Philosophy < University of Colorado Boulder

Programs Offered

Master's Degree

Philosophy - Master of Arts (MA)

Doctoral Degree

Philosophy - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Applicants for admission to the Graduate School for work toward a master's or doctoral degree in philosophy are expected to have had 18 or more credit hours in undergraduate courses in the subject.

Students in the master's and doctoral programs must satisfy a variety of requirements, including the completion of coursework. The Department of Philosophy has a diversified faculty that can supervise the writing of master's theses and doctoral dissertations on a wide range of topics.

The Department makes available teaching assistantships and then graduate part-time instructorships to doctoral students, and assists with job placement. Teaching assistantships are available to several master's students each semester as well.

An overview and descriptions of both degree programs (PhD and MA) are available from the Department of Philosophy. Students wishing to pursue graduate work in philosophy should note master's and doctoral degree requirements, and consult the Graduate portion of the Department's website.

Course code for this program is PHIL.

Faculty

While many faculty teach both undergraduate and graduate students, some instruct students at the undergraduate level only. For more information, contact the faculty member's home department.

Bailey, Dominic
Associate Professor; PhD, University of Cambridge

Boonin, David
Professor; PhD, University of Pittsburgh

Bredeson, Garrett
Assistant Teaching Professor, Associate Chair; PhD, Vanderbilt University

Cleland, Carol
Professor; PhD, Brown University

Demarest, Heather
Assistant Professor; PhD, Rutgers University

Fileva, Iskra
Associate Professor; PhD, Boston University

Heathwood, Chris
Associate Professor, Associate Chair; PhD, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Huemer, Michael
Professor; PhD, Rutgers University–Newark

Jacobson, Daniel
Professor; PhD, University of Michigan

Kaufman, Dan
Associate Professor; PhD, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Kopeikin, Zak
Assistant Teaching Professor; PhD, University of Colorado Boulder

Lee, Mi
Associate Professor; PhD, Harvard University

Norcross, Alastair
Professor; PhD, Syracuse University

Oddie, Graham
Professor; PhD, University of London (England)

Pasnau, Robert
Professor; PhD, Cornell University

Potter, Jason
Assistant Teaching Professor; PhD, University of Colorado Boulder

Rupert, Robert
Professor, Chair; PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago

Saucedo, Raul
Assistant Professor; PhD, Cornell University

Shear, Ted
Assistant Teaching Professor; PhD, University of California-Davis

Staffel, Julia
Associate Professor; PhD, University of Southern California

Steup, Matthias
Professor; PhD, Brown University

Talbot, Brian
Assistant Professor; PhD, University of Southern California

Wingo, Ajume
Associate Professor; PhD, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Youkey, David
Assistant Teaching Professor; PhD, University of Colorado Boulder

Courses

PHIL 5010 (3) Single Philosopher

Discusses the work of a single historical figure in philosophy with the aim of reaching a broad and deep understanding of the philosopher's thought.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4010
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 12.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5020 (3) Topics in the History of Philosophy

Examines a specific philosophical problem over an extended historical period.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5030 (1) Greek Philosophical Texts

Selected readings in classical philosophy, in the original language, with a focus on achieving fluency in reading philosophical Greek.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 8.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Recommended: Prerequisite of GREK 1013 and GREK 1023 or the equivalent.

PHIL 5040 (1) Latin Philosophical Texts

Selected readings in classical and medieval philosophy, in the original language, with a focus on achieving fluency in reading philosophical Latin.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 8.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.

PHIL 5100 (3) Values Proseminar

Covers seminal classic texts and/or fundamental topics in analytic ethics and social/political philosophy, including its history.

Requisites: Restricted to Philosophy graduate students only.

PHIL 5110 (3) Contemporary Moral Theory

Provides an in-depth look at some recent work in moral theory, usually organized around a single topic. Topics vary from year to year. Previous topics include: consequentialism and its critics, virtue theory, deontological ethics, moral psychology, well-being, and metaethics.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4110
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5120 (3) Philosophy and Animals

Examines the moral status of nonhuman animals, and its implications for the common use of animals as food and experimental subjects for humans.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 5120
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5150 (3) Topics in Applied Ethics

Discusses advanced work in applied normative philosophy. Topics vary from semester to semester and may focus on one or two specific areas (e.g., race, procreative ethics, military ethics, sports ethics) or take a broader approach that includes issues from across a wider range of subjects.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4150
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5200 (3) Contemporary Political Philosophy

Provides a survey of recent approaches to political philosophy: liberalism (Rawls, Dworkin); libertarianism (Nozick); communitarianism (Sandel, Macintyre); feminism (Jaggar). Topics and readings vary with the instructor.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4200
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5230 (3) Bioethics and Public Policy

Examines public policy implications of contemporary biological, genetic, biomedical, and behavioral science in light of ethics and human values. Considers theoretical and practical grounds for moral assessment of scientific research and possible applications of technology.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5240 (3) Seminar in Environmental Philosophy

Philosophical examination of several different approaches to environmental problems: economic, juridical, political and ecological. Discusses specific environmental problems, focusing on their moral dimensions, e.g., wilderness preservation, animal rights and land use and urban planning.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: ENVS 5240
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5260 (3) Philosophy of Law

