Courses - Winter 2027
PHIL100
Introduction to Philosophy
An introduction to the literature, problems, and methods of philosophy either through a study of some of the main figures in philosophic thought or through an examination of some of the central and recurring problems of philosophy.
PHIL101
AI and the Human Experience
Credit only granted for: PHIL209M or PHIL101.
Formerly: PHIL209M.
Broad overview of key concepts in artificial intelligence (AI) from the perspective of the humanities. Topics may include: the ethics and safety of AI deployment, AI and social justice, AI creativity and art, AI rationality, and the opportunities AI technology presents for advancing scientific understanding and enhancing human well-being. Students will also be introduced to a range of modern AI technologies, such as recommender systems, large-language models, facial recognition, and predictive analytics, critically addressing discussing both their positive impacts and potential negative consequences.
Credit only granted for: PHIL209M or PHIL101. Formerly: PHIL209M.
Broad overview of key concepts in artificial intelligence (AI) from the perspective of the humanities. Topics may include: the ethics and safety of AI deployment, AI and social justice, AI creativity and art, AI rationality, and the opportunities AI technology presents for advancing scientific understanding and enhancing human well-being. Students will also be introduced to a range of modern AI technologies, such as recommender systems, large-language models, facial recognition, and predictive analytics, critically addressing discussing both their positive impacts and potential negative consequences.
Broad overview of key concepts in artificial intelligence (AI) from the perspective of the humanities. Topics may include: the ethics and safety of AI deployment, AI and social justice, AI creativity and art, AI rationality, and the opportunities AI technology presents for advancing scientific understanding and enhancing human well-being. Students will also be introduced to a range of modern AI technologies, such as recommender systems, large-language models, facial recognition, and predictive analytics, critically addressing discussing both their positive impacts and potential negative consequences.
PHIL202
Know Thyself: Wisdom Through Cognitive Science
Credit only granted for: PHIL209N or PHIL202.
Formerly: PHIL209N.
How do we improve our decision making? Cognitive science demonstrates that self-knowledge isn't as easy as we think, and that there are numerous biases and fallacies that impact our decision-making in ways that are hard for us to be aware of. In this course you will learn what some of these are and how they have been discovered, and you will explore potential strategies for avoiding these fallacies and for making wiser choices.
PHIL203
Credit only granted for: PHIL209J or PHIL203.
Formerly: PHIL209J.
Virtually everyone thinks it's permissible to kill people only in special circumstances. But why is killing usually wrong? Is it ever acceptable to kill an innocent human being intentionally? This course raises these and related questions and examines cases such as terrorism, suicide, abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, war. Except for a brief discussion of animals, all the controversies considered deal with killing and causing death to human beings.
PHIL220
Credit only granted for: PHIL209A or PHIL220.
Formerly: PHIL209A.
Bioethicists formulate ethical guidelines. They answer questions such as: When life-saving health resources are scarce, who should get them? Should we increase supply of one such resource, kidneys, by buying them from living "donors"? If drug trials in developing countries benefit patients who consent to participate, are the trials ethical, even if the same research would be forbidden in the US? If a sick person aims to hasten her death, how, if at all, might her doctor permissibly help her? In this course, students construct and defend ethical rules in four domains: research ethics, allocation of scarce resources, markets in organs, and physician-assisted dying.
PHIL245
Political and Social Philosophy I
A critical examination of such classical political theories as those of Plato, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, Marx, and such contemporary theories as those of Hayek, Rawls, and recent Marxist thinkers.
Flagship Institution of the University System of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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