Master of Arts degree program in History and Philosophy of Science

FIX University

Courses

Core (Required) Courses

HIS 6469. Historiography and Science (4). Introduces graduate students to the range of scholarship within the history of science. Reveals the full sweep of the study of science and society by examining studies of various scientific disciplines and time periods.

HIS 6500. History of Life Sciences (4) . Considers the development of life sciences from 1750 to the present. The course will introduce students to critical problems related to biology and society through the study of primary and secondary sources.

PHI 6455. Philosophy of Biology: Basic Topics (3) . A survey of basic topics in the philosophy of biology, including the nature of evolutionary theory, the coming of genetics, molecular biology and its philosophical implications, the Human Genome Project, Creationism, eugenics, and ecological questions.

PHI 6457r. Philosophy of Biology: Selected Topics (3) . A study of advanced topics in philosophy of biology, including game-theoretic explanations in biology, the units of selection problem, reductionism in biology, systematics, and socio-biology and the is/ought gap. May be repeated to a maximum of nine (9) semester hours.

REL 5493 01 Historiography of Science and Religion (3) . What is the relationship between science and religion? Are they necessary enemies, rival perspectives fighting over a single truth? Are they separate but equal human practices that address fundamentally different domains of inquiry? Or is the relationship between these cultural fields so deeply entangled that no simple, unified answer exists? Rather than addressing these questions in the abstract, this course grapples with key episodes in the complex history of science and religion in the West.

REL 5493 02 Religion, Medicine and Natural Philosophy in the 17th & 18th Centuries (3) . Explores the idiosyncratic projects, socio-cultural contexts, and theological horizons of early modern natural philosophy and medical theorizing.

Elective Courses (A Representative Sample)

This is a list of regularly offered courses, but there are many other possibilities to explore in the many related departments.

HISTORY

AMH 5336. U.S. Intellectual History I: Beginning to 1880 (4). An interdisciplinary study of American thought from the Puritans to the late 19th century, asking, among other questions, what mission American assigned itself. Among the ideas examined will be Puritanism, the Revolutionary ideology, federalism, the American Enlightenment, romanticism, individualism, and manifest destiny.

AMH 5337. U.S. Intellectual History II: 1880 to the Present (4). An interdisciplinary study of the impact on American thought of social Darwinism, industrialism, naturalism, the culture of consumption, radicalism, anticommunism, postindustrialism, and affluence. Examines the growth of cultural criticism as a task required of the 20th-century intellectual.

EUH 5608. European Intellectual History, 1500-1800 (4) . History of ideas documenting transition from "Medieval Mind" to "Modern Mind" including impact of four Renaissances, Protestant Reformation, Scientific Revolution, and Age of Enlightenment. Inter-disciplinary approach includes philosophy, literature, art, political theory, science, economic thought, religion, and music.

EUH 5609. European Intellectual History, 1800 to Present (4) . History of ideas in the last two hundred years, exploring nineteenth century as Age of "Isms" (including Liberalism, Conservatism, Communism, Romanticism, Idealism, Nationalism, Industrialism, Imperialism, Positivism, Darwinism, Historicism) and establishing the 20th century as Age of Crisis in which traditional Western Civilization disintegrates.

AMH 5635. Florida Environmental History (4) . Applies the methods and approaches of environmental history to Florida. Environmental history is an exciting new field of historical scholarship that considers the changing relationships between human beings and the natural world through time. The field explores how nature has helped to shape culture as well as how humans have modified the natural world and transformed the land.

AMH 5636. North American Environmental History (4) . Introduces the changing relationships between human beings and the natural world in America through time.

WOH 5238. Disease, Race & Environment (4) . Examines the close relationship between disease, race, and environment in the development of civilizations of the world.

PHILOSOPHY

PHH 5105r. Greek Philosophy (3) . Detailed study of Plato, Aristotle, or one of the schools or divisions of ancient thought (pre-Socratics, Stoicism, etc.). May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHH 5405r. Modern Philosophy (3) . A critical study of selected major western philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with an emphasis on logic, epistemology, and metaphysics. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHH 5505r. 19th-Century Philosophy (3). A study of either a major philosopher (e.g., Hegel, Marx, Mill) or philosophic movement (e.g., idealism, positivism, Marxism) of the nineteenth century. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHH 5609r. Contemporary Philosophy (3) . A detailed critical examination of selected figures and topics in twentieth-century philosophy. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHH 6009r. Studies in the History of Philosophy (3) . A course on major philosophers and trends that may bridge or extend over more than one distinct chronological period. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHI 5135. Modern Logic I (3) . Prerequisite: PHI 3130, equivalent, or permission of instructor. A course in the metatheory of first order logic. A mastery of the syntax and semantics of, and a natural deduction system for, first order logic is presumed. Among other results, the soundness and completeness of such a natural deduction system, and Gödel's first incompleteness theorem, are proved.

PHI 5136r. Modern Logic II (3) . Prerequisite: PHI 3130, or equivalent; or permission of instructor. An exploration of one or more non-classical logics, such as intuitionistic, many-valued, modal, provability, quantum, relevance, and tense. A mastery of the syntax and semantics of, and a natural deduction system for, first order logic is presumed. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHI 5555. Core Course in Metaphysics and Epistemology (3) . This course is a broad survey in contemporary metaphysics and epistemology requiring intensive study of works by such influential 20th-century analytic philosophers as Quine and Kripke. A selection of the following topics are covered: existence, identity, modality, universals, causation, free will, truth, the mind-body problem, theories of knowledge, skepticism, and naturalized epistemology.

