PHI 500: Feminist Theories

This course is designed to introduce students to the most recent developments in feminist theory, covering different currents as well as traditions. The seminar may focus on moral and political questions, the intersection between the social and the psychological, or culture and representation as it is negotiated in different cultural media (film, literature, architecture, music, etc.)

Spring, 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 501: Theories of Race

This course is designed to introduce the student to different currents of analyses of race and racism. It focuses particularly on the relationship between philosophy and the development, legitimacy and legimation of racial categories. The seminar may focus on moral and political philosophy, questions of epistemology or metaphysics, the intersections between the social and the psychological, or culture and representations of raced subjects as they are negotiated in different cultural media (film, literature, architecture, music, etc.)

Fall, 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 503: Theories of Ethnicity

This course focuses on the category of ethnicity. Using an inter-cultural, comparative and historical approach, it seeks to expose the student to the uses and misuses of this category. The category of ethnicity will also be studied in conjunctions with questions relating to individual identity, national, cultural and civilizational identities. Ethnicity, like Race and Gender, is one of the most fundamental markers of identity. Using interdisciplinary and comparative methods and perspectives, ethnicity's role in the constitutions of identities will be studied.

Fall, 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 504: Intersections of Race, Ethinicity, and Gender

This course, which is analogous to an honors senior seminar, seeks to integrate into a productive dialogue the different methods, traditions and perspectives used to analyze Race, Ethnicity, and Gender, while also juxtaposing and comparing the similarities and differences between them. The approach, as in the whole program, will be inderdisciplinary and comparative.

Fall, 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 505: Core Course in Philosophy and the Arts: History of Aesthetic Theory

The basic course will investigate some of the most important and influential theories of art in the West from Plato to the present. Readings and discussion in depth of major figures will make up the content of the course: e.g., Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Collingwood, Langer, Merleau-Ponty, Dufrenne. The focus throughout will be on central issues in aesthetics such as imitation, truth, beauty, expression, emotion, and imagination.

Fall, Spring, every year, 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 506: Art and Its Problems

A consideration of basic problems in the creation and appreciation of art. What is the creative process? Who is the artist? How is art to be compared with other symbolic forms (e.g. language, science, technology)? What does art offer that philosophy does not, and vice-versa? In what ways does the gender or racial identity of the artist affect the creation of the work? What are the cultural, social, and political dimensions of the art work and its reception?

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 507: Inquiries into Art Criticism and Theory

This course deals with the theoretical approaches to the study of art that cross historical boundaries. Topics vary from semester to semester. They may be an expansion of one of the areas generally covered in ARH 540, such as psychology of art or the iconography of architecture. Other investigations may focus on subjects requiring a special methodological approach, such as the theory and history of ornament and design or the role of public art.

Fall or Spring, 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 507: Aesthetic System

A concentrated reading of a single major work, with attention both to its detailed structure and to its larger significance. Candidates for such reading include Aristotle's Poetics, Kant's Critique of Judgement, Hegel's Lectures on The Philiosophy of Art, Adorno's Aesthetic Theory, Collingwood's Principles of Art, Langer's Feeling and Form, Dewey's Art as Experience, Heidegger's "The Origin of the Work of Art", and Danto's Transfiguration of the Commonplace.

Fall, 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 508: Contemporary Issues in the Arts

With an eye on artworks accessible in the public sphere - museums, galleries, concerts, readings, dance performances, film - philosophical questions will be raised: Why these works now? How do they compare with their predecessors? What do they portend for the future of art? Visits to the sites and performances of such works will be integrated into an ongoing discussion of the issues they raise within the context of aesthetic theory - and what new theories they suggest. This course will be co-scheduled with ITL571, FRN571, and EGL603

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 509: Special Seminar in Aesthetics

This is an advanced seminar in aesthetics that focuses on a single question that arises in the philosophy of art. This question may be approached through the writings of a single author, or else by consulting texts of several thinkers (including practicing artists as well as philosophers). Examples of such questions would be: What is the place of form in art? How does emotion figure into the creation or appreciation of art? To be taught on the main campus by a regular faculty member. Ideally, this course would be taken during the second year of master's degree work at Stony Brook Manhattan.

