Current and Upcoming Courses
For course days and times, please go to Course Search and Enroll
Spring 2027 Undergraduate Courses
101-1: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Lecturer
Introduction to various philosophical questions and to the strategies that philosophers use to address these.
101-2: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Alex Roberts
A remarkable feature of many central questions of philosophy is that they can be stated in particularly simple terms. Does God exist? Do we have free will? When is an act right or wrong? What are we able to know about the world? However, as we will see in this course, these easily statable questions are far from easy to answer. To attempt to determine their answers, we will study and critically evaluate some of the most influential arguments in the history of philosophy. Throughout the course, students will become acquainted with the distinctive methods of philosophy. In the graded assignments, students will be expected to apply these methods in justifying their own answers to philosophical questions.
101-4: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Annina Loets
Many people ask themselves philosophical questions from time to time. If God exists, why is the world so messed up? What is beauty? Am I justified in believing the experts? Does anyone ever truly have a choice? Would it be wrong to get an abortion? Philosophers don’t merely ask themselves such questions, but they aim to provide general and principled answers to them and to support these answers by rational argument. The aim of this class is to introduce you to a wide range of influential philosophical arguments and get you started on crafting good arguments of your own. If you do the work, this class will teach you how to think, speak, and write more clearly, and how to employ these skills in pursuing the questions you care about, whether philosophical, or not.
101-5: Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Lecturer
Introduction to various philosophical questions and to the strategies that philosophers use to address these.
210-1: Reason in Communication
Instructor: Lecturer
Argument in familiar contexts; emphasis upon developing critical skills in comprehending, evaluating, and engaging in contemporary forms of reasoning, with special attention to the uses of argument in mass communication media. Prerequisites: MATH 96 or placement into MATH 141 or consent of instructor.
211-1: Elementary Logic
Instructor: Michael Titelbaum
Suppose I say, “If no one moved the cheese since last night, it’s in the fridge. If I didn’t move the cheese, then no one did. I didn’t move the cheese. So it’s still in the fridge.” This argument concerning the whereabouts of the cheese contains some premises followed by a conclusion. The argument is structured so that if the premises are true, the conclusion must be true as well. In this course we will represent arguments in symbols to reveal their structure, then study argumentative structures that guarantee a true conclusion from true premises. We will also learn how to prove that an argument with a particular structure is valid. The techniques we will learn are necessary for every area of contemporary philosophy, and are relevant to areas of economics, mathematics, computer science, rhetoric, and the law.
211-2: Elementary Logic
Instructor: Peter Vranas
A hotel manager put up a sign reading: “No one is permitted on these premises unless
accompanied by a registered guest”. Apparently, the manager failed to realize that from
the statement on the sign it follows that no unaccompanied registered guest is permitted
on the premises! In general, the question of which statements follow from other
statements is quite tricky. This course addresses this tricky question by (1) introducing a
symbolic language into which one can translate a great many ordinary English sentences
and almost all mathematical sentences, and by (2) using an automated proof procedure to
show that certain sentences follow from other sentences
241-1: Introductory Ethics Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Russ Shafer-Landau
This course presupposes no prior philosophy background and will offer a lightning survey of such topics as the nature of the good life, the meaning of life, free will, whether morality is just ab human creation, the basic principles of moral duty, and a handful of contemporary moral issues such as animal rights and abortion.
241-2: Introductory Ethics Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Lecturer
Nature of moral problems and of ethical theory, varieties of moral skepticism, practical ethics and the evaluation of social institutions.
241-3: Introductory Ethics Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Paula Gottlieb
In everyday life, we make a variety of ethical judgments, for example, that it is kind to help others or that it is wrong to break promises. What justifies us in making such judgments, can such judgments be objective, and why and how should we live up to them? To answer these questions, we shall examine various representative moral theories including Utilitarianism, Kantian Theory and Virtue Ethics, and we shall also consider the views of human nature that underlie them. The main readings for the course will be recognized classics from the history of ethics. However, we shall also be considering these in the light of contemporary philosophical developments and concerns, including those of African American philosophers and feminist thinkers
243-1: Ethics in Business
Instructor: Lecturer
Case studies of moral issues in business; types or reasons appealed to for settlement.
243-2: Ethics in Business
Instructor: Lecturer
Case studies of moral issues in business; types or reasons appealed to for settlement.
244-1: Introductory AI and Data Ethics
Instructor: Dylan Beschoner
Introduction to contemporary moral and political issues in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Ethics, integrating urgent problems, controversies, and continuously updated case studies. Introduces basic technical concepts such as the bias/variance tradeoff, the reference class problem, and inductive risk. Covers topics such as data and privacy, the impacts of automation on society, and the use of algorithms in medicine and criminal law.
