Contents
  YU Homepage

PROGRAMS OF STUDY & COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Philosophy (PHI)

Major: Yeshiva College
PHI 1100, 1600, and 4931; two courses chosen from 2170, 2420, or 2560; and 15 additional credits in PHI courses. In addition, a three-course sequence in a subject related to the major, chosen with the written approval of the cluster advisor. With his permission, up to 6 credits in Jewish philosophy (JPH) may count toward the major. Cluster advisor: Dr. Johnson.

Minor: Yeshiva College
PHI 1100, 1600; two course chosen from 2170, 2420, or 2560; and 6 additional credits in PHI courses chosen with the written approval of the cluster advisor.
Courses in Jewish philosophy are listed under JPH.

1010 or 1010H Philosophy and Propositional Logic. 3 credits.
Truth, semantic paradoxes, conditionals and probability, possible worlds, vagueness, logical consequence, and other crucial topics in philosophy.

1011 Introduction to Philosophy I. 3 credits.
Introduction to the problems of ethics, political and social philosophy, philosophy of religion, and esthetics.

1012 Introduction to Philosophy II. 3 credits.
Introduction to the problems of metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of science.

1100 Logic. 3 credits.
Introduction to formal logic.

1130 Symbolic Logic. 3 credits.
Advanced logic. Topics are selected from the following: 1) soundness and completeness proofs, 2) meticulous examination of Gödel’s proof of his first incompleteness theorem, 3) modal logic, 4) axiomatic set theory.
Prerequisite: PHI 1100.

1220 Philosophy of Language. 3 credits.
Theories of meaning, reference, and truth.

1320 Theories of the Mind. 3 credits.
Examination of rival conceptions of mind and self, and of differing explanatory models for human behavior.

1360 Theory of Knowledge. 3 credits.
Concepts of sense perception, memory, knowledge, and belief; principle of verifiability and problems of induction. Emphasis on contemporary views.
Prerequisite: one semester of PHI.

1400 Philosophy of Science. 3 credits.
Fundamental conceptions of the empirical and mathematical sciences, such as explanation, law, theory, space, determinism, and reduction.
Prerequisite: one semester of PHI, or one year of science or mathematics.

1550 Metaphysics. 3 credits.
Current metaphysical problems, with topics to be selected from the following: nature of metaphysical reasoning, problems of language and reference, mind-body problem, determinism and free will, causality, personal survival, and the philosophical concept of God.
Prerequisite: one semester of PHI.

1600 Ethics. 3 credits.
Fundamental moral problems such as the place of pleasure and happiness in the moral life, and the relation between individual interests and social obligations. Readings from classical and contemporary works.

(1800 Philosophy of Art).

1932H Freshman Honors Seminar II: Modernity.

2170 Ancient and Medieval Philosophy. 3 credits.
From the pre-Socratics to Thomas Aquinas, with emphasis on Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Boethius, and Aquinas.

2420 Modern Philosophy. 3 credits.
Continental rationalism and British empiricism, from Descartes to Hume.

2560 Philosophy in the 19th and 20th Centuries. 3 credits.
The chief contributions of Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, James, Russell, Ayer, and Wittgenstein.

2640 Contemporary Analytic Philosophy. 3 credits.
Philosophical analysis, logical positivism, and ordinary-language philosophy; representative selections from Russell, Moore, Wittgenstein, Ryle, Ayer, and J. L. Austin.
Prerequisite: one semester of PHI.

2650 Phenomenology and Existentialism. 3 credits.
Critical examination of these two related movements, with special attention to the works of Husserl, Heidegger, and Sartre.

3200 Classical Political Philosophy. 3 credits.
Theories of great political philosophers from Plato to Hegel; analysis of various interpretations of history, the nature of man, justice, liberty, and authority. (Not open to students who have taken POL 1801).
Prerequisite: one semester of PHI or POL 1001 or 1040.

3402 Philosophy of Law. 3 credits.
Fundamental questions about the nature and scope of law, grounds for legal obligation, and the justification of particular jural practices, such as punishment.

4901 Independent Study.

4911 Guided Project
Meet with the Yeshiva College academic dean.

4930 Selected Topics. 3 credits.
Special topics, issues, and movements in philosophy.
Prerequisite: one semester of PHI and permission of the instructor.

4931, 4932 Seminar. 3 credits.
Intensive analysis of a philosopher, a philosophic concept, or a philosophic movement.
Prerequisite: one semester of PHI and permission of the instructor.