Fall, Spring, every year, 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 510: Ancient Philosophy

An in-depth reading of few fundamental texts of classical antiquity that conceptualize mind/soul as object of rational investigation. These ancient theories contain within themselves all the principal elements of later philosophies of mind. This course aims at making these elements explicit through the study of the following: Anaxagoras, selected fragments on "mind"; Plato, Republic (selection) and Phaedo; Aristotle, De Anima (Peri Psyche); Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations; Lucretius, On the Nature of Things. 3 credits, ABCF grading, offered Fall/Spring alternate years

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

PHI 511: Modern Philosophy

This is an advanced course that investigates pivotal connections between seventeenth and eighteenth-century theories of knowledge, metaphysics, aesthetics, and ethics. It surveys key developments in these areas of philosophic inquiry during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It also involves careful explicative work on texts written by major thinkers of the period, e.g., Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, Spinoza, Malebranch, Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, Hume, Rousseau, and Kant.

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

PHI 520: Advanced Studies in Philosophy

Investigations into specialty areas led and directed by accomplished philosophers in the discipline involved. Instructor consent required. No more than six credits of PHI 520 may count towards the fulfillment of degree requirements in the MA program.

Offered:

Fall, Spring, Summer, 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 521: Contemporary Moral Issues

This examination of the radical nature of traditional moral theory in its contemporary applications will look at the ideas of Mill, Kant, and Aristotle as variations on traditional Judeo-Christian moral theory. Students will write short papers on contemporary moral issues as these are portrayed in short fiction.

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

PHI 535: Political Philosophy

This course will take up classics of political philosophy and discuss contemporary social life and ideologies in the light of the theoretical frameworks they have achieved. Readings and assignments will be drawn from such exemplary works as Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Politics, Machiavelli's The Prince, Hobbes's Leviathan, Locke's Second Treatise of Government, and Marx's Communist Manifesto.

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

PHI 553: Philosophy of Education

The purpose of the course is to develop curricula which not only bridge educational gaps but which also develop within all students a sense of civil responsibility toward community issues and problems. This course critically examines such issues of ethnicity and race, family systems, affirmative action, and multiculturalism through the vehicle of Asian American studies.

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

PHI 555: Perspectives on the Person

The focus of this course will be the question of how the results of current research are related to our understanding of human development and whether they require us to revise our understanding of what a person is. Readings from classic philosophical texts, such as Plato, Locke, Kant, and from contemporary research in philosophy, psychology and other relevant sciences will be used. Offered as both CEI 587 and PHI 555

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

PHI 562: Concepts and Methods in Evolutionary Biology

The course aims at achieving two related objectives: first, to provide graduate students in Ecology & Evolution and other biology departments, as well as Philosophy, with a basic understanding of the varied methods (both experimental and statistical) that make up the body of evolutionary quantitative biology. The focus will be in particular on quantitative genetics and its interface with more modern approaches, including QTL mapping, bioinformatics and the various "omics" (genomics, proteomics, etc.). Second, students will become familiar with the fundamental concepts of philosophy of science particularly as they relate to the conceptual analysis of the ideas that shape modern evolutionary and ecological theory. In this respect, the focus will be both on philosophical concepts such as falsificationism, induction, deduction, hypothesis testing and the nature of evidence, as well as on the meaning of key ideas in evolutionary ecology, like natural selection, genetic drift, and constraints.

Spring, alternate years, 3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

PHI 571: American Philosophy: Philosophical Foundations of American Politics

Readings from Emerson, C.S. Peirce, G.H. Mead, W. James, G. Santayana, J. Dewey, J.H. Randall, and J. Buchler will give the student a grasp of the classic American tradition in philosophy and the plural strands that go to make it up, such as: the turn from idealism to semioticism, neo-realsim and critical realism, pragmatism and pragmaticism, the historical interest and the social interest, individualism and voluntarism, and the centrality of art and science in human affairs.

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

PHI 572: ORIENTAL PHILOSOPHY

PHI 575: Philosophy of Religion

Several aspects of the Judeo-Christian tradition raise philosophical questions worthy of further reflection and consideration. The first is the relation of religious faith to other sorts of knowledge and commitment: is religious belief more like belief in scientific experts or more like belief in one's spouse? A second is what sort of God is worth believing in and whether we can talk intelligibly about the deity. The third is whether and how any God worth believing in could be compatible with the obvious ills of our world.

