Fall 2026

PHI 105 – Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy Through Its History 
Class # 80248, Online, Instructor: Kenneth L. Knight, email: kenneth.knightjr@maine.edu

Core requirement met: Cultural Interpretation

An introduction to philosophy through its history and development, i.e., through an examination of central texts in the history of philosophy, up to and including contemporary works. Specific readings may vary from semester to semester but will always include some canonical works by classic Western philosophers (e.g., Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, and Kant). Prerequisite: a college writing course.

PHI 201 – Public Philosophy, Class # 80996, Online, Instructor: Jason Read, email: Jason.read@maine.edu

Core requirement met: Engaged Learning, and Ethical Inquiry 

What is the public? Is public debate possible? In recent years “fake news,” “cancel culture,” and the rise of “conspiracy theories” have called into question the very possibility of public and debate and discussion. At the same time private and fleeting opinions about everything from political scandals to popular culture have become increasingly public, shared to millions of strangers (sometimes to detrimental effects for the individuals involved). Is public debate and discussion possible in such a world? This course be an examination of the public role of philosophy. First, we will look at the concept and history of the public sphere, its importance to democracy and the way that the public sphere has been transformed by changes in technology from the printing press to the smartphone. We will then look at three recent public interventions in philosophy. We will read three recent works of public philosophy: Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life by Agnes Callard, which examines to what extent Socrates imperative to “know thyself” can help us make sense of modern life; The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else’s Game by C. Thi Nguyen, which examines the effects of gamification on life; and One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad, on the moral challenges of Gaza. All of this is to set up students to do their own engagement in public philosophy, experimenting with how they can make their voice heard.

PHI 205 – Logic, Class # 80545, MoWe 11:00AM – 12:15PM, Portland, Instructor: Yishai Cohen, email: Yishai.cohen@maine.edu

Core Requirement met: Quantitative Reasoning

Logic is, to put it roughly, the study of what statements follow from other statements. In this course, students learn to distinguish “good” reasoning from “bad” reasoning. To this end, students will learn the foundations of propositional logic, the branch of logic that studies ways of modifying entire statements to form more complicated statements, as well as the logical relationship between such statements.

PHI 211 – Media Ethics, Class # 81044, Online, Instructor: William Seeley, email: William.seeley@maine.edu

Core Requirement met: Ethical Inquiry

It has been argued that democracy stands and falls on the backs of an informed and rational citizenry. John Milton & John Stuart Mill suggested that the media plays a critical role in this context through what they called the marketplace of ideas. They thought he truth should always emerge from the competition of ideas in a free and transparent public discourse. Contemporary perspectives are less sanguine about the idea of free and transparent unbiased information in mass media communication. Nonetheless the underlying sentiment stands. We regularly seek out objective sources of information in mass media to shape our understanding of the world and aid in our everyday judgements and decisions. We will discuss a range of ethical issues surrounding mass media practice including questions about privacy, confidentiality, truth telling, conflicts of interest, and social responsibility in journalism, the impact of digital media on contemporary journalism, empathy and bias in the formation of beliefs, and the role of social media in the marketplace of ideas. Along the way we will explore the foundations of philosophical ethics and examine the nature of good critical reasoning practices.

PHI 212: Environmental Ethics, 9:30 am – 10:45 am Tuesday/Thursday, Portland, Instructor: Kenneth Knight, email: kennethjknight@maine.edu

Core Requirement met: Ethical Inquiry

We begin in the Anthropocene, where social transformation is necessary to mitigate the worst effects of accelerated climate change. Social movements play a crucial role in driving social transformation. Philosophers are good at examining the assumptions underlying points of view, arguments, theories, and movements. To assess recent environmental social movements, we deeply dive into the values, principles, and philosophical arguments that support each movement.

This is a class for asking the big environmental questions (e.g., What is nature? What is natural? Do animals, or even oceans, have intrinsic value and rights? Do we have responsibilities to future generations (intergenerational justice)?Is our consumption an ethical issue? Is having children an environmental ethics issue? Do we have a duty to distribute scarce resources to impoverished people in countries undergoing crop failure from climate change? What are our responsibilities toward climate refugees (those fleeing massive floods, droughts, or fires)? Should we use geoengineering to alter weather patterns or limit the spread of insect-borne diseases? Do we have a right to clean water and air?

PHI 215 – Philosophy of Literature, Class # 82720, TuTh 1:45PM – 3:00PM, Portland, Instructor: Jason Read, email: Jason.read@maine.edu

Core Requirement met: Ethical Inquiry

Literature in terms of stories, myths, and narratives are false, inventions of the imagination, yet at the same time they not only feel real, eliciting joy and sadness, fear and fascination, but seem to shape both individual identity and collective belonging more than rationality. Because of this philosophy has repeatedly attempted to banish the bewitching power of narrative, while relying on literary metaphors and stories to express its most fundamental truths. This course is an examination of this paradox of fiction and reality, imagination and reason, through an exploration of the relationship between philosophy and literature. First we will examine Plato’s famous staging of the quarrel between poetry and philosophy in The Republic, then we will examine Spinoza’s development of a method of reading scripture in the Theological-Political Treatise, which examines the role of scripture in shaping the imagination and the formation of communities; then we will read Yves Citton’s Mythocracy: How Stories Shape Our World, which considers the way our world is shaped by the stories we consume; lastly we will look at science fiction’s ability to shape our imagination of the future by reading Steven Schaviro’s Fluid Futures: Science Fiction and Potentiality and such writers as Charlie Jane Anders, N.K. Jemisin, and Ursula K. Leguin.

