Philosophy (PHIL)

PHIL 3  Introduction to Logic

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC, C-ID #: PHIL 110)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Eligibility for (ENGL C1000 or ENGL 1A) or (ENGL C1000H or ENGL 1AH) or AMLA 1A.

The use of arguments both in their occurrence in ordinary discourse and in academic disciplines within the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences with particular focus on deductive logic. Deductive and inductive reasoning techniques will be critically examined to establish their logical correctness or identify their fallaciousness.

Course Schedule

PHIL 3H  Introduction to Logic - Honors

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC, C-ID #: PHIL 110)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Honors Program

The use of arguments in ordinary discourse and in academic disciplines within the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences with particular focus on deductive logic. Deductive and inductive reasoning techniques will be critically examined to establish their logical correctness or identify their fallaciousness. An honors course is designed to provide an enriched experience. Students may not receive credit for both PHIL 3 and PHIL 3H.

Course Schedule

PHIL 4  Introduction to Symbolic Logic

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC)
Lecture: 54   

Introduction to the basic elements of modern logic: the nature of arguments, sentence symbolization, truth functions, truth tables, natural deduction, and predicate logic.

Course Schedule

PHIL 5  Introduction to Philosophy

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC, C-ID #: PHIL 100)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Eligibility for ENGL 68

Philosophical ideas concerning knowledge, reality, and values. Topics will include the sources and limits of knowledge and the nature of reality. Other topics may include the nature of self, truth, ethics, religion, science, language, beauty and art, political theory, and mind.

Course Schedule

PHIL 5H  Introduction to Philosophy - Honors

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC, C-ID #: PHIL 100)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Honors Program

Philosophical ideas concerning knowledge, reality, and values. Topics will include the sources and limits of knowledge and the nature of reality. Other topics may include the nature of self, truth, ethics, religion, science, language, beauty and art, political theory, and mind. An honors course is designed to provide an enriched experience. Students may not receive credit for both PHIL 5 and PHIL 5H.

Course Schedule

PHIL 8  Critical Thinking

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC)
Lecture: 54   

Effective use of critical thinking in contemporary living, including recognizing faulty arguments, the usefulness of validity and truth, and identifying and avoiding common fallacies in thinking.

Course Schedule

PHIL 9  Critical Thinking and Writing

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite:(ENGL C1000 or ENGL 1A) or (ENGL C1000H or ENGL 1AH) or AMLA 1A.

This course aims to help students from diverse backgrounds develop good writing skills through learning and applying critical thinking tools in their everyday lives. The critical thinking tools that will be learned in this course include rules from both formal and informal logic, rules for identifying impartial sources to conduct informed research, and rules for writing argumentative essays on topics of interest to students. Among other topics of interest, students are invited to research and write on topics that identify explicit and implicit biases in everyday thinking and speaking, to explore images and discursive forms of representation that help overcome these biases, and to employ research that guides them into forming clear, coherent, and equitable arguments. This course is equivalent to English 1C for transfer and there is a requirement that students write a minimum of 6000 words throughout the semester. This requirement is easily achievable based on a variety of writing assignments included in the course.

Course Schedule

PHIL 9H  Critical Thinking and Writing - Honors

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: (ENGL C1000 or ENGL 1A) or (ENGL C1000H or ENGL 1AH) or AMLA 1A.

This course aims to help students from diverse backgrounds develop good writing skills through learning and applying critical thinking tools in their everyday lives. The critical thinking tools that will be learned in this course include rules from both formal and informal logic, rules for identifying impartial sources to conduct informed research, and rules for writing argumentative essays on topics of interest to students. Among other topics of interest, students are invited to research and write on topics that identify explicit and implicit biases in everyday thinking and speaking, to explore images and discursive forms of representation that help overcome these biases, and to employ research that guides them into forming clear, coherent, and equitable arguments. This course is equivalent to English 1C for transfer and there is a requirement that students write a minimum of 6000 words throughout the semester. This requirement is easily achievable based on a variety of writing assignments included in the course. An honors course is designed to provide an enriched experience. Students may not receive credit for both PHIL 9 and PHIL 9H.

Course Schedule

PHIL 12  Introduction to Ethics

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC, C-ID #: PHIL 120)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Eligibility for (ENGL C1000 or ENGL 1A) or (ENGL C1000H or ENGL 1AH) or AMLA 1A

Concepts of morality and values, representative ethical theories, and applications to moral problems.

Course Schedule

PHIL 12H  Introduction to Ethics - Honors

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC, C-ID #: PHIL 120)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Honors Program

Concepts of morality and values, representative ethical theories, and applications to moral problems. An honors course is designed to provide an enriched experience. Students may not receive credit for both PHIL 12 and PHIL 12H.