244-2: Introductory AI and Data Ethics
Instructor: Lecturer
Introduction to contemporary moral and political issues in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Ethics, integrating urgent problems, controversies, and continuously updated case studies. Introduces basic technical concepts such as the bias/variance tradeoff, the reference class problem, and inductive risk. Covers topics such as data and privacy, the impacts of automation on society, and the use of algorithms in medicine and criminal law.
304-1: Topic in Philosophy – Race in Modern Philosophy
Instructor: Jacob Zellmer
This course will explore the variety of ways that the human species has been taxonomized into types or races in the modern period, with an eye towards how these conceptions have been used to support slavery and imperialism. In the modern period people were categorized according to family lineage, blood purity, species distinctions, physical phenotypes, and through theological conceptions. We will begin with Aristotle and the debate between De Las Casas and Sepulveda. We will then explore ideas from the 17th and 18th centuries—such as polygenism and degeneration—that form the backdrop for the development of evolutionary theory in the 19th century and later American scientific racism. Along the way, we will explore some lesser-known figures such as Isaac de La Peyrère, Jacobus Capitein, and Ottobah Cugoano, as well as some better-known figures such as Kant, Blumenbach, and Darwin. The goal of this seminar-style course will be to catalog and trace race-like conceptions in the modern period and their social relevance.
341-1: Contemporary Moral Issues Fulfills Comm B requirement
Instructor: Alex Meehan
This course will be a philosophical study of some of the major moral issues in contemporary society, especially those issues that have arisen because of recent technological developments. Topics will include the ethics of self-driving cars, euthanasia, hospital triage, the selection of children, life extension and anti-aging, recreational and prescription drug policies, the relation between mental health and well-being, and the ethics of eating meat.
341-2: Contemporary Moral Issues Fulfills Comm B requirement
Instructor: Harry Brighouse
This course will introduce you to the philosophical and other argumentative literature on a range of contemporary moral issues of public concern. At its core, careful thinking about moral issues is a matter of identifying, considering and weighing reasons for and against certain courses of action, and I want you to learn how better to engage in a practice of reason-giving and reason–taking that constitutes our best way of getting closer to truth about moral questions. We’ll engage with several issues, including: is abortion morally permissible?; Should schools defer to parental wishes about their children’s education?; should parents be licensed?; and is the gendered division of labor a source of injustice?
341-3: Contemporary Moral Issues Fulfills Comm B requirement
Instructor: Lecturer
A philosophical study of some of the major moral issue in contemporary society, such as those concerning abortion, euthanasia, punishment, property, politics, sex, nuclear disarmament, and world hunger.
341-SCF: Contemporary Moral Issues Fulfills Comm B requirement
A philosophical study of some of the major moral issue in contemporary society, such as those concerning abortion, euthanasia, punishment, property, politics, sex, nuclear disarmament, and world hunger. (Fulfills Comm B requirement).
- Lec. 91 Instructor: TBD Fulfills Comm B
Lec. 92 Instructor: TBD Fulfills Comm B
Lec. 93 Instructor: TBD Fulfills Comm B
Lec. 94 Instructor: TBD Fulfills Comm B
430-1: History of Ancient Philosophy
Instructor: Emily Fletcher
In this course, we will examine how ancient Greek philosophers approached fundamental questions about knowledge and reality. What is the nature and origin of the world? Did it come to be by chance, intelligence or some other cause? How do the senses and reason contribute to our understanding of the world? What is the connection between language and reality? We will focus on Plato and Aristotle, but we will also study some of their philosophical predecessors, such as Parmenides and Heraclitus, as well as the post-Aristotelian philosopher Epicurus
432-1: History of Modern Philosophy
Instructor: James Messina
In this course, we will read and discuss selections from the works of some influential 17th and 18th century philosophers, such as Descartes, Princess Elisabeth, Malebranche, Spinoza, Leibniz, Lady Masham, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Though these thinkers are a diverse bunch, one thing that unites them is their preoccupation with a set of philosophical issues connected with the scientific revolution ushered in by scientists like Galileo and Newton. The scientific revolution, which was closely associated with the so-called mechanical philosophy, raised troubling questions about free will, the mind-body relationship, God’s place in nature, the sources and limits of knowledge, and the ultimate nature of reality. The modern philosophers we will study in this class thought deeply about these questions, and though their answers often diverge widely from one another (and sometimes from common sense), they helped to shape philosophy as it is practiced today.
