This course is an introduction to philosophical systems of Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, J.S. Mill, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. Topics include the nature of history and historical change, the extent of human freedom, the relation between individuals and their cultures, the historical and psychological importance of religious, moral, and philosophical consciousness, and the nature of truth.

This course consists of a careful reading of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, designed to provide a thorough introduction to the epistemological aspect of Kant's critical philosophy.

Formal logic is the science of reasoning and argumentation. It aims to develop systems that can describe and evaluate the internal coherence of a series of thoughts via mathematical structures and algorithms. Historically, formal logic was developed from both philosophical and mathematical interests. Today, developments in formal logic can come from philosophers, mathematicians, computer scientists, and researchers in other cognate disciplines.

This course investigates the ways in which power relations--such as racism, sexism, and ableism--structure two significant areas of individual and collective behavior: language and knowledge. It shows the necessity of philosophizing in critical engagement with the world by connecting social phenomena with social scientific theories. It also shows philosophy's strength in making fundamental inquiries and bridging academic disciplines by drawing on diverse types of empirical evidence.

Existentialism comprises an influential set of views that stress radical human freedom and possibility, as well as concomitant responsibility and anxiety, in a world bereft of transcendent significance. The course starts by examining the nineteenth century philosophical roots of existentialism in Kierkegaard and Nietzsche before exploring the development of existentialist views in philosophers such as Camus, Dostoevsky, Sartre, Beauvoir, Ellison, Fanon, and Uranga.

The course assesses the reasonableness of various forms of religious belief and of irreligion. Noted historical and contemporary authors are read. Students attempt to develop personal views on the truth of religion and its place in life.

Representative philosophical topics, such as mind and body, the grounds of knowledge, the existence of God, moral obligation, political equality, and human freedom, are discussed in connection with contemporary philosophers and figures in the history of philosophy.

This course is focused on the interconnection between value judgments and a scientific perspective on the world and human psychology. Drawing on philosophical work that connects to and draws implications from attempts to study human behavior scientifically, the course explores answers to questions like: What motivates ethical action -- is it emotions, reasoning, or something else? What is the connection between a person's values and their behavior?

Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of the mind, which involves collaborations between philosophy, artificial intelligence, psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, anthropology, and more. This course covers foundational questions of cognitive science through a historical overview. It starts with the central debate between symbolic and connectionist models, as they apply to human minds and artificial intelligence.

Anger, fear, joy, sadness, disgust, surprise, envy, pride, jealousy, love, grief -- without emotions our experience of the world would be flat and grey, void of the upheavals, accelerations, and turns that make the journey of life so exciting. But what are emotions? What kind of mental state are they? Are there universal emotions, or are all emotions culturally-relative? What does it mean to feel fear -- as opposed to think -- that something is scary? How can we know that someone is envious? Is disgust always bad? Can joy be inappropriate?