Courses in Philosophy
Undergraduate Courses
An investigation of principal problems in philosophy: reality,change, human nature,
human knowledge, and ethics; different worldviews.
2207103 Philosophy and Logic
Meaning and scope of philosophy; major problems of philosophy: the problems of ultimate
reality, knowledge and sources of knowledge, ethics, aesthetics, and applied philosophy;
logic as an instrument of philosophy; nature of inductive and deductive methods of
reasoning; principles of valid and invalid reasoning; analysis of reasoning in ordinary
language.
2207142 Reasoning
Definition of reason; linguistic, material, formal and psycholosgical fallacies; kinds of
reasoning; problem solving; and analysis of argumentation; reasoning in academic
literature.
A survey of the evolution of mankind's religions; beliefs and their expressions, emphasizing
primitive religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam; the social scientists'
theories of religion.
The philosophical thoughts of the main figures in philosophy: Plato, Aristotle,
Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Wittgenstein, Husserl, Dewey and Bergson.
Propositional logic; predicate logic; valid arguments; methods of showing validity and
invalidity of arguments; consistent and inconsistent sets of statements.
Selected topics in aesthetics: theories of beauty, theories of the aesthetics, metacriticism,
theories of aesthetic value, and the nature of the aesthetic object.
Important ethical theories and contemporary moral issues: abortion, environmental crisis,
punishment.
The scope and content of political philosophy; analysis of major problems in political
philosophy, including the necessity of a state, the nature of a legitimate state, the limit
of state power, and the means people adopt to change a political system; analysis and
criticism of solutions proposed by the major theories, including liberal democratic theory,
socialism, conservatism, and idealism.
2207371 Philosophy and Literature
Relation between philosophy and literature. Problems of interpretation and truth claims
in philosophy and literature. Literature as a means to moral awareness. Aesthetics of
literature. Study of philosophical texts as pieces of literature.
The development of Indian philosophy in the Vedic period; philosophy of the Upanisads,
Bhagavadgita, Carvaka, Jaina, and the Six Systems; Indian and Western philosophy.
Buddhist concepts of the world and man; theory of knowledge; man and action (karma);
Samsara; liberation; Buddhist ethics; Buddhist and Western philosophy.
2207384 German Philosophy
Thoughts of selected important figures in German philosophy: Leibniz, Kant, Hegel,
Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Husserl, Jaspers, and Frege.
2207385 American Philosophy
Philosophical ideas of Peirce, William James, and John Dewey; the work of some
contemporary American philosophers; influence of pragmatism on American culture.
2207386 British Philosophy
Issues that arise in the works of major recent figures in British philosophy: Bradley,
McTaggart, Moore, Russell, Wittgenstein, Strawson, Ryle, and Collingwood.
2207387 Philosophy of Women
A critical study of explanations and debates on patriarchy and the nature of women,
their role, status and relationship to men. Ethical norms which governs the life and ideal
of women. Study of the important works by Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, Mill,
Simone de Beauvoir and other feminist thinkers. Philosophical foundations of women's
rights and equality between the sexes. Status and meanings of women in major world
religious teachings.
Idealism and materialism; free will and determinism; sceptical approaches to knowledge;
rationalistic and empiricist theories of knowledge; epistemological status of mathematics
and science; theories of truth.
2207467 Philosophy of Language
Discussion of selected topics basic to the philosophical understanding of language:
linguistic meaning, speech acts, the interrelation of language, mind and reality, and
innate versus learned knowledge of language.
The origin of Japanese thought; the influence of Chinese thinkers and of Mahayana
Buddhism on Japanese thought, including the development of Japanese thought from
B.E.1135 to 2411.
2207474 Chinese Philosophy
The philosophical thoughts of the prominent Chinese philosophers of and after the Great
Thinkers Period; contemporary Chinese philosophy; Chinese philosophy versus Indian and
western philosophy.
2207476 Special Topics in Buddhist Philosophy
A critical study of some special topics of Buddhist philosophy: the nature of man, the
world, the concept of Anatta, Paticcasamuppada, social philosophy, and the way to
liberation.
2207477 Special Topics in History of Philosophy
Study of particular topics in the history of philosophy, for example, Greek philosophy,
Marxism, the philosophy of Wittgenstein.
2207478 Special Topics in Ethics
Study of particular topics in ethics, for example, metaethics, contemporary ethics, ethical
realism.
2207479 Special Topics in Metaphysics and Epistemology
Study of particular topics in metaphysics and epistemology, for example, time and space,
empiricism, scientific knowledge.
Graduate Courses
A critical study of the major works in the Western philosophical tradition, such as
those by Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, and Kant. The focus is both on the
contents as well as the philosophical problems presented in the works.
2207609 Special Topic in the History of Philosophy
A study of particular topics in the history of Philosophy, for example, a particular
philosophy or the history of a basic idea in philosophy.