440-1: Existentialism
Instructor: Hank Southgate
Feeling like life is absurd, that existence is meaningless? Worried that you aren’t living authentically? Then a course in Existentialism is just what you need. Study the classic texts of this intellectual movement that expressed despondency about Western civilization, its decadence, and its values, and that explored the implications of the concept of freedom for the nature of the self and the meaning of life. Along the way you’ll meet the likes of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus, and De Beauvoir.
441-1: Environmental Ethics
Instructor: Aja Watkins
How do landscapes shape human well‑being, and how do our choices shape the health of the places we call home? This course explores the deep connections between ecological systems and human health, with a special focus on contemporary challenges facing Wisconsin’s lands and waters. The course begins with Aldo Leopold’s influential directive to care for the land, then traces how his ideas illuminate some of today’s most urgent scientific and political projects: soil degradation, lake health, ecosystem restoration, sustainable food systems, waste management, and the growing crisis of “forever chemical” contamination. Along the way, we’ll examine how scientific knowledge, public policy, and cultural values interact with different notions of “health” and different visions for a “healthy” future. Through hands-on, community‑engaged, interdisciplinary activities, students will connect philosophical inquiry with real‑world problems facing the state of Wisconsin.
454-1: Classical Philosophers: Buddhist Philosophy
Instructor: Jeremy Manheim
Buddhist philosophy starts from the intuition that our suffering and dissatisfaction are the result of misunderstanding both ourselves and the way things are. How do such misunderstandings cause suffering? How can they be dispelled? What is a correct understanding of ourselves? And, of course, what is real? As we will see, Buddhist answers to these questions resulted in rich, deep, and often complex views about the nature of mind, reality, knowledge, and value. In this course, we too will start from the problem of suffering by looking at the forms it takes in our lives: meaninglessness, mortality, and generalized human misery. Over the course of the semester, we will explore many of the solutions to these problems that Buddhist philosophers have proposed over the millennia. And, along the way, we will attempt to unravel some of Buddhism’s most perplexing philosophical puzzles.
501-1: Philosophy of Religion Fulfills Category A
Instructor: Terry Bolos
Crosslisted with Religious Studies
This course examines whether, and how, religious belief might be justified, drawing on both historical and contemporary sources. We begin with the nature of religious belief, then turn to traditional approaches to religious justification, including Aquinas’s Five Ways, Anselm’s ontological argument, and design arguments. We next consider non-evidentialist approaches to justification, especially Reformed epistemology and the appeal to religious experience. The course concludes with the major problems of religious belief: the problem of evil, the argument from divine hiddenness, and the relationship between science and religion. Throughout, students learn to reconstruct arguments, weigh objections, and develop and defend their own positions in writing.
504-1: Special Topic-Theory of Knowledge Fulfills Category A
Topic: Bayesian Epistemology
Instructor: Michael Titelbaum
Traditional epistemology considers all-or-nothing beliefs: you either believe that it’s going to rain today or you don’t. Bayesian epistemology supposes that individuals assign degrees of belief to propositions: you might be less confident that it will rain, or more confident without being entirely certain. These degrees of belief can be represented by numbers (I’m 70% confident it will rain today), and then subjected to mathematical constraints (if I’m 70% confident that it will rain today, I should be 30% confident that it won’t). We will consider what degrees of belief are, how they relate to actions, what rational constraints on degrees of belief Bayesians propose, and why we should believe those constraints are rationally required. We will then apply Bayesian epistemology to better understand inductive reasoning, confirmation of hypotheses by evidence, and various puzzles and paradoxes. (Assignments include regular problem sets with both mathematical and philosophical questions, and a final paper. Prerequisites are Philosophy 211 or equivalent and a solid ability to work with high school-level algebra.)
512-1: Methods of Logic
Instructor: Peter Vranas
If mathematicians are necessarily rational but cyclists are not, is an individual who is both a mathematician and a cyclist necessarily rational or not? This is just one of the numerous puzzles associated with the notions of necessity and possibility, the notions that form the subject of modal logic. This course is a continuation of Philosophy 211 (Elementary Logic) and presupposes thorough familiarity with 211. The main object of the course is to enable students to (1) translate into logical notation English arguments involving the notions of necessity and possibility, and to (2) easily determine whether the translated arguments are valid or not. There is also a lot of philosophical discussion of issues related to modal logic.