PHI 5665. Core Course in Ethics (3) . This course examines normative ethics and metaethics, including such topics as consequentialism, contractualism, deontology, divine command theory, expressivism, intuitionism, and realism. The survey also includes reference to historical figures such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Hume, Kant, Bentham, and Mill.

PHI 5934r. Topics in Philosophy (3) . A variable content research seminar on selected philosophical problems. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHI 5956. Introduction to Philosophical Methods (3) . Prerequisite: Instructor's permission required. An introduction for graduate students that offers a critical review and analysis of various techniques of philosophical writing (e.g., textual interpretation, argument analysis, commentary on a philosophical paper). This is a writing-intensive course of varying content.

PHI 5998r. Tutorial in Philosophy (1–3) . Critical readings and discussions of important classical and contemporary philosophical texts. Variable content. Variable credit: one to two (1–2) semester hours for a reading course; three (3) semester hours for a reading course with substantial writing. Repeatable with the permission of instructor to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHI 6205r Philosophical Logic (3) . Prerequisite: PHI 3130, equivalent; or permission of instructor. An exploration of philosophical issues concerning logic and its applications. Topics such as counterfactuals; logical consequence; the range and nature of quantification; the relation of logic to language and thought; the relation of logic to mathematics; truth; vagueness. A mastery of the syntax and semantics of, and a natural deduction system for, first order logic is presumed. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHI 6225r. Philosophy of Language (3) . Selected topics, such as the following: theories of truth, meaning, and reference; vagueness; and in-depth readings of figures such as Tarski, Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, and Kripke. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHI 6306r. Epistemology (3) . A seminar on one or more main topics in contemporary analytic epistemology, such as skepticism, the definition of knowledge, theories of justification, the internalism/externalism debate, naturalized epistemology, virtue epistemology and contextualism. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHI 6325r. Philosophy of Mind (3) . A critical exploration of one or more of the major problems in the philosophy of mind, such as mental causation, intentionality, consciousness, personal identity, and the mind-body problem. May also include issues arising from the intersection of philosophy of mind and psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and other sciences of the mind. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHI 6406r. Philosophy of Science (3) . A critical exploration of major problems in the philosophy of science for students in the sciences and philosophy. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHI 6425r. Philosophy of Social Sciences (3) . A philosophical examination of some key issues in social scientific inquiry. Topics to be explored include human action, explanation and prediction, role of values, theory construction, ideology, and social science and public policy. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHI 6506r. Metaphysics (3) . A study of one or more topics in contemporary metaphysics, for example, ontology, free will, time, causation, and properties. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHI 6607r. Ethics (3) . Selected topics, such as the following: topics in the history of ethics, twentieth-century ethical theory, historical figures (e.g., Kant, Mill, Hobbes, Hume,) kinds of theory (e.g., consequentialism, contractualism, rationalism,) metaethical debates, axiology, and practical rationality. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHI 6935r. Seminar in Philosophical Topics (3) . A research seminar on a topic to be determined by the instructor's current research interests. Intensive and advanced. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

PHM 6205r. Social and Political Philosophy (3) . A critical examination of schools of thought (e.g., liberalism, utilitarianism, Marxism, communitarianism, feminism), or of central issues (e.g., justice, equality, race) in social/political philosophy. May focus on historical or contemporary approaches and/or philosophers. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

Religion

REL 5035- Seminar: Introduction to the Study of Religion. Graduate introduction to the history, present status, principal issues, and methodologies in the academic study of religion.

REL 5486- Religious Thought in America. The classic theological traditions in American religion from Puritanism to contemporary theology. Emphasis will be on Protestant thought, but attention will be given to representative Roman Catholic and Jewish thinkers.

REL 5515- Christianity in Late Antiquity. Christian thought, institutions, lifestyles, and literature in their social, cultural, and historical contexts from the time of Jesus to the early Middle Ages.

REL 5565- Modern Roman Catholicism. The Catholic Church from the Council of Trent to the present day; special consideration given to Vatican II, current problems, and leading thinkers.

REL 5616- Modern Judaism. The development of Judaism as a religious and cultural phenomenon in Europe, North America, and the Middle East from the European Enlightenment to the birth of the State of Israel.

REL 6176r- Seminar: Ethics and Politics. Seminars in ethics and politics encourage research into the relationships between religion, morality, and the social-political life of persons and groups.

Biological Sciences

PCB 5425- Population Ecology. Theory of population growth and regulation, demographic theory and analytical methods, life history variation and evolution.

PCB5672- Evolution. Provides instruction in evolution as a unifying framework for biological science. The course shows how two primary aspects of evolution, shared phylogenic history and the modification of populations and species, interact to produce the similarities and differences among all organisms.

PCB 5675- Advanced Evolutionary Biology. Topics in this course include population genetics, quantitative genetics, and optimality approaches to the study of evolution. Emphasis is on basic theory and how this relates to empirical applications.

ENGLISH

ENL5227- Studies in Renaissance Literature: Ecocriticism and Animal Studies in Early Modern Literature. This seminar will introduce students to the major theorists of ecocriticism and animal studies (e.g., Singer, Merchant, Bookchin, Agamben, Latour) and will apply their theories to a reading of early modern English texts by such authors as Shakespeare, Milton, and Jonson.

ENL5256-Studies in Victorian Literature: Studies in Fiction: Gender and Disease in the Victorian Novel. Kennedy: This class will examine the answers to these questions, and more generally how literary and medical texts negotiate the problems of gender and disease in the nineteenth century.

LAW

LAW 7722-Bioethics and the Law. Advanced study of law and values in health care and the biomedical sciences