2207623 Philosophy of Mind
A study of important problems concerning mind such as the mental and the
physical, thought, imagination, self-awareness, memory, emotion, self-deception, sub-
concious, artificial intelligence.
2207625 Special Topics in Metaphysics
A study of particular topics chosen from Metaphysics.
2207634 Philosophy of Language
A study of theories of truth, meaning, synonymy and cognitive significance;
analyticity, translation, semantic theory in linguistics.
2207635 Special Topics in Epistemology
A study of particular topics chosen from epistemology.
2207645 Philosophy of Science
A study of important problems of science such as laws, theories and the structure of
scientific knowledge : scientific influence and the evaluation of scientific knowledge,
growth of knowledge : meaning of scientific progress.
Various types of reasoning. fallacies in reasoning, important concepts of symbolic
logic, applications of principles of logic to the analysis of the structure of arguments, logical
consequence, consistent sets of sentences, logical truth.
2207653 Aesthetics
A study of the aesthetic attitude: metaphysical status of works of art: aesthetic
cognition: aesthetic value judgements. aesthetics of particular art forms.
2207661 Philosophy of Education
An analysis of the influence of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and political
philosophy on certain aspects of education, curriculum, teaching methods and the role of
teachers and schools in society.
2207668 Philosophy and Literature
Discussion of works of literature containing themes of philosophical interest or
showing influence by philosophy, of example, Schopenhaur's influence on Thomas Mann,
the influence of German idealism on the poetry of Colleridge and Wordsworth, the
existentialism of Sartre's Nausea, the nature and function of literature.
2207671 Philosophy of Mahayana Buddhism
History and development of Mahayana. Triyana, Paramita, Dusabhumi of the
Bodhisatva, the Four Great Resolutions, Trikaya, Visuddhi-bhumi, difference between
Mahayana and Theravada, common characteristics of Mahayana and Theravada.
Philosophy of the Madhyamika, Yogacara, Zen, Sukhavati, and others.
2207675 Buddhist Philosophy in Suttatanta Pitaka
A critical analysis of the significant concepts of Buddhist philosophy such as the
concept of the world, human beings, Anatta, Karma, rebirth, the Four Noble Truths,
Magga and Phala, Nibbana, etc., as mentioned in various Suttas.
2207676 Buddhist Philosophy in Abhidhamma Pitaka
An analytical study of Buddhist Philosophy in Abhidhamma Pitaka especially the
concepts of consciousness (citta),
consciousness concomitance (cetasika), form (rupa), Nibbana and other related problems.
2207678 Special Topics in Oriental Philosophy
A study of particular topics in Buddhist Philosophy. Indian Philosophy, Chinese
Philosophy etc.
Practice on critical analysis of writings of various philosophers.
Critical discussion of questions, problems, and concepts relevant of the most basic
features of reality; mind and body, existence, substance and attribute, causality, human
agency,universals.
Paradigm examples of knowledge; nature of knowledge : belief, truth, certainty,
probability, origins of knowledge; contemporary work in epistemology; continuity in the
history of epistemology.
Origins of moral obligation, ultimate aims and meaning of life, theories of moral
standards, theories of metaethics. relation between ethics and Man's search for knowledge
in other areas.
Critical study of discussion of the problems of rights, political authority, political
obligation, responsibility and freedom, justics; problems of social ethics, etc.
A critical study of the meaning and scope of religious language reason and sentiment
in religious expression, the meaning of the Scriptures, various aspects of religious
development, the Transeendence, asceticism and phenomena relating to ascetic practics.
A critical discussion of some philosophical problems and concepts of Buddhism
such as metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, bondage and liberation, man and society, etc.
Critical study and discussion of the significant concepts of the Astika and Nastika
traditions of Indian philosophy, i.e., the concept of Atman, the Absolute, God, the world,
Samsara, Karma and rebirth, Moksa, theory of knowledge, ethics; compare these concepts
of various schools of Indian philosophy.
2207779 Seminar in Chinese Philosophy
Critical study and discussion of some significant problems of Chinses Philosophy
from classical period upto modern time with a stress on some great philosophers and some
new philosophical developments, e.g., Confucius, Lao Tzu, Mencius, Chaung Tzu, Neo-
Confucianism, Neo-Taoism, Mao Tse-tung, etc.
2207781 Individual Study I
2207782 Individual Study II
2207783 Individual Study III
2207784 Individual Study IV
2207798 Individual Study
An individual study of a special topic according to each student's interest.
2207832 Current Research in Epistemology
A study of selected original papers from various philosophy journals which deal in
depth with a topic from epistemology.
2207862 Current Research in Social Philosophy
A study of selected original papers from various philosophy journals which deal in
depth with topics from social philosophy.
2207867 Current Research in Philosophy of Religion
A study of selected origional papers from various philosophy journals which deal in
depth with a topic from philosophy of religion.
[Department of Philosophy]