516-1: Language and Meaning Fulfills Category A
Instructor: Martha Gibson
Philosophy of Language was the dominant philosophical movement in 20th Century Philosophy. It is widely thought the representational capacity of humans, their thought and language, is unique and distinctive. From a finite number of words and rules, we can produce an infinite number of sentences and thoughts. And so, unlike representations in nature (like paw-prints or stratified deposits), our representations do not merely mirror the way the world is or was. We sometimes misrepresent things. We create fiction, write poetry, and discover or hypothesize ideal gas laws. How can we do that? How does it work? While thoughts are private and are not physically accessible, language is a publicly and physically accessible medium through which to understand the distinctive nature of human representation. Accounts of the semantic properties of language focus on such questions as these: What makes one thing a representation of another? How are thoughts and sentences different from other representations in nature, such as paw prints or stratified deposits? How do words make reference to objects and properties? Do words have both a meaning and a reference? Is the meaning of a sentence dependent upon the context of its use? Aside from the particular things referred to by the various parts of the sentence, how is the sentence as a whole ‘unified’ in such a way as to say some single thing? We will study works by John Stuart Mill, Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Strawson, Donnellan, Grice, Kripke and contemporary causal or information theoretic theories of language and mind.
541-1: Modern Ethical Theories Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Jesse Steinberg
Ethical theories and problems as discussed in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
544-1: Advanced Ethics of Data and AI Crosslisted with LIS
Instructor: Clinton Castro
In-depth examination of contemporary moral and political issues in artificial intelligence (AI) and Data Ethics, integrating urgent problems, controversies, and continuously updated case studies. Covers topics such as the use of facial recognition technology in law and immigration enforcement, algorithmically-supported hiring processes, and the complex dynamics of human-computer interaction. Includes critical engagement with cutting-edge research in applied moral/political philosophy, such as on competing theories of justice and political legitimacy as well as on key normative concepts like trust, autonomy, privacy, explainability; and case studies drawing from work in computer sciences and applied statistics.
545-1: Philosophical Conceptions of Teaching and Learning Crosslisted with Ed Policy
Instructor: David O’Brien
Examination and analysis of conceptions of teaching and learning in classical philosophical works and in contemporary literature in the philosophy of education.
549-1: Great Moral Philosophers Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Emily Fletcher
What is the role of friendship in our moral lives? Are there special duties of friendship? If so, what do we do when they conflict with impartial moral duties? Friendship and impartiality have been reconciled in a wide variety of ways by great moral thinkers. For example, some think that the impartial concern for others grows out of partial feelings for family and friends, or that impartial demands of morality place a natural limit on friendship. Alternatively, one might view the tension between friendship and impartiality as irreconcilable, for example, because friendship is morally corrupting or strict impartiality threatens our humanity. In this course, we will explore the relationship between friendship and impartiality through readings from great moral philosophers, including Aristotle, Confucius, Śāntideva, Kant, Nel Noddings, and Bernard Williams. We will pair these philosophers with great literary thinkers, including Sophocles, Shakespeare, and Jane Austen
549-2: Great Moral Philosophers Fulfills Category B
Instructor: Russ Shafer-Landau
This course will consider a number of central moral questions–what is the nature of human flourishing? What is the ultimate standard of rightness? Where does morality come from?–as they are addressed in classic texts by Plato, Hobbes, Hume, Kant, Mill, and a handful of 20th century thinkers.
551-1: Philosophy of Mind Fulfills Category A
Instructor: Edvard Aviles-Meza
Nature of mind (mental states such as thinking and feeling) and its relation to physical states, with emphasis on recent advances in philosophy and psychology.
558-1: Ethical Issues in Health Care Crosslisted with Med Hist
Instructor: TBD
Ethical issues apparently created by new biomedical technologies, such as genetic screening, prenatal diagnosis, prolongation of life, treatment of severe birth defects, in vitro fertilization, behavior modification, psychosurgery, and transplantation.
565-1: Ethics of Modern Biotechnology Crosslisted with Med Hist
Instructor: TBD
An in-depth study of a selection of ethical issues arising from the application of modern biotechnology to microorganisms, plants, non-human animals, and human beings. We will aim at a discussion that is informed by empirical research and by work done in ethical theory, political philosophy, and other relevant disciplines, and whose character is rigorous, clear, nuanced, and unbiased..
Spring 2027 Graduate Courses
For course days and times, please go to Course Search and Enroll
701 Reading Seminars (combined with Graduate Seminars) Instructor Consent
701-001 Reading Seminars Topic: Aristotle’s Metaphysics
Instructor: Paula Gottlieb 701-001 meets with 830-1. Please see the description of 903-1 below.
701-002 Reading Seminars Topic: Chance
Instructor: Alex Meehan 701-002 meets with 920-1. Please see the description of 916-1 below.
701-003 Reading Seminars Topic: Representational Formats in Cognitive Science
Instructor: Edvard Aviles-Meza 701-003 meets with 951-1. Please see the description of 951-1 below.
