Duke University 2008-2009 - Office of the Registrar - Duke University

252S. Metaphysics. Selected topics: substance, qualities and universals, identity, space,
time, causation, and determinism. Instructor: Einheuser or Sanford. 3 units.
255S. Topics in Philosophy of Mind. One or more topics such as mental causation, animal
minds, artificial intelligence, and foundations of cognitive science. Includes relevant
literature from fields outside philosophy (for example, psychology, neuroscience, ethology,
computer science, cognitive science). Instructor: Dretske or Güzeldere. 3 units.
259. Introduction to Audition and Vocal Communication. 3 units. C-L: see Neurobiology
259; also C-L: Psychology 265, Music 259
266S. Topics in Early Modern Political Thought from Machiavelli to Mills (C-N). 3
units. C-L: see Political Science 266S
270. Body Works: Medicine, Technology, and the Body in Early Twenty-first Century
America. 3 units. C-L: see Information Science and Information Studies 270; also C-L:
Literature 262
273S. Heidegger (C-N). 3 units. C-L: see Political Science 273S
291S. Special Fields of Philosophy. Instructor: Staff. 3 units.
292. Special Topics in Philosophy. Topics vary each semester. Instructor: Staff. 3 units.
For Graduate Students Only
311. Philosophy and Medicine. The scope of medicine as a philosophical problem, the
concept of health, and investigation of ethical issues arising in medical contexts. Consent of
instructor required. Instructor: Golding. 3 units.
335. Thinking About God. Analytical examination of bases for belief in God and possibility
of After-life, relation between faith and reason, and interrelated issues concerning
justification for content of religious belief. considers similarities and differences on these
issues among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Instructor consent required. Instructor: Staff.
3 units.
359S. Principles in Cognitive Neuroscience I. 3 units. C-L: see Psychology 359S; also C-
L: Neurobiology 349S
360S. Principles in Cognitive Neuroscience II. 3 units. C-L: see Psychology 360S; also C-
L: Neurobiology 350S
Philosophy of Biology
The Duke Center for the Philosophy of Biology offers a formal interdisciplinary
graduate certificate in the philosophy of biology. The program which draws upon course
work and faculty from departments of biology and philosophy, as well as from the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. It is designed to enable
students with substantial backgrounds in one of the two disciplines to learn about the major
issues that animate research and scholarship on the intersections between biology and
philosophy. The philosophy classes enable students to acquire experience in methods of
philosophical analysis and to explore the broader philosophical background of problems in
the philosophy of biology. The biology classes provide exposure to theoretical questions in
biology that raise conceptual issues, to experimental methods and quantitative modeling
with substantive and often unarticulated philosophical implications. Students generally
apply to the program in their first or second years of doctoral study.
The interdisciplinary certificate will require at least two 200-level seminars in the
Philosophy Department in philosophy of biology, at least two 200-level courses in
Evolutionary and/or Developmental biology in the Biology Department; a directed reading
class supervised by a faculty member in the Center for Philosophy of Biology, which
eventuates in a capstone research paper; and regular participation in the philosophy of
biology seminar over a two-year period. The certificate will have as prerequisites prior
enrollment in at least one 100-level class in the philosophy of science or the philosophy of
biology, and at least two courses in biology at the 100 level.
Courses of Instruction 239