Ohio University
Graduate Catalog
Philosophy
Only students who have earned at least a 3.0 (B) average in their undergraduate courses will be admitted unconditionally into the graduate program. It is expected that you will have taken at least 27 quarter hours in philosophy. Students who have not had a course each in value theory, symbolic (predicate) logic, ancient philosophy, and modern philosophy must take courses in these areas during the first two quarters in residence, or as soon as possible.
The Master of Arts degree in philosophy is granted upon the satisfaction of either of two sets of requirements:
The thesis plan
involves completion of 45 quarter hours in
addition to any course taken to compensate for deficiencies in
undergraduate preparation. These 45 hours must include one course
from each of the following groups:
- 518 Plato, 519 Aristotle;
- 528 Continental Rationalism, 529 British Empiricism, 538 Kant;
- 514 Analytic Philosophy, 544 Philosophy of Marxism, 548 Pragmatism, 558 Contemporary European Philosophy, 568 Phenomenology;
- 530 Contemporary Ethical Theory, 531 History of Aesthetic Theory, 532 Problems in Aesthetics, 542 Philosophy of Law;
- 516 Philosophy of Science, 517 Philosophy of Logic, 520-23 advanced logic courses, 550 Theory of Knowledge, 551 Metaphysics.
At least one other five-hour philosophy classroom course must be taken; in addition, all graduate students in the program are required to take the Seminar (693) every fall and spring quarter they are in residence. Under the thesis plan, you will also submit an acceptable thesis on an approved topic and defend it in an oral thesis examination.
The comprehensive examination plan requires the same number and distribution of courses as the thesis plan plus the passing of four comprehensive exams on a substantial list of readings that you select with the approval of a philosophy faculty advisor. Two faculty members will grade each examination.
Faculty
Philosophy (PHIL) Courses
502 Techniques of Formal Analysis (5)
Philosophical application of techniques of modern symbolic logic.
Staff; F, W, Sp; Y.
510 Emergence of a Science (4)
Prereq: 1 yr univ-level science. For both science and nonscience
majors interested in historical and philosophical influences that led
to present concept of chemistry as science. Chronological survey,
largely nontechnical, of developments in chemistry from antiquity to
present, combined with discussions of philosophers of science from
Thales to Russell.
Pfeiffer, Zucker; Y.
512 Philosophy of Biology (5)
Some specific questions to be addressed include: what are species;
how best to do taxonomy; must any theory of evolution be
holistic?
Zucker; A.
513 Philosophy and Freudian Analysis (5)
Prereq: PSY 332 or 333. The philosophical and scientific
presuppositions of Freudian psychology, including Freud's
methodology, are identified and subjected to rigorous philosophical
analysis. Freud's early thought on hysteria, dreams, sexuality, and
psychoanalysis are emphasized. Recent attacks on the legitimacy of
psychoanalysis are examined. Alternative schemes for understanding
human behavior also discussed.
Zucker; D.
514 Analytic Philosophy (5)
Selected topics in contemporary Anglo-American philosophy.
Smith; D.
516 Philosophy of Science (5)
Analysis of selected problems in logic and methodology of
sciences.
Zucker; Y.
517 Philosophy of Logic (5)
Prereq: 320 or 502. Problems surrounding attempt to bring order into
our account of logic; nature of propositions; logical form; proper
names; fictional entities; ontological commitment; modality; etc.
Staff; D.
518 Plato (5) Hampton; A.
519 Aristotle (5) Hampton; A.
520 Symbolic Logic II (5)
Prereq: 320 or 502 or major in math or computer science. Introduction
to the theorems defining the scope and limits of formal methods that
marked the coming of age of logic in the 20th century: Godel's
completeness and incompleteness theorems for first- and second-order
logic and the Church-Turing theorem on the undecidability of
first-order logic.
Ehrlich.
528 Continental Rationalism (5)
Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz.
Petrik; A.
529 British Empiricism (5)
Locke, Berkeley, Hume.
Staff; A.
530 Contemporary Ethical Theory (5)
Current literature in selected topics in moral and social
philosophy.
Trevas; A.
531 History of Aesthetic Theory (5)
Readings from Plato to Dewey and relation of these theories to
selected arts and recent criticism.
Bender, Blocker; Y.
532 Problems in Aesthetics (5)
For students interested in the arts but not necessarily in issues
primarily of interest to philosophers. Writing drawn from modern
sources on theory of art, aesthetic criticism, creativity, truth in
art, and aesthetic value.
Bender, Blocker; Y.
538 Kant (5)
Kant's Critique of Pure Reason with attention given to his ethical
theory.
Petrik; A.
540 Contemporary Social Philosophy (5)
Consideration of any number of various issues in contemporary social,
political, and legal philosophy. Possible topics: theories of
distributive justice, culpability, causality and responsibility,
legal and moral rights.
Smith; D
542 Philosophy of Law (5)
Consideration of nature and justification of law and examination of
some specialized topics in philosophy of law including ascription of
responsibility, civil disobedience, theories of punishment, liberty,
etc.
Smith; Y.
543 Liability and Responsibility in the Law (5)
Prereq: 240, 330, 430, or 440. Study of some of major problematic
areas in ascription of legal liability and responsibility. Chief
areas of concern: (1) grounds on which courts determine who or what
is causally responsible for what occurred; (2) extent to which
finding of legal responsibility should take account of intentions,
knowledge, recklessness, etc., of accused; and (3) whether only sane
individuals should be held legally responsible.
