100g The Western Philosophical Tradition: Classical Beginnings (4, FaSp) Philosophical thought about the nature of reality, knowledge and morality, tracing its origins in Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
101g The Western Philosophical Tradition: Modern Period (4, FaSp) Philosophical thought about the nature of reality, knowledge and morality as developed by such enlightenment philosophers as Descartes, Hume and Kant.
140g Contemporary Moral and Social Issues (4, FaSp) Application of philosophical theories in ethics to problems such as racial and sexual discrimination, I.Q., and social justice, rights of animals, law and morality, and privacy.
150 Reasoning and Critical Thinking (4) Various kinds of reasoning employed in everyday life and in more specialized contexts, to develop each student's skill in understanding and using carefully constructed arguments.
155g Modern Philosophy and the Meaning of Life (4) Modern philosophical treatments of the problem of the meaning or purpose of human life; special attention to Existentialism.
200 Problems in Philosophy (4) Introduction to analysis of philosophical problems such as freedom, value, knowledge, mind and God. Includes both classical and contemporary philosophical writers.
220g Science, Religion and the Making of the Modern Mind (4) Philosophical and religious implications of the scientific revolution of the 17th century and the Darwinian revolution in the 19th century.
240g Ethics (4, Sp) Leading approaches to moral thinking, such as theological ethics, egoism, utilitarianism, and the moral philosophies of Kant, Rawls, and others.
250ab Elementary Formal Logic (2-2, FaSp) Critical reasoning skills and their many everyday applications; theory of logically correct reasoning and its associated formal techniques.
262g Mind and Self: Modern Conceptions (4) Philosophical problems about the nature of mind associated with the rise of modern science; topics include the mind/body relation, personal identity, rationality and freedom.
300 Introduction to the Philosophical Classics (4, Sp) An examination of philosophical works which have had a profound impact on the nature of Western thought.
315g History of Western Philosophy: Ancient Period (4, Fa) Major figures in the history of Western philosophical thought from the pre-Socratics to the Hellenistic period; emphasis on Plato and Aristotle.
320 History of Western Philosophy: Modern Period (4, Sp) The development of philosophy from the 16th to the 19th centuries; emphasis on Continental Rationalism, British Empiricism, and the philosophy of Kant.
330 Theories of Law (4, Fa) Examination of some of the major classical and contemporary theories of the nature and functions of law and of its relation to morality.
337 History of Modern Political Philosophy (4) Analysis of some of the main political philosophies of the modern era; emphasis on the ethical and metaphysical foundations of political philosophy.
338gm Political Economy and Social Thought in Western Culture (4, Sp) (Enroll in ECON 338gm)
345 Greek Ethics (4, Fa) Examination of the progress of the ethical thought and legal and political institutions of ancient Greece with an emphasis on the Nichomachean Ethics of Aristotle.
347 Philosophy in Literature (4) Philosophical content in representative European and American literature; philosophical problems about literature such as the nature of truth and meaning in fiction.
350 Symbolic Logic (4, Fa) Introduction to formal logic through two formal systems: propositional calculus, quantification theory; consistency, completeness, other advanced topics. Especially for philosophy, mathematics, science, and engineering majors.
355 Existentialism (4) A critical survey of major 19th and 20th century existentialist writers, including Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Kafka, Nietzsche, Camus, and Sartre.
360 Epistemology and Metaphysics (4, Sp) Examination of problems in metaphysics and/or epistemology. Conducted at the intermediate level.
361 Philosophy of Religion (4) The existence of God; mysticism, miracles and the possibility of disembodied existence; the problem of evil; religion and morality; the meaning of religious language.
385 Science and Rationality (4) Examination of the rationality of the scientific enterprise, and of the relation between science and human values.
390 Special Problems (1-4) Supervised, individual studies. No more than one registration permitted. Enrollment by petition only.
410 Early Greek Thought (4, 2 years, Fa) A study of the Greek thinkers from Homer to the age of Socrates; emphasis on the pre-Socratic philosophers.
411 Plato (4, 2 years, Sp) Detailed study of the evolution of Plato's thought as revealed in selected dialogues.
415 Western Philosophy from Aristotle to St. Thomas (4, 2 years, Fa) Intensive examination of select figures and problems in the history of philosophy in the late Greek and early Medieval period; emphasis on Aristotle and St. Thomas.
421 Continental Rationalism (4, 2 years, Fa) Development of philosophy on the continent from the 17th to the 19th centuries; emphasis on the philosophical works of Descartes, Leibniz, and Spinoza.
