for understanding much subsequent work in Continental philosophy and the other theoretical humanities, which often take Heidegger’s insights as their own point of philosophical departure.  For example, Heidegger’s work decisively shaped the concepts and concerns of such major continental thinkers as Agamben, Arendt, Badiou, Baudrillard, Blanchot, Butler, Cavell, Deleuze, Derrida, Dreyfus, Foucault, Gadamer, Irigaray, Lacan, Levinas, Marcuse, Rorty, Taylor, Vattimo, and Žižek—and this remains the case even where these thinkers approach Heidegger’s thought quite critically (as they all do, in their own distinctive and interesting ways).  One thus needs to understand Heidegger in order to see where these thinkers are coming from, even if his is a thinking they seek (more and less successfully) to move beyond, and Being and Time is the very best place to begin. 

Prerequisites:  Graduate standing, some background in philosophy, or consent of instructor (which will depend on your willingness to observe the following requirements).  Course Requirements:  This course will require a good deal of difficult and challenging reading.  As this is a class in the art of slow reading, you will be required to do the reading ahead of time and bring the appropriate book with you to class.  If it becomes necessary to enforce attendance or preparation (which I hope it won’t), that will be done with brief in-class quizzes on the reading assigned for that day’s class.   Grades will be based on any such quizzes (for a maximum of 10% of your grade), with the rest of your grade split between two high-quality philosophy papers or, for graduate students, one polished research paper. 

Required text:  1. Heidegger, Being and Time, trans. J. Macquarrie and E. Robinson (New York:  Harper, 2008).  Recommended Texts:  1. Thomson, Heidegger on Ontotheology:  Technology and the Politics of the University (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005); 2.  M. Wrathall, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Being and Time (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 2013); 3. Braver, ed., Division III of Heidegger's Being and Time: The Unanswered Question of Being (Cambridge, MA:  MIT, 2015);  4). Heidegger, Sein und Zeit (Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1993 [1927]); and 5).  Heidegger, Being and Time: A Translation of Sein und Zeit, J. Stambaugh, trans. (Albany:  SUNY, 1996 [we will be using the Macquarrie and Robinson translation in class, but it can often help to have another translation to compare, plus the Stambaugh translation has some of Heidegger’s later marginalia inserted as footnotes]).  Recommended readings are optional for undergraduates but highly recommended for graduate students interested in pursuing further work in the area (and an ideal place for anyone to look for further clarification or a more detailed treatment of a topic).

Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) is widely considered one of the most original and important philosophers of the 20th century.  This seminar will focus on his most famous and influential work, Being and Time (1927).  Here in his early magnum opus, Heidegger develops and deploys a phenomenological method in order to help us understand the ontological structure underlying intelligibility.  The result is a revolutionary reconceptualization of existence, selfhood, and being, one which challenges—and seeks to replace—central presuppositions philosophers have inherited from the tradition of Western metaphysics (especially in its “modern” age).  After reading and discussing the entire work, we will conclude the course by seeking to understand why Being and Time remained permanently unfinished and why Heidegger’s philosophical views began to shift profoundly soon afterward. 

This course is good (indeed, indispensable) preparation for understanding much subsequent work in Continental philosophy and the other theoretical humanities, which often take Heidegger’s insights as their own point of philosophical departure.  For example, Heidegger’s work decisively shaped the concepts and concerns of such major continental thinkers as Agamben, Arendt, Badiou, Baudrillard, Blanchot, Butler, Cavell, Deleuze, Derrida, Dreyfus, Foucault, Gadamer, Irigaray, Lacan, Levinas, Marcuse, Rorty, Taylor, Vattimo, and Žižek—and this remains the case even where these thinkers approach Heidegger’s thought quite critically (as they all do, in their own distinctive and interesting ways).  One thus needs to understand Heidegger in order to see where these thinkers are coming from, even if his is a thinking they seek (more and less successfully) to move beyond, and Being and Time is the very best place to begin. 

Prerequisites:  Graduate standing, some background in philosophy, or consent of instructor (which will depend on your willingness to observe the following requirements).  Course Requirements:  This course will require a good deal of difficult and challenging reading.  As this is a class in the art of slow reading, you will be required to do the reading ahead of time and bring the appropriate book with you to class.  If it becomes necessary to enforce attendance or preparation (which I hope it won’t), that will be done with brief in-class quizzes on the reading assigned for that day’s class.   Grades will be based on any such quizzes (for a maximum of 10% of your grade), with the rest of your grade split between two high-quality philosophy papers or, for graduate students, one polished research paper. 

Required text:  1. Heidegger, Being and Time, trans. J. Macquarrie and E. Robinson (New York:  Harper, 2008).  Recommended Texts:  1. Thomson, Heidegger on Ontotheology:  Technology and the Politics of the University (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005); 2.  M. Wrathall, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Being and Time (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 2013); 3. Braver, ed., Division III of Heidegger's Being and Time: The Unanswered Question of Being (Cambridge, MA:  MIT, 2015);  4). Heidegger, Sein und Zeit (Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1993 [1927]); and 5).  Heidegger, Being and Time: A Translation of Sein und Zeit, J. Stambaugh, trans. (Albany:  SUNY, 1996 [we will be using the Macquarrie and Robinson translation in class, but it can often help to have another translation to compare, plus the Stambaugh translation has some of Heidegger’s later marginalia inserted as footnotes]).  Recommended readings are optional for undergraduates but highly recommended for graduate students interested in pursuing further work in the area (and an ideal place for anyone to look for further clarification or a more detailed treatment of a topic).