Smith, Arnold; Y.
544 Philosophy of Marxism (5)
Philosophical inquiry into classical and contemporary Marxist thought
stressing Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and several contemporary
Marxists such as the "Praxis group" of Yugoslavia.
Borchert, Mickunas; A.
548 Pragmatism (5)
Peirce, James, Dewey, and other American thinkers.
Trevas; D.
550 Theory of Knowledge (5)
Critical examination of various views of what knowledge is and how it
is attained.
Bender; Y.
551 Metaphysics (5)
Basic alternative conceptions of world and such topics as substance,
causality, self, freedom, space, and time.
Bender; Y.
552 Myth and Symbolism (5)
Review of theories concerning nature of mythology and symbolic
process. Analysis of selected myths and symbols in various religions,
literature, and art.
Collins, Weckman; Y.
553 Philosophy, Science, and World Views (5)
Transformation of ideas from one discipline to another, especially
from philosophy to science and from science to generalized
world-view. Emphasis on two case studies on moral and social views
derived from Newtonian mechanism and Darwin's theory of evolution,
with applications to recent religious and metaphysical implications
drawn from new physics of Einstein and Heisenberg.
Blocker; D.
554 Semiotics in Communication (5)
Introduction to the structures and processes of communication through
the use of semiotics. Semiotics is concerned with systems of signs,
their interrelationships, and the images used to transmit such
systems. Since semiotics is being used widely in the analysis of
literature, film, and other social means of communication, the course
would acquaint the student with current modes of understanding the
communicative process.
Mickunas; Y.
558 Contemporary European Philosophy (5)
Phenomenology and existentialism as seen in Husserl, Heidegger,
Scheler, Hartman, Dilthey, Cassirer, Gebser, Ingarden, Sartre, Camus,
Marcel, Merleau-Ponty, and Ricoeur.
Mickunas; Y.
560 Contemporary Religious Thought (5)
Problem of God; relation of faith and reason, human destiny,
religious language--in thought of representative theologians and
philosophers such as Tillich and Buber.
Staff; D.
568 Phenomenology (5)
Method and philosophy of phenomenological movement from Husserl to
Merleau-Ponty.
Mickunas; Y.
570 Hinduism (5)
Vedic religion, Hinduism, Jainism.
Collins, Weckman; Y.
571 Buddhism (5)
Introduction to doctrines, origins, and varieties.
Collins, Weckman; Y.
572 Islam (5)
Introduction to core ideas.
Weckman; Y.
574 Taoism (5)
A historical survey of philosophical and religious Taoism from the
third century B.C. to the 18th century.
Blocker; Su; Y.
575 Chinese Philosophy (5)
Major Chinese philosophers and schools of thought from earliest times
to present day.
Staff; D.
576 Indian Philosophy (5)
Classical Hinduism.
Staff; D.
577 Buddhist Philosophy (5)
Abhidharmika, Madhyamika, Yogacara, Zen, and other philosophical
doctrines of Buddhism.
Staff; D.
578 African Philosophy (5)
Critical examination of question, debated today among African
philosophers, whether traditional African thought systems should be
regarded and developed as philosophical systems, and survey of most
significant of these thought systems.
Blocker, Mosley; Y.
580 Thinking About Death (4)
Survey and analysis of human thought and practices regarding
death.
Weckman; Y.
591 Seminar in Philosophy (1-15, max 15) Prereq: perm. Selected problems.
592 Applied Ethics (5)
Prereq: 2 courses from 130, 235, 330, 331, 430. An examination of the
relationship of applied ethics to ethics as a branch of philosophy,
as well as a survey of the major areas within applied ethics
(medical, business, journalistic, etc.), and a consideration of
selected problems in each.
Staff; Y.
631 Art and Beauty in Antiquity and Middle Ages (4)
The study of the concepts of art, beauty, aesthetic experience,
creativity, function of art, its value, and its relation to concepts
of God and reality. Aesthetics as a way of self-understanding,
influencing the lives and perceptions of the ancients and medievals.
Not open to those who have had CA 741.
Chojna; F; Y.
685 Forum in Contemporary Philosophy (3)
Seminar required of all full-time graduate students to study the book
to be discussed with the author during the spring quarter Philosophy
Forum.
Staff; W. Y.
690 Supervised Teaching (2)
Supervised experience, including observation, discussion, and
counsel.
Staff; Y.
691 Seminar in Philosophy (1-15, max 15)
Selected problems.
Staff; D.
692 Special Studies (1-15, max 15)
Advanced study of philosopher, movement, or problem, to provide
intensified training in area of concentration related to but not
necessarily that of student's thesis.
Staff; Y.
693 Seminar in Philosophy (1-15, max 15) Staff; F, Sp; Y.
694 Advanced Readings (1-15)
Supervised readings in comprehensive examination areas beyond
coursework.
Staff; D.
695 Thesis (1-15, max 15) Staff; Y.
696 Topics in Applied Ethics (5)
A seminar on selected topics in the area of applied ethics (medicine,
journalism, computer, etc.). Each student will write a paper on the
resolution of one such problem area.
Staff; Y.
Return to 1995-1997 Graduate Catalog Table of Contents
University Publications and the Computer Services Center revised this file ( https://www.ohio.edu/~gcat/95-97/areas/philosophy.html
) April 13, 1998.
Please e-mail comments or suggestions to " gcat@www.cats.ohiou.edu ."