CGS PHI 101 Introduction to Philosophy
3 cr.
An introduction to philosophy as an activity of clarifying ideas, developing and evaluating positions and arguments, and thinking critically about the Big Ideas That Matter.
Prerequisites: none.
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Spring 2023, Fall 2022.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 201 Asian Philosophy
3 cr.
An exploration of philosophically significant topics pertaining to the traditions of Asia. Attention will be paid to arguments pertaining to these topics as well as careful analysis of such classic primary sources as the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Analects, Daodejing, and Zhuangzi.
Prerequisites: none.
Course Rules: CGS PHI 201 and CGS REL 201 are the same course.
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Spring 2020.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 202 Feminist Philosophy
3 cr.
An introduction to feminist philosophies through a study and critique of traditional and feminist views about women, their lives, society, and knowledge, with particular attention to theories of women's oppression.
Prerequisites: none.
Course Rules: CGS PHI 202 and CGS GSW 202 are the same course.
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Summer 2020, Fall 2019.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 210 Thinking Critically
3 cr.
Introduction to critical thinking, with an emphasis on its importance to human life e.g., education, employment, morality, politics, religion.
Prerequisites: none.
General Education Requirements: HU
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 211 Elementary Logic
3 cr.
Principles and methods of logic as a tool for distinguishing good reasoning from bad, as present in anything from science and math to politics and personal relationships. Symbolic, deductive logic primarily propositional logic, with an introduction to predicate logic; may include some informal or inductive logic e.g., fallacies.
Prerequisites: none
General Education Requirements: MS
Last Taught: Fall 2020, Fall 2019.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 215 Theory of Knowledge
3 cr.
An examination of the nature and limits of knowledge and the methods used for obtaining it. Topics typically include the distinction between knowledge and belief, problems of evidence and truth, the role of perception and memory, social aspects of knowledge, realism, relativism, skepticism, correspondence and coherence theories of truth, and the role of various disciplines e.g., philosophy, science, religion in attaining knowledge.
Prerequisites: none
General Education Requirements: HU
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 220 Philosophy of Science
3 cr.
Methods, assumptions, and common misconceptions of the sciences as a source of knowledge of the natural world. Discussion of major figures in the history and philosophy of science e.g., Aristotle, Newton, Einstein, Hume, Popper, Kuhn, central concepts and theories e.g., induction, causality, probability, falsificationism, instrumentalism; the relationship of science to other aspects of society e.g., morality, politics, religion.
Prerequisites: none.
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Spring 2023, Spring 2021.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 237 Technology, Values and Society
3 cr.
Philosophical issues that emerge from the world of technology in which we live. Topics may include freedom, censorship, privacy, equality, democratic participation, intellectual property, education, law enforcement, institutional change, work, and all the personal and public choices about technology and its use with which we are confronted today.
Prerequisites: none
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Spring 2020.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 241 Ethics
3 cr.
Philosophical ethics, with attention paid to the philosophical methods of analysis and argumentation used to drive and evaluate moral theories and judgments. Topics may include the nature of moral truth e.g., absolute truth, relativism, pluralism, prominent moral theories e.g., virtue ethics, deontology, utilitarianism, important figures form the history of philosophy e.g., Aristotle, Kant, J.S. Mill, and contemporary moral issues e.g., abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia.
Prerequisites: none
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Summer 2023, Fall 2022.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 242 Social and Political Philosophy
3 cr.
An examination of differing philosophical views about human kind and its social and political life. Topics may include the question of political legitimacy, the function of the state, the possible rights and obligations of citizens vis-à-vis the state, general concepts of justice, liberty, equality, and community as well as possible specific conceptions of these terms, and how social goods should be distributed.
Prerequisites: none.
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Spring 2023, Spring 2022.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 243 Business Ethics
3 cr.
Critical discussion of ethical reasoning and moral values in business and industry; includes relevant case studies and readings.
Prerequisites: none.
Course Rules: CGS BUS 242 and CGS PHI 243 are the same course; they count as repeats of one another.
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Summer 2023, Spring 2023.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 244 Environmental Ethics
3 cr.
A philosophical examination of both traditional and recent concepts and values which structure human attitudes towards the natural environment. Theories may include anthropocentrism, biocentrism, ecocentrism, Leopold's land ethic, deep ecology, and ecofeminism. Topics may include the ethics of using land for large-scale agricultural purposes, factory farming, fishing, hunting, xenotransplantation, species depletion, ozone depletion, and climate change.
Prerequisites: none.
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Fall 2022, Fall 2021.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 248 Biomedical Ethics
3 cr.
Study of ethical issues pertaining to medicine and related biological sciences. Issues covered usually include abortion, euthanasia, truth telling, confidentiality, experimentation on human subjects, behavior modification, genetic engineering, criteria of death, organ transplants, professional relationships, and professional duties.
Prerequisites: none.
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Fall 2022, Spring 2022.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 253 Philosophy of the Arts
3 cr.
An examination of production, appreciation, and criticism of art. Topics may include the nature of art, the nature of beauty, the functions of art if any, the moral status of works of art, aesthetic evaluation, the antimony of taste, the paradoxes of fiction, tragedy, and horror, and public financing of art. Theories may include the imitation/representation theory, expressionism, formalism, aesthetic experience theory, and institutional theory.
Prerequisites: none.
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Fall 2020, Fall 2019.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 258 Human Nature, Religion and Society
3 cr.
Study and critique of the views of theistic and secular writers concerning religion and its relationship to individual and social problems.
Prerequisites: none.
Course Rules: CGS PHI 258 and CGS REL 258 are the same course.
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Spring 2021.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 259 Philosophy and Racism
3 cr.
Examination of the concept of race in the societies, with concentration on its use in the United States. How racism is seen from the dominant standpoint as opposed to how racism is seen from those who experience it; how the structure of racism has differed in regard to different ethnic groups; comparison of the experience of at least two different ethnic groups in the US in this regard; the place or lack of place of immorality in the creation of and in solutions to the problem.
Prerequisites: none.
General Education Requirements: CD, HU
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 261 Philosophy of Religion
3 cr.
An exploration and critical examination of philosophically significant topics pertaining to religion and its claims of knowledge of reality, divine or otherwise.
Prerequisites: none.
Course Rules: CGS PHI 261 and CGS REL 261 are the same course.
General Education Requirements: HU
Last Taught: Fall 2022, Fall 2020.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 291 Selected Topics in Philosophy
3 cr.
Each course offering must be approved by both the local campus and the chair of the department.
Prerequisites: varies with each offering.
Course Rules: Repeatable.
Last Taught: Spring 2020.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/
CGS PHI 299 Independent Reading in Philosophy
1-3 cr.
Program must be approved by chair of the department.
Prerequisites: consent of instructor.
Course Rules: Repeatable.
Last Taught: Spring 2020.
Current Offerings: https://catalog.uwm.edu/course-search/