Courses by semester
Courses for Summer 2025
Complete Cornell University course descriptions and section times are in the Class Roster.
| Course ID | Title | Offered |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 1100 |
Introduction to Philosophy
A general introduction to some of the main topics, texts, and methods of philosophy. Topics may include the existence of God, the nature of mind and its relation to the body, causation, free will, knowledge and skepticism, and justice and moral obligation. Readings may be drawn from the history of philosophy and contemporary philosophical literature. Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS) (KCM-AG) |
Fall, Spring, Summer. |
| PHIL 1450 |
Contemporary Moral Issues
An introduction to some of the main contemporary moral issues. Topics may, for example, include animal rights, abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, sexual morality, genetic engineering, and questions of welfare and social justice. Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS, SCD-AS) (D-AG, KCM-AG) |
Summer. |
| PHIL 1512 | Philosophy and Film |
|
| PHIL 1620 |
Introduction to Cognitive Science
This course provides an introduction to the science of the mind. Everyone knows what it's like to think and perceive, but this subjective experience provides little insight into how minds emerge from physical entities like brains. To address this issue, cognitive science integrates work from at least five disciplines: Psychology, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Linguistics, and Philosophy. This course introduces students to the insights these disciplines offer into the workings of the mind by exploring visual perception, attention, memory, learning, problem solving, language, and consciousness. Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS) (KCM-AG) Full details for PHIL 1620 - Introduction to Cognitive Science |
Fall, Summer. |
| PHIL 2621 |
Minds and Machines
Throughout history, metaphors drawn from technology of the time have been proposed to understand how the mind works. While Locke likened the newborn's mind to a blank slate, Freud compared the mind to hydraulic and electro-magnetic systems. More recently, many have endorsed Turing's proposal that the mind is a computer. Why is this idea attractive and what exactly is a computer? Is it at all plausible that the cells of your brain are computing? Could a computer ever really have a mind, beliefs, emotions and conscious experiences? What are these mysterious things anyway? Could a machine ever count as a person and make choices based on its own free will? Is it really so clear that we have this kind of free will? Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS) (KCM-AG) |
Fall. |