Courses

 » Please see the Schedule of Classes for the current semester’s offerings.

PHI 1010 or 1010H Philosophy and Propositional Logic
3 credits
Truth, semantic paradoxes, conditionals and probability, possible worlds, vagueness, logical consequence, and other crucial topics in philosophy.

PHI 1011 Introduction to Philosophy I
3 credits
Introduction to the problems of ethics, political and social philosophy, philosophy of religion, and aesthetics.

PHI 1012 Introduction to Philosophy II
3 credits
Introduction to the problems of meta-physics, epistemology, and philosophy of science.

PHI 1100 Logic
3 credits
Introduction to formal logic.

PHI 1130 Symbolic Logic
3 credits
Advanced logic. Topics are selected from the following: 1) soundness and completeness proofs; 2) meticulous examination of Godel’s proof of his first incompleteness theorem; 3) modal logic; and 4) axiomatic set theory.
Prerequisite: PHI 1100.

PHI 1220 Philosophy of Language
3 credits
Theories of meaning, reference, and truth.

PHI 1320 Theories of the Mind
3 credits
Examination of rival conceptions of mind and self, and of differing explanatory models for human behavior.

PHI 1360 Theory of Knowledge
3 credits
Concepts of sense perception, memory, knowledge, and belief; principle of verifiability and problems of induction. Emphasis on contemporary views. Prerequisite: one semester of PHI.

PHI 1400 Philosophy of Science
3 credits
Fundamental conceptions of the empirical and mathematical sciences, such as explanation, law, theory, space, determinism, and reduction. Prerequisite: one semester of PHI or one year of science or mathematics.

PHI 1550 Metaphysics
3 credits
Current metaphysical problems, with topics to be selected from the following: nature of metaphysical reasoning, problems of language and reference, mind-body problem, determinism and free will, causality, personal survival, and the philosophical concept of God.
Prerequisite: one semester of PHI.

PHI 1600 Ethics
3 credits
Fundamental moral problems such as the place of pleasure and happiness in the moral life, and the relation between individual interests and social obligations. Readings from classical and contemporary works.

PHI 1800 Philosophy of Art
3 credits

PHI 1932H Freshman Honors Seminar II: Modernity
3 credits

PHI 2170 Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
3 credits
From the pre-Socratics to Thomas Aquinas, with emphasis on Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Boethius, and Aquinas.

PHI 2420 Modern Philosophy
3 credits
Continental rationalism and British empiricism, from Descartes to Hume.

PHI 2560 Philosophy in the 19th and 20th Centuries
3 credits
The chief contributions of Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, James, Russell, Ayer, and Wittgenstein.

PHI 2640 Contemporary Analytic Philosophy
3 credits
Philosophical analysis, logical positivism, and ordinary language philosophy; representative selections from Russell, Moore, Wittgenstein, Ryle, Ayer, and J. L. Austin. Prerequisite: one semester of PHI

PHI 2650 Phenomenology and Existentialism
3 credits
Critical examination of these two related movements, with special attention to the works of Husserl, Heidegger, and Sartre.

PHI 3200 Classical Political Philosophy
3 credits
Theories of great political philosophers from Plato to Hegel; analysis of various interpretations of history, the nature of man, justice, liberty, and authority. (Not open to students who have taken POL 1801.)
Prerequisite: one semester of PHI or POL 1001 or 1040.

PHI 3402 Philosophy of Law
3 credits
Fundamental questions about the nature and scope of law, grounds for legal obligation, and the justification of particular jural practices, such as punishment.

PHI 4901 Independent Study

PHI 4911 Guided Project
Meet with the Yeshiva College academic dean.

PHI 4930 Selected Topics
3 credits
Special topics, issues, and movements in philosophy.
Prerequisites: one semester of PHI and permission of the instructor.

PHI 4931 or 4932 Seminar
3 credits
Intensive analysis of a philosopher, a philosophic concept, or a philosophic movement.
Prerequisites: one semester of PHI and permission of the instructor.