PHI 275- The Nature of Compassion, Class #81325, Online, Instructor: Sandra Dutkowsky, email: Sandra.dutkowsky@maine.edu

Core requirement met: Ethical Inquiry

Whether and how we respond to the suffering of others defines, in many ways, who we are as persons and communities. This course is an investigation into the emotion and compassion and its social role. Drawing upon a wide variety of sources Buddhist scriptures, classical and contemporary philosophical thought, it will address philosophical defenders of the need to cultivate compassion (Rousseau, Schopenhauer, and Adam Smith) as well as thinkers suspicious of this notion (Nietzsche, e.g.). Students will have a chance to think through some important philosophical issues, such as the role of emotions in moral deliberation, the extent to which compassion can be both aided and obstructed by the use of language, and whether there are appropriate limits to compassion. 

PHI 285 – Biology, Technology and Ethics, Course #80828, Online, Instructor: William Seeley, email: William.seeley@maine.edu

Core requirement met: Ethical Inquiry

An examination of key ethical controversies in biology and bioethics focused on the impact of medical technologies on our concepts of health, disease, & illness. Topics covered include the growing field of neuroethics and ethical questions surrounding cochlear implant technology, artificial reproductive technologies, CRISPR and gene drives, genomics, synthetic biology, DIY biology, and garage biotech.

The goals of this course are threefold. We will the impact of medical and research technologies on our concept of health. We will evaluate these issues in the broader context of utilitarian, deontological, virtue-based, and feminist approaches to philosophical ethics. Finally, good reasoning is critical to objective discussion of any topic. A critical takeaway of this class should be a better understanding of good critical reasoning strategies.

PHI 291 – Death and Dying, Class # 80530, Online, Instructor: Sandra Dutkowsky, email: Sandra.dutkowsky@maine.edu

Core requirement met: Ethical Inquiry

The literature relating to death and philosophy is vast and complex. In this class, we will explore readings relating to the nature of death (ourselves and others), the goodness/badness of death, and the ethics of death and technology.

The study of the philosophy of death typically leads to a discussion of the meaning of life. Therefore, we will review some essays relating to that idea as well.

Finally, we will take an interdisciplinary approach and read some literary pieces that deal with these philosophical issues.

PHI 301 – Ethical Theories, Class # 82721, MoWe 1:45PM – 3:00PM, Portland, Instructor: Yishai Cohen, email: Yishai.cohen@maine.edu

Core requirement met: Ethical inquiry

This course is an introduction to ethics. Ethics is, very roughly, the study of rightness/wrongness and goodness/badness. To be a bit more precise, ethics is often divided into three categories. Value theory is the study of what makes someone’s life good or bad for them. Normative ethics is the study of what makes an action morally right or wrong. Metaethics is the study of whether goodness and badness (and rightness and wrongness) are either objective or merely subjective features of the worldPHI 350 – American Philosophy, Class # 81535, TuTh 11:00AM – 12:15PM, Portland, Instructor: Kenneth Knight, email: kenneth.knightjr@maine.edu

The early Puritan colonists envisioned America as a new world, a city on a hill capable of serving as a model for the rest of humanity. However, it was not long before the sense of certainty that came with this conviction was called into question and “America” became an object of critical reflection. The history of American philosophy is a history of critical reflection on the possibilities and problems contained within the ever-evolving American experiment. This semester we will examine some of the most significant contributions to the American philosophical tradition, including transcendentalism, pragmatism, American idealism, personalism and Native American philosophy

Liberal Studies Courses

LSH 240(PHI 105) –Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy Through Its History, Class # 80849, Online, Instructor: Kenneth L. Knight, email: kenneth.knightjr@maine.edu

Core requirement met: Cultural Interpretation

An introduction to philosophy through its history and development, i.e., through an examination of central texts in the history of philosophy, up to and including contemporary works. Specific readings may vary from semester to semester but will always include some canonical works by classic Western philosophers (e.g., Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, and Kant). Prerequisite: a college writing course.

LSH 240 (REL 299) – Introducing the Humanities: Comparative Religion, Class #82718, Online, Instructor: Bennett Comferford, email: bennett.comerford@maine.edu

Topic is Comparative Religion (formerly Intro to World Religion). This course provides an overview and introduction to the comparative study of religion and a survey of prominent and influential religious traditions and lifeways from around the world. We will consider fundamental questions about the concept of “religion” and take seriously contemporary critiques of the category of “world religions” and the “isms” (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, etc.) that sustain it. Along the way we will encounter and contemplate the origins and development of several traditions, their intertwined histories, and debates and case studies that illuminate theological understandings and devotional practices throughout history. 

LSH 340 – Topics in Humanities: Writing and Reading the Human: Writing and Reading the Humanities (Online) Instructor- Jason Read, email: jason.read@maine.edu

Core requirement met: Writing, Reading & Inquiry 3

The disciplines that make up the humanities, English, History, Philosophy, to name a few, are distinguished less by the object of their study, humanity, than their methods. They are all in some sense tied to the question of reading, documents, narratives, arguments, and constructing their own arguments and narratives. This course is an examination into the specific ways of reading and writing in the humanities, examining both the disciplinary demands of different areas of humanistic inquiry, history, literature, and philosophy, and the way in which writing and reading functions as a not only a common point of reference for the different disciplines making up the humanities, but also part of their common project to make sense of human beings as beings that are both written, shaped by cultural and political scripts, and writers, making their own meaning and history. After a consideration of Eric Hayot’s Humanist Reason: A History, An Argument, A Plan as an introduction, we will then examine the humanities through the way in which they pose the question of the division between humanity and animals through the figure of apes. We will look at the cultural legacy of the Planet of the Apes films, through Eric Greene’s The Planet of the Apes as American Myth, the history of primatology through Donna Haraway’s Primate Visions: Gender, Race, and Nature in the World of Modern Science, and what studying primates offers philosophers through Frans de Waal’s Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved.