Courses in Philosophy


Undergraduate Courses

2207102 General Philosophy

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.

2207161 Man and Religion

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.

2207201 History of Western Philosophy

The philosophical thoughts of the main figures in philosophy: Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Wittgenstein, Husserl, Dewey and Bergson.

2207341 Symbolic Logic

Propositional logic; predicate logic; valid arguments; methods of showing validity and invalidity of arguments; consistent and inconsistent sets of statements.

2207361 Aesthetics

Selected topics in aesthetics: theories of beauty, theories of the aesthetics, metacriticism, theories of aesthetic value, and the nature of the aesthetic object.

2207363 Ethics

Important ethical theories and contemporary moral issues: abortion, environmental crisis, punishment.

2207365 Political Philosophy

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.

2207375 Indian Philosophy

The development of Indian philosophy in the Vedic period; philosophy of the Upanisads, Bhagavadgita, Carvaka, Jaina, and the Six Systems; Indian and Western philosophy.

2207376 Buddhist 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.

2207422 Metaphysics and Epistemology

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.

2207472 Japanese Philosophy

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

2207606 Critical History of Western Philosophy

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.

2207649 Logic

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.

2207680 Pro-seminar

Practice on critical analysis of writings of various philosophers.

2207722 Seminar in Metaphysics

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.

2207732 Seminar in Epistemology

Paradigm examples of knowledge; nature of knowledge : belief, truth, certainty, probability, origins of knowledge; contemporary work in epistemology; continuity in the history of epistemology.

2207752 Seminar in Ethics

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.

2207762 Seminar in Social Philosophy

Critical study of discussion of the problems of rights, political authority, political obligation, responsibility and freedom, justics; problems of social ethics, etc.

2207767 Seminar in Philosophy of Religion

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.

2207770 Seminar in Buddhist Philosophy

A critical discussion of some philosophical problems and concepts of Buddhism such as metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, bondage and liberation, man and society, etc.

2207772 Seminar in Indian Philosophy

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]