Course Schedule

PHIL 15  Major World Religions

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Eligibility for ENGL 68

History, doctrines, and practices of the world's major and enduring religions. Religion is approached as the expression of one's ultimate concern as a means of understanding the historic and ideological foundations and aspirations of the peoples of the world. The following (or more) religions are presented and examined both appreciatively and critically: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Off-campus assignments are required.

Course Schedule

PHIL 15H  Major World Religions - Honors

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Honors Program

History, doctrines, and practices of the world's major and enduring religions. Religion is approached as the expression of one's ultimate concern as a means of understanding the historic and ideological foundations and aspirations of the peoples of the world. The following (or more) religions are presented and examined both appreciatively and critically: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Off-campus assignments are required. An honors course is designed to provide an enriched experience. Students may not receive credit for both PHIL 15 and PHIL 15H.

Course Schedule

PHIL 16  Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Eligibility for (ENGL C1000 or ENGL 1A) or (ENGL C1000H or ENGL 1AH) or AMLA 1A

Examines enduring questions in the philosophy of religion, such as the concepts of God, arguments for and against the existence of God, the nature of religious experience, whether there is an afterlife, the relation between faith and reason, the relationship between religion and science, the relationship between religion and morality, the problem of evil, whether belief in miracles is rationally justified, and implications of the diversity of religious belief.

Course Schedule

PHIL 16H  Introduction to Philosophy of Religion - Honors

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Honors Program

Examines enduring questions in the philosophy of religion, such as the concepts of God, arguments for and against the existence of God, the nature of religious experience, whether there is an afterlife, the relation between faith and reason, the relationship between religion and science, the relationship between religion and morality, the problem of evil, whether belief in miracles is rationally justified, and implications of the diversity of religious belief. An honors course is designed to provide an enriched experience. Students may not receive credit for both PHIL16 and PHIL 16H.

Course Schedule

PHIL 20A  Introduction to Ancient Philosophy

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC, C-ID #: PHIL 130)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Eligibility for (ENGL C1000 or ENGL 1A) or (ENGL C1000H or ENGL 1AH) or AMLA 1A.

Major philosophers and philosophical ideas from pre-Socratic to Medieval Period. Emphasis on the development of Greek philosophy from the pre-Socratics through Aristotle and may also include Hellenistic, Roman, Medieval, and non-Western thinkers.

Course Schedule

PHIL 20AH  Introduction to Ancient Philosophy - Honors

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC, C-ID #: PHIL 130)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Honors Program

Major philosophers and philosophical ideas from pre-Socratic to Medieval Period. Emphasis on the development of Greek philosophy from the pre-Socratics through Aristotle and may also include Hellenistic, Roman, Medieval, and non-Western thinkers. An honors course is designed to provide an enriched experience. Students may not receive credit for both PHIL 20A and PHIL 20AH.Major philosophers and philosophical ideas from pre-Socratic to Medieval Period. Emphasis on the development of Greek philosophy from the pre-Socratics through Aristotle and may also include Hellenistic, Roman, Medieval, and non-Western thinkers. An honors course is designed to provide an enriched experience. Students may not receive credit for both PHIL 20A and PHIL 20AH.

Course Schedule

PHIL 20B  Introduction to Modern Philosophy

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC, C-ID #: PHIL 140)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Eligibility for (ENGL C1000 or ENGL 1A) or (ENGL C1000H or ENGL 1AH) or AMLA 1A.

Major philosophers and philosophical ideas from the Renaissance to the present, with an emphasis on Western philosophy.

Course Schedule

PHIL 20BH  Introduction to Modern Philosophy - Honors

3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU, UC, C-ID #: PHIL 140)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Honors Program

Major philosophers and philosophical ideas from the Renaissance to the present, with an emphasis on Western philosophy. An honors course designed to provide an enriched experience. Students may not receive credit for both PHIL 20B and PHIL 20BH.

Course Schedule

PHIL 99  Special Projects Philosophy

1-3 Units (Degree Applicable, CSU)
(May be taken four times for credit)
Lecture: 18-54   

Offers students recognition for their academic interests in philosophy and the opportunity to explore the discipline of philosophy to greater depth. The content of the course and the methods of study vary from semester to semester and depend on the particular project under consideration.

Course Schedule

PHIL 312  Introduction to Biomedical Ethics

3 Units (Degree Applicable)
Lecture: 54   
Prerequisite: Admission to the BS in Histotechnology

Key issues within the closely related fields of medical ethics, bioethics, and biomedical ethics. The course will be structured around some of the major “problem areas” that are widely debated in these fields, including the ethics of medical research; human enhancement; reproduction and reproductive technologies; euthanasia. It will also introduce students to a range of ethical theories and modes of ethical theorizing.

Course Schedule