Glossary
UW Bothell Course Descriptions
UW Seattle Course Descriptions
Detailed course offerings (Time Schedule) are available for
T PHIL 101 Introduction to Philosophy (5) SSc
Major philosophical questions relating to such matters as the existence of God, the foundations of knowledge, the nature of reality, and the nature of morality. Approach may be either historical or topical.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 101
T PHIL 200 Introduction to the Philosophy of Human Rights (5) SSc
Introduces and discusses different philosophical views on humanity, good, rights, universality, and other concepts that have influenced our understanding of human rights.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 200
T PHIL 240 Introduction to Ethics (5) A&H/SSc
Critical introduction to various philosophical views of the basis and presuppositions of morality and moral knowledge. Critical introduction to various types of normative ethical theory, including utilitarian, deontological, and virtue theories.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 240
T PHIL 250 Practical Reasoning (5) SSc, RSN
Introduces concepts and methods useful for practical analysis of arguments in everyday contexts; meaning, syllogisms, inductive and deductive inference, informal fallacies, argument structure, moral reasoning, and legal reasoning.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 250
T PHIL 251 Data and Discourse (5) SSc
Explores the role of data in contemporary discourse and develops proficiency in evaluating arguments involving data. The ability to evaluate quantitative evidence is becoming increasingly central to scholarly discourse, political debate, and daily life.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 251
T PHIL 270 Case Studies in Medical Ethics (2, max. 4) SSc
Explores ethical and philosophical issues related to themes in health through case studies by drawing on ethical theory. Covers themes which may include death and dying, reproduction and birth, medical technologies, health and social justice. Repeatable with instructor permission. Credit/no-credit only.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 270
T PHIL 310 Chinese Philosophy (5) SSc
Introduces to students the major schools of philosophical and religious teachings in China since the classical period. The topics covered will include, among others, Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, as well as a score of deities stemming from and associated with these teachings.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 310
T PHIL 314 Philosophy of Crime and Punishment (5) SSc
Examination of philosophical theories regarding criminal habits and punishment and the philosophical problems connected with specific topics in criminal law. Examines proper subject matter of criminal law (drug use, pornography, euthanasia); limits of criminal sanctions; crime and privilege (corporate crime, white-collar crime, blackmail); justifications for punishment; mercy; and execution.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 314
T PHIL 315 Chinese Philosophy and Religions Today (5)
Following an introduction to the major schools of philosophy and religious teachings in China, we will focus on the roles of these intellectual currents in contemporary Chinese life. Topics covered include Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese Buddhism, and other folk and local beliefs. By understanding China's classical philosophies, students will gain a solid foundation for the understanding modern and contemporary Chinese thought.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 315
T PHIL 350 Contemporary Search for Meaning (5) SSc
Examines the search for human meaning and value as it has emerged in the writings of modern philosophy, psychology and literature. Explores how the quest for different forms of meaning has developed and how that quest has been answered.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 350
T PHIL 353 The End of the Modern World: 1600 - 2000 (5) SSc
Investigates the origin, influence and definition of the modern period. Explores the fundamental images and assumptions of this period and discusses the forces that are undermining them. Concludes with a consideration of what may replace these images and assumptions in the next few decades.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 353
T PHIL 354 American Modes of Thought and Experience (5) SSc
Explores the roots of the American experience in its European intellectual and cultural background. Focuses on the peculiarly American angle of vision and value in the development of its cultural heritage. Examines the contribution of tradition and change to that experience and to subsequent philosophical reflection upon it.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 354
T PHIL 355 The Modern Mind (5) A&H/SSc
Examines how philosophical, artistic, and literary movements shape understandings of our place in the world. Considers a selection of classic artistic, scientific, philosophical, and literary works.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 355
T PHIL 356 Themes in American Philosophy (5, max. 10) SSc
Examines the origins, development, and present status of movements in American philosophical. Includes thinkers such as James, Dewey, Pierce, Royce, Whitehead, Santayana, Rorty, and others. May be repeated for credit with instructor's approval.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 356