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

PHI 576: ETHICS AND VALUES

PHI 582: Philosophy of Art

The purpose of this course is to encourage students to explore and enrich their aesthetic experience through reading, analyzing, discussing, and writing about various theories put forth by philosophers in the western tradition. Among topics to be considered are representation, expression, form, the aesthetic attitude, beauty, taste, criticism and interpretation of art, and the relation of art to other areas of experience. The course does not assume previous familiarity with philosophy or art; however, it does assume an intellectual commitment to the examination of difficult ideas. This course is offered as both CEI 573 and PHI 582.

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

PHI 587: DIRECTED READINGS

PHI 588: DIRECTED RESEARCH

PHI 590: DIRECTED READINGS

PHI 595: DIRECTED RESEARCH

May be repeated 1 times FOR credit.

PHI 599: Master's Thesis Research

May be repeated 2 times FOR credit.

PHI 600: Ancient Philosophy

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 601: Medieval and/or Renaissance Philosophy

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 602: Modern Philosophy

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 603: 19th-Century Philosophy

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 604: Special Topics in the History of Philosophy

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 610: Philosophy and the Arts

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 611: Philosophy and Literature

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 612: Philosophy and Psychology

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 613: Philosophy and Politics

PHI 614: Philosophy and Linguistics

PHI 615: Philosophy and Feminism

Co-scheduled with WST 611.

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 616: Philosophy and Technology

Co-scheduled with WST 611.

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 617: Philosophy and Environmental Studies

PHI 618: Philosophy and the Sciences

PHI 619: Special Topics in Interface Studies

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 620: Advanced Problems in Philosophy

Delivery: Variable and repetitive credit

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 621: Independent Study

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 622: Supervised Teaching

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 623: Teaching Practicum

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 624: New York Consortium Study

This course designation should be used by students who enroll in seminars at participating universities of the New York Consortium of Graduate Schools. No more than six credits of consortium study (and none for first-year students at Stony Brook) may count toward the fulfillment of requirements in the doctoral program.

Prereguisite: Completion of first year in doctoral program (Philosophy)

Fall, 1-4 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 625: Prospectus Seminar

This seminar is taken by all doctoral students in the Spring semester of their third year. The primary goal is to have each write a dissertation proposal.

Spring, 3 credits, S/U grading

PHI 630: Seminar in Continental Philosophy

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 631: Seminar in Analytic Philosophy

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 632: Seminar in Comparative Philosophy

PHI 633: American Pragmatism and Naturalism

May be repeated 1 times FOR credit.

PHI 634: Eastern Philosophy

PHI 635: Philosophy of Science and Logic

PHI 636: Metaphysics

PHI 637: Epistemology

A study of selected conceptions of the nature, structure and content of knowledge, as found in classical and contemporary theories of knowledge.

3 credits, Letter graded (A, A-, B+, etc.)

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 638: Philosophical Psychology

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 639: Social and Political Philosophy

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 640: Ethics

PHI 641: Aesthetics

PHI 642: Philosophy of Religion

PHI 643: Semiotics

PHI 644: Special Topics in Contemporary Philosophy

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 699: Dissertation Research on Campus

Prerequisite: Advancement to candidacy (G5). Major portion of research must take place on SBU campus, at Cold Spring Harbor, or at the Brookhaven National Lab.

Fall, Spring, 1-9 credits, S/U grading

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 700: Dissertation Research off Campus - Domestic

Prerequisite: Must be advanced to candidacy (G5). Major portion of research will take place off-campus, but in the United States and/or U.S. provinces. Please note, Brookhaven National Labs and the Cold Spring Harbor Lab are considered on-campus. All international students must enroll in one of the graduate student insurance plans and should be advised by an International Advisor.

Fall, Spring, 1-9 credits, S/U grading

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 701: Dissertation Research off Campus - International

Prerequisite: Must be advanced to candidacy (G5). Major portion of research will take place outside of the United States and/or U.S. provinces. Domestic students have the option of the health plan and may also enroll in MEDEX. International students who are in their home country are not covered by mandatory health plan and must contact the Insurance Office for the insurance charge to be removed. International students who are not in their home country are charged for the mandatory health insurance. If they are to be covered by another insurance plan they must file a waiver be second week of classes. The charge will only be removed if other plan is deemed comparable.

All international students must received clearance from an International Advisor.

Fall, Spring, 1-9 credits, S/U grading

May be repeated for credit.

PHI 800: Full Time Summer Research

0 credits, S/U grading

S/U grading

May be repeated for credit.