422 British Empiricism (4, 2 years, Sp) Development of philosophy in Great Britain from the 17th to the 19th centuries; emphasis on Locke, Berkeley, and Hume.
423 The Critical Philosophy of Kant (4, 2 years, Fa) Intensive study of the philosophical works of Kant.
424 19th Century Philosophy (4) Leading figures and movements in 19th century philosophy; works of such philosophers as Hegel, Schopenhauer, Mill, Nietzsche, and Bradley.
425 American Philosophy (4) Leading figures and movements in American philosophy; works of such philosophers as Jonathan Edwards, Charles Pierce, William James, John Dewey, and C.I. Lewis.
426 20th Century European Philosophy (4) Main philosophers and movements from 1900, including the major developments within phenomenology and existentialism, the emergence of structuralism and hermeneutics.
427 20th Century Anglo-American Philosophy (4) Leading figures and movements in recent Anglo-American philosophy; Russell (logical atomism), Dewey and Lewis (pragmatism), Ayer and Carnap (positivism), Wittgenstein and Austin (linguistic analysis).
429 Oriental Philosophy (4) Selected readings from the major philosophical writers of India, China, and Japan.
430 Philosophy of Law (4, Sp) The nature of law, legal realism, legal positivism; concepts used in law, such as punishment, responsibility, insanity, negligence, strict liability; law and morality.
432 Philosophy of History (4, Fa) Western historical writing and thought; the nature of historical knowledge; historical explanation; history and values.
434 Law and Ethics in Classical Greece (4) Progress of written and ethical thought in Ancient Greece. Special emphasis on (a) the transition from oral to custom law to written law and (b) Greek ethics from Homer to Aristotle. Prerequisite: departmental approval.
437 Social and Political Philosophy (4, Fa) The nature of man and society, the nature and justification of state and government, political rights and political obligation, justice and equality.
440 Contemporary Ethical Theory (4, Sp) Ethical theories in the 20th century; contemporary theories of value and obligation; metaethical theories; intuitionism, naturalism, and non-cognitivism; concepts of justice, human rights, and freedom.
442 History of Ethics to 1900 (4, Fa) An historical and critical study of the great moral philosophers, including Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, and the British moralists.
443 Value Theory (4) The evaluation of individual and social ends; consideration of such topics as values and rational choice, the good of a person, hedonism, welfare, ideals, and utopias.
445 Philosophy of the Arts (4) Principal theories of the nature of, and response to, art; examination of form and content in various arts; consideration of the role of criticism.
446 Aesthetics and the Film (4) Problems in the philosophy of art raised by film, such as the notion of "cinematic"; the nature of interpretation of films; criteria for evaluating films.
450 Intermediate Symbolic Logic (4, Sp) Review of propositional and quantificational logic; elementary set theory; alternative proof systems. Prerequisite: PHIL 350 or departmental approval.
460 Metaphysics (4, Fa) Systematic introduction to basic concepts, including identity, difference, existence, individuals, substance, quality, and relation; emphasis on idealism, materialism, and the ontology of intentionality.
462 Philosophy of Mind (4, Fa) Philosophical analysis of concepts of mind and mental phenomena, such as emotion, intention, and sensation; consideration of the mind/body problem and contemporary responses to it.
463 Theories of Action (4) Systematic investigation of classical and contemporary theories of action and study of "action-concepts" central to recent developments in meta-ethics and metaphysics.
465 Philosophy of Language (4, Sp) The nature of communication, meaning, reference, truth, necessity, speech acts, convention, and language.
470 Theory of Knowledge (4, 2 years, Sp) Discussion of the nature and scope of human knowledge; consideration of such concepts as meaning, evidence, perception, belief, and certainty.
473 Wittgenstein (4) A detailed study of the philosophical works of Ludwig Wittgenstein.
480 Philosophy of Mathematics (4) The nature of mathematical truth and the nature of mathematical entities.
485 Development of Physical Science (4, Sp) Concepts central in the advance of physical science such as the concepts of space, time, mass, force; philosophical problems concerning quantum mechanics.
486 Methodologies of the Sciences (4) Comparison of the methodologies of the natural, social, and/or behavioral sciences; consideration of such topics as the concept of scientific law, prediction, explanation, confirmation.
490x Directed Research (2-8, max 8) Individual research and readings. Not available for graduate credit. Prerequisite: departmental approval.
494 Senior Thesis (4) Independent studies for philosophy majors, and guidance in the preparation of the senior thesis for students who wish to graduate with honors in philosophy. Not open to graduate students.
499 Special Topics (2-4, max 8) Selected topics in various specialty areas within philosophy.
Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs, Office of University Publications, May 1, 1995