T PHIL 358 History of Philosophy: Medieval and Modern (5) SSc
Explores continuity in the concerns of thinkers from different places and eras, including such medieval and early modern philosophers as Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, and Kant. Examines how they address questions about reality, thought, and the beautiful and the good.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 358
T PHIL 359 Themes in Existentialism (5, max. 10)
Examines the human predicament as treated in the writings of existentialist philosophers and writers such as Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Marcel, Heidegger, and Sartre. Examines historical origins, development, and present forms of existentialism. Assesses existentialism's impact on psychology, religion, literature, and the arts. May be repeated for credit with instructor's approval.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 359
T PHIL 360 History of Philosophy: Modern and Contemporary (5) SSc
Examines idealism, pragmatism, and existentialism in historical context to discover ways in which they are responses to past ideas and ways in which they are new. Focuses on the way issues in philosophy remain the same even as ways of thinking about them change.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 360
T PHIL 361 Ethics in Society (5) A&H/SSc
Examines the meaning, nature, legitimacy, criteria, and foundations of moral judgment. Explores ethics as a branch of philosophy while focusing on particular ethical problems, such as war, race, abortion, justice, sexuality, medical issues of life and death, the environment, and the transactions of the business world.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 361
T PHIL 362 The Beautiful and the Good: Philosophy's Quest for Value (5) SSc
Examines ideas about the beautiful and the good in the history of philosophy. Includes ideas of early thinkers and how they were adopted, transformed, or rejected by later thinkers. Studies different ideas from the history of philosophy about what the beautiful and the good are, how we know them and how we achieve them.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 362
T PHIL 364 Topics in the Philosophy of Science (5, max. 10) SSc
Study of one or more current topics in philosophy of science such as scientific realism, explanation, confirmation, causation. Can not be taken if T PHIL 363 already taken. Prerequisite: one T PHIL course.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 364
T PHIL 367 Utopias (5)
Explores the ideal society of the classical era and the Renaissance, and contrasts these early visions with the modern models of mass society and competitive markets in the light of the revolutionary experiences of the 19th and 20th centuries. Covers Utopian literature, political philosophy, economics, art, and music.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 367
T PHIL 410 Social Philosophy (5) SSc
An examination of topics pertaining to social structures and institutions such as liberty, distributive justice, and human rights.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 410
T PHIL 414 Philosophy of Law (5) SSc
Nature and function of law. Relation of law to morality. Legal rights, judicial reasoning.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 414
T PHIL 451 The Enlightenment (5) SSc
Examines the Enlightenment as historical epoch, philosophical attitude, and social and political project. Explores ideas of selected thinkers (e.g., Jefferson, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, Hume, Voltaire) and the reactions they inspire. Highlights themes such as liberalism, human rights, rationalism, republicanism, and neoclassicism.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 451
T PHIL 453 Political Theory of Human Rights (5) SSc
Examines understandings and influence of idea of human rights. Considers conflicts and contradictions between human rights claims and national sovereignty, cultural difference, democracy.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 453
T PHIL 455 Medicine and Morality: Issues in Biomedical Ethics (5) A&H/SSc
Provides students with knowledge of ethical theory which is then applied to questions in medicine such as right to die, allocation of scarce medical resources, informed consent, and patient confidentiality.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 455
T PHIL 456 Environmental Ethics (5) A&H/SSc
Critical exploration of selected philosophical and literary texts pertinent to ethics attending the natural environment. Topics for consideration may include animal and nature rights, social ecology, natural value (instrumental, inherent, intrinsic), anthropocentrism v. Deep Ecology, and environmental aesthetic theory.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 456
T PHIL 460 The Meaning of the Person (5) SSc
Explores philosophical and psychological concepts of the self and their implications. Discusses what it means to be a person and what constitutes a person. Asks how philosophy and psychology agree and disagree on what it means to be a person.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 460
T PHIL 466 Philosophy of the Future (5, max. 10) SSc
Considers philosophies that address future problems including the ecological crisis, technological transformation, artificial intelligence and neuroscience. Emphasis is on evaluating how philosophy helps us encounter these and other new developments.
View course details in MyPlan: T PHIL 466
