Course Offerings

Are ghosts real? How about God? Is science our only source for truth? What about common sense? How are emotion and reason related? Is a life of duty better than one of pleasure? Is there a “best” kind of life? Typically, differences among people are rooted in deeper concepts -- such as truth, reality, and happiness. Philosophy has developed questions and (some) theories about what these concepts mean and how they might apply to everyday life.

Max hours: 3 Credits. GT: Course is approved by the Colorado Dept of Higher Education for statewide guaranteed transfer, GT-AH

We’re commonly told to “do the right thing,” and everybody seems to agree that we should. But what is right? What is wrong? How can we see and know the difference? This course helps students examine and analyze the ethical concepts, situations, and problems raised by these fundamental questions. Specific problems will vary with contemporary concerns, e.g., poverty, war, injustice, famine, abortion, punishment, and environmental sustainability. The course goal is to help students sharpen their ethical reasoning skills so they can better navigate and contribute to the ethical, social, and political arenas in which they will live their lives.

Max hours: 3 Credits. GT: Course is approved by the Colorado Dept of Higher Education for statewide guaranteed transfer, GT-AH3

Introductory course developing skills in argumentation, critical thinking, and scientific reasoning. We will cover a wide array of topics including rules of logical inference, informal fallacies, problem-solving, and probabilistic reasoning. These are crucial analytical and critical thinking skills tested on LSAT and MCAT. In this course, we discuss issues central to advancement in the sciences, and towards knowledge in general which is a skill broadly desired by employers.

Max Hours: 3 Credits. Terms offered: spring, summer, fall. GT: Course is approved by the Colorado Dept of Higher Education for statewide guaranteed transfer, GT-AH3.

How does physical matter relate to minds and the mental realm? How does objective reality related to what seems subjective — human knowledge, perception, and feeling, etc.? What is the role of logical thinking in connecting the objective and subjective areas of reality? Can philosophy ground knowledge so that scientific inquiry is safe from the challenges of skepticism? These are just a few of the problems posed by the “modern” period in philosophy, from roughly the end of the 16th century to the end of the 18th century. This course examines such epistemological questions and surveys key metaphysical themes that modern thinkers inherited from ancient and medieval philosophy. Figures typically include Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Locke, Hume, and Kant, among others. Cross-listed with PHIL 5022. 

Max hours: 3 Credits. Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Covers truth functional and quantificational logic through polyadic first order predicate calculus and theory of identity. Attention is given to such problems in metatheory as proofs of the completeness and consistency of systems of logic. Prereq: A passing grade in PHIL 2441 or MATH 3000 or permission from the instructor is required in order for students to enroll in this course. Cross-listed with MATH 3440.

Max Hours: 3 Credits. Grading Basis: Letter Grade. Prereq: PHIL 2441 or MATH 3000

What is “racism” or “sexism”? What is oppression? How do these ideas become invisible so that they structure ways people think, act? How do they inform policies, laws, and institutions? And what modifies or overturns such ideas? By answering such questions, this course helps students reflect on the formation of their own lives, practices, beliefs, and values. Topics may include ideology theory, naturalism, the equal protection clause, recent scientific discussions, socio-legal history, and social constructionism.

Max hours: 3 Credits. Grading Basis: Letter Grade. Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

Additional Information: Denver Core Requirement, Cultural Diversity.

Examines one of the most influential movements in recent European thought, beginning with existentialism's 19th century roots, and continuing on to the existentialist philosophers of the 20th century. Figures covered may include Dostoyevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and de Beauvoir. Strongly Recommended: PHIL 3002 or 3022, a minimum grade of "C" in each previous philosophy course. If the student does not have this coursework, consulting with the instructor prior to registration is strongly recommended. Cross-listed with PHIL 5833, HUMN 5833, and SSCI 5833.

Max Hours: 3 Credits. Grading Basis: Letter Grade. Typically Offered: Spring.

China is a fascinating world with its own characteristic orientation to philosophical questions. Chinese thinkers produced the "Flowering of a Hundred Schools of Thought" in the Axial Age, the same period of time in which philosophy was coming to birth in ancient Greece. Covers some of the Chinese schools, including Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, Legalis, Chinese "logic," and the later schools of Neo-Confucianism, Neo-Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism. Cross-listed with RLST 3660, PHIL 5981

Max hours: 3 Credits. Grading Basis: Letter Grade

A seminar on key problems and thinkers in the nineteenth & twentieth century continental philosophical traditions and their contemporary significance. Cross-listed with PHIL 5000, HUMN 5000 and SSCI 5000.

Max hours: 3 Credits. Grading Basis: Letter Grade

A close study of Nietzsche's philosophical writings, with attention to his significance for philosophy in the 20th century and beyond. Cross-listed with PHIL 5790.

Max hours: 3 Credits. Grading Basis: Letter Grade. Typically Offered: Spring.

A careful study of Plato's writings, emphasizing the dialogue form, and discussion of Plato's significance for the history of ethics, political theory, psychology, metaphysics and epistemology. Strongly Recommended: PHIL 3002 or 3022, a minimum grade of "C" in each previous philosophy course. If the student does not have this coursework, consulting with the instructor prior to registration is strongly recommended. Cross-listed with PHIL 5800.

Max hours: 3 Credits. Grading Basis: Letter Grade. Typically Offered: Fall.