Upcoming Courses

Click HERE for a Full List of Courses Offered Since Fall 2019

Listed below are the Philosophy courses being offered at Purdue University in Spring 2027. The courses are listed by their five-digit course number and course title, followed by a brief description. The tables below each description also include information on the course type (e.g., lectures = ‘LEC’), the enrolment limit of the course, the day(s)/time of the course or each section of it, the classroom in which the course will be taught, and the instructor(s) for the course. Courses that include a recitation section are marked in the tables below as type ‘LEC/REC.’ Details of the recitation sections are not listed. The type ‘DIST’ indicates a fully asynchronous, online course. ‘Grad’ indicates that a graduate student will be the instructor of record. PHIL courses that are cross-listed with other courses are marked as such (e.g., ‘c/l DEPT 10000’).

Have questions about philosophy graduate courses? You can contact our Grad Coordinator, Alison Scales, via email at ascales@purdue.edu or by phone at (765) 494-4275.

500 LEVEL COURSES  

50600 Advanced Philosophy of Religion 

This examines agnosticism in both religious and non-religious contexts. The term “agnosticism” has both a psychological sense (“Sue is agnostic about cosmic inflation”) and a propositional sense (“Muslims reject the doctrine of agnosticism”). We will focus primarily but not exclusively on psychological agnosticism, exploring both the psychological issue of what kind of mental state it is and the epistemological issue of when and why being in that state is epistemically rational. Concerning the former issue, we will survey leading accounts in the contemporary literature, including views of agnosticism as an omission, as a sui generis attitude, as a higher-order belief, and as a middling credence. Turning from psychology to epistemology, we will examine both general theoretical questions like whether agnosticism should be treated as a rational “default” and when agnosticism is the appropriate response to one’s evidence, as well as specific or applied questions like whether religious agnosticism is justified. The course will be co-taught by Liz Jackson of St. Louis University. 

52500 Studies in Metaphysics 

This course in analytic metaphysics will be divided into four parts: 

• First, we’ll consider several topics related to human freedom (such as fatalism, agent vs. event causation, and freedom’s relation to causal determinism, moral responsibility, and foreknowledge).  

• Second, we’ll examine some traditional debates associated with universals and particulars (such as realism vs. nominalism, bundle vs. substratum theory, constituent vs. relational ontology). 

• Third, we’ll have a look at some hotly disputed questions concerning the metaphysics of material objects (such as the nature of change, persistence, composition, and material constitution). 

• Fourth and finally, we’ll investigate some important topics connected with the metaphysics of modality (such as the nature of possible worlds, essential vs. accidental properties, counterpart theory, and possible but nonexistent objects). 

The course requirements will include two papers and also some shorter weekly assignments on the readings. There will be no final exam. 

55200 Philosophy Of The Social Sciences 

The course will provide a dialogue between methodological individualism and holism on the nature of scientific social explanations.  We will consider how contemporary schools understand (1) the ontology of groups (e.g., abstractions, objectively real social facts, biologically determined collectives, intentional agents, plural subjects, blind aggregates, etc.) and (2) the concept of explanation employed.  The course will then confront the actuarial theory  -  its implications for algorithmic bias (AI), racism and social ‘facts.’   

Philosophy Doctoral Graduate Students: This course is traditionally associated with, and satisfies, an area requirement for the Philosophy of Science. 

55300 Mathematical Logic 

An introduction to metatheoretic studies of formal axiomatic systems. Basic set theory is developed for use as a tool in studying propositional calculus. Further topics may include many-valued logics and basic (metatheory for) modal or predicate logic. 

58000 Emotions 

This course will investigate central metaphysical, epistemological, and evaluative questions about emotions. This will includes questions about what emotions are, whether they are reliable epistemic tools,  and what role particular emotions play in leading a good life. In pursuing these questions, we will engage with both historical and contemporary approaches, as well empirical research on emotion. 

600 LEVEL COURSES 

60000 Graduate Teaching and Pedagogy Seminar 

This graduate seminar provides graduate students with a forum to discuss and enact teaching strategies. Over the course of the term, weekly meetings will be devoted to a discussion and implementation of issues in teaching, learning, and assessment. The goal of this course is to prepare and enhance the teaching portfolio of our students and to make them more effective teachers in the classroom. 

Want to know what else we offer? Check out the Master Course List