701-004 Reading Seminars Topic: Criticisms of Capitalism and Criticisms of Liberalism
Instructor: Harry Brighouse 701-004 meets with 955-1. Please see the description of 951-1 below.
701-005 Reading Seminars Topic: Recent Work in Metaphysics
Instructor: Annina Loets & Alex Roberts 701-005 meets with 955-1. Please see the description of 960-1 below.
830-1: Advanced History of Philosophy
Topic: Aristotle’s Metaphysics
Instructor: Paula Gottlieb
We’ll study Aristotle’s metaphysics, from the Categories to the central books of the Metaphysics, paying special attention to the way in which Aristotle aims to combine ontologies of change and of substance. Topics will include substance and essence, particulars vs. universals, stuff, structure, function, identity, and the principle of non-contradiction. How much time we spend on each topic will depend on the interests of the participants.
The main texts for the course will be Aristotle’s own worksin translation. Secondary reading will include some classic articles and very recent work in the field. The primary texts are most important. These are short, but require careful reading.
There will be ample opportunity for discussion. There will also be 3 tutorials. Class participants will be asked to write a series of 1500-word essays. They will then come in pairs to see the professor for an hour or so, during which time they will read out and discuss their work. Grades will be awarded to the written work. The point of the tutorial is purely educational and fun.
920-1: Philosophy of Science
Topic: Chance
Instructor: Alex Meehan
Are there such things as objective chances? If so, what is their nature? Do they feature across the sciences and across our ordinary thought and talk, or only in our most fundamental physical theories? What is their relationship to rational belief, and to our notions of possibility, ability, and determinism? The seminar will explore these combinations of questions in metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of science.
951-1: Philosophy of Mind
Topic: Representational Formats in Cognitive Science
Instructor: Edvard Aviles-Meza
The computational theory of mind is one of the theoretical foundations of cognitive science. Its core claim is that cognition involves computation. Computers are symbol-crunchers. So, a natural question is: what is the nature of the symbols in the human mind?
The traditional answer in cognitive science and linguistics is that mental representations are language-like vehicles (The Language of Thought Hypothesis: LoTH). In this seminar, we will explore the alternatives to LoTH emerging from neuroscience and machine learning: mental images, cognitive maps, vector spaces, graphs, etc.
But beyond examining what formats there are, we will ask what they can do for us. For example:
- Can cognitive maps be the vehicle of conceptual representations?
- Does the role of statistics in perception and cognition constitute a novel representational format?
- Are there formats that facilitate intelligence?
- Does consciousness have a special affinity with particular representational formats?
- Can different representational formats play different epistemic roles?
- Do people with aphantasia imagine using different formats?
955-1: Social and Political Philosophy
Topic: Criticisms of Capitalism and Criticisms of Liberalism
Instructor: Harry Brighouse
In this course we will look at contemporary (mainly political philosophical) literature on two, somewhat related, issues. One is capitalism: capitalism is an economic system in which the central mechanism through which labor, capital, services and goods are allocated is through (usually constrained) markets. We’ll look at criticisms of capitalism, drawing on authors like Chiara Cordelli, Ingrid Robeyns, Erik Olin Wright, Jerry Cohen and Philippe Van Parjis, and also look at work by some of capitalism’s defenders, such as Joe Heath and Lane Kenworthy.
Liberalism… well, liberalism is a bit more difficult to define, but it is, broadly speaking, a political theory which places equality and freedom as the central values when it comes to the guidance of societal institutional design. For a few decades liberalism was the dominant theory within political philosophy done in the analytical tradition, but its dominant place is currently less secure than it once was. We’ll read some of the cotemporary work criticizing (or purporting to criticize) liberalism by, for example, Sally Haslanger, and will devote several seminar sessions to reading the whole of Gina Schouten’s book, The Anatomy of Justice which is, in part, a defence of liberalism.
In addition to the regular reading load of roughly two substantial philosophical papers per week, I’ll expect you to do some reading in economics and sociology that we won’t discuss in class, but will dramatically improve our discussions. Ideally some of this reading will be done before class begins: I’ll email a list of 4 books to people who are enrolled in the class by mid-December.
960-1: Metaphysics
Topic: Recent work in metaphysics
Instructors: Annina Loets & Alex Roberts
This will be an ‘authors and papers’ seminar, in which we will read and discuss recently published and forthcoming work in contemporary metaphysics. Topics may include the philosophy of time, mereology, hyperintensionality and fineness-of-grain, higher-order metaphysics, material plenitude, qualitativism, and modal recombination. For some sessions, the author of the paper will join us for the discussion.