Below is a list of upcoming graduate courses with full descriptions and other specific information. Below that is a list of all graduate-level courses offered by the Department. A full listing of graduate level courses is also available at the OSU Course Catalog. For a complete listing of courses offered in recent, current, and upcoming semesters, see the OSU Master Schedule.
Upcoming Graduate Courses
Spring Semester 2026
5010 - Teaching Philosophy
Instructor: Aaron Yarmel
MW 9:35-10:55AM
This course explores ideas and strategies for teaching philosophy, with a special focus on the theory and practice of classroom dialogue facilitation and the Philosophy for Children tradition. You and your fellow classmates will develop skills for fostering caring, creative, and critical thinking through procedurally directive dialogue facilitation techniques, crafting engaging and pedagogically sound lesson plans, and diagnosing and responding to the most difficult classroom puzzles in real time. You will also put what you have learned into practice by teaching lessons at a local high school.
5241 - 18th Century Phil.: Kant
Instructor: Lisa Shabel
TR 12:45-2:05PM
In this course, we will read and study as much of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason as we can during the semester. Kant is one of the most important thinkers—and his first Critique one of the most important texts— in the history of western philosophy. We will discuss the problem of synthetic a priori knowledge; Kant's theory of pure sensibility; Transcendental Idealism; the Deductions of the Categories; the System of Principles; the Antinomies; and more. Our study will be illuminated by related texts in Kant, and a commentary on the Critique, to be selected. In-class discussion will be emphasized, and assessments will include short papers and an exam.
5310 - Metaethics
Tristram McPherson
TR 2:20-3:40PM
Are there objective ethical facts? Is reason the slave of the passions? Is morality an elaborate fiction? Is ethical knowledge possible? This course will explore contemporary philosophical discussions of fundamental questions about the nature of ethical thought and talk, the existence and character of ethical facts, and the possibility of ethical knowledge.
5500 - Advanced Logic
Chris Pincock
WF 11:10AM-12:30PM
This course is an introduction to the metatheory of first-order logic. We do this through a mathematical investigation into a language for first-order logic and its features. After a brief survey of the basics of set theory and how to develop proofs, we turn to a precise characterization of the syntax and semantics for a language of first-order logic. This allows us to consider some of the most important results for first-order logic: the soundness and completeness of first-order logic as well as the Löwenheim-Skolem theorems. If time permits, we will also investigate the proof that first-order logic is not decidable.
Textbook: R. Zach, Sets, Logic, Computation: An Open Introduction to Metalogic. This is an open-source textbook that is freely available to download at https://slc.openlogicproject.org/
Prerequisite: Phil. 2500 or permission of the instructor.
5530 - Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics
Stewart Shapiro
TR 9:35-10:55AM
Throughout history, philosophers have always paid special attention to mathematics. Rationalists, for example, took (what they regarded as) the methodology of mathematics to be the paradigm of knowledge acquisition. Empiricists went to some length to accommodate mathematics, a prima facie counterexample to their world view. We will begin with the foundationalist programs early this century: Frege's platonistic logicism, Russell's nominalistic variation, the Hilbert program, and intuitionism. The (alleged) failure of each program will be discussed, with attention to ramifications for epistemology. One problem of particular concern in this course will be that of understanding the relationship between mathematics and physical reality. Course evaluation will be based on a series of informal essays and a substantial term project.