Considers philosophical topics concerning law and the U.S. legal system. Topics that may be considered include the nature of law, relations between law and morality, justifications of punishment, the moral duty to obey the law, and law and liberty.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4260
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5290 (1-3) Topics in Values and Social Policy

Deals with topics in the area of philosophy and public policy and is often interdisciplinary in focus. Topics vary from one semester to another.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 7.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5300 (3) Philosophy of Mind

Discusses topics in the philosophy of mind, including the mind-body problem, consciousness, intentionality, rationality, mental causation, and the nature of mental states.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4300
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5340 (3) Epistemology

Studies some of the main topics of theory of knowledge, such as evidence, justification, prediction, explanation, skepticism, and concept acquisition.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4340

PHIL 5360 (3) Metaphysics

Traditional and contemporary theories of the basic categories of reality and the human relationship to it, including universals, substance, identity, change, mind and body, free will, and modality.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4360
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5370 (3) Free Will and Determinism

Explores the full range of questions relating to the problem of free will and determinism. Topics may include; the scientific evidence for determinism, hard versus soft determinism, arguments for and against the compatibility of free will and determinism, moral responsibility and the principle of alternate possibilities, hierarchical motivation, the deep self, reactive attitudes, the intelligibility question for libertarianism, divine foreknowledge.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4370

PHIL 5400 (3) Philosophy of Science

Advances students' knowledge of topics in philosophy of science and develops students' ability to think and write clearly about science. Topics may include scientific methodology; distinguishing science from pseudoscience; characterizing experimental and historical sciences; interpretations of special and general relativity; interpretations of quantum mechanics; the nature of biological species; approaches to defining life; criteria for identifying alien life; artificial intelligence; neuroscience and consciousness; fundamental physical properties and laws of nature; chance and probability; and causation.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4400
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5440 (3) Topics in Logic

Provides for offering courses in a variety of topics in logic, including, but not limited to, mathematical logic, philosophical issues in logic, probability theory, decision theory, and inductive logic.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4440
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5450 (3) History and Philosophy of Physics

Discusses the epistemic question of what characterizes good physics research as well as the metaphysical question of what our best physics research tells us about the world. Topics may include case studies of physics experiments, theory choice, and scientific methodology in physics, as well as foundational metaphysical questions in statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, special and general relativity, chance and probability, and the laws of nature.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4450 and PHYS 5450 and PHYS 5450
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5460 (3) Modal Logic

Introduces the most philosophically relevant kind of logic that builds on PHIL 2440. Modal logic is the logic of the concepts of necessity, possibility and contingency. A variety of systems of sentential modal logic will be covered, along with the standard system of first-order modal logic.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4460
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5470 (3) Probability and Rational Choice

Examines issues in four related areas: probability theory (e.g. the interpretation of probability, the raven paradox and the principle of indifference), decision theory (e.g., the Newcomb problem, the toxin puzzle and Pascal's wager), game theory (e.g., Prisoner's dilemma, tragedy of the commons and Schelling points) and social choice theory (e.g., Arrow's theorem). Familiarity with symbolic logic is strongly recommended.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4470
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5480 (3) Formal Methods in Philosophy

Introduces formal methods used in contemporary philosophy beyond classical first-order logic. Specific topics may vary. Examples: extensions of and alternatives to first-order logic (including propositional and quantified modal logic and higher-order and plural logic), alternatives to classical logic (including many-valued and intuitionistic systems), generalized and substitutional quantifiers, the lambda calculus, indicative and subjunctive conditionals, probability theory, inductive logic, and decision theory.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4480
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5490 (3) Philosophy of Language

Examines theories and problems regarding the nature of language and its relation to reality. Concepts discussed include sense, reference, conventions, intentions, and their relation to science and social life. Relevant literature includes readings in Frege, Russell, Quine, Putnam, Kripke, and Chomsky.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: PHIL 4490
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5550 (3) Metaphysics and Epistemology Proseminar

Covers seminal classic texts and/or fundamental topics in analytic metaphysics and epistemology.

Requisites: Restricted to Philosophy graduate students only.

PHIL 5600 (3) Philosophy of Religion

Studies topics falling under philosophy of religion, such as proofs for God's existence, religious language, mysticism, psychology of religion, modern theological movements, miracles, and study of individual theologians.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5700 (3) Aesthetics

Analyzes the principal topics of aesthetics, including such issues as formal structure of aesthetics, the nature of critical judgments, and the status of the work of art.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5800 (3) Open Topics in Philosophy

Variety of new courses at the 5000 level. See current departmental announcements for specific content.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5810 (1-3) Special Topics in Philosophy

Instructor meets regularly with three or more students to discuss special topics in philosophy.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 5840 (1-3) Graduate Independent Study

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 6000 (3-4) Seminar in the History of Philosophy

Studies advanced topics in the history of philosophy. Content varies by semester, but may extend to any period in the history of philosophy, from the Presocratics into the modern era.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 12.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

PHIL 6100 (3) Seminar in Ethics

Intensive study of selected topics in ethical theory.