8300 - Value Theory
Instructor: Dana Howard
T 4-6:45PM
This advanced graduate course explores classical and emerging topics in philosophical bioethics, with special attention to the role that philosophers play in shaping and clarifying bioethical scholarship and practice. Bioethics is, at its foundation, an interdisciplinary field; since its inception, philosophers have played a central role in articulating the conceptual tools and the frameworks we need to think critically about complex ethical, metaphysical, and epistemological issues in healthcare, health policy, and biomedical innovation. Bioethics has also significantly informed and reshaped pockets of philosophical inquiry, by introducing real-world complications that traditional philosophical theories didn’t fully anticipate. This has pushed philosophers to revise their concepts and to develop new frameworks which help us better understand the complexities of our lived experience. Three units will examine these developments in philosophical bioethics: Unit 1: Bodily and Mental Integrity. In this unit, we will ask, what makes something a part of someone’s body, ethically speaking? Do rights to bodily integrity extend to the mind? Who owns the thoughts and other forms of mental data that are uncovered through new neurotechnologies? Unit 2: The Ethics and Metaphysics of Procreation. In this unit, we will examine whether we can harm or benefit others by creating them. What is pregnancy - a process, an achievement, something else? What sorts of reproductive decisions (if any) require moral justification? Unit 3 will be developed based on students’ philosophical interests but may include: risk and exploitation in research; agency, capacity, and informed consent; or addiction and responsibility.
8650 - Philosophy of Science
Instructor: Richard Samuels
R 4-6:45PM
8800 - Philosophy of Mind
Instructor: Declan Smithies
W 4-6:45PM
This course will focus on issues at the intersection between ethics and the philosophy of mind. We will examine the nature of mental states that figure prominently in ethical theory, including pain, pleasure, desire, emotion, and evaluative judgment. We will also discuss the value of consciousness and its role in theories of well-being and moral status.
8900 - Placement Seminar
Instructor: Tristram McPherson
[does not meet in person]
8999 - Dissertation Seminar
Instructor: Declan Smithies
W 12:25-3:30PM
Research for dissertation purposes only
Complete Listing of Philosophy Graduate Courses
5010S Teaching Philosophy
3 Credit Hours
Design a set of philosophy lessons and team-teach some of these lessons to secondary school students.
5210 (601.03)--Ancient Philosophy: Studies in Ancient Philosophy
3 Credit Hours
Variable content; special topics in ancient Greek philosophy, including value theory, logic, metaphysics and natural science in pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle the Hellenistic schools or neo-Platonism.
Prereq: 301 or 10 cr hrs of Philos at the 200 level; or above; or grad standing in Philos; or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 10 cr hrs.
5211 (601.01)--Ancient Philosophy: Plato
3 Credit Hours
A survey of central philosophical themes in one or more Platonic dialogues.
Prereq: 301 or 10 cr hrs of Philos at the 200 level; or above; or grad standing in Philos; or permission of instructor.
5212 (601.02)--Ancient Philosophy: Aristotle
3 Credit Hours
A survey of central philosophical themes in one or more Aristotelian treatises.
Prereq: 301 or 10 cr hrs of Philos at the 200 level; or above; or grad standing in Philos; or permission of instructor.
5220 (602)--Studies in Medieval Philosophy
3 Credit Hours
An intensive examination of a major philosopher, school or philosophical problem of the medieval period; topics vary.
Prereq: 302 and 10 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 200 level or above; or grad standing in Philos; or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 15 cr hrs.
5230 (603)--Studies in 17th-Century Philosophy
3 Credit Hours
An intensive examination of a major philosopher or philosophical problem of the rationalist period; topics vary from quarter to quarter.
Prereq: 303 and 10 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 200 level or above; or grad standing in Philos; or written of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 15 cr hrs.
5240 (604.02)--Studies in 18th Century Philosophy: Selected Problems or Topics
3 Credit Hours
An intensive examination of one or more important themes in Kant's philosophical writings.
Prereq: 303, or 304, and 10 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 200 level or above; or grad standing in Philos; or permission of instructor
5241 (604.01)--Studies in 18th Century Philosophy: Kant
3 Credit Hours
An intensive examination of one or more important themes in Kant's philosophical writings.
Prereq: 303, or 304, and 10 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 200 level or above; or grad standing in Philos; or permission of instructor.
5260 (606)--Studies in 20th-Century Philosophy
3 Credit Hours
An intensive examination of one or more central movement in 20th-century philosophy; topics vary.
Prereq: 15 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 200 level or above, or grad standing in Philos or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 15 cr hrs.
5261 Phenomenology and Existentialism
3 Credit Hours
Early existentialist ideas of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche; Husserl's phenomenological method and critical analysis of works of philosophers such as Heidegger, Jaspers, Sartre, Beauvoir, and others.
5300 (631)--Advanced Moral Philosophy
3 Credit Hours
An intensive examination of major issues within moral philosophy such as: the foundations of morality; objectivity in ethics; morality, reason and sentiment; virtues and vices.
Prereq: 431 and 10 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 200 level or above or grad standing in Philos or permission of instructor.
5400 (630)--Advanced Political and Social Philosophy
3 Credit Hours
An intensive examination of issues in political and social philosophy, including democracy, civil disobedience, anarchism, totalitarianism, nature of the state, etc.
Prereq: 230 and 10 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 200 level or above; or grad standing in Philos; or permission of instructor, and English 110 or 111 or equiv.
5410 (638)--Advanced Philosophy of Law
3 Credit Hours
An examination of the nature and function of law and of such problems as the relation of law to morality and the justification of punishment.
Prereq: 338 and 10 cr hrs of Philos coursework at the 200 level or above; or grad standing; or equiv or permission of instructor.
5420 (625)--Philosophical Topics in Feminist Theory
3 Credit Hours
An analytical study of selected philosophical issues arising out of feminist theory, such as the nature of autonomy, or the relation between gender and knowledge.
Prereq: 10 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 300 level or above; or grad standing; or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 10 cr hrs.
5450 (640)--Advanced Aesthetic Theory
3 Credit Hours
Basic issues in philosophy of art: the definition of art; meaning, truth, and representation in art; the nature and basis of criticism; the criteria of interpretation of works of art.
Prereq: 15 cr hrs of Philos course work at 200 level or above; grad standing in Philos; or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 641.
5500 (650)--Advanced Symbolic Logic
3 Credit Hours
Introduction to the metatheory of first-order logics and languages: axiomatic development of propositional and predicate logic; model theory; soundness, completeness, and Lowenheim-Skolem theorems.
Prereq: 250
5510 (652)--Nonclassical Logic
3 Credit Hours
Study of selected systems of nonclassical logic, such as entailment systems, modal, many-valued, epistemic, deontic, imperative, erotetic, tense, and free logics.
Prereq: 650. Repeatable to a maximum of 10 cr hrs.
5530 Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics
Analysis of basic concepts used in logic and in philosophical claims about logic and mathematics, such as proposition, logical truth, mathematical objects, and necessity.
5540 Advanced Philosophy of Rational Choice
Advanced study of the principles and methods of the philosophy of rational choice with applications in the theory of knowledge, ethics, and social and political philosophy.
Prereq: 2500 or 2540; or enrollment in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Major; or Grad standing in Philos; or permission of instructor.
5550 (750)--Advanced Logical Theory
3 Credit Hours
Topics include formal arithmetic, recursive functions, Turing machines, Godel's incompleteness theorems, Church's thesis, arithmetical truth, logical paradoxes, and higher-order logic.
Preq: 250 and 650. Repeatable to a maximum of 15 hours.
5600 (673) - Advanced Philosophy of Language
3 Credit Hours
Basic problems and results in the philosophy of language, concentrating on theories of reference, theories of meaning, and theories of language-use (speech-acts, implicature, etc.).
Prereq: 250 and 10 credit hrs of Philos course work at the 300 level or above (preferably 473); or grad standing in Philos; or permission of instructor.
5650 (655)--Advanced Philosophy of Science
3 Credit Hours
A study of the nature and structure of scientific concepts, laws, and theories; appraisal of methodologies, presuppositions, and frames of reference in science.
Prereq: 250 and 10 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 300 level or above (preferably 455); or 250 and grad standing in Philos; or permission of instructor.
5700 (663)--Advanced Metaphysics
3 Credit Hours
An intensive examination of major metaphysical problems: categories, universals, substance and process, causality and law, space and time, metaphysical presuppositions of knowledge.
Prereq: 250 or 10 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 300 level or above (preferably 463); or grad standing; or permission of instructor.
5750 (660)--Advanced Theory of Knowledge
3 Credit Hours
An intensive examination of major epistemological problems: the possibility, origin, foundation, structure, methods, limits, types, and validity of knowledge.
Prereq: 250 and 10 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 300 level or above (preferably 460); or grad standing; or permission of instructor.
5800 (667) - Advanced Philosophy of Mind
3 Credit Hours
Classical and contemporary approaches to the nature of mind, mind-body, other minds, intentionality, and other problems.
Prereq: 15 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 300 level or above (preferably 467); or grad standing in Philos; or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 767.
5830 (612)--Introduction to Cognitive Science
3 Credit Hours
Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary study of the nature of human thought; psychological, philosophical, linguistic, and artificial intelligence approaches to knowledge representation.
Prereq: Permission of instructor or a total of 12 cr hrs from at least two of the following areas: Cptr Inf, Linguist, Philos, and Psych. Not open to students with credit for CptrInf 612, Linguist 612, or Psych 612 or 794 (Sp Qtr 1989) or 794A (Wi Qtr 1990). Cross-listed in Computer and Information Science, Linguistics, and Psychology.
5840 (620)--Advanced Philosophy of Cognitive Science
3 Credit Hours
In-depth examination of the influence of results in cognitive science upon the way in which philosophers approach fundamental issues about the nature of the mind.
Prereq: 467 or permission of instructor.
5850 (670) - Philosophy of Religion
3 Credit Hours
A study of religious concepts and problems; the idea and nature of God, of humans, their relation to the world and human destiny.
Prereq: 10 cr hrs of Philos course work at the 300 level or above; or grad standing; or permission of instructor.
8001 --Graduate Training Seminar
1-3 Credit Hours
This course is designed to provide professional training for all first- and second-year graduate students that will enable them to develop the skills required for success in research, teaching and service.
Prereq: Grad standing in Philos. Repeatable to a maximum of 5 cr hrs or 2 completions. This course is graded S/U.
8100 (700) - First-Year Seminar
4 Credit Hours
A topically variable introduction to advanced philosophical methodology.
Open only to first-year philosophy grad students.
8200 (801)--Seminar in the History of Philosophy
1-4 Credit Hours
Preq: Grad standing in Philos or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs.
8300 (830)--Seminar in Value Theory
1-4 Credit Hours
Preq: Grad standing in Philos or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs.
8500 (850)--Seminar in Logic
1-4 Credit Hours
Preq: Grad standing in Philos or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs.
8600 (873)--Seminar in Philosophy of Language
1-4 Credit Hours
Preq: Grad standing in Philos or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs.
8650 (855)--Seminar in Philosophy of Science
1-4 Credit Hours
Preq: Grad standing in Philos or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs.
8700 (863)--Seminar in Metaphysics
1-4 Credit Hours
Preq: Grad standing in Philos or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs.
8750 (860)--Seminar in Theory of Knowledge
1-4 Credit Hours
Preq: Grad standing in Philos or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs.
8800--Seminar in Philosophy of Mind
1-4 Credit Hours
Preq: Grad standing in Philos or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs.
8900--Placement Seminar
1-3 Credit Hours
Prereq: Grad standing in Philos. Repeatable to a maximum of 9 cr hrs or 3 completions. This course is graded S/U.
8999 --Dissertation Research in Philosophy
1-9 Credit Hours
Research for dissertation purposes only.
Prereq: Repeatable to a maximum of 30 cr hrs or 30 completions